Cate Baum | Self-Publishing Review

The Elder’s Circle by Jessica Schaub

Picking up right where Gateways, Book I of The Elemental Chronicles left off, Victoria believes that she’ll be home tomorrow. After all, she defeated Ona, the mage who killed her father, and essentially saved the world. Or did she?

The Elder’s Circle is the second book in the series by Christian fantasy author Jessica Schaub. Victoria is a Painter, and can paint anything into existence. But she’s been forced to open a dangerous Earth Gateway, and now the powerful and evil mage Ona is missing. In this installment, the story follows Ona’s followers while they attempt to find her. Meanwhile, […]

Cate Baum2019-01-22T04:34:25+02:00December 8th, 2014|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Christian Fiction Book Reviews, Religious Fiction Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

What Not To Write – Ten Book Boos For Indie Authors To Avoid

When writing a book, what are the turn-offs for a reader? SPR editor Cate Baum reveals some of the no-no’s she’s come across on her literary travels in self-publishing.

1. Epigraphs

The unnecesary epigraph, that is, the quote from the cheesy and cliched favorite writer gleaned from Goodreads to make the writer appear erudite and witty, is rife in self-published books. Unfortunately, most of these attempts only have the effect of looking cheap, snarky and tired, as well as having the potential to show up the author’s own writing on the very next line.

So many books open with Gandhi, […]

Cate Baum2014-12-08T06:34:34+02:00December 7th, 2014|Categories: Features|

Review: Gated by Matt Drabble

Gated by Matt Drabble is a classic horror yarn inspired by such creepy tales as Stepford Wives and The Wicker Man. Set in a paradise of a gated community called Eden situated somewhere in the middle of nowhere on the East Coast, Emily and her husband Michael, a horror novel writer of some note, move from the UK to start again when a freak car accident kills their unborn baby. Everyone is so very nice in Eden, too nice, and it starts to give Michael the heebee geebees. When their neighbors reveal themselves to be less than perfect, and Michael […]

Cate Baum2015-03-31T00:59:38+02:00December 3rd, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Horror Book Reviews|

SPR and CreativIndie Announce The Bestseller Book Launch Package

Self-Publishing Review, the leading indie book review site, and CreativIndie, the brainchild of book marketing and design expert Derek Murphy, have come together to offer self-published and indie press authors a guarantee of reaching #1 in their category on Amazon.

The package combines platform-building exposure with solid, provable marketing techniques we are so sure about we will give you your money back if you do not reach the number 1 spot in your category.

The package is only available to ebooks that have not been launched yet, on application. You can apply here.

The Difference Between Platform and Marketing[…]

Cate Baum2020-02-21T03:53:58+02:00November 27th, 2014|Categories: Features, News|Tags: Book Marketing Advice and Tips|

Review: Suicide Lettres by Jack O’Riley

Suicide Lettres, a book of twenty short stories is the brilliant and dark debut by Fargo-based writer Jack O’Riley. Starting with an unbelievably imaginative and original tale, this is the showcase of a talented writer.

These stories are so unusual that they take the reader into a world of lives twisted and broken by their own doing, spirals that fall out of control with unfolding events.

The opener is stunning and abstract, with a freshly-skinned animal pelt doing the talking; the following tales don’t get easier, but it is this grand uneasiness that takes the reader back to a […]

Cate Baum2014-11-26T13:04:02+02:00November 26th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Short Stories Book Reviews|

How To Edit Your Self-Published Book Like A Pro In 8 Steps

So you have decided you can edit your own book? It’s a notoriously dicey option, but SPR’s book editor Cate Baum has put together a quick guide to the professional process using digital techniques for proofreading and the general sweep edit needed to complete your book before market.

Firstly, I want to say I don’t condone this idea. Editing yourself is scary and dangerous, and usually starts and ends with a bruised ego. Many writers have done it, some have ended up abandoning it and hiring someone else to finish it, or worse, find out they need to have it […]

Cate Baum2019-04-12T14:02:50+02:00November 25th, 2014|Categories: Features|Tags: Book Editing Tips|

An Interview With Author Daniel P. Douglas

Tell us something about your book. The basics: what’s it about?

Truth Insurrected is a science fiction conspiracy thriller in which a former FBI agent, William Harrison, investigates a decades-old extraterrestrial cover-up, conducted by a secretive and deadly group known as the Saint Mary Project, while hired guns and an alien-human hybrid stand in his way of finding and revealing the truth.

How did you come to self-publish? Did you try to get published traditionally?

I actually wrote the book 20 years ago and, at that time, tried briefly to go the traditional route. There weren’t any initial takers and […]

Cate Baum2014-11-24T09:53:26+02:00November 24th, 2014|Categories: Interviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews|

An Interview with Author Staffan R.B. Nordqvist, M.D.

Tell us something about your book. The basics: what’s it about?

Choices is the story of my first 78 years on this earth, the first 35 in Sweden and the rest in America. My three sons were born in Sweden, but the five grandchildren here in America. To me, when older family members die, one great loss is the inability to ask them questions about how things were and how they happened in the past. I feel it will be of value for my grandchildren and future generations to at least have some answers about their heritage when I am […]

Cate Baum2014-11-24T05:35:43+02:00November 24th, 2014|Categories: Interviews|