top of page
Authors and Writers BLOG

AUTHOR'S
BLOG

          A place where writers and authors can share their           

experience and knowledge, and learn from each other.

CLICK ON ANY TOPIC TO REVIEW & COMMENT

CREATING A BOOK COVER

Updated: Feb 4

A great book cover matters! Many books are purchased, because the cover was enticing. A great cover can sell books. There are too many options out there to address them all, but we can certainly review a few good affordable ones.



I wanted to save money. I saw numerous "design your own cover sites" and other options. I spent endless hours trying to create the right one by myself. I finally found a photo that I liked. I built my cover around it. I published the book with my homemade cover. When it was listed with all of the other books on Amazon, it was clear to me that mine looked like it was created in Publisher by an amateur. I called CreateSpace. They gave me a few companies and routes to consider. I went to one of the suggested designer's websites on 99Designs. When I saw Meella's portfolio, I knew she was the one I wanted to hire.

To my surprise, a designer was not that expensive. I gave her the photo I had selected and asked her to do her magic. I had some concerns, because we were doing everything via email. Meella with 99designs lives in Australia. I told her what I was looking for, and I was amazed at the options she provided. She tweaked my cover and gave it a professional look. I wish I would have known about Meella when I started trying to create a cover. She would have saved me weeks of frustration. In the end, I think she was worth every penny. I later had her create business cards, postcards and my #audio book cover.


What you need to know about art for your cover:


Things are different than they were years ago. Previously, I would purchase software with thousands of photos I could use. Now, many of those photos are copyrighted work, and protected by the photographer. If you find art on the internet, look for links on their sites such as the one below:



NOTE: Whatever you do, make sure you follow their terms. DO NOT violate them!

 

BOOK COVER DESIGNER SITES: Listed below are companies that have great software that help you to create your own #book cover:



My personal favorite is Meella.



NOTE: Some of the above companies have some FREE art.

 

FREE ART: (not all of the art on the sites below is FREE, but some have FREE choices). Listed below are a few companies that have great art:



NOTE: Even if the art on the site states FREE, make sure you do not have to acknowledge the

photographer or artist in or in your book.

 

SAVING MONEY: If you need the assistance of a cover designer, I suggest you do what I did. Find a photo that suits your book and style. Follow the copyright requirements. Give the photo to a designer and let them create the cover for you. I found it was much less expensive finding the art myself. The designer took care of polishing it and laying it out properly. She tweaked it for various formats. She used the same photo to create the cover, post cards, business cards, and audio book cover. Having a professional do it saved me time and made a much more professional looking cover than I ever could.


SUMMARY: There are many more sites out there, but I think these are some of the most popular. It should give you a great place to start. Wherever you get your art, make sure it is not Copyrighted. If it is, get permission in writing to use it!


Congratulations! You are done! Now you have to figure out what you are going to do with this wonderful piece of art that you have created! Open the Publishing tab and let's get started!








NUMBERING BOOK PAGES

Updated: Feb 4

Do not attempt to number your #book manuscript until you are certain no additional changes will be made.




I watched YouTube videos, read a book on the subject, and read articles posted on various author sites. I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to figure out how to do it. In the end, it was not that hard. I summarized it for my next book in case I forget. Below is what I learned:

​ STEP 1:


GO TO: HOME and highlight PARAGRAPH MARK

This will help so you can see if the SECTION BREAKS are in the correct place in the document.

GO TO: End of the last word on the last page of the Chapter.

Left click at the end of the last word including the period.

GO TO: LAYOUT on your MENU BAR.

Click on BREAKS, Under SECTION BREAKS, click NEXT PAGE. A line with the words SECTION BREAK NEXT PAGE will appear. You can move the SECTION BREAK up or down by using the ENTER/BACKSPACE button.

NOTE: The SECTION BREAK needs to appear at the end of that page.

If it moves to the next page, that page will also be numbered.

DO NOT STOP UNTIL YOU PLACE A SECTION BREAK AT THE END OF EACH CHAPTER ON THE LAST PAGE OF EACH CHAPTER.

