Book Impressions - How Not to Self Publish by Rosen Trevithick

I've enjoyed both the author's children's and adult books and in particular the humour she injects into them. I've found humour can be hit and miss in books and she's one of the few authors who nails it for me. As well as her writing she is also very active in the indie author community supporting other authors. What we have here is a departure from her usual books and is a guide to becoming a totally splendid hotshot author.

This isn't a how to guide in the traditional sense. The book comprises of a series of loosely themed anecdotes and what if scenarios that new authors (especially those who are self published) often encounter. The humour makes this an easy read and a fun one even if you aren't an author. There's some crazy stories in here but there's also some useful tips, so while it might not be a guide in the usual sense I would recommend it to authors old and new. Even with the crazier stories there's an element of issues that all authors will encounter at some stage.

As I say it's also a fun read even if you aren't an author and everyone should know what to do if their laptop is eaten by a crocodile!

Rosen Trevithick has threatened to eat celebrities, produced a podcast in which she interviews herself and posed with a gummy triangle stuck to her face – all in the name of marketing. Yet she has somehow managed to shift over a quarter of a million books.

A keen advocate of ‘What works for one probably won't work for the thousands who try to replicate it’, Rosen recommends finding your own path, with a focus on learning from mistakes rather than success stories.

Penned using a combination of her own catastrophic blunders interspersed with wry observations, How Not to Self-Publish provides a light-hearted, informative and sometimes surreal look at selling books in the modern world.

Cover illustration by Katie W. Stewart.

Click here to buy How Not to Self Publish: Amazon US | Amazon UK