Welcome to The Shivoo! Creatives Mimicking the Creator Laura Bartnick Capture Books When the opportunity to review this book landed in my inbox, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by the title. What’s a shivoo? And what does it have to do with creative people and God? Early in the book, Laura Bartnick explains that [...]
Will the Real Person Please Stand Up? Rising Above the Fear of Rejection Gail Porter Redemption Press Gail Porter writes with incredible candor that reaches out to bond with readers from the first page. Will the Real Person Please Stand Up? is delightfully written and well-researched. Each chapter concludes with a prayer followed by reflection [...]
As a self-publishing consultant and citizen, I was interested in the story about Catherine Pugh, the former mayor of Baltimore, who pled guilty to federal conspiracy and tax evasion charges in November 2019. Here’s the lead paragraph from the Associated Press report of her sentencing: The disgraced former mayor of Baltimore was sentenced to three [...]
Recently I was ranting to a friend about someone who annoys me. I explained that I can’t remove this person from my life; I just need to learn how to manage my frustration. My friend said, “You need to pray for this person.” What? I don’t even like this person. But I knew immediately my [...]
It’s an exciting time to be a self-published author, but mistakes can doom your book. One of the most common mistakes self-publishers make is sloppy proofreading. Errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, word usage, and so on are one of the primary reasons for negative book reviews and returns. A good proofreader will catch and correct [...]
When I had the privilege of speaking to the Space Coast Writers' Guild about mistakes self-publishers make, I shared some predictions about what would change for self-publishers in the 2020s. One of the most important trends we’ve been seeing and that will only get stronger is that authors are becoming increasingly empowered. Traditional publishers no [...]
Above the Fold Rachel Scott McDaniel Smitten Historical Romance (Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas) I don’t usually review romance fiction on our site, but when I was offered the opportunity to review a story about a young woman trying to make it in the newspaper business in the early 1900s, I couldn’t resist. Above the [...]
When kind, generous, service-minded people do charitable work, they often say that they want to “give back.” And I think: Why not simply give? To me, “giving back” means returning something. It means I have something that was loaned or given to me and I’m giving it back. But most of the organizations I support [...]
One of the most common questions prospective clients and aspiring authors ask me is, “How long should my book be?” It’s an important question with a simple answer: It depends. Your book needs to be long enough to accomplish its purpose. For some books, that could be as few as 5,000 words; for others, it [...]
Priceless: A Devotional Cookbook Based on Proverbs 31 Vickie Burns Redemption Press Devotions, reflections, a prayer journal, menu plan and recipes—all carefully crafted and blended to help the reader move closer to becoming a Proverbs 31 woman. Blending a devotional with a cookbook is a charming and challenging idea, and Vickie Burns does it well. [...]
