How Can Authors Get More Amazon Reviews?

 

Authors fret over how many interviews their book will garner on Amazon. For consumers who judge a book by its customer reviews, they will want to see at least dozens of reviews and a high rating. They will look at what the few negative ones say with more weight given to them than the positive ones. So, how can an author get more reviews? 

Authors can up their count by these methods: 

Organically — The hardest way. You just let nature take its course. A small percentage of book-buying readers leave book reviews. If a book is exceptionally bad or good, those who are compelled to leave a review will do so. Your job is to increase your sales, thus creating a potentially bigger pool of reviewers. 

Paid — Though it violates Amazon’s rules, and may violate the law, you can buy dozens or hundreds of fake reviews.  

Free — Kindle readers can leave reviews for books they have downloaded, even if the book was free. So, you can do book give-aways to secure more reviews. However, in order for one to leave a review, he or she must have an Amazon account and have spent at least $50 on Amazon in the last 12 months. You can promote the giveaway on social media, your website, and in paid ads. 

Trade — You can incentivize (technically not) friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, alums, and anyone in your networked circle of connections to buy the book and leave a review. You can ask them to buy it through their amazon account (to be a verified purchaser) — and reimburse them, thus, making it free. You can trade other favors or beg them. Or both.  

You can also ask those whom you know to have them ask all of those whom they know. 

For those whom you know who have obtained a copy of your book on Amazon, you need to lean on them. Contact them and guilt, incentivize, and guide them. They need to know how important it is to you to get their review and rating posted. They also need to be shown how easy and quick the process is.  

Step One: Go to your book’s amazon page, go down to where it says “write a review.” Send people that link so they easily see where to post, hopefully five stars, and leave a two-sentence review.   

Here’s a sample link for George Orwell’s 1984: 

https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review/?ie=UTF8&channel=awUDPv3&asin=0451524934  

Step Two: You take your link and send it in individualized emails to dozens and hundreds of connections. Set a deadline to post the review and encourage them to leave 5 stars and to post a short, positive review.  

People don’t leave reviews because: 

·         They just don’t care enough about you or your book.

·         They did not take the time to read it and don’t know what to say.

·         They read it and thought it was mediocre and don’t feel they should lie in a review.

·         They don’t know how to do so or think they need a lot of time.

·         They don’t use Amazon. 

But who cares why? Just get people to do it! 

Thank those who leave a review. Go back to others who didn’t do it and ask them why they failed you? Let them make up an excuse and then ask them to just do it now. Put them on the spot. Tell them it literally takes one minute. Offer to show them on their phone exactly what to do. Do this every time you see someone you know, especially gatherings at home, events, restaurants, work, school, church, and wherever people whom you know gather. 

Good luck. 

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 4.25 million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum

Important Literary Anniversaries Are Upon Us

 

On May 5^th, 99 years ago, American writer Sinclair Lewis refused the Pulitzer Prize for his novel Arrowsmith. ,He shocked people when he said: “All prizes, like all titles, are dangerous. The seekers for prizes tend to labor not for inherent excellence but for alien rewards: they tend to write this, or timorously to avoid writing that, in order to tickle the prejudices of a haphazard committee. And the Pulitzer Prize for novels is peculiarly objectionable because the terms of it have been constantly and grievously misrepresented?” 

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, written by  L. Frank Baum, was released 125 years ago this May 17th. It would lead to the release of the classic 1939 film that has dazzled many generations of hundreds of millions of viewers. 

June 9 marks the death of Charles Dickens, who died 155 years ago. A Tale of Two Cities was his most critical work but his most celebrated may be A Christmas Carol.  

To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, was published on July 11, 1960 -- 65 years ago. 

The Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger, was published July 16, 1951 -- 74 years ago. 

Six decades ago, on August 1, 1965, the classic,  Dune by Frank Herbert, was published. 

The lovable children's classic, Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr Seuss, was released 65 years ago on August 12th. 

The controversial Lolita, a novel of pedophilia, by Vladimir Nabokov, was released August 18 1958 -- 67 years ago. 

On August 27, we honor the first publishing of The Guinness Book of Records (1953) 72 years ago. 

