April 14, 2020
For the last 25 years, I’ve been a full-time genre fiction book critic—writing for companies from BlueInk Review to Publishers Weekly to The Chicago Tribune. I’ve evaluated titles in every genre category and reviewed both traditionally published and independently published titles.
I’ve read and reviewed enough books (10,000+) to know […]
November 18, 2018
Thanksgiving is just around the corner. And that means it’s time to start thinking of how you can plan an evening that will wow your guests. That takes time, attention to detail and care for the people you are inviting.
Come to think of it, it’s not unlike writing a […]
June 19, 2017
Hiring an editor can be a daunting task, especially for a first-time author. Aside from finding someone with solid technical skills, you also need a person whose personality meshes with yours, as a good editing relationship requires plenty of give and take.
Here are a few things to consider before contracting […]
June 5, 2017
Everybody needs an editor.
If you’re self publishing your book, you’ve probably heard this 1,000 times, and it’s true. Editors can help improve your book immeasurably. But what you haven’t heard 1,000 times is that not everybody needs the same kind of editor. Editors provide different services, depending on what sort […]
July 26, 2016
Let’s assume that you’re a fiction writer looking to self-publish. You’re a voracious reader and practiced writer, willing to put in the hours of writing and rewriting to make a story shine. And you’ve got a great story to tell, rich in memorable characters and set in a locale […]
March 8, 2016
By Camilla Sterne
“Oh, the Mistakes We’ve Seen!” is part of a series of BlueInk Review blogs offering advice and insight into self-published writers’ most common errors, as seen in the more than 2,000 reviews we have provided since our inception in 2011. Below, we have compiled excerpts from our more unfortunate reviews, each of […]
January 20, 2014
By BlueInk Staff
“Oh, the Mistakes We’ve Seen!” is part of a series of BlueInk Review blogs offering advice and insight into self-published writers’ most common errors, as seen in the more than 2,000 reviews of self-published books that we have provided since our inception in 2011. Below, we have compiled excerpts from our more […]
July 29, 2013
February 13, 2012
Patti Thorn, BlueInk Managing Partner
It’s been just over a year since BlueInk launched. Since then, we’ve vetted hundreds of self-published books — everything from literary novels to thrillers to children’s picture books to heartfelt memoirs. We reviewed a 600-page novel set in the South. We reviewed a fingernail-slim story about one man’s thoughts on […]
June 13, 2011
Among the stack of books on my study floor, there’s a children’s book with one page written entirely stream of consciousness. There’s a memoir with typos and grammatical errors on the back cover copy. There’s a nonfiction book that uses the past and present tenses interchangeably.
