Self Publishing Takes Another Step Forward

You gotta hand it to the self publishing industry. Traditional publishing is definitely feeling some pressure thanks to the new medium. I've always been somewhat hesitant to review self-published books because I hadn't had a lot of luck with the few early submissions I received-- I'm a big believer in editing and the early days of self-publishing were a kind of no-man's-land of hit or miss (mostly miss) writing. But things are definitely changing thanks to a rapidly evolving industry that is aggressively looking to be a real presence in the publishing world.



How aggressive? How about paying for reviews?



I received an email today from Self Publishing Review (SPR) looking to spread the word that they are now paying reviewers $45 a review. It may not seem like much but if you're motivated it could add up-- you can click on the link for the reviewer guidelines.



My first thought is that this is a pretty smart strategy. Payment is a sure-fire way to generate some word-of-mouth for a book that would otherwise struggle to find an audience in an increasingly saturated market, and if the book is good an author can quickly make a name for themselves. The only downside I can think of, off the top of my head, is whether or not the reviews will be less-than-honest due to the financial incentive to be nice.



I haven't decided if I'll enter the pay-for-review world-- I'm tempted but drowning in books as it is. The money is a bonus but given the number of reviews I could realistically do a month I'm not sure it's enough to tempt me into dropping books by my favorite authors in the hope of discovering the next literary superstar. But I admire the foresight of the SPR and respect how quickly the industry is evolving.



What do you think? Are there any downsides I'm missing here?