Do You Judge a Book by its Cover?

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A book that is brilliantly written, but lacks a good quality cover design will remain unnoticed and undiscovered.  It is absolutely crucial to have a book cover that grabs the attention of readers and book buyers.

Book Covers are often challenging to design as they should show the heart and the soul of the book in one single image and at the same time should be visually striking, appealing and represent the book’s contents.

Will your e-book cover get judged in the same way? Certainly! This is why you really need to focus on the visual design aspect of your cover, because most people will not give it a second glance if it just does not look professional.

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Here are some points you should discuss with your designer.

• Use bold or complementary colors
• Use light on dark for dramatic effects (if it fits to your book content)
• Test the cover in thumbnail size to make sure it looks good at Amazon’s website
• Use not more than different two fonts in total
• Use not too wide vertical spaces between lines of text
• Use few shadow, bevel, gradient or glow – keep it subtle
• Align the cover text – centre, left or right
• Place text on plain background to stand out
• Use the same fonts for all your books and readers will be able to identify them easily
• People read left to right, top to bottom. Position your elements in appropriate levels of importance.
• Never, ever, use a white background for your book! White on white is barely visible and on websites your book will not stick out, as their background as almost always white.

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E-books are bought online, usually on a page with many other books on it. Therefore, simplicity, clarity, brightness and information must jump off the screen. A simple and arresting graphic element and  bold clear text for the title and author must be easy to read on the small online image.
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Bali Rai wrote in one of his blogs:  ”In 2002, as one of the judges on the Guardian’s Teenage prize, I remember a book called Thursday’s Child by Sonya Hartnett.  It’s a simple yet wonderful story of 1930′s Depression-era Australia, and it went on to win the award. However, it was not my choice for winner, simply because I thought the cover illustration would deter people from reading it. It was drab and old-fashioned in my opinion and had I not been reading and judging the book, it would have put me off completely.”
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You never get a second chance for a first good impression!

Don’t use just “flat” font – it is almost always better to add some shadow, bevel, gradient or glow. Using various colors, filters, and effects available in Illustrator and Photoshop, you or your book designer can create book titles that are both, original and effective.

Remember always:
Your title and its appearance is the first, and perhaps only impression you make on a prospective reader.  A great image on your e-book cover will undoubtedly catch your reader’s imagination, wondering what lies beyond the cover. It’s a great opportunity to draw people in.
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Not that an appealing cover means automatically a great book, but a book that is accurately and even interestingly represented by its cover, is more likely to catch the eye of someone who is going to enjoy reading it.  Interesting covers are going to get more time on shelf-displays, online and off-line.  We are a visual culture; naturally that is going to influence our book-buying habits.
A stunning book cover is one of the best marketing tools for any writer!
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More online book cover design sources:

“23 Creative Book Cover Designs and their Story” is a showcase of creative book cover designs, indicating the typefaces used for the title or text:

http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/inspiration/creative-book-cover-story

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Joel Friedlander wrote a great blog about brilliant book titles in one of his blogs:

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2010/06/how-to-write-book-titles-for-people-robotsJoel

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“40 Extraordinary Photoshop Text Effects” shows detailed tutorials, how to create amazing book title effects, step by step and using lots of screen shots.

http://www.problogdesign.com/resources/40-extraordinary-photoshop-text-effects

Using various colors, filters, and effects available in Illustrator and Photoshop, you or your book designer will be able to create book titles that are both, original and appealing. Remember always: Your title and its appearance is the first, and perhaps only, impression you make on a prospective reader.

More about fonts for book titles:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typeface


http://www.dafont.com/themes.php


http://www.1001freefonts.com


http://www.identifont.com

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help:
http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 780+ of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://pinterest.com/111publishing/

http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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How to Improve Your Amazon Sales Page

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One of the greatest benefits of selling your e-book (or paper book) at Amazon is the space they provide you to “advertise” your work.  If you are a savvy author, take advantage of this marvelous opportunity and insert as much information about your writing and yourself as you can. 