142 years ago, this  August 29th, marks the opening of the world's first Carnegie Library, the Dunfermline Carnegie Library. It is the first of the many libraries that are to be funded by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. 

Thomas the Tank Engine, by the Rev W. Awdry, was published 79 years ago on September 14th. 

This September 17th,  Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, turns 71.  

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over 4.25 million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum

Noteworthy Book Oddities & Author Factoids

  

 

If you like to see interesting statistics and analysis thar relate to the world of books, check out

Infographic Guide To Literature: Fascinating Facts and Figures For Book Lovers by Joanna Eliot.

Here are some take-aways of note: 

Age

One is never too young, nor too old, to pen their first published novel. Mary Shelley debuted at the age of 20 when her 1818 publishing of Frankenstein was released. F. Scott Fitzgerald was 23 when The Side of Paradise was released in 1920. At age 15, The Forests of the Night was published in 1999, by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. 

While most published debut novelists are in their 30s, many launched at an older age. Laura Ingalls Wilder was 65 in 1932 when her book was published: Little House in the Big Woods. Anna Sewell was 57 when Black Beauty was released in 1877.  Lorna Page was 93 in 2008 when her first book came out, A Dangerous Weakness. 

First Editions

The price of a first edition of a classic can be quite high. For books published in the last century, prices range greatly. While The Sun Also Rises fetched $35,000 a decade ago, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone raked in $471,000 in 2021. Oddly, George Orwell’s 1984 did not make the top 10 but another of his books did, Down and Out in Paris and London, going for $141,600 15 years ago. 

Convicts

Some of the great authors have been in prison, and some wrote their best works while behind bars. Oscar Wilde, jailed for gross indecency, penned De Profundis in 1897. Don Quixote was written in 1605 by POW Miguel de Cervantes. 120 Days of Sodom was written in 1785 by Marquis de Sade while serving a term for sodomy, rape, and blasphemy. Other notable jailed writers who wrote published books while locked up include Jack London, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. 

Pulp

One tree, on average, can yield enough paper for 31 books. A cord of wood, which is 15 trees, can yield 462 hardcover books of 200 pages each. 

Theft

Of all the books in the world to get stolen, the Bible is the most commonly purloined tome. Also high on the list are Fifty Shades of Grey, all of the Harry Potter books, Guinness Book of World Records, and Wicca and witchcraft books. 

Death

Many authors die before their time, some by their own hand. Albert Camus, 46, hit a tree while driving on a straight road on a clear day. Margaret Mitchell, 48, was killed by a drunk driver. Virginia Woolf drowned herself at 59.  Tennessee Williams choked to death on a medicine bottle cap at 71. Ernest Hemingway shot himself in the head at 61. Sylvia Plath gassed herself in her own oven at age 30. 

Wordy

Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables contains a sentence that is 823 words long, and James Joyce’s Ulysses has a sentence running 4,391 words. but neither can even compare against Mathias Enard’s Zone, where the entire 180,000-word novel is one sentence long. 

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/

A Writer Conundrum Over AI?

 

So, what do we do with AI? Writers need to answer this question now.  

Right now, I ignore it. It’s still developing, so no need to use an inferior product. The ethical uses are bringing work out, too. As a matter of pride and independence, I simply want nothing to do with AI. I think and I act freely. I don’t need a machine to influence or even sabotage my essence.  

As a writer, AI is something I simply cannot tolerate. Why do we want computers to write for us, think for us, or even dehumanize us? 

Virtual assistance can be helpful in certain areas of manufacturing and the like. But if you are going to use it to write your book, you should move to another profession.  

AI makes us lazy, dumb, and useless as a writer. We want writers to struggle to come up with the right words or ideas, to do more research, thinking, or experimenting, and to let their emotions and curiosity drive them. Asking AI for help is an assault on a writer’s soul.  

All technological tools, inventions, and services are initially to be feared, criticized, not trusted, and banned. Then, we warm up to them and agree that there may be some wonderful applications of such technology. Then we get addicted to the technology and realize there is no turning back, and a co-dependent energy develops.  

My dad used to tell me a story about how his dad remarked during the advent of television, “Who wants to see their faces?” He was so used to radio and could not foresee how television would develop into something so valuable to society.  

