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The short answer is everyone, although it might not be evident at first. National publishing trade magazines present the illusion that they are fair and balanced—a familiar phrase—in their review coverage, but given a closer look, these publications thrive on the sales of expensive advertising space, including their front and back covers. Other national trades don’t even hide the fact that they charge hundreds of dollars per review. You'll notice that very few small publishers are mentioned in their pages. The presses that cannot afford ad space and review fees coincidentally go unmentioned, and all independent presses (i.e. micro presses and self-publishers) are typically barred from consideration.

Consider that advertising fees are built into the budgets of large press books, and when you purchase one, you are in effect paying for their media coverage somewhere along the line. There is simply no justification for highlighting or featuring the next murder-mystery redux novel in any of the media outlets, other than it is big business for the monolithic presses and they have the dollars to push their product. We are a capitalist society, and profit drives many editorial decisions. Any author who manages his/her own marketing has run into a media outlet (print, radio, etc.) that has promised increased coverage with the purchase of advertising space or time. While many local newspapers still hold an air of integrity, these venues are drying up faster than the rapidly fading printed news industry.

This state of affairs casts a long shadow over literature. One byproduct is that the large commercial presses, by virtue of supplying the economic lifeblood to the publishing media, control what reaches the reading public. Due to either politics or economics, certain genres and ideas are not desirable to large presses, and therefore, vital topics are kept from the public discourse, while excellent independent press authors go unnoticed. In the end, they turn to the Internet for help.

A survey of the web reveals hundreds of review outlets—some specialized, others general. Many of these reviewers write for free, and their coverage is professionally uneven. These are hobby sites. Meanwhile the Internet has killed the three-headed monster of publishing: paper, ink, and distribution. Through the years, paper and ink became increasingly expensive, and most recently rising gas prices (i.e. a distribution cost) was the death knell for most brick and mortar publications, but in the digital age, the Internet can more than fill the need while providing work for dedicated journalists. ... (read more)

Featured Books

Working Together

The Piggle
by K. Shams, M.D.
Trent's Prints & Publishing

reviewed by John E. Roper

"Before long the Eagle heard some sounds coming from a nearby meadow. Looking down carefully, the eagle saw a Pig playing carefree in the meadow."

What do you get when you cross a pig with an eagle? Why, you get a Piggle, of course. Shams' highly original and imaginative tale chronicles the life of a one-of-a-kind creature whose very existence serves as a lesson on understanding and appreciating the differences in others. ... The tale of the Piggle begins with a group of children in the city of Everywhere waking up the resident storyteller and begging him to tell them a story they have never heard before. ... (read more)

Vietnam Revisited

Hamfist Down!
Evasion, Survival and Combat in the Jungle
by G. E. Nolly
Nolly Productions, Inc.

reviewed by Annie Laura Smith

"If you're shot down and bail out, your fight is just beginning. And bailing out over Laos is about as bad as it gets."

American troop Covert Ops in Laos during the Vietnam War in 1969 were involved extremely dangerous missions. Those secret missions were not even identified as being in Laos, but reported to be in North Vietnam. This story of evasion, survival, and combat explores the dangers faced by American troops on the ground and in the air over the Laotian jungles. ... The reader sees these operations through the eyes of 1st Lt. Hamilton Hancock, known in his squadron with the military nickname, Hamfist. His stark realization of the dangers he faces, especially if his plane is shot down "in country," is vividly described as he thinks about his .38 pistol. ... (read more)

Art for Sale

Breakers
by Chris O'Grady
Pen Press

reviewed by Stacy Chambers

"It wasn't the room, though. He'd feel more at home now in any room, anywhere... as long as that typewriter was with him."

As Dickens gives us fog in the opening pages of Bleak House, so Chris O'Grady gives us wind. Lots and lots of wind. It pushes against Bill Ryder as he delivers a package to the residence of Lady Arabella Brandon, messenger by day and struggling would-be writer by night—fitting, perhaps, for the state of Bill's life. Because Bill doesn't write. He thinks about writing. He thinks maybe he wants to try his hand at it, but he's afraid. This is a novel about art—but it's also a novel about the bloody process of commerce. Bill is at the most magical time in all of it, prior to beginning. ... (read more)

Spiritual Meditations

God's Prayers
by John Canzanella
Infinity Publishing

reviewed by Cynthia Collins

"Sometime, from a distance of many days,
Our children will look on us
From greater heights...
And we will be far from them."

