Self Publishing Cover Art Design Part II by Katie Salidas

Self-Publishing Cover Art - Part Two

Tips for DIY cover design.

 

For the true DIY self-publisher, doing your own book cover can be another way to maintain 100% control over the product.

For that, you will have to have the software capable of manipulating photographs, and the knowledge on how to do it.

If you’re just starting out and want to create ebook only files you can download a free program called GIMP ( http://www.gimp.org/ ) This image manipulation program will help you do the basic things you need to make a cover that can be used for ebooks. It works in RGB (Red Green Blue) only so it will not be able to create your print book files which require CMKY (Cyan, Magenta, Key (black), and Yellow). For print-ready files you will need something a little more powerful. The most popular would be PhotoShop.

Now, I won’t be going into detail there (if you want a Photoshop manual, I’d suggest hopping down to your local bookstore.) What I will do though, is give you some guidelines on the basic elements of a good book cover.

A book cover contain three basic elements: striking artwork, a bold book title, and a legible author's name. 

 

Let’s start with art. The first thing you should ask yourself is. what’s my genre?

When picking cover art, you need to use something that fits within the “norm” for your genre. Look at other books and see what overall theme or style they use. For example: Urban fantasy. Lately, the trend for urban fantasy is a kick ass female on the cover. She’s generally in front of or apart of some city view. How about Romance? Generally romance covers have a man and woman in an intimate setting. Simple enough, right?

These are the norms and what you want to use as your jumping off point for searching out your artwork. You want to make sure your readers, who expect a certain “look or feel” to know that your book fits with their standards. That does not mean copy someone else’s cover, it means use it as a springboard.

Once you have an idea of what you want, you’ll need to locate the artwork. There are many places online to find and purchase royalty-free images. Here are a few listings to get you started.

http://bigstockphoto.com

http://shutterstock.com

http://istockphoto.com

http://dreamstime.com

http://fotosearch.com

http://www.romancenovelcovers.com/

As you can see, there is a wide variety of photo’s out there for you to purchase. Prices and quality span the ranges through the sites but if you’re willing to spend the time looking, you can come up with some beautiful art.

Something to consider when choosing your art.

Because book covers are not just for hardbound and softcover anymore, you’ll need to make sure your artwork translates to the ereader screen as well.

Ebooks are all the rage and that means your cover has to work with ereaders which primarily have a gray scale screen. Certain colors (red for example) will not show up well on a gray scale screen. The same applies to many pastels. You’ll need to check out your artwork in a black and white or gray scale form before finalizing it. Don’t risk alienating readers because you didn’t ensure the artwork was compatible.

Along with that, please keep it simple. Many new self-publishers feel the need to make their cover stand out by encompassing every single element possible from the story. Less is more! Some of the best covers out there are ones with simple yet bold statements.

Beyond beautiful artwork, there is also the typography to consider too. Your title and author name needs to be clearly visible to readers. Remember your cover is the first thing they see. You want to make sure they can clearly distinguish you and your book on first sight.

Things to consider with font.

1. Organize size of fonts in order of importance. Title of the book should be the largest font on the cover. Author name should smaller. Any subsequent text or quotes you wish to add should continue to be smaller in size.

2. Select color of fonts to stand out, yet still feel like it belongs.

3. Organize placement of fonts to work with the artwork, not against it. Don't cover up beautiful artwork with your words. Yes, some things will get covered, but you do not have to plaster a title across the best part of the picture.

4. Don't clutter the cover with text. Only text that is absolutely necessary should be there. Quotes are nice, but limit it to one on the cover. Use your interior pages for continued praise of the book.

Pick fonts that are striking and bold enough to be seen in both large and small sizes. You have to account for the people who might pick you up on a store shelf as well as those browsing the virtual racks.

Amazon is one of the biggest ebook retailers and when browsing through their store book covers are shrunk to about 105x135 pixels. If your book cover doesn’t look good that small, it will turn readers away. Picking fonts that are strong enough and clear enough to be read at this small of a size is a must!

