catebaum

About Cate Baum

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So far Cate Baum has created 397 blog entries.

Review: Here, There, Everywhere by Peter Dunkley

Here, There, EverywherePeter Dunkley was going to become a lawyer when he fell in love and gave it all up – and then gave all that up – for a life of travel and adventure, starting in Bombay in the 1950s.

Now retired, Peter’s book Here, There, Everywhere is a charming memoir on a road less traveled by an Englishman abroad, finding true love along the way.

Dunkley really is one of those lucky souls who manages to land on his feet, and maybe it’s his capacity to embrace anything that comes at him and fully experience it that makes this book […]

2014-09-02T14:48:52+02:00September 2nd, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , , |

Ten Tips For Entering Writing Contests Online (With Links)

Tips for writing contests

 

Have a look at our tips for entering writing contests online from SPR editor Cate Baum, with links to some of the best websites offering information on competitions.

 

 

 

  1. Make sure you follow the rules carefully. When we run competitions, there is a 5% hit rate of entrants who are disqualified because they haven’t read the conditions of entry properly. Rules such as ” do not send a hard copy” and writing length, “unpublished/published only” have to be adhered to.
  2. Is your book ready to compete? Be honest with yourself about your writing, and ensure you have
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2014-08-31T01:15:35+02:00August 31st, 2014|Categories: Features|Tags: |

Tides: Poems: Life’s Ebb and Flow by Sandra M. Haight

Tides by Sandra HaightSandra M. Haight’s latest poetry collection “Tides” takes its inspiration from nature and the cycles of the seasons, and those emotions that tie us to the ground and the sky and everything in between. There is also a spiritual thread to these poems, with a prayer to God here and there,

A living thing I am–a flower of
God’s earth. I see His flowers in the field;
The God that fashioned them created me.

Haight’s poems are reminiscent of the work of Louise Bogan and invoke the spirit of Hawthorne’s “The Ocean” with their all-encompassing breath of sea air and […]

2014-08-29T12:10:37+02:00August 29th, 2014|Categories: New Releases|Tags: |

Most Common Self-Publishing Mistakes (And How To Fix Them)

When it comes to self-publishing your book, avoid the most common pitfalls to make the most of your opportunity to become a bestselling indie author!

Scrimping on the Book Cover

Createspace templatesIt may seem very easy to take a snap and use it as a cover, slotting it into one of the simple templates available on many of the book publishing platforms such as Createspace at Amazon. However, these templates should be used only as a very last resort. Why? Because these templates are truly only there for the most design illiterate of us all, and for those who don’t much […]

2014-08-26T07:13:06+02:00August 26th, 2014|Categories: Features, Resources|

Top 5 Paid Indie Book Review Services Compared

top5newchart

It’s difficult to know exactly what you’re getting when you shop for a professional review, so Self-Publishing Review decided to commission a study to look at eleven factors that have been brought to our attention by SPR clients most often, and compared our services to the competition.

Here at SPR, we consider that we are one of five review service big-hitters, and therefore we compared ourselves to each of those: BlueInk Review, Foreword Clarion, Kirkus Reviews, and Indie Reader. We chose these because they use professional writers, have good quality websites and a sizeable brand presence in the indie book […]

2020-02-21T05:35:29+02:00August 25th, 2014|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: |

Review: IQ plus EQ: The Arrow and the Hoisting Crane by Feliciano Bantilan

IQ plus EQFeliciano Bantilan, a veteran stock investor and physicist by training, was struck down by Parkinson’s disease, leaving him unable to work. Lucky for us, however, he has turned his hand to penning exceptional advice for young people interested in approaching the stock market with a new kind of acumen: applying IQ plus EQ.  He says,

IQ refers to intelligence as commonly understood. EQ refers to emotion quotient, or, emotional intelligence. When someone presents you a math puzzle to solve, certain mental operations are set into motion in your brain. The capacity for solving such type of puzzles—we call IQ or

[…]
2014-08-16T01:05:03+02:00August 15th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: |

Self-Publishing Success Story: Michael Bunker

michael-bunkerMichael Bunker describes himself as an “accidental Amish Sci-Fi writer.” His latest book, Pennsylvania Omnibus went to #10 earlier this month on Amazon’s bestseller chart. Engrossed in all things self-published, with “The Bunker Plan”, his own strategy for launching a book in place, Bunker’s website is one of the most inclusive and inspiring blogs out there for writers. His fans have been accused of being a cult, but his sales are proving that engagement with readers is key when promoting your work.

What books has he written?bunker_pennsylvania_omnibus_ebookedition
The Pennsylvania Omnibus is his biggest seller, but he’s written an immense amount […]

2017-02-20T09:14:26+02:00August 14th, 2014|Categories: Features, Success Story|

When Erotica Stops Being Erotic In Self-Published Books

This post contains graphic descriptions of a sexual nature. Because it needs to be written.

I am writing this post because something disturbing has been occurring in the world of self-publishing. I don’t know if it’s the male backlash to Fifty Shades of Grey, or if this has always happened, and it was just that before self-publishing was a possibility, certain books were turned away by agents and we never heard about them again, unpublished, hidden and secret, their words never to reflect in the eyes of readers, never to haunt and terrorize. What books are these? Let me […]

2014-08-08T14:27:11+02:00August 8th, 2014|Categories: Features|
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