Look at it from the standpoint of a reader; which e-book or book would you buy: The one that shows just a boring cover, name of the author, and a very short introduction to the book – or the one that:

- has a beautiful cover
- an all-embracing editorial review
- an authors bio with a portrait
- lots of customer reviews

So, what can you do to improve your appearance on Amazon and improve book sales? A lot indeed! Starting with an appealing cover, detailed editorial review, a marvelous author’s bio and lots and lots of customer reviews from readers and journalists that are writing for newspapers book review articles.
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APPEALING COVER
Rule # 1 for your book cover at Amazon is NEVER to use a white background! White on white is barely visible and your book will not stick out, especially when you chose to have the text in black.  Your book cover should be:

• be aesthetically appealing
• appeal to the book’s intended audience
• represent the book’s contents
• clean, readable font
• bold or complementary colors
• light on dark for dramatic effects
• visit a bookstore to research book cover designs
• test the cover in thumbnail size to make sure it looks good at Amazon’s website
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Hire a professional with a portfolio of great book covers you have admired, or one at Freelancer  or Elance  or just get in touch with your local college / graphic design class to find a young and eager cover artist.
An appealing book cover can be even done through the use software, such as Bookcoverpro.com,  if you are computer-savvy and creative / artsy.
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YOUR EDITORIAL REVIEW
Write as much about your book as possible and use all the space you get from Amazon:Editorial Review—350 characters

From the Author, From the Inside Flap, and From the Back Cover—8000 characters
About the Author—2000 characters (All characters are including spaces, single page in 12point arial font is approx. 2100 characters)

See the detailed information on Amazon:

https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/help?ie=UTF8&topicID=200649600

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AUTHOR CENTRAL & AUTHOR PAGE
At the Author Central page on Amazon you get lots of free marketing help for your book set up your Author Central account if you haven’t already done so.  In Author Central, click the “Profile” tab. You will see sections for adding or changing your biography, photos, videos, speaking or other events, and blog feeds.  Sections are always available in Author Central, so you can add or change the information later.

It can take 3 to 5 days for the Author Page to appear on the Amazon.com site – so start right now adding content to your Author Page. If you add or make changes later, they will appear on the Author Page within 24 hours of the time you add them in Author Central.  There are lots of features for you to choose from – as more you add, as better:

• Your Profile
• Your Biography
• Uploading Photos & Videos
• Managing Your Blog Feeds & Your Events
• Managing Your Bibliography
• Uploading Book Images
• Managing Editorial Reviews

Get all the information at: 
https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/help

Uploading Videos: You can share video interviews, book signing videos, and other videos with readers. Your videos should focus on specific features of your books or your experience as an author. If you publish at both, Amazon AND on Barnes&Noble, also use B&N’s video feature: “Interviews, Meet the Writers: Video”.

Hire a professional video maker to create your book promotion and upload the video to YouTube, as well as your own website, your blog or these of your friends, your Facebook site (ask all your friends to spread the word and to re-tweet).
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CHOOSE THE RIGHT BOOK CATEGORY
Readers have to FIND your book first to buy it. There is a large list of possible categories to put your book in:  the categories that best match your books based on their content. Study carefully each book that is competitive to yours and see in which categories the bestsellers among them are listed. Narrow down your list as much as possible. You can email Amazon’s KDP and ask them to get your book into the proper categories, telling them the exact line, such as this:

Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Reference > Writing > Writing Skills
More about the right genre in a former article on this blog.
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CUSTOMER REVIEWS
Anyone registered as an Amazon.com customer is entitled to write customer reviews. They do not have to buy your book at Amazon, to write a review. Customer reviews are in order from newest to oldest with the exception of “Spotlight Reviews” that are based on how well the review was written and how helpful it was deemed by our customers.
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BRING IN MORE VISITORS:
What else can you do to bring visitors to you your Amazon page?

1. Create a direct link from your book to your Amazon book’s page
2. Link from your personal webpage, your email addresses, your blog, Twitter, Facebook etc. to your book’s page at Amazon
3. Create a signature with your book link for your email and also for any forums in which you participate. Whenever you write and end with your name, your signature with the direct link is always inviting people to go to your Amazon book page.
4. You can even put your Amazon link to your book’s page on your business card
5. Join the Kindle Forum to ask questions, get help and support from other authors.

