Day 37--Young Adult Book Central

I spent over thirty minutes today looking for sites that review childrens books. I found quite a few but some charged a fee and some don't review self-published books. This left me feeling like a second-class citizen.

I understand why some reviewers choose not to review self-published books. The quality control on them is low. They can be flawless and well-written or downright shabby and riddled with typos. But I didn't choose self-publishing, I feel like self-publishing chose me! I guess I'm a control freak because I love it. I own all of my rights and I keep all of the profits (granted, that's not saying much right now!). My book has been professionally edited and the cover features original art. I'm proud of my little, purple book. When I encounter a shut door, I will find a window!

Today I contacted Young Adult Book Central or YABC. My goal was to submit The Pet Washer for review but they are one of the sites that doesn't review self-published or POD books. However, they do offer a valuable, free service for authors!!

It's an author/book directory. I submitted my bio, an author interview and the ISBN for The Pet Washer to their directory today. The site will verify my book before they list it. I will check back in a week and see how things are going. I was pleased with the author interview. I was able to select the questions I wanted to answer. I also uploaded my author photo and a link to this website.

While this directory may be huge and I will be hard to find unless you are looking for me--I still think it's valuable to be listed there. I want the name Jennifer Lynn Alvarez and the title, The Pet Washer, all over the net. The more place I am, the more the search engines will notice me, and the easier it will be for someone to find me. Like a Who on a speck of dust--I need to make a BIG noise for any hope to be heard. My Horton is out there and someday, he'll hear me!