There are always early adopters to the newest tech. There are also early haters who believe doom will come from such technology. The truth is, everything in existence can be used for good or evil. A gun can save your life, if attacked. It can also cause unnecessary and unfair harm. Medicine can heal one thing, and cause another harm. Foods can be nutritious and taste great unless you are allergic and can get sick from ingesting them. Money can buy happiness - or it can be used to pay for a hitman. Get the point? 

So, will AI go away? Nope, once something exists, it will always exist -- until something superior replaces it. 

So, are there good usages of AI? There could be, so, as I said before, all things can be used for good or bad. Just not for writers right now.  

Maybe I’m just a curmudgeon, stuck in the vestiges of a bygone era, or maybe I’m the voice of measured reason. Any young person is likely not to question the world they grow up in. They accept all technology as their normal baseline, not knowing of the pre-tech world that existed, not struggling to coexist in a tech-centric vs a tech-assisted world.  

I treasure being a member of Gen X. I remember the world before Amazon, Bitcoin, Google, Facebook, and AI. It wasn’t perfect back then nor is it now. It was just different. My world should not simply disappear nor should the present one. We must see the benefits of a blend of the two. But AI for writers? Disgusting!

 

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum

Interview With Award-Winning Filmmaker Cevin Soling On His Illustrated Book Series, The Rumpleville Chronicles

                         

       

1.       What is your illustrated book collection, The Rumpleville Chronicles, about? The books focus on human foibles and eccentricities. They present themselves as children’s stories, but their plot doesn’t flow as one would expect in a fairy tale because some realistic aspect of a character steers the action in a different direction that is simultaneously more relatable and more absurd. For instance, in The Jolly Elf, when the elf turns out to be evil, the victimized villagers cannot get rid of him without first negotiating the broadcast rights.

 

2.       What inspired its creation? They were written just ahead of a fresh curve of entertainment that deconstructed popular culture, but at that time, I didn’t have easy access to illustrators. I did succeed in getting one animated, which appeared on MTV and in film festivals. The brilliant Bill Plympton was a big fan. I was inspired by James Thurber and Tom Lehrer, who savagely and hilariously decimated the hypocrisies of their respective eras.

 

3.       Your tagline for the boxed set of nine books is: “Twisted Tales for Today.” What makes them twisted – and why? The books are fundamentally irreverent. The stories are novel and defy expectations. I guess they are twisted because that’s how my mind works. My imagination is unrestrained by things like employing better judgment.

 

4.       The rest of that tagline is: “There’s a moral in there somewhere.” Is there? Absolutely! There is a point to each story, and I have a target in mind when I set about writing. The Land of Plenty is probably the least subtle in its attack on the corrupt legal profession. The Disciples of Trotsky shows how revolutionary movements often die with a whimper when ideological divisions take priority over immediate needs. Boris the Dog was intended to be a commentary on cartoon violence. Sometimes the object is human foibles.

 

5.       What kinds of reactions have you received from parents, librarians, teachers, and children to your books? The response has been great from everyone except for people who are self-appointed guardians of children. They think the books are inappropriate for little kids, which is understandable, considering some of them may be. These misguided, self-righteous individuals are precisely the kinds of people I satirize in the books. None of the books were written for kids, although it is fine for them to read if they enjoy them, even if they don’t understand most of it.

 

6.       Do you feel you fill some kind of void in children’s literature with this series?

The books definitely fill some kind of void in literature. There have been some authors who try to reimagine fairy tales, but they play off of existing stories. This can be entertaining, but it isn’t very inspired. All of my stories are original, which establishes their own genre. This has been a huge problem because booksellers and libraries don’t know how to classify them. They aren’t children's books, and they are too cohesive and pointed to be lumped in the humor section.

 

7.       What challenges did you overcome in creating this series? People who presume these books are for kids. Most of the stories were written pre-South Park. MTV considered having Boris the Dog take over for Beavis and Butthead when that went off the air, but decided to abandon animation in favor of reality TV.

 

8.       How would you describe your writing style? My writing style varies dramatically, depending on the medium. In general, though, I am inspired by things I take umbrage with. That inspiration emerges as dark humor when I am writing illustrated short stories.