The message of this book is that God loves the human race and wants humans to love Him. This is told in a series of poems that are meditations, accompanied by photography that is peaceful and spiritual. The poetry blends a contemplative tone of communication between God and man as they reach out to each other. This is told through various events ranging from the Nativity, temptation, wandering in the wilderness, the Ten Commandments, to marriage and others. The photography is of an image that resembles the tone of the poem, whether of a statue, a church, or an element of nature such as... (read more)

What's Really Cooking in Prison?

Convicts' Cookbook
by K. Shams, M.D.
Trent's Prints & Publishing

reviewed by Mihir Shah

"The number of offenses carried out while under the influence of drugs and alcohol is staggering."

Applying his neuropsychiatric background and consulting experience for the Florida Department of Corrections, Shams examines the dilemma of using prisons to trap offenders who exhibit obvious signs of mental illness. Convicts' Cookbook is unlike any other book: On the surface, it is essentially a collection of prisoner profiles and their favorite recipes; however, when one digs deeper, each prisoner's narrative becomes apparent. ... (read more)

The Science-Religion Nexus

A New Reality: Life Below the 'E' State
by C.R. Boretsky
Trafford Publishing

reviewed by Wendy Strain

"I view all things as transitional. There is no beginning and there is no end. It's what's in between that is the interesting part."

In this book, Boretsky describes a sense of synergy he feels is taking place between science and religion in our 21st century timeframe. He starts his book with the first line of the Bible. He uses this quote to illustrate how the way it is written automatically establishes our thinking along a linear plane. ... By discussing what science and technology have taught us about the nature of our world and our universe, he shows why this single perspective has led us down a too narrowly defined path that prevents us from gaining access to truth. This discussion is based heavily on verifiable mathematics and understood principles of physics interspersed lightly with evidence from the Bible ... (read more)

Presidential Stakes

Patriotic Gamble
by Ken Gorman

reviewed by Karyn Saemann

"Everything had fallen in place to create a constitutional crisis. 'Atkinsen will never get his two-hundred-seventy votes now,' he whispered to himself."

Presidential politics turns deadly in this "inside the Beltway" thriller. Steve Wagner is the overworked chief of staff to a sitting U.S. president who's facing a historically rare crisis: winning too few electoral votes for a second term. When neither President Herbert Atkinsen and his vice-presidential running mate, nor the challenging ticket, gets the required 270 electoral votes, electors prepare to convene in Washington D.C. to vote as state delegations, with one vote per state for president and vice president. Drama intensifies as that process, too, threatens to deadlock. For the first time since the 1800s, the vote may be kicked to the U.S. Congress. ... (read more)

Heavy Healing

Rockpeople: Beyond Chester Creek
by Joel Carter
Canuckshuk Artworks

reviewed by John E. Roper

"To find life's answers
you have to remember to raise your hand
to ask the questions—
and then learn to wait
for the answers."

The ancient Hebrews would often erect impromptu monuments during their travels, pillars of stacked stones set up to remind them of important treaties or miracles of God when they passed by those locations in the future. The Inuit and other peoples of the Artic have historically formed similar rock sculptures called Inuksuk to aid in navigation and to serve as places of veneration. With perhaps a nod to his Jewish heritage but mainly with an artistic respect for the Inuit stone formations of his native Canada, the author has spent the last several years piling up his own stone sculptures, works of natural beauty designed to function both as art objects and instruments of spiritual healing. ... (read more)

A Time to Give

Giving is Not Just for the Very Rich
by Dr. Susan Aurelia Gitelson
CreateSpace

reviewed by Cynthia Collins

"Whereas in Europe and many other parts of the world, the great museums and the other arts institutions are built and maintained by the state... most American museums and collections within institutions... originate from individual donors."

This book is an excellent guide for anyone who wishes to contribute to a nonprofit organization but isn't sure how to do so. As the title indicates, you don't have to be rich to donate. Contributions can come in many ways, not just from celebrities or others who are very wealthy with millions of dollars at their disposal. While Dr. Gitelson acknowledges some well-known people who have either founded a charity or given millions to one that was already established, she also points out that everyone, no matter what their finances, had to start somewhere. ... (read more)

Mining for Trouble

Deadly Lode
by Randall Reneau
CreateSpace

reviewed by Michael Radon

"Well, Agent Monroe, when you hatch a company on the Vancouver Stock Exchange, you're apt to end up with some rather colorful shareholders."

