catebaum

About Cate Baum

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So far Cate Baum has created 396 blog entries.

Review: Not in God’s Name by Paula Fouce ★★★★★

Not in God's Name by Paula FouceMuch of the commentary surrounding recent terrorist attacks and threats might lead one to think that religious hatred is a new thing. But in fact violence and hatred in the name of religion have been around a very long time, perhaps as long as religion itself. Or at least as long as the monotheistic Abrahamic religions. For many Americans, religious violence seems to have recently arrived on American soil, but that is a bit ingenuous as well. From the Salem Witch Trials to the Sikh Temple massacre in 2012, the United States is no stranger to hatred and violence that […]

2017-03-24T10:35:06+02:00May 20th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Non-Native English Authors And Self-Publishing – Seven Challenges For Editors

english-keyboard-ecommerce1As non-native English speaking authors are enticed to the self-publishing industry, what are the challenges for writing a book in English, and how can authors enter the market successfully?

Recently, as an editor, I have noticed a real upturn in the number of non-native authors that ask me for editing services. Many tell me they have been turned away by other editors.

The thing is, because I have been an English teacher in Spain, I speak three languages, and have a qualification in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) it doesn’t scare me (maybe also growing up next to the […]

2015-05-14T05:05:22+02:00May 14th, 2015|Categories: Features|Tags: |

Sharing Without Reading – How Authors Can Find Readers For Their Online Content

interwebWe’re faced with a huge social pressure of being ‘engaged online’ to sell our books as self-publishers, but is our carefully-crafted content being absorbed?

As authors are encouraged to guest blog, interview, and post on all possible outlets online, is this just throwing it all at the wall when the evidence shows people share to look cool, erudite, and popular, rather that sharing what they have read?

In a world where “RIP *insert really ancient and intriguingly cool famous person’s name I never heard of before today here*” is a way to make your Facebook page pop, and picture quotes […]

2020-02-21T06:49:19+02:00May 13th, 2015|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: , |

Review: The Power of Courage by Charol Messenger

★★★★½ The Power of Courage by Charol Messenger

In The Power of Courage: An Uplifting Saga of Moving Beyond  Abuse by Charol Messenger, a memoir of an abusive relationship, Messenger takes us day by day through the twists and turns of an affair that turns very bad very quickly, becoming emotionally, psychologically, and physically dangerous. In fact, and this is one of the strangest things about this story, it doesn’t really turn bad. It starts out that way.

I have been told that during performances of Shakespeare’s Othello, audiences often shout and leap from their seats in an attempt to stop Othello from killing Desdemona. I […]

2016-03-04T04:34:18+02:00May 8th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Seven Reasons Why you Shouldn’t Ask Your Book Editor To Sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement

NDA booksChoosing a book editor should be based on whether the editor is a sound and clean worker with knowledge and experience in the language you have written in, using curated or affiliated professionals (I’m with the EFA and listed on Blurb, Reedsy, and ALLi – I think these are good places to start). Despite this transparency in my trade, there seems to be a new wave of paranoia. I keep being asked to sign NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements) to edit your books. An an editor, I’m not happy about this. Why? Well, here are seven reasons.

1.  Amateurs are starting fires […]

2015-05-07T03:32:37+02:00May 5th, 2015|Categories: Features|

An Interview With SPR Awards Winner Hi-Dong Chai: Author of Shattered By The Wars

Hi-Dong Chai, born in Korea and educated in the United States with a Ph.D. in engineering, established himself as an authority in his field with numerous inventions and publications.  He is an inventor/co-inventor of 52 inventions, that were either published in the IBM invention disclosure bulletin or filed for the U.S. patents, and author/coauthor of 40 technical papers.  He also published a book, Electromechanical Motion Devices, Prentice Hall, 1998.  He worked for IBM for 19 years in both engineering and management positions, took an early retirement  in 2007, and went to teach at San Jose State University as a professor […]

2022-03-17T02:45:34+02:00May 5th, 2015|Categories: Interviews|

Review: 101+ Secrets From Nutrition School by Lynne Dorner

101+ Secrets From Nutrition School by Lynne Dorner

101+ Secrets From Nutrition School by Lynne Dorner is a bright and breezy look at nutrition and wellbeing in 101 + quick tips, with  fun illustrations and references for anyone looking into improving their way of life with food and exercise. If you’ve ever wanted to lose weight without dieting, and you want clearer skin and better health as a result, this is a good place to start.

Lynne Dorner has put together an account of her time at nutrition school, where she was taught by such legendary lifestyle gurus as Deepak Chopra, and this book does sell the system […]

2020-02-21T06:37:17+02:00May 5th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: |

Review: TZAK: How Time Travel Began by Cindy Shearer

TZAK - How Time Travel Began by Cindy ShearerTZAK – How Time Travel Began by Cindy Shearer is a futuristic novella about one girl’s experience with time travel in a post-apocalyptic America, set in Yucatan, Mexico.

Zola de Chichen, a Maya science student, tells of the times she has encountered time-travelers, and how she herself time travels once she reaches university, in a world where humans can breed their children with any kinds of looks or variants they choose. When a man from the twenty-first century accidentally gets through the portal with Zola, he has to adjust to life over three hundred years in the future.

One would […]

2017-03-24T10:45:33+02:00May 4th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |
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