AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: A Featured Spot for Authors Who Write About the Craft of Writing, Marketing, and Publishing Books
Your book was written for authors. Now let’s get it in front of them.
You wrote a book that helps writers and indie authors — a guide to self-publishing, a book marketing strategy, a resource on editing, or a deep dive into the craft of writing. You did the hard work. Now it needs to reach the people who are actively looking for exactly what you’ve written.
Our Author Spotlight puts your book in front of a focused, engaged community of self-published authors — the people who read books like yours, take notes, and recommend them to other authors in their circle.
What is Author Spotlight?
Author Spotlight is a dedicated feature in our Self-Publishing Mastery Book Club and The Indie Insider, our weekly newsletter. Each week, one carefully selected book gets our full editorial attention — not a banner ad, not a line of text, but a genuine feature that introduces your book, explains why it matters, and tells our readers exactly who it’s for.
Before we feature any book, we review it. Every application is assessed for quality, relevance to our audience, and the specific problem it solves for self-published authors. If we recommend it, we stand behind it.
That’s why authors who earn the Five-Star Featured Author Seal carry it with credibility, and why our subscribers trust what we recommend.
This spotlight is for authors of books about:
- Self-publishing — the process, the strategy, the business of being an indie author
- Book marketing — building readership, growing an audience, selling more books, building an author platform
- Editing and the craft of writing — grammar, structure, style, storytelling technique, dealing with writer’s block
- Productivity— how to write more, with intention, without burning out
If you wrote a book that helps other writers and authors do their work better, market their books more effectively, or navigate the self-publishing process with more confidence — this feature was built for you.
If your book sits outside these categories, this particular feature isn’t the right fit. The Indie Insider audience is specific — and that specificity is exactly what makes a recommendation in it valuable.
What’s included in your Author Spotlight:
Homepage recommendation on SelfPublishingMastery.com
Your book will be featured in the Self-Publishing Mastery Book Club section on our homepage as a recommended resource for self-published authors. This gives your book ongoing visibility — the visitors to the site will see it as part of the curated resources SPM stands behind.
Editorial review from Self-Publishing Mastery
We read your book and write an honest editorial review. This isn’t a summary; it’s a genuine assessment from who work with authors and books every day. What it covers, what it does well, who will get the most from it. The kind of review that helps a reader decide with confidence.
Video book review on YouTube and Instagram
We record a professional video review of your book and publish it on the SPM YouTube channel and Instagram. This gives you a shareable asset you own — a real person talking about your book, recommending it, explaining its value to other authors. A video you can use across your own channels, add to your website, and include in your book promotion strategy for as long as you want.
Featured Author Five-Star Seal
Authors whose books meet our editorial standard receive the Featured Five-Star Author Seal — a mark of quality you can display on your book’s sales page, website, and marketing materials. It signals to potential readers that an independent editorial team reviewed your work and chose to recommend it to a community of self-published authors.
Featured section in The Indie Insider
Your book gets a dedicated section in our weekly newsletter. We write an editorial introduction that explains what your book covers, who it’s for, and why it matters to self-published authors. We include your cover, a link to purchase, and a brief author bio. The Indie Insider goes out weekly to an engaged list of self-published authors who read it for practical guidance they can use immediately.
About the five-star Featured Author Seal
The seal isn’t a purchase. It’s a statement.
When we award the Featured Author Seal, we’re telling our audience: we read this book, we believe in it, and we’re putting our editorial reputation behind it. For authors promoting a book about writing, publishing, or book marketing, that kind of third-party endorsement is worth more than any paid placement.
Because of this standard, not every application will result in a feature. If your book isn’t a strong fit for our audience, or doesn’t meet our editorial bar, we’ll tell you, directly, specifically, and without leaving you in the dark.
If your book is accepted, you receive everything listed above: the newsletter feature, the editorial review, the video, the homepage placement, and the seal.
How to apply
The application takes about five minutes. We ask for the basics such as your name, your book, a link to where it lives.
We review every application within 72 hours and respond personally. If your book is accepted, we’ll confirm your feature date and walk you through next steps. If it isn’t the right fit, we’ll tell you why.
Your investment
The Author Spotlight fee is $300. It covers the editorial review, feature writing, video production, homepage placement, and The Indie Insider feature. It’s a one-time fee, not a subscription.
Payment is collected after your application is reviewed and accepted — not before. You won’t pay for something you haven’t been approved for.
Apply for the Author Spotlight
Questions authors ask before applying
Do I pay when I apply?
No. You apply first. We review your book and respond within 72 hours. Payment is only requested after you’ve been accepted.
Can I use the video and the seal in my own marketing?
Yes, they’re yours. The video review, the seal, and any materials we create as part of your feature are assets you can use on your website, sales page, social media, and anywhere else you promote your book.
My book is about a different aspect of writing. Does it qualify?
Author Spotlight is specifically for books about self-publishing, book marketing, editing, and writing craft. If you’re not sure whether your book qualifies, mention it in your application and we’ll let you know.
How far out are feature spots booked?
Availability varies. Apply and we’ll confirm the earliest available date when we respond. We feature one book per week, so spots are limited.