Shifting weather reveals an abandoned gold and copper mine in the Northwest United States and geologist Trace Brandon is keen to see if there is anything left worth extracting. He quickly discovers that what was once useless and abundant when the mine was originally being operated is now a potentially valuable and rare commodity: uranium. Going into business with his friends to get the mine going, they have no choice but to trade the company publicly in order to fund their operations, but the applications of their resources and the potential profitability of their venture attracts unsavory characters from all walks of life. Soon stock market cheats, mobsters, and... (read more)

Transcending War

A Lifetime at War
by Gordon L. Ewell
Trafford Publishing

reviewed by Dylan Ward

"You have been severely wounded. This day is the day the war you were fighting ends. This day is the day your new war begins. This is the start of your war after the war."

Very few people ever experience a living hell much like that of war veterans returning from combat, only to return home to face a harsh new reality, often suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, family and marital problems or the onset of extreme depression. But even more so, are the disabled war veterans who face a far more unique "war after the war" as Gordon Ewell puts it in his second book, A Lifetime at War. Here, Ewell lays bare his own dramatic struggle with life after becoming homebound, damaged and broken in far more ways than anyone might imagine. He offers a vivid account of his permanent life as a disabled veteran... (read more)

Helping a Veteran

An American Crisis: Veterans' Unemployment
by Mark Baird
Inspired Authors Press

reviewed by Jana McBurney-Lin

"The 1,000-year world domination of Rome ended when its citizens no longer would enter the military because there were no benefits or employment safety net for them when their term of service ended."

Author Mark Baird's lifelong mission is to ensure America stays strong by keeping Veterans respected and employed. To that end, he has not only started hirepatriots.com, a job post for Veterans, but has co-written this how-to book intended to help them. The book is broken into twenty-four chapters, mostly narrated by a different Veteran—of finding a first job, spending too much money on credit, opening a home business, etc. Some chapters are intended more for businesses, providing step-by-step procedures about how to hire Veterans. Some chapters are intended for Veterans seeking employment with tips such as don't expect too high an income, network, and read the book What Color is Your Parachute? among others. Some chapters are intended for both readers... (read more)

Corporate Intrigue

The Odessa Concessions
by Gordon Deverowe
Xlibris

reviewed by Cynthia Collins

"I sometimes wonder if people like me didn't have a good deal to do with making the world the way it is now..."

Put together the fast-paced Jason Bourne series by Robert Ludlum with the legal thrillers of John Grisham and you have The Odessa Concessions. The political and power-driven intrigue for control of Lockwood Petroleum involves an international cast of characters as well as three generations of the Lockwood family. When the grandfather, who is head of the company, dies under mysterious circumstances, his adult granddaughter searches for clues to find the killer. ... (read more)

Man's Best Friend

Sam d'Bear
by Michael Marsden
Gray Dog Press

reviewed by Annie Laura Smith

"I have a feeling my troubles are just beginning."

This story originally was the second novel in a trilogy of David Montgomery mysteries. The author notes the big, black Newfoundland dog took over the story by making it more of a human interest story rather than a mystery. The author's own dog, Keeper Bear, was no doubt the role model for Sam. Keeper Bear had traveled with Marsden to Estes Park, Colorado, and into the Rocky Mountain National Park. It is this location where the story begins. ... (read more)

A Case He Can't Refuse

Fatal Contract
by Chris O'Grady
Create Space

reviewed by Sherokee Ilse

"A shot rang out in the morning silence. Pete ducked down behind the bush barrier, peering cautiously upward... a hissing sound behind him brought his attention down from the invisible shooter above. A hole had been shot through his pickup's right front tire."

A missing young lady, a murder, a rich relative, gambling, muggings, and hard hitting thugs… this novel set in San Francisco and Reno has it all. When Phyllis Vincent steps into the detective's office, she has no idea of the adventures ahead. Her friend Bobbie is missing and she doesn't know where to turn, so she finds a detective agency hoping to convince someone to take a case with little evidence and minimal facts. Though she never actually meets Detective Decker, his low-level assistant Pete Hudson expresses moderate interest in the case and the next thing you know they are traveling to Reno and on a dangerous adventure together. ... (read more)