Do not pick more than 2 fonts to use on your front cover. You might think it’s cute to have different fonts for the title, author name, and various quotes, but trust me, it only makes your cover look amateurish. Stick with one, or two fonts for the cover. That includes front, back, & spine.

Once you’ve got your font picked out, placing it on the cover art can be tricky. You want it to fit nicely within the art or around the art without detracting from it.

There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to type placement on book covers. No matter where you decide to place the text, try to avoid running your text all the way to the end of the image. In print, you’ll end up cutting off part of the title in the bleed area. In ebooks, your title will just look crowded. 

Thank you Katie for sharing with us.  You have given everyone some things to think about definitely.  You can find more tips and hints to publishing and editing by visiting Katie online at Written In Blood. 

Coming Soon...

I know it's been a while,  but we are getting back into the game.  We've got some great things coming up for you.  Here is what you can look for in the near future from The Flying Monkeys....

• Writer's Workshop on Character Development
• Writer's Workshop on Plot Development
• Written Tutorials on how to structure your book
• Live Workshops on Blog Talk Radio

That is just a few to mention as we are still designing what's to come.  We are going to be covering a ton of topics to help you become a better writer,  answer questions,  and teach you how to market your book.

Here is what we would like from you:

• Writing Erotica
• Writing Science Fiction
• Writing Romance

If you write in any of these genre's and/or would love to share writing tips with our readers,  please send an email to bkwalkerbooks@comcast.net with "Guest Blog" in the subject line.

If you ever have questions,  or are in need of a how-to,  and would like to see certain subjects featured here,  send an email to the above address.

Writing 101 - You've Written Your Book, Now What?

You've Written Your Book Now What?

Now that you have written the perfect book. Now what? How do you as an independent author get it in book form, get in front of the readers and market it?  Writing it was the easy part. Now comes the part where a writer becomes an author. This is the part that separates the hard core writers from those who thought they would write a book and it would sell thousands of copies simply because they wrote it. Not happening. There are as many writers and authors out there as there are ideas. The way to get noticed is to make yourself stand out of the herd. To let the masses know that you have something special. And let me tell you ­ even if you happen to be lucky enough to get a contract with a traditional publisher- you are still expected to market your book. They will not do it for you. In fact if you sign a contract for say 50,000.00- you have to sell that much in books the first year or else you have to pay it all back to the publisher.

If you think "I will just go out and get an agent." Think again. More manuscripts lay unopened on someone's in box, than get read. It is not that they may not be interested it is just they get thousands a day from hopeful writers wanting to get published by a well known publisher. Thinking they will get on the best seller list
and make a fortune.

The first thing each of you must remember "As a writer/author we don't do it to become famous, we do it for the sheer love of writing." If you can wrap yourself around that statement and understand it ­ things will be much smoother in the shark infested waters of the literary world.

That being said, there are things you can do that work. I have run the gamut in this industry. I have had to learn most of it on my own how to get read. Some things have worked and some haven't. I along with all of the other indie authors who I network with have learned how to make the internet work for us. In fact
the traditional houses now are watching us to see what we do. They have been very slow to use the net because they have distribution, we don't. But we don't have to worry about a lot of inventory.

Marketing 101

So let's take a minute and look at Marketing 101.It is called the 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule was set up years ago when people went door to door. The idea was if you did cold calls to 80 doors you would get 20 sales. That principle still applies.  That is why exposure is key. Here are several things you need to do and do them
religiously. Just like your writing.

First build you a facebook page and add friends all over the place. Get set up on twitter, and myspace. Next- go to all the free websites and build pages. Link to other authors like myself who have been out there a while. IF you google my name you will see I am all over the net. I have stranger contacting me about marketing now.

The important things you want to put on these pages are your bio, your book covers, synopsis, reviews, pictures of your appearances, places to buy your book,  etc. You first have to market yourself before you market your book. You have to let people know that you have something special. That you are something special.  I have known authors who wrote very bad books, but they sold simply because they marketed themselves first. You can't market your product until you first market yourself.

Things you don't want to put on your site are pictures of your kids, pets,  vacations, husbands. The reason, this is your business. You don't want folks taking time to view all that when they need to be looking at you and your books.

Face book is different, you have latitude there- also you have latitude on myspace. But on my space you want it to be clean and sharp. The other sites like word press, blog spot, etc you want it to be strictly business. Just on my space alone I have four sites one site for each of my books plus my site with my picture and my name. I also keep them on the top friends of each site.

Keep these sites updated, yes it takes time, but believe me it is well worth it.  When someone googles your name you want it to jump out at them. You want to be so accessible that a potential reader has no excuse not to buy your book.

Do book reviews for other authors, which gets your name out there. Post them on Amazon, your sites, etc. That is another avenue to get noticed. BK Walker Books is accepting inquiries to join our review team.

You also want your book to not only be in print form you want it available in e-book ­ kindle and any other form that is out there. That is the reason I use Lulu.

My books can be down loaded in ebook form and I use Amazon Kindle for the kindle book which is growing. Two of my books are on the best seller list on Kindle.

This also gives you another avenue of royalties.

You can never do too much marketing. This is one of those times where more is better. One of the little tricks I use is I carry business cards with me all the time. I also have post cards with pictures of my books on them. When I give out my business cards I also give out the post cards.

Oh yes, never be afraid to give out a card. I gave one out at Target one time when I saw a lady looking for a good book. I don't know if she looked me up or not , but I gave her the card. You can never over market yourself.

In conclusion, let me go back and give you the steps again.

1. Know your story, that is, if you are not proficient in the subject matter research it. Know your place, again if it is not local and you are not sure of the things that are conducive to that place research it. Make it creditable.

2. When writing non- fiction always research your subject, make good notes, give credit for resources, and put them in the book, get permission for names or use fake ones. Note this in your book with an asterisk.

3. Don't try to put everything in your book from your research, and tell a story,  not a dissertation

4. You as a writer are unique- the way you write is part of your uniqueness.  There is no wrong way or write way to put a book together. It is what is comfortable to you. That is style, time, etc. You set the tone.

5. Trust someone to proof your book, trust me you will be glad you did.

6. Know that before you can market your book, you have to market yourself. So believe in who you are, what you are and what you do.

7. Network with like minds, with other authors

8. Get reviews, write reviews, get on blog talk radio, get advertising stuff- ie cards, postcards, banners.

9. Join a writers association ­ I belong to Florida Writer's Association

10. If you have never spoken in front of a crowd, now is the time to learn-

11. Understand you may never be on the bestseller list, you may never get a movie made, and you may never sell hundreds of thousands of books so write because you love it. Leave it behind for those who love you and who you love.

12. Last But Not Least- Pay it forward. When someone asks you how you did it share the information- don't be afraid to help another writer- it will come back to you three times over.

I have included some handouts including this speech for you to carry home with you so you can use it as a reference, line the cage of your bird or use it for the dog's entertainment. But aside from that- I hope you will keep it close and refer to it time and time again. I have also included my card which has my email,phone
numbers and book store on it. Feel free to contact me anytime. I am here to help.

Lastly, I want to say thank you for taking the time to come and join me here today and maybe I have given you some tools to work with, a path to travel and knowledge which will become wisdom.

Remember, as writers we are odd minded and like minded and we all have a story in us.

Thank you.

If you would like this entire workshop emailed to you,  please contact Yvonne or BK with your email address.  If you have any questions,  please leave them in the comment section. :)

Writing 101 - Reviews

Reviews

We all enjoy being praised. We all want everyone to just fall in love with our book. And sometimes we don't understand why they don't. It can be very crushing when we get that first bad review. However, if you can take that bad review and make it work for you then you are the winner. Trust me ­ it can happen. When I
got my first bad review from someone who never even read Silent Scream I posted it on my site. My book sales soared. It made the people in my network so upset they went out bought the book and wrote their own reviews on Amazon.

That aside, there have been books I read even by some well known authors who were so bad I couldn't even finish them. However, I refused to trash the author or the book. The reason is simple there might be someone out there who would enjoy it. Someone who has a different opinion. And in reality that is all a review is,
just an opinion. And that is relative. Bottom line don't take those to seriously.

Take the nicest thing in the review and post it. That really ticks off the reviewer who has written a bad review. Turn it into a good thing. Make it work for you instead of against you.

When you are ready to send your book to print ­ you will want to get some reviews to either put in the front of the book or the back of it. That is very important, especially if they are from other authors.

Review Services can be found for free at BK Walker Books.

Next topic is You've Written Your Book,  Now What?  Friday,  October 1, 2010.

Please leave your questions in the comment section. :)

Writing 101 - Editing & Proof Reading

Edits and Proof Reading

One of the main things to remember is this is your story, you can change it,  rearrange it, re-write it any way you want to. If you ask for another's opinion remember it is just that. You are still in control and not everyone who reads your work will love it.

Which brings me to another point ­ find someone you trust who knows good grammar, is articulate and is willing to read line by line to proof your work. They can do it by page or chapter or entire book. The reason for this is as writers we get so bogged down in the trenches that we miss the most simple things, like, she,
he, the and they, to and too. I have a bad habit of transposing letters. My brain runs faster than my fingers. I have gone back and re-read my work and in my mind the structure is correct the spelling is correct, however it is so wrong.

Every author has to have a killer cover. The reason being the cover is the first thing a potential reader is seeing for the first time. If a book cover catches my eye you can bet I am going to pick up that book and read the back cover or the jacket. You want to stand out above the crowd. You want to be that black sheep in a field of white ones. Don't settle for second best.

Here's a great cover designer - Check her out and all the other marketing services she offers.

Debi DeSantis
Romance Author & Book Cover Designerwww.debidesantis.com
www.debidesantis.com/book_covers.html





Next Topic is Reviews - September 27, 2010.


Please leave your questions in the comment section. :)

Writing 101 - Writing Non-Fiction

Writing Non- Fiction

Non Fiction is different; it is more difficult on some level because you as the writer don't want to regurgitate something that has already been written. Take the time to research your story, talk to others, and find out all you can about whatever it is you are writing about. It is very important to make sure you have facts and that you can back up those facts with your research. Always put your resources in the back of the book, especially if you do direct quotes. This is very important if you quote from newspaper, other books, or other articles. You never want to get slammed for stealing someone else's work. You have to give the original speaker credit for that quote. If you are using Microsoft 2007 it has a great program that will post those resources as you put them in the book.

Find a way to write the story different from what every other writer has done.  This can be a challenge especially if several people have already written different books on the subject you are writing about. True crime is one of the hardest to write about if you are not part of that life. I was fortunate; my husband is retired
from the State Attorney's office in the 19 judicial circuit and all of our friends are in that life and with my background in criminal justice and bounty hunting I speak the language.

When you decide to write non-fiction, surround yourself with people who are proficient in that particular subject, don't be shy about picking their brain. Once you show you are serious and credible they may be more than willing to talk with you. When I first contact retired FBI Agent Roy Hazelwood, he wouldn't give me any information until he found out that I already had one book out and was serious about writing the story. Now, I count him as a very good friend.

Don't be in a hurry to write the story. It took me over a year to research and write Silent Scream. When I wrote Silent Scream there was a lot of information I didn't put in the book. The reason is simple, the book would have been too heavy to carry let alone read. Take the most important pieces and put it in your story.
But make it interesting. The object is to tell your real life story with meaning and depth without being boring with the facts. Weave those facts into the story.

If you interject your own opinion make sure that you make that statement in the book. Make sure that you put your resources at the end of your book, any newspaper articles, books, interviews, any resource where you obtained your material. This is very important.

Non- fiction is tricky in that in most cases you must have permission to use real names, it must be in writing. This protects you from the potential lawsuit.

Next Topic is Editing & Proofing,  Friday,  September 24, 2010.

Please post your questions in the comment section :).

Writing 101-Writing Fiction with Yvonne Mason

This will be the first part in Yvonne's Writing 101 series.  Part 1 - Writing Fiction.  Read and enjoy :).

  Writing Fiction

     Now that I have all of you completely confused as to why I write so many different genres let me explain, I am eclectic. In other words I am very diverse in my thinking. Because of my background and my degree my first love is crime. I love the criminal mind. However, I have to listen to the voices in my head telling
me what to write. My first book Stan's Story which has since been redone and re titled to Dream Catcher Failure was Never an Option was a labor of love so that my children and grand children would remember my brother who is challenged and born at a time when the challenged had no resources. He is a success because
of this challenge. He was not put away he was accepted and loved. Tangled Minds is based on a crime that happened in Gainesville Ga. in the 1990's and it involved a friend of my daughter. I also drew from her troubled life for the main character.

      Blood Alley is a short story about a Ga. Truck Driver who winds up becoming something he really doesn't want to be because of something he did. Brilliant Insanity is a crime novel based in Ft Pierce about a serial killer who kills because he thinks he is getting retribution. Silent Scream is a true crime about Gerard John Schaefer Florida's first serial killer. When Fates Collide my newest release was co -written with an author friend of mine who lives on the West Coast of Florida and it is a comedy. WE wrote that book by e-mail.

       By the look on your faces, I see that you all are saying in your mind, you did all this HOW???
As Ricky Ricardo said to Lucy, "Let me splain."

       In writing there is no right or wrong way as opposed to when I was in school and one had to do an outline before one even really put pen to paper. Those days are gone. Each writer has their own style their own way and their own path. Some authors I know make outlines or rough drafts, some put pen to paper and just start the story. Some, like myself take to the computer with a vengeance. There is an old adage in the industry and is "Write about what you know." In other words because of my background in criminal justice, being married to a retired investigator for the state attorney's office and being a hunter, I know about the
criminal mind. I know how they think, what they think and how they act. I know why they kill. I have studied them and their crimes for years. I have also been in the court room more times than I can count. Since that part of my life is a passion and writing is a passion they go hand in hand.

    No matter what I am writing there are several things I do first it doesn't matter if it is fiction or non- fiction. I do research, even if I am very familiar with my subject.

     The reason is simple. When your reader opens that book you want them to step into the story. You want them to believe that what they are reading is real.  You want that book to hold their attention and grab them from the first word. In today's world readers are very educated. They know more than they used to. So if
you are writing a crime novel you want to make sure that your law enforcement isn't knocking some criminal upside the head or arresting them without reading them Miranda. Readers pick up on the little things very quick. They are more educated than in years past.

  When I was writing Brilliant Insanity, I made sure that I knew about Shark attacks, and bait. The reason, well you will just have to read the book. They also picked up on the fact that my criminal met some of his victims at Archie's a very popular place in Fort Pierce. It gave more meat to the story. They could relate.

  When I wrote Silent Scream my true crime one of the things I was told over and over was the fact that some of my readers had been on the very roads the victims were taken from, they had been by the places the girls were killed. They could relate to the book. The point is as a writer you want to be credible while still
using your literary skills in weaving a spell binding story.

   Second I let those voices in my head give me the name of my main character.  Once the name is out there the story starts taking form. Then it is time to let them take over. I have found that when I try to force a story it will not come. Give in to your inner child. Allow those imaginary friends come to the surface. It is okay. We
are called Odd Minded because we think with the creative side of our brain,  which is the right side. You are among the greats if you have stories and characters which dance inside your head.

   The writer has what we call literary license; he is only limited by his own imagination. So if you want to write about a race of people on a planet which is in your head fine go for it. But remember the reader will need a bit of background before jumping into the story. The best way to do that is to give a bit of information at the front of the book, for instance, you will want to make a glossary of the language, way of life, etc. That way the reader knows how to understand the story and his characters. Remember they are reading ­ it is not
visual. Don't start your first chapter without building your story, that first chapter will make or break your reader. In fact that first sentence will either grab your reader or make them put the book down never to pick it up again.

     For instance would you continue reading if the first sentence went something like this: "He died." You might finish the paragraph just to see who died. But would it not be more of an impact if you said, "The bullet ripped through his skull as he fired his last bullet at the cop." For me that makes me want to find out who he is ­ why he was firing at a cop and what happened after that. A good writer always puts the who, what, where, when and how in their story.

   It doesn't matter if you are writing a romance, suspense, mystery, cookbook, the idea is to make that reader walk that book to the checkout counter at the library, the bookstore or the online cart. You want them to say "I gotta have it."  Then you want them to tell their friends what a great book it was so they will run out and buy it.

    If you are writing a book and it is taking place say for instance in your home town, remember folks from your home town will be reading it. They will know if you put Main Street at the end of 1 when it is really at the end of 4 street.
                                    
     If you want to write a story that takes place in a different state, country or town, take the time to research that place. Make your reader see the sites, smell the smells, hear the different sounds of the place. Make them want to visit that city, town or country. Make them understand the hardships of a third world country or a communist country. Own that place. With the technology we have in the internet there is no reason not to. You can travel all over the world and never leave the comfort of your easy chair. Once you get a lay of the land you can make it whatever you want it to be.

     In my years as both an avid reader and writer, I have found that when an author gets bogged down in detail it takes away from the story. I have read everything from Tolstoy to Shakespeare, to Poe my personal favorite, to Stephen King to Ann Rule, Ann Rice, Patterson, and others. I started reading when I was
five years old before I started school and never looked back. When I was twelve years old and in seventh grade I had to read Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" and do a report on it. From that day on I never looked back, crime became my favorite, along with Edgar Allen Poe.

    We all have our favorite author who we would like to emulate. Read everything you can by that author, or by authors who write what you are interested in writing about. This gives you an idea of what is out there, and how it  is written to grab the masses. But remember you as a writer are unique. Use that uniqueness to write your story.

    The main thing I found out is this less is more. The only book I ever read that Stephen King wrote which I really enjoyed was Pet Cemetery the reason is because he didn't describe a blade of grass to death. There is only so many ways to describe a blade of grass.

    A prime example is this: "The emerald green, pointed five inch long deep veined blade of grass swayed softly back and forth as if dancing alone in the early morning rising bright yellow sun which rose as if kissing the dew covered earth."

    As the kids would say this is way too much information.     A better way to describe this scene would be- "As the morning sun kissed the earth the emerald green grass swayed as if dancing in the early morning light."

   This sentence gives the reader just enough visual to keep their interest but yet doesn't overload the scene.
I have also found that in describing sex scenes that once again less is more.  This is especially true when you are writing a crime novel. Serial killers, predators and rapists don't use sex as their primary tool. Sex is secondary to the control and the feel of power over their victims. The stalking, abduction and the kill is the
primary factors in their actions. The sex is just something to keep their victim under their control. It is a fear factor, if you will. Women are more afraid of being raped than anything else. So that action makes the perfect tool for fear. But even with that one should not use over kill to make that scene.   The reader doesn't need a blow by blow account of what is happening to keep the flow of the story going not even if you are writing erotica.

Stay tuned for the next lesson in Writing 101 - Writing Non - Fiction.

If anyone has any questions,  please comment and we will respond :).