Working with Shaun, and everyone at the Book Whisperer is the BEST kind of surprise. Everyone on Shaun’s team are smart, well organized and highly effective. They are also very nice – and very patient. The encouragement Shaun herself has given me, all the way through, has been invaluable. The same is true of her insights into the weird and complex world of Indie Marketing. I thought I might be able to do this by myself. Hah! Shaun has become not only a friend whose opinion I truly value, but has also gone above and beyond in taking over all sorts of the nuts and bolts tasks of marketing so I am free to do what I actually know how to do ( I hope) which is write books. Making the decision to ask Shaun Loftus and The Book Whisperer team to take me on was one of the very best I’ve made – I’m deeply grateful that they found the time and space to make room for me.
It’s been a pleasure to work with Shaun and her team. Very helpful and knowledgeable (I’ve learned loads!) and I would not have gotten as far without them. Highly recommended!
Shaun and her team were fantastic, responsive, creative and made a big difference in my sales. Experts with helpful attitudes!
Shaun is an undoubted expert in her field and her team of freelancers are hugely keen and helpful. Our collaboration suffered from my publishing process not being ready for her marketing services so too much time was spent on set up rather than marketing. I would happily work with her again.
Shaun Loftus and the entire team at Book Whisperer are fantastic. Whether it was a really big promotional push, or optimizing our advertising to create profit on a day-by-day, trench warfare type of optimization approach, Shaun is a fantastic partner with invaluable advice, experience, and connections. If your desire is to see your book or series of books grow organically, and often, explosively, look no further. I’ve done many types of advertising and promotions since my debut novel’s launch and Shaun has had a profound influence on my plans for the future (and current success.) Book Whisperer is really a one-stop shop with a team of great people working for you. VERY HAPPY.
It’s an absolute pleasure to work with Shaun and her team. I love their initiative and creative, out-of-the-box solutions to growing readership. Their expertise is at the top of the range. Not only am I continuously learning, but I’m also saving a huge amount of time in running advertising campaigns. My audience is growing day by day. I highly recommend Shaun’s services!
Shaun is simply the best of the best. She and her team are the most knowledgeable and effective book production and marketing company you could possible find. No one is better at understanding the book market and using the tools and algorithms to achieve maximum results. I cannot praise them enough.
Shaun and her team have been thorough, amazingly helpful, and responsive. They delve into marketing and synching my online presence in ways I don’t understand, but deeply appreciate. The uptick in book sales testifies to their good work!
As a self-publishing author, who had never dealt with marketing and advertising, I was astonished to see that this is a vitally important issue, and that no matter how good you think your novel might be, it will get lost in the fray without an active marketing team. Shaun Loftus (The Bookwhisperer) provided all the guidance needed from beginning to end. For example, how to get reviews, where and how to place ads within my budget, and when to launch. I could not have done it without her and her team of competent professionals.
You’ve finished your novel. You think it’s pretty good. Certainly the best you’ve done so far as a writer. Question is, what in God’s name do you do with it now? How do you promote it, and get it seen? Because it’s… well…kind of your child. I selected Shaun and the team at Book Whisperer to handle my ‘child’ because of the stellar reviews here on Reedsy. And, well, here I am writing my own. Our collaboration has been a tremendous ride and education. During our initial consultation Shaun showed in, oh, about fifteen seconds, that she knows this industry in and out and will pull no punches informing you where your novel stands within it. She makes no promises, other than that her team will do their absolute best. She offers 100% honest, no-nonsense feedback. And if you are a new author (and, I suspect, an established author), she is an absolute treasure to have on your team. And can I add: Shaun gets a lot of praise (and rightly so) but she really has selected a first-rate team of talent of whom I’ve worked personally with Kat, Lindsey and Anya. Super bright, polite, always prompt in responding, hard-working, and incredibly knowledgeable. All specializing in differing, though equally important, areas of the challenging and complex book biz. I am really so grateful to them for their work on my crazy project. Have I had measurable results? Um… hell yes? * I handed them a book that did not fit into a clearly defined genre. Somewhat niche, and I suspect a bit of a nightmare to market. They got it out there, seen, and reviewed. * Even before my contract officially began they found an email list-builder they felt so strongly about they got me registered early, which has since gained me 350 email addresses of potential buyers. *Have been a massive help advising on the cover and preface of the book – drawing attention to a few things I just couldn’t see but which needed to be addressed. * Got me up on NetGalley for some early reviews, feedback from which was essential in how I chose to present the book. * Stressed the need to produce a paperback (not just an eBook – people do still buy paperbacks!). Paperback has been about 1/3 of my subsequent sales (admittedly before the KDP Countdown Deal and promotion week they organized, currently running, which has skyrocketed eBook sales tenfold, literally). * Advised on and built up an author’s website for me though WordPress. I really wasn’t expecting this, but I reached out for assistance and they came though. The site is absolutely lovely, I am so grateful. * Because of the exposure, I was contacted two weeks ago by Tantor Media, who made an offer to purchase the unabridged audio rights to my book. An agreement has been reached, with a nice advance for a still unknown author. With all production costs covered, and with Tantor’s considerable exposure… Obviously, this is just been my journey with Book Whisperer. Yours will no doubt be as different as my book is from yours. Nevertheless, this has been my experience, for what it is worth. And it has been worth a hell of a lot to me.
In an old Monty Python script, one of the Piranha brothers was described as “a cruel man. but fair.” The phrase fits the excellent review Shaun wrote of my novel. Her direct observations are steering me toward a better presentation of the work. Her responses have been on time as well as on target.