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Use every bit of support you can get from Amazon, and also what you can find on this blog, and your book – if written well – will be a success! These tips are (mostly) valid on other book sales pages, such as Kobo, Barnes & Noble or Apple.

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help:
http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 750 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://pinterest.com/111publishing/

http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Where Can You Find FREE Photos and Illustrations?

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Even though I am an avid photographer, taking often several hundred images a month, from time to time the need for a certain motive arises.  The question was, where can I find inexpensive photographs?  A lot of research brought up a handful of online offers that I like to share with you. Maybe you need a certain image for your website, your blog or your book.  Please see some websites below that provide good deals on royalty-free photographs or even free ones.

But what is the difference between free, royalty-free and rights-managed?

Free images can be downloaded without any rules or agreement and are in the public domain. The creator offers his work public and free, there are no legal rights or restrictions for his or her work and it can be duplicated.  Images which have been copyrighted can still be considered as free when they are explicitly announced by the artist to be used, copied, distributed or modified.

Royalty-free images are given the right to use. There is an agreement that the licensee can use the photo without paying additional royalty charges, but it does not mean that the licensee can use the image for what ever he/she wants.

Rights Managed images means a contract between the licencor and licensee, regarding licensing the rights to use photographs, specifying to use the content in a certain way. This can include the length of time, the medium, the size, the format and the location of use. Unlike images under royalty-free licenses, the licencor is in control or has history of the rights granted involving the image.
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FREE IMAGE SOURCES

I am only on page 15 of about 3,000 pages of free photos and have downloaded dozens of beautiful images that I can use for websites, books and yes, also for this blog. This is the best of all websites I found so far:

http://www.morguefile.com

An amazing hidden treasure on the internet, ten, no hundred thousands of free images (almost 300,000) and you are allowed to copy, distribute, transmit and to adapt the work. No “accounts” necessary as on other websites, just go to “free photos”, choose an image and download it.
Some of the photos are in such a high resolution that you can use them for your book cover image.
A real treasure trove!

http://www.Flickr.com

http://www.Freedigitalphotos.net

http://www.deviantArt.com

http://www.istockphoto.com

http://www.dreamstime.com

http://www.shutterstock.com

http://www.fotosearch.com/

http://www.photogen.com

http://www.imageafter.com/images.php

http://www.stockvault.net/

http://www.sxc.hu/

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As you browse, pull any images that catch your eye. Don’t assume you’ll be able to return to that page later. Chances are, you’ll never find it again. (most sites are constantly rotating, to show new images) – save the ones you like and cull them later. 

What is your favored website for free photos?

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help:
http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

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Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 740 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following our social media sites:

@111publishing

http://pinterest.com/111publishing/

http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Interview with Author Michael Watson TREASURE OF THE ANASAZI

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Hello Mike, thanks for being with us today and telling readers more about your Jack Trader series and yourself as a writer. Let’s start, as I have lots of questions for you today:

How would you describe your book to someone who has not yet read it?
Treasure hunters threaten the discovery of the single remaining Anasazi village deep in the Mesa Verde area of SW Colorado. Jack Trader, the main character, and Ranger Samantha Baker must stop the men even when their own lives are threatened. The Anasazi, the coyote people, have the capability to transform if they are forced to protect themselves.

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What inspired you to start writing?
Research about Noah’s Ark led to the writing of my debut novel, “The Nestorian Alliance“.

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How did you get the idea for the novel?
This second novel, “Treasure of the Anasazi“, is a continuation of the Jack Trader series. My research of the Mesa Verde / Durango area gave the inspiration to write this book.

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Are your characters based on real people?
Not specifically, but I’m sure my personal experiences find their way into the characters.

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Treasure of the Anasazi by Michael Watson in a YouTube Book Trailer:

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Who is your favorite character and why?
Jack Trader is the leading character and my favorite. He always strives to do the right thing and will take personal risk to protect those around him. He is not perfect. He still struggles with his relationship with Samantha.

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Give us an excerpted quote from your favorite review of this book:
“Darn awesome. I felt like I didn’t want to put it down.”

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Michael Watson

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If Oprah invited you onto her show to talk about your book, what would the theme of the show be? Adventure in our National Parks.

