BookLife Review

Back in February, I applied for a couple of reviews for The Orb and the Airship, as I am attempting to do some actual marketing for this book and series to give it the best launch possible. One of those review sites was Publisher’s Weekly review, as well as BookLife (which is a subset of PW). It doesn’t cost anything to apply for PW, but you’re not guaranteed to even get a review from them.

BookLife is Publisher’s Weekly’s “focused on indie books” branch, and while you do have to pay for the review (a la Kirkus) you are not guaranteed a GOOD review. If it’s not a good review, you do not have to make it public… so that’s nice.

So… I’m sure you can understand that it was with much trepidation that I opened up the review they sent me yesterday evening. I stared at the email alerting me to the fact that my review was finished. I wandered around my computer. I fretted. I asked myself, “What if they hated it?”

But in the end… there was nothing to do, really, but open the page and see what they had to say.

And… to my great delight… the review was a glowing one.

They do give a few spoilers in the full-text of the review, so I’ll just highlight my favorite non-spoilery bits below, and then you can decided if you want to read the full review or not.

Schmidt (King’s Warrior) launches the young adult Turrim Archive series with this jubilant steampunk adventure with genuine characters in a vividly realized world.

Schmidt excels at developing atmospheric situations, and fashioning a vast history and politics of this volatile world on the brink of war.

Schmidt offers an action-packed caravan robbery and spectacular airship battles but still takes time developing the characters’ personalities and essential elements like the anxiety of leaving home for the first time, camaraderie between impromptu new friends, and the impact of revelations of hurtful secrets and memories from their past. Young readers will enjoy the simple text and leisurely pace because the journey is often as important as the destination.

Takeaway: Dazzling steampunk adventures with a practical wizard and an evil warlord.

I couldn’t be more thrilled at reading all those nice words about my story.

BookLife also has a bit at the end of the review where they “grade” various aspects of the book. And I’m pleased as pudding with the grades that The Orb and the Airship received.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

I’d like to take a brief moment to highlight some very important people who don’t usually get the spotlight for the things they do to help us authors:

My epic cover artist wizard, Savannah Jezowski of Dragonpen Designs for the Grade-A cover.

My awesome editors, Allan James, Nancy Walker, and Deborah O’Carroll for the Grade-A editing.

Declan Rowe for the Grade-A design and typography.

And Janeen Ippolito for the Grade-A marketing copy.

Thank you.

I have always maintained that this business of writing a book and self-publishing is not really doable all on my own. That “self” in self-publishing is a bit of a misnomer. For me, it takes a fantastic team of very talented individuals all working together towards this common goal of releasing an excellent product.

And you, dear Reader, will soon get to read it. I promise!