One of the luckiest days of my life (and one on which I made one of the best decisions) was in the fall of 2021 when Shaun responded to my request on Reedsy and I hired her. My book was launched today on Amazon and although the work is far from over, I can only look back, shudder, and imagine the horror I would have gone through without her. First, you should know that her team is absolutely brilliant and excellent at what they do. Second, these people really know their stuff. NetGalley for advance reviews? I didn’t even know how that worked. But they do! Facebook, Book Funnel, Amazon, Goodreads, advertising, websites, newsletters, etc. are as familiar to them as my toothbrush is to me. They do a large part of the work for you, tell you exactly what you also need to do and how to do it. If you’ve invested a lot of time and effort in your writing then by all means hire someone that will make sure the marketing of your book will be well handled. And one last thing: they are adorable. I actually love them. I really do.
I thoroughly enjoyed working with Shaun. She goes the extra mile and the team around her are great. Everyone was professional but very approachable.
Shaun and her team were excellent. A true learning experience. I feel like they have not only helped with my launch, but equipped me with the tools to be successful at marketing my book!
Outstanding people who really know what they are doing! They’re lovely to work with and professionally communicative.
If you believe in your books, really believe in them, and you’d rather write books than market them, Shaun is a great choice as an ally. I started this review with belief in yourself as the hook because when I had my first exploratory Zoom meeting with Shaun that’s what I told her: “I believe in my book”. And I did. I had believed in it from its first draft, which, if you have completed a first draft of anything, you know is either magnificent or oafish, or possibly deranged. On my second Zoom meeting with her, after she had read the book and accepted me as a client, I asked her what I should do to help. She was direct, and brief. She said: “give us the keys and let us drive”. And I thought, with a quick mental fist pump: “yesssss……!!!” The ride has been fantastic. Shaun and her team did the many marketing things that I don’t want to do. They did things I don’t know how to do. And they did things I couldn’t do even if I did know how, because in her years in this business she has developed relationships in many places where I have none. Shaun is not the most inexpensive of the options here on Reedsy. But she comes with a team of skilled people to help her. They are very good at what they do. And they have been, every time I spoke with them, delightful.
I spent some seven years working on a narrative nonfiction, had agents and interest from editors, but was never able to place it with traditional publishers–growing (sick and) tired of the whole process. Since I had expended a lot–had a cover designed and copyediting done–I wanted to get it right on launching the book. In surveying the proposals I had through Reedsy, Shaun Loftus stood out as the most comprehensive. Being a process totally foreign to me, I had to put my trust in them. Once they began, they dove right in. They read the book and were committed. It’s all arcane and it was easy to see see that one better know what they are doing in carrying out the launch. They did. Rachel did the editing and formatting–she was perfect. Formatting and chapter changes etc were better than some “Big Five” publishers. And when I had a “crisis” with the book (had to pull it and re-edit it), they jumped in on a weekend and allowed me to do my work at my pace; then reloaded it. They knew all the tricks–picking categories, doing promotions, sending out to review services (like NetGalley), loading it into InGram, and doing evaluations along the way, helping to decide to what extent to keep going. They know their stuff. My book ended up # 1 in three different categories on Amazon. Nice, but no guarantee. It’s still not certain to me what the longterm picture looks like–books are a tough business. But I felt that I had given it the best launch possible. But I’m completely satisfied with Shaun, Rachel, Emily, Anya, and Daniela. It was a pleasure working with them. Cool ladies!
Dear Fellow Author, If you’re looking for a great book marketer, look no further than Shaun Loftus and her team at the Book Whisperer. Thanks to them, my novel, “The Tyranny of Desire,” is, as of this writing, the #1 New Release in Dark Comedy on Amazon! After my first independent book release about ten years ago went nowhere, I was determined to learn from my mistakes and hire a professional marketing team to give my latest book a fighting chance. Boy, am I glad I did. And not just any marketer, but Shaun Loftus and her team. The difference has been like night vs. day, flop vs. hit, and failure vs. success. It helps that she loves the book, but that aside, Shaun has led me through the process of bringing my novel to market with incredible skill, creativity, and generosity of spirit. She’s also very strategic in her approach and has been careful to advise me on how best to spend—and save—my precious advertising dollars. Because Shaun is not only a publishing expert. She’s an awesome teacher who’s taught me many tricks of the trade I can use going forward as I continue to spread the word about this and future releases. No one can promise you success or guarantee sales. Anyone who does is not being truthful. That’s why Shaun was adamant that I manage my expectations. I told her my only expectation was that we give my book the best shot at success it could possibly have within my budget. And she and her team have done that beautifully, with the Amazon ranking to prove it! Finally, I must say that Shaun and her team are not only terrific book marketers, but they have also become dear friends whom I hope to have for many years—and many books—to come. Cheers, Morty Shallman
Knowledgeable, smart, proactive, friendly – just all-around brilliant. Shaun and her team know their stuff and really do deliver. It’s not a cheap service, but it is worth every penny. I could not recommend them more highly.
I had an excellent experience with Shaun and her associates Rachel and Daniella. They are not inexpensive but are extremely professional and deliver real value. As I first time author I can not imagine releasing a book without them They read my novel and made several important suggestions. They helped me choose a superb, cost effective, responsive and efficient cover artist. They did a great job with formatting and helped secure an additional blurb. They identified readers for early reviews and designed a creative and effective advertising campaign. Shaun is particularly focused on spending wisely on advertising. Communication has been excellent with weekly meetings and fast response to email queries. I am thankful to have found Shaun and recommend her highly and without hesitation!