 

9.       The Disciples of Trotsky is about a revolution and overthrowing a fascist regime. Is this too deep for young minds to understand, or do you feel on some level that they get something out of reading your book? Again, these books are not written for children, but this is a common theme in children’s literature. There was a period in the early 2000s when the major children’s animations shared a similar plot. The protagonist does not conform to the expectations of their role in society. An opportunity arises where they can assume a position that allows them to display their strengths, albeit discreetly. They are discovered, and a societal breakdown ensues. In the movie Robots, this breakdown takes the form of an armed rebellion. I have a sore spot with that book because it was written before Shrek, and many of my stories made their way onto the internet. Years later, I noticed many striking similarities when I got around to illustrating. I was incensed that I had to rewrite a chunk of the book because people would accuse me of plagiarizing something written after my book, as theirs had come out earlier. I do wonder whether Shrek “borrowed” extensively from my original text. Ultimately, I feel my revisions made the work better, but still.

 

10.   In your book, Tiffany Brittany Brooke dreams of a successful Hollywood career. But the path to her dreams is filled with compromises. Her encounter with a man who also has a dream changes her life in unexpected ways. What do you hope to teach children with this story? The book is intended to satirize actors and the world that venerates and exploits them. The overt message was lifted from Miracle on 34^th Street, which is about believing in your dreams. In this instance, her dream is about wanting to be a prostitute. The lesson for kids is not to accept easy platitudes. If advice sounds simple, it is likely to be empty. There are other lessons too, like you shouldn’t always follow your dreams if your dreams are of becoming a serial killer.

 

11.   In The Land of Plenty, the Plentenians enjoy an abundance of wealth and power that keeps neighboring countries in fear of attack. Then, a clever ambassador sees how their weakness can be their strength. Is this a story President Trump would approve of? I stay out of contemporary politics as it has become irrationally divisive. People from all walks of life should be able to enjoy my stories and apply them in ways that give them meaning.

 

12.   Each book has a funny “about the author” page that changes from book to book. From saying you want “to enslave all humanity” to seeking “to expose that professional thumb-wrestling is fixed,” where do you come up with this stuff? I am glad you noticed. There is truth to all of them. Growing up, I always wanted to be a supervillain. I assumed I would need a death ray and a private island with minions. Well, now I have the island and minions, which is another story, and while in graduate school, I met a defense contractor who gave me the plans for something even better than a death ray. It was a terrible moment of truth for me, but I didn’t follow up. Thumb wrestling is fixed. People should know.

 

13.   What books did you admire as a child – and why? What makes for a good children’s book? A good children’s story has an original plot, not one that is derivative or overly obvious in its message. It should not pander. It should have beautiful illustrations. James Flora is my favorite illustrator. His work dates back to the 1950s and 1960s. He also did artwork for jazz album covers. The Fan Brothers are among the best illustrators today. James Thurber is one of my favorite writers and is undoubtedly an inspiration, although he is not a children’s book author. Because I admire Tom Lehrer, the musical satirist, so much, I think it's fine when children don’t understand everything. They can appreciate the irreverence and pick up bits of the humor and gradually understand more as they get older.

 

14.   You have also written a book called The Student Resistance Handbook, which is a how-to manual for students to protest mandatory schooling. You also directed and produced a documentary, The War on Kids; You also gave a TEDx talk on this. Is this really a movement you want to lead? Why? I want to support children who don’t want to be subjected to injustice and abuse. Some kids are fine with it, and it’s not my place to intervene. I would have appreciated someone putting out the messages I shared when I was little. I wrote an essay that was published in Wire about why cheating in school is a moral imperative. Children didn’t agree to be in school, so they shouldn't be expected to abide by the rules. The essay has been licensed for use on standardized tests to assess reading comprehension. Someone there has a great sense of humor.

 

15.   You went to Harvard University to earn four Master’s degrees, studying education, government policy, English, and journalism. You chose to author books, perform music on MTV, and direct and produce films. Do the creative arts just call out to you? Actually, I went into the creative arts because science and math came too easily to me. It was the right decision because while there is room for creativity in those fields, it is bounded by reality. In the arts, it is vice versa -- reality is bounded by imagination. 

For more information, please see:  www.cevinsoling.com

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum