J. A. Gerber

I have reviewed many of Carole P Roman's children's books over the years. She started writing later in life and has self-published all of her books as well as creating a business of marketing and self-publishing many books for other authors. In this book, she collaborates with her daughter to offer advice and steps to follow for those wanting to write a book and look at possibly self-publishing their book.

Even though I have no intention of ever writing a book, I found this book helpful as a way for me to understand the process that authors go through to "sell" their book and get it into the hands of readers. As a blogger and book reviewer, I get emails on a daily basis from authors and publishers asking me to read their book. I can't possibly read every single book that comes into my path, but I do read each and every email and respond when my interest is piqued. I found some of the advice regarding what to put in your synopsis, back cover, and the elevator pitch extremely interesting. I can think of many books that I felt gave too much info on the back cover and others that gave unnecessary information about the story. This can make or break it for a reader. I learned that there was a standard size range for books to fit on library shelves and you want to make sure your book fits those ranges.

After reading through this book, I can appreciate the time self-published authors spend on creating, selling, and marketing their book. All the hours spent writing, editing, and publishing and authors are still not done, My job of reviewing their book is just a small piece of that marketing puzzle.

Gerber and Roman do an excellent job of giving ideas and explaining each step of the process in a simple and easy to understand format. Each chapter is brief and to the point and authors can make a checklist of sorts to help them stay on task and work their way through the process of self-publishing.

Gerber and Roman also offer lists of websites that would be helpful to authors in their writing process as well as publishing and marketing. I must say, that I was thrilled to be one of the respected websites listed as providing quality reviews. I appreciated that the authors warned readers that bloggers and book reviewers have limited time to read books. They recommended using their correct name and respecting their time and not expecting a review in just a few weeks. I am grateful that Gerber and Roman shared this with authors and especially the point that just because you send a book out doesn't mean you will get a review. As a reviewer, I know how much time and money is spent getting books in the reviewer's hands and I do my best to review as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

I read the kindle version of this book which I purchased and unfortunately found several mistakes throughout this book in grammar and misused words. One of the focuses of the book was the importance of editing and I was surprised to find so many mistakes while reading. It's one of my pet peeves while reading a book. While I know not every mistake can be found all the time, I felt like this was a book that needed to make that a priority due to the subject matter.

I highly respect Gerber and Roman for all their work writing and promoting authors. They have been fabulous to work with over the years and I look forward to reading many more of Roman's books. If you are dreaming of writing a book, this is a must-read for you early in the writing process.… (més)

Navigating Indieworld by Julie A. Gerber and Carole P. Roman is a wealth of information for the author who is going the route of self-publication. Not being an author, I found this beginner's guide quite impressive--all the ins and outs of getting a book into the hands of as many readers as possible. Having reviewed a number of Roman's children's books myself, it was interesting to read about her experience with the artwork and other aspects of publishing those books. Who knew there were so many things to think about when writing a book! Formatting, the size of a book to fit on a library shelf, artwork inside and the cover outside, the bio and the blurb, ebook, paper, and audio too, Facebooking and networking. Using personal experiences, suggested To Do Lists at the end of each chapter and a directory of contact these two authors have collaborated to bring aspiring authors a comprehensive look at how to get a book published and marketed. From this reader's viewpoint it would seem this easy to read, organized publication should be in the hands of would-be successful authors, covered with post-it notes and dog-eared and underlined--a well-used resource.
I received a copy of this book as a result of a contest, with the understanding I would review and give and honest opinion.… (més)