NOTE: Once I complete the above process, I turn off the PARAGRAPH MARK.

GO TO: HOME/delete highlight PARAGRAPH MARK.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


STEP 2:


Make sure you check off: DIFFERENT FIRST PAGE/DIFFERENT ODD & EVEN/SHOW


DOCUMENT TEXT

Since I am always using these three Document Formatting Tools, I have added them to my QUICK ACCESS TOOLBAR. If you don't see these three items, use SEARCH and type in one of the above. It is easier when you can always see them.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

STEP 3:


GO TO: the beginning of the first letter on the SECOND PAGE of your CHAPTER.


Left click. On MENU click INSERT and select PAGE NUMBER, FORMAT PAGE NUMBERS. Click the box START AT and add a 1. CLICK OK.

Click on the PAGE NUMBER and select the position TOP OF PAGE or BOTTOM OF PAGE, and style where you would like to number your manuscript.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

STEP 4:


Slide your curser in the box to the right that you have selected and left click. The consecutive numbers will appear wherever you chose on the page TOP, BOTTOM, CENTER, LEFT, OR RIGHT. The first page will not be numbered. The second page will begin with number 2 and continue to the end of the Chapter. ​NUMBERING PAGES:


Repeat the above steps for each Chapter. The only change will be the number that you include in the START AT box.


NOTE: I believe numbering pages is an art. You can do the basics, or you can make the chapters and page numbers stand out. You should coordinate them with the cover and genre of your book. When you finish the above steps, you can polish the pages off with the perfect cover.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


THE FINAL STEP BEFORE YOU PUT YOUR BOOK ON SALE:


What you do next may be one of the most important things you do for yourself and your book. A well thought out book deserves a well thought out cover! Think of the cover like icing on your favorite cake. Select several options. Show them to as many people as you can. Get feedback. Don't rush into it, because you feel anxious. You want to get your book out there. I get it but stop! Take a deep breath and take your time. Have fun with it and pick the right cover!


BOOK MARKETING

Updated: Feb 4

Learn about some of the countless ways available for you to market your book.


It seemed like it took forever for me to write my book, create a cover, format and number the pages, have the book copy edited, order an Amazon proof and approve it. When I was finally done, I realized I had just completed the easy part. Now I needed to figure out how I was going to get people to buy my book.


I have been told many times that unless I am famous or infamous, I most likely wouldn't get an agent to help me promote my book. I knew the odds were against me, so I watched YouTube #book marketing videos, told my friends, built a website, and passed out business cards. A few of my other methods are listed below. Along the way I may have picked up a few readers.


To further complicate the issue, it was important to me to find ways to advertise without spending a lot of money. I knew Amazon had a large network of readers and their startup costs were minimal. The downside was that I also knew that they promote 48.5 million books. Many were written by famous authors and celebrities. No doubt, I was out of my league and felt somewhat discouraged, but I refused to give up without trying.


I needed to figure out how people were going to find my book among the millions of other books Amazon has to offer. As a newbie, I was certain that the only way people were going to find it was if they knew the book title or my pen name. Then they could search for it. Without question, I needed to do a lot more research. I knew there must be a way!

​

Regardless of the known challenges, I decided to go the Amazon route. I followed the requirements posted on their publishing site and hit the send button. A few days later, my book was approved to go live. On Thanksgiving morning, 2017 I saw my book on the Amazon site for the first time. It was exhilarating. At that moment, I didn't care about much else. I want to take a little time to revel in the fact that I had made it that far. For me, it was truly a day to be thankful!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

​

POSTCARDS


I had 1,000 two-sided postcards printed. They looked great. The cost to mail them was expensive. Since I had already purchased them, I sent them out. I have no idea if any of the postcards generated a single sale. There is no way to track your sales with this method. This is one I won't try again.

​

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


PAID REVIEWS


I paid for a professional book review. It wasn't cheap. Online Book Club gave my book four out of four stars. I still haven't figured out how to use it to promote my book or get it to generate sales. However, it made me proud, and I posted it on this site twice.


I got another paid book review. Honestly, I am convinced they never read my book. The information in the review did not correspond with my book in any way. I think they confused it with some other title. Obviously, it was a waste of money. Anyway, these options are costly. Until I figure out how to use paid reviews, I won't repeat this one again either.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


JOIN FACEBOOK GROUPS THAT ALLOW YOU TO POST YOUR BOOK FOR FREE!


Don't take advantage of these sites. Join in and be a part of their book group. Participate! They are trying to help authors promote their books. Help them when you can. I found a few at the time of this writing.


They are as follows:













AUTHOR, PUBLISHER, EDITOR, BOOK READERS - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1419400298292728/about/


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

​

KINDLE DIRECT PUBLISHING CAMPAIGNS


I decided to try one of them. At the time, there are two categories and four options. The two categories included: Product Display Ads and Sponsored Products Ads.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

​

Product Display Ad-Targeted Interests


This was the first one I tried. It generated four sales in three months. It is not my favorite.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Automatic Targeting-Sponsored Products


I tried the Automatic Targeting-Sponsored Products Ad using the suggested bids. Within a short period of time, I knew I was on to something. I sat impatiently and waited. Some of the keywords were profitable, some too expensive, and some never generated clicks or sales. With this information, I created a new campaign.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Sponsored Product Ad and Creating Your Own Keywords


I set up a Sponsored Product Ad and created my own keywords. I liked this method best. I added the profitable keywords from my previous Automatic Targeting Campaign. With the help of the online Keyword Multiplier Tool, I added variations of the profitable keywords. Over time, I created a nice list of keywords.


Use caution when you use Amazon's suggested keywords and bids. Try their suggested keywords, but monitor them carefully. Reduce the suggested bid if you are losing money. Some of them cost me more money than I will ever disclose, because of embarrassment. Shut the keyword down if you see that the adjustments in your bids are not going to make it profitable.


Amazon's Maximum of 4,000 Keywords

It took three years for me to finally start making a profit. Unfortunately, over time, I archived 4,000 keywords. When my archived keywords reached 4,000 keywords, I was no longer able to add additional keywords. I had to start a new Sponsored Product Ad campaign.


Although I mirrored the successful campaign, the new campaign isn't profitable and starting over has cost me more money. My guess is it is an algorithm issue and will take time for the campaign to become profitable again.


I have not received a good answer as to why Amazon cut off a good campaign at 4,000 archived keywords. That was a lot of work and a lot of history that is of little value to me at this point. Sure, I printed a copy, but it's not the same as referencing it when entering a new keyword. It creates more work for me to look through numerous pages of printed keywords, to see if it had been used previously and what the results were. Their Customer Service has been challenging.


SUMMARY


Amazon charges my credit card, and I may never recover what I have spent. However, the benefit is that my book is getting reviews. Although making money was not my primary goal, I am hoping I will someday make a profit again. As you can tell by this post, I am a bit discouraged.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

​

UPDATE

I enjoy learning new things. Sure, this book has cost me money, but it taught me invaluable lessons that I expect will benefit me with my future writings. Hopefully, my next book will help me recover my losses on this one.


I spent four years of running ads, and trying every possible method I could find. I also spent much more trying to figure out what does and doesn't work. I have had many trials and errors, and there have been some hard lessons. However, I intend to use everything I think I know when my next book goes on sale:


My Charming Husband


Stay tuned for an estimated publishing date. I will provide a copy of the E-book to ten readers for free when I am ready to promote my book. The only thing I will ask of those readers is that they provide constructive criticism and make honest comments. Tell me what I need to do to make the book better.


Sign up on this site for "My Charming Husband" updates.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

​

SUMMARY:

It took me a lot of time to find profitable keywords. You need to monitor your ads carefully to make sure you don't end up broke or in debt. If you want exposure and reviews, Amazon can get that for you. If you are looking to make money, make sure you have realistic expectations.

​




bottom of page