You may be aware that BookSurge is sponsoring the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. The grand prize winner, to be announced April 7th, will receive a $25,000 publishing contract with Penguin Group USA. BookSurge will award the nine runners up a Total Design Freedom package to publish for their book.

Voting for the winner has begun. You can help choose the winner to be announced April 7th from the 10 finalists. To help select the winner, click here to download, read, rate and review free excerpts of the finalist's novels. If you like an entry, be sure to tell your friends to get online to support your favorite author as well.

The ten ABNA finalists are...

• The Hellraiser of the Hollywood Hills by Jennifer Colt
• Casting Off by Nicole R. Dickson
• Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan
• The Wet Nurse's Tale by Erica Eisdorfer
• The Butterflies of Grand Canyon by Margaret Erhart
• Ring of Lies by Karen Laugel
• Fresh Kills by Bill Loehfelm
• Motherless Children by Randall Luce
• The Prospect of My Arrival by Dwight Okita
• Wrecking Civilization Before Lunch by John Ring

Support your fellow authors by giving them your rating and review. Voting closes March 31st so act quickly.

Book reviews are a great way to give your readers confidence in your book, but it's not just great content that wins over book reviewers. Here are a few helpful hints to make sure that your book shines when it makes it onto the critics' desks.

1. Prepare a brief, but thorough fact sheet. There are five essential elements to a good fact sheet: the author biography, a list of any previous publication credits you may have, book information and website details, an excerpt, and accurate contact information. The book details should include the publisher, number of pages, ISBN, and where it may be purchased. Try to keep the length of this document to under a page, and to differentiate your fact sheet, consider adding graphics, like your book cover, or quotes from other reviews. Remember, a fact sheet must be compelling and informative to give reviewers a reason to review your work.
2. Look professional before you request a review. Is your website ready? Is your contact information clear? Spend some time polishing your website or your author bio before you submit your book to reviewers. Remember, should your book be chosen for review, your reviewer may be equally interested in learning more about you.
3. Strictly observe submission guidelines and deadlines. This means that you must critically determine if your book is thematically appropriate for the reviewer, and following the posted instructions for submitting your work is essential. If guidelines are not posted, ask what they are before you prepare your query. Because reviewers receive so many submissions, it is in their best interest to select books that conform to the rules, and often, if a book is not received in accordance with the rules, it will not even be considered, regardless of the content.
4. Stand out from the crowd. Many authors will submit review copies of their books that are unfinished, but some reviewers want to assess the final product for its quality as well as content. To make your book stand out from the rest of the books on their desk, consider autographing the title page or including a note of thanks in the front cover.
5. Patience is a virtue. As soon as your book is in the mail to reviewers, you may feel the urge to check your mailbox or email every five minutes until you receive a reply. However, you must resist the urge to leave dozens of messages for your reviewer- after all, he or she needs time to actually read your book. If the reviewer did not specify a timeline for reviewing your book, send a handwritten note of thanks to him or her that lets them know you are appreciative of the opportunity.

A book review from a trusted source can act as a powerful marketing tool that lends credibility to you and your book. As the number of published books increases each year, getting reviews for your title is of great importance to differentiate your book from the crowd. There’s no doubt that unbiased reviews often play a large role in buying decisions for book lovers, and BookSurge now makes obtaining third party reviews even easier.

"Kirkus Discoveries was one of the most valuable marketing tools I invested in for my book."

BookSurge has partnered with Kirkus Discoveries, a paid service through which our authors can have their book reviewed objectively by editors at Kirkus, noted as a trusted brand for book reviews. Kirkus Discoveries strives to match your book to a reviewer with experience in your genre or subject matter ensuring you get an assessment from a qualified source. Further, this opportunity allows you to enhance your marketing tactics by adding an excerpt on websites, media kits, your book cover, or your Amazon.com detail page.

The use of the Kirkus Discoveries review service can enhance your book’s sales opportunities and credibility. “Kirkus Discoveries was one of the most valuable marketing tools I invested in for my book," said Kirkus Discoveries user and BookSurge author, Richard Ridley. "The blurbs I used from the review opened doors for me with librarians, the media and agents. Where I was being virtually ignored before, suddenly I was fulfilling requests for review copies. I can’t recommend it enough.”