Many self-published authors struggle to earn reviews in a crowded marketplace. We’ve found two free services that will connect independent writers with online reviewers looking for books.

The Indie Reviewer List is a growing online directory of critics who have signed up for the service.  To access the list of reviewers, writers only need to register for the site. Check it out:

To be on this list the Indie Reviewer has to be: Actively posting reviews, review eBooks, not charge for their reviews, not be affiliated to a publisher and have submission guidelines in place for an Indie author to submit an eBook

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The English translation of Haruki Murakami‘s latest book is expected to be finished by the end of 2013.

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group executive director of media relations Paul Bogaards told us that English readers worldwide should see Murakami’s new novel in 2014. The publisher will make a formal announcement later this year about the novel. Yesterday, The Millions posted about the highly anticipated book:

That new Haruki Murakami book that’s been selling one million copies per week in Japan? Yeah, the one you’re excited to read? It’s coming out in Spanish in October of this year, so hopefully that means an English translation is in the pipeline as well.

13-year-old Jake Marcionette has inked a two-book deal with Penguin Young Readers Group’s Grosset & Dunlap imprint.

The imprint will publish his debut middle grade series, Just Jake, in February. The second book will follow a year later. Writers House agent Dan Lazar negotiated the deal with publisher Francesco Sedita.

The young writer published The Dude Kid on Amazon back in 2010. We also discovered a sample of Marcionette’s work at Big IQ Kids.

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Novelist Leighann Dobbs took three spots on our Self-Published Bestsellers List this week with her cozy mystery, 3 Bodies and a Biscotti.

To help GalleyCat readers discover self-published authors, we compile weekly lists of the top eBooks in four major marketplaces for self-published digital books: Amazon, B&N, Apple iBookstore and Smashwords. You can read all the lists below, complete with links to each book.

If you want more resources as an author, try our Free Sites to Promote Your eBook post, How To Sell Your Self-Published Book in Bookstores post and our How to Pitch Your Book to Online Outlets post.

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The late author Michael Crichton wrote a series of thrillers under the penname “John Lange” before he became famous for novels like The Andromeda Strain or Jurassic Park.

Hard Case Crime reprinted these books, but they were told not “to breathe a word of his real identity.”  The publisher will now release all these books, bringing back some rare Crichton books for readers. Editor Charles Ardai explained in the release:

We’re going to be bringing all eight John Lange novels back to bookstores for the first time in more than four decades – and with the blessing of Michael’s family, the first time ever under the his real name … The books are terrific reads, really delicious examples of Michael experimenting with the genres he would become famous for in later life – you’ll find sinister consequences of bioengineering (on a secret island vacation resort, no less!), you’ll find a race-against-the-clock political thriller penned long before the TV series “24,” you’ll find an archaeology professor hunting for a lost tomb in the Egyptian desert decades before Harrison Ford ever donned a fedora…plus a heist of a luxury hotel planned with the aid of a computer, a case of mistaken identity that pits an innocent man against a league of assassins, and more, all presented behind the gorgeous painted cover art of Greg Manchess and Glen Orbik.

Did you love writing book reports in grade school?

The Book Report reading series will celebrate its second anniversary tonight at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York City. The free series brings entertaining guests to talk about a particular book. Guests include Chelsea Hodson, Micaela Blei, Maris Kreizman, Miracle Jones, Krystal Languell and Jennifer L. Knox. Check it out:

Once upon a time you were in third grade and you had to give book reports and it was awesome. The Book Report promises to deliver exactly what it promises: reports on books by the people who’ve read them. Join Leigh Stein and Sasha Fletcher and assorted literate guests for an evening that will remind you of 3rd grade in the best possible way.

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The Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation has named Wendell Berry as the winner of the 2013 Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award. The award comes with a $10,000 honorarium.

Berry will be honored at a gala ceremony scheduled to take place on November 3rd. Tim O’Brien, last year’s winner, will present the award to him. Berry’s essays, books, and extensive body of work has influenced many writers including Bill McKibben, Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver.

He gave this statement in the release: “In a time that spends so many words and dollars upon conflict, it is encouraging to be noticed for having said a few words in favor of peace.”

(Photo Credit: Pam Spaulding)

To promote the release of Cristin Terrill‘s debut novel, All Our Yesterdays, Disney-Hyperion is rolling out a web video series prologue online. You can read the first chapter to the YA time travel book at this link.

The book comes out September 3rd, but the series gives you a sneak peek at the characters. MTV’s Hollywood Crush blog had the first video and we have the second video in the series (embedded above). Here’s more about the video:

Meet Em and Finn, two imprisoned teens who are keeping a secret from the man they call only “the doctor” in this story that takes place in the days leading up to the beginning of the novel.

In perhaps the strangest literary cameo of the year, a Franz Kafka book surfaced in a commercial for Charmin toilet paper.

In a series of interviews with animated bears about their bathroom habits, one young bear holds up a copy of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and remarks, “Sometimes I like to bring a book.” We’ve embedded the video below–what do you think?

If you want to read Kafka’s great book, you can download a free copy. We also recommend you get a free copy of The Trial as well.

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Here are some literary events to pencil in your calendar this week.

To get your event posted on our calendar, visit our Facebook Your Literary Event page. Please post your event at least one week prior to its date.

The August edition of the Franklin Park Reading Series will feature five writers including noted short fiction specialist Amy Hempel. Check it out on Monday, August 12th at Franklin Park Bar & Beer Garden starting 8 p.m. (Brooklyn, NY)

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