Cate Baum | Self-Publishing Review

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.

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 Rules such as ” do not send a hard copy” and writing length, “unpublished/published only” have to be adhered to.
Is your book ready to compete? Be honest with yourself about your writing, and ensure you have

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Cate Baum2014-08-31T01:15:35+02:00August 31st, 2014|Categories: Features|Tags: Competitions|

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

Tides by Sandra Haight Sandra 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 […]

Cate Baum2014-08-29T12:10:37+02:00August 29th, 2014|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Poetry Book Reviews|

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

It 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 […]

Cate Baum2014-08-26T07:13:06+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 […]

Cate Baum2020-02-21T05:35:29+02:00August 25th, 2014|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Book Reviews|

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

IQ plus EQ Feliciano 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

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Cate Baum2014-08-16T01:05:03+02:00August 15th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Business Book Reviews|

Self-Publishing Success Story: Michael Bunker

michael-bunker Michael 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?
The Pennsylvania Omnibus is his biggest seller, but he’s written an immense amount […]

Cate Baum2017-02-20T09:14:26+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 […]

Cate Baum2014-08-08T14:27:11+02:00August 8th, 2014|Categories: Features|

Why Pay For A Book Review?

Cate Baum of Self-Publishing Review attempts to put some of the myths to bed about what it means to buy a book review.

I have seen too many forum posts where self-publishers vow to never pay for a book review. It’s still seen as sinister and icky, and somewhat dishonest. But there’s a touch of herdism about all of this naysaying. Let’s look at the facts.

There Are Two Types of Paid Review

There is a huge misunderstanding in the community about what paying for a review really means, and it’s about time the publishing community understood the differences. Not […]

Cate Baum2014-08-07T01:57:32+02:00August 7th, 2014|Categories: Features|