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How much of the book is based on real life (either yours or someone you know)?
It’s not based on any one person’s real-life event(s), but does try to reflect real situations, dialogue and real character actions.

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What would/could a reader or reviewer say about this book that shows they “get” you as an author?
He writes realistic interactions and natural flowing dialogue.

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Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?
The writing process cannot be rushed.

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Considering a book from the first word you write to the moment you see it on a bookstore shelf,

what’s your favorite part of the process?
One of my favorite parts of the process is the research.
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What’s your least favorite?
My least favorite is the revising and re-reading over and over and over. Oh yeah. Marketing is a real pain too. It takes away from writing.

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What scene or bit of dialogue in the book are you most proud of, and why?
I enjoyed the last scene when (spoiler alert) Jack and Sam may finally come back together.

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If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything about your book? Nothing. There were changes after my editor and beta-readers went through it though, and I’m glad they did.

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What genre have you not yet written but really want to try?
I’ve never written a western, but I am now in the process of writing one based on research I stumbled upon at the historical museum at Durango, CO while researching this book.

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If your book would be made into a movie, who should play the main character?
Hugh Jackman

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How did you get published? Please share your own personal journey.
After receiving a huge pile of rejections from every agent and publisher I queried by snail mail or email, and failed pitches at numerous writer’s conferences, I took the leap to self-publish. The experience through CreateSpace has been very positive. The downside is the amount of time necessary to market.

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What general advice do you have for other writers?
Write what you are interested in. Don’t follow trends. Establish good writing habits.

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What do you find is the best part of being an author?
Being able to research and write about what interests me. The schedule to write is my own, however, the more structured, the better.

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What is one thing that you have done that brought you more readers?
Hired a great designer (Laura Wright LaRoche) for the book cover. First impression is extremely important, even though we are told not to judge a book by its cover.

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What else your readers would be surprised to know about you?
I didn’t start writing seriously until I was 50 years of age.

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Where can people learn more about your writing?
My blog on 
http://www.adventurewithmike.com/mikes-books-etc.html

Thanks so much Mike, for answering so many questions I had. And to all your readers: Have fun and enjoy Mike’s great book series!

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Be Spoiled for Choice …

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… how you want to learn book promotion.  And there is a lot to learn: Publishing evolves constantly and the success of your book(s) is very much depending on you, no matter if you self-publish or if you go with one of the big publishers. 

Choices in publishing, essentials of book / e-book layout and design, your platform and brand,  optimizing social media, use of non-traditional ways of book marketing, book distribution, online retailers, learning about  marketing on a shoestring… it’s over-whelming.  But not if you get help from someone who has studied e-publishing and marketing for many years – and practices it all.

Choose between weekend seminars or sign-up for customized online marketing training (special offer in December)  

… or plan ahead for a publishing and book marketing seminar on a 5-day Caribbean Cruise on board of the Carnival Breeze, a brand new cruise liner, taking off in Miami, FL, on November 3, 2013.  Make your travel plans soon, bookings for this offer start at the end of this month!  

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Hello, I’m Doris-Maria Heilmann with 111 Publishing.  We are not only publishers of traditional and eBooks, we extensively market our authors books.  We also host informative seminars for authors on the “art” of promotion. 

During the last years, publishing books has totally changed. Nowadays we writers need to build our own platforms, identify our own demographics, and find our own market share – even if we are with a traditional publishing house!  The profession has changed and we need to adapt in order to succeed.   

Our unique “Seminar-At-Sea” will help authors to:

• Strategically establish a writing career
• Create our own brand
• Identify our target readers
• Find out how to reach these readers
• Market and publicize our books on a budget
• Find free book publishing funding sources

Soon I will be announcing all the details of this spectacular opportunity.  But for now…mark November 3, 2013 on your calendars!!  Connect with your peers and learn invaluable information to enhance your writing career…all while having the time of your life on an exotic Caribbean Cruise!!

Doris-Maria Heilmann

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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are almost 600 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Follow on Twitter: @111publishing

And don’t forget to spread the word on other social networking sites of your choice for other writers who might also enjoy this blog and find it useful. Thanks, Doris

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30 Books by Bestseller Author Rayne Hall

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… and what you can learn from her.

Rayne Hall is the author of thirty books in different genres (mostly horror, fantasy and non-fiction) and under different pen names, published by twelve publishers in several countries and languages (mostly English, German, Polish and Chinese).  Her short stories have been published in many magazines, e-zines and anthologies.

Rayne holds a college degree in publishing management as well as a Masters degree in creative writing.  Over three decades, she has worked in the publishing industry as a trainee, investigative journalist, feature writer, magazine editor, production editor, page designer, concept editor for non-fiction book series, anthology editor, editorial consultant and more.
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Currently, she tries to regain the rights to her out-of-print books so she can update them and publish them as e-books.  After living in Germany, China, Mongolia and Nepal, she has settled in south east England where she lives in a dilapidated seaside town of former Regency and Victorian grandeur.

Outside publishing, she has worked as a museum guide, apple picker, tarot reader, adult education teacher, trade fair hostess, translator and bellydancer.  Many of these experiences have provided fodder for fiction: several of Rayne’s stories feature bellydancers. Many of Rayne Hall’s stories explore the individuals’ responsibility for their choices, and the dark side of the human psyche. Her horror tales are psychological, creepy and suspenseful rather than gory.

She edits a series of themed multi-author short story anthologies (Haunted: Ten Tales of Ghosts, Bites: Ten Tales of Vampires, Cutlass: Ten Tales of Pirates, Scared: Ten Tales of Horror etc). For a list of books currently published under the Rayne Hall pen name, go to Amazon:

She judges writing contests (mostly for short stories, horror or fantasy fiction), coaches authors and teaches online classes for writers among others:

• ‘Writing Fight Scenes’

• ‘Writing Scary Scenes’

• ‘Writing about Magic’

• ‘Edit your Writing’ 

These classes are for intermediate to advanced-level writers and professional authors – definitely not for beginners or the faint-of heart.  Get an up-to-date list of scheduled classes.

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WRITING FIGHT SCENES – the e-Book.
Learn step-by-step how to create fictional fights which leave the reader breathless with excitement.
The book gives you a six-part structure to use as blueprint for your scene. It reveals tricks how to combine fighting with dialogue, which senses to use when and how, how to create a sense of realism, and how to stir the reader’s emotions. You’ll decide how much violence your scene needs, what’s the best location, how your heroine can get out of trouble with self-defence and how to adapt your writing style to the fast pace of the action.

There are sections on female fighters, male fighters, animals and weres, psychological obstacles, battles, duels, brawls, riots and final showdowns. For the requirements of your genre, there is even advice on how to build erotic tension in a fight scene, how magicians fight, how pirates capture ships and much more. You will learn about different types of weapons, how to use them in fiction, and how to avoid embarrassing blunders. Note: The book uses British spellings.

Writing Fight Scenes is vailable from Amazon (US site), Amazon (UK site), Barnes&Noble, Smashwords, iTunes,  Kobo and other online booksellers.

Rayne is active on Twitter where she posts #writetip tweets. If your profile says that you read or write, she will follow you back.
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58 Top Websites to Announce Your Book for FREE

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You might have read and saved my list of 52 websites to announce your book for FREE

http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/47-top-websites-post-your-book-for-free/

There are six more pages to which you can submit the cover image of your book and / or the description, author bio and a link to your book trailer:

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  http://wonderworld-variety.blogspot.fr/p/indie-authors-contact-us-get-your-ebook.html
  
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  http://indieauthorsunite.weebly.com/members-info.html
  
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  http://weread.com/author_search_page.php?src=home&authorRegistration=true
  

To submit a cover image of your book including a description/link go to – if it is an outstanding and creative book cover:

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  http://bookcoversanonymous.blogspot.ca/
  
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  http://bookcoverarchive.com/
  

See also an extensive list of video sharing sites in my upcoming book:
“111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer” which will be available on Amazon beginning of August.
Upload your trailer not only on your website and blog, on Amazon, Google+ and FB, but also on more than twenty major sharing sites, starting with YouTube and TubeMogul.  Add a link to each of them to your website or wherever your book is sold.

If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out previous posts (there are almost 500 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “Like” next to it.

Follow on Twitter: @111publishing

And don’t forget to spread the word on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Tumblr or StumbleUpon – or other social networking sites of your choice) – other writers might also enjoy this blog and find it useful.

