Blog
4 ways indie authors go wrong writing a bio
By BlueInk Review Staff Every book needs an author bio. It lets readers know who you are and why you are uniquely qualified to write the book at hand. Readers expect this at the back of your book. And booksellers and other industry professionals expect it on your...
4 ways indie authors go wrong writing a book description
By BlueInk Review Staff Every book needs a description of its contents – that snappy teaser copy you traditionally see on the back cover. When done properly, it lures readers in, as well as signals what audience the book is targeting. And it’s invaluable on marketing...
I Like Big Books and I Cannot Lie: Six Alternative Uses for Shelf Bending Novels
By Paul Goat Allen Chances are good we all have at least a few big books in our houses: epic novels that are 700 pages or longer. I’ve heard them called many things – shelf benders, door stoppers, and lap numbers, to name a few. With inflation on everyone’s mind—and...
Why Your Novel’s Cover Art is Even More Important Than Ever
By Paul Goat Allen As someone who has been in the self-publishing business for decades—from purchasing titles for a national book chain to reviewing thousands of self-published titles for Kirkus, BlueInk, etc. to interviewing countless self-published authors for...
The Ending is Everything! Is Your Novel’s Conclusion Strong Enough?
By Paul Goat Allen Straight from the files of Stating the Obvious comes the next BlueInk blog about the monumental importance of a novel’s conclusion. It’s a no-brainer, right? Your novel needs a memorable ending in order to have any chance at commercial success. But...
5 Things to Do If You’ve Just Set Up Your Author Social Media
By Kim Littler If you’ve clicked on this post then you’ve probably accepted that, like it or not, social media is a key element to any author’s book marketing process — and it’s here to stay. It’s great that you’re ready to start utilizing your online profiles, but...
9 Features on KDP You Should Know About
By Amanda Miller Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform has been an amazing tool for independently published authors to get their books into the world and hit a big market—not only swiftly but affordably. Not only is KDP’s platform easy to use, but it is...
From Tik Tok to old-fashioned swag, genre authors share their marketing secrets
BlueInk Review Staff It’s not easy to write a book. And it’s even harder to sell it. While authors know all about the mechanics of writing, they aren’t likely to be marketing experts. So how can they get the word out about their book efficiently and effectively We...
7 Must-Have Tools for Your Book Marketing Toolkit
By Amanda Miller Faced with the arduous task of marketing a book, you may conclude that writing it was the easy part! Most authors—both traditionally and independently published—eventually face a laundry list of marketing tasks, including devising an overall plan,...
Marketing the Masterwork: BlueInk Review Talks with Brian James Gage
By Paul Goat Allen In 2020, Brian James Gage exploded onto the genre fiction scene with The Sleepwalker, an epic alternate history blending horror, occult fantasy, and apocalyptic fiction set largely in 1916 Saint Petersburg during the reign of Nicholas II. Featuring...