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5 Helpful Tips: How to Format an e-Book

Guest post by author Margaret Kell Virany
From Paperback to Kindle: Five Problems & Five Solutions
When I decided to publish my paperback book as a shorter Kindle with a new theme I had a lot to learn. Luckily, I found places to go to solve my problems, and I didn’t even go broke.

Problem # 1
I thought I could upload a PDF created in Open Office and it would be as good as using Microsoft Word. That was how I self-published my paperback in 2008 and, for all I knew, Amazon Digital Services had used the same PDF without doctoring it when they turned it into a Kindle book in 2010. I didn’t know I was on a wrong track.
Solution:  I consulted the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) website.  A PDF file contains hidden html formatting codes which are not accepted by the Kindle publishing platform unless converted. I had wasted time, for example, by using the tab bar and a variety of fonts, sizes and headings. KDP warns against using  tab-spacing, since it won’t convert to Kindle. I corrected that by setting  the ‘paragraph’ formatting to indent automatically, then deleted my manual tabs.

Problem #2
I downloaded a conversion program, Mobipocket, which didn’t work so I was stuck. KDP had said this would put my PDF into a Kindle-friendly format. However, it rejected my Internet Explorer 7. Should I buy a more expensive converter program? Was a new browser necessary?
Solution:  I clicked on ‘Community’ in the KDP page’s top menu and found out I wasn’t alone. Other authors were having similar, or worse problems than I had and were seeking or giving advice.

Problem #3
I had resisted getting a new word processor program
Solution: I spent $138.00 for a Microsoft Word10 program and installed it.  I saved my manuscript in it and created a picture file.

Problem #4
I still had no idea how to do the finishing touches
Solution:  I discovered jtbigtoad , a forum participant, was offering the best advice. He is experienced, goes into minute detail and keeps things simple. He explained how to put in the Table of Contents, links, page breaks, headings, etc.

Problem #5
Creating a good cover
Solution:  At Fiverr.com you can hire a graphic designer who will do a book cover for $5.00.  Mano, a true professional, did the cover for my book, Kathleen’s Cariole Ride.

Success
I uploaded the book with Jtbigtoad’s instructions in front of me, showing the commands that would appear on the computer screen and where to click. No converter was needed and the actual publishing took 25 seconds!

Margaret Kell Virany

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Top Ten Tips for a Great Book Cover

A stunning book cover is one of the best marketing tools for any writer!

It is absolutely crucial, especially if you are self-publishing, to have an excellent book cover that grabs attention – from a 1-inch-size image.

Your cover image and title are your attention tools. If they attract a reader, this reader will have a look at your book’s content (“Look Inside”) and check out the book reviews to make a purchasing decision.

 

 

Top Ten Book Cover Tips:

1. In the Western world, people read left to right, top to bottom. Position your elements in appropriate levels of importance.
2. Use light (but never, ever white) on dark for dramatic effects (novels, spiritual, etc.) and dark on light for easy readability (self-help, how-to, business). There are always exceptions to the rule when you want your book to stand out with a certain color or theme.
3. When setting up your cover layout, allow another 0.25inch from the trim guides. This will ensure enough space around the cover’s edge and provide a more professional look.
4. Give your finished cover the thumbnail test. Make sure it will look crisp and polished when reduced way down for display on online bookstores like Amazon or Barnes&Noble.
5. In a bookstore the viewer will first look at the front cover; then flips to the back cover to read further. Draw him in with a catchy back header and short description of your book (blurb).
6. Visit local library and research as many book cover designs as possible. Identify what works, and what doesn’t work for you. You can learn just as much from badly designed books as from beautifully designed books.
7. Don’t center all the text on your cover or title page–this looks unpolished and unprofessional. Left aligning produce much cleaner lines.
8. Don’t use more than two different fonts on your cover – this includes counting bold, italic, underline etc. variations as different fonts – better less. This confuses the eye and sends a negative message to the viewer.
9. You can create a bar at the top to put in any important info about your book – awards won, important testimonials, etc.
10. Put your title “above the fold” – somewhere in the top half or third of your cover.

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Hyper Smash