Process

1] Work out your genre and subgenre.

Eg: Mine are mostly Science Fiction, Adventure

2] Search Amazon Kindle for books in your genre and subgenre.

3] Pick at least five examples, but more if you wish.

Right click on each of the covers, select copy. Open a word document and paste the copied image onto a page. Repeat for 4 more images in your genre.

I selected these for Science Fiction, Adventure.

Next you study the images you selected and answer each of the following questions.

If you get enough Yes answers to the above questions, you can use these covers as templates for your own covers. I do not mean copy the covers. I mean base your cover layout similar to the covers that do work.

My Genre Research Example

I selected more images that told me they were science fiction and deleted the images that just told me they were adventure, but not necessarily science fiction.

Note: On the theme, I answered yes to all. I guessed dark and mysterious science fiction adventure. I may not be correct, but I will not know for certain of how relevent the covers are until I read the blurb, and the free sample for each of the ebooks.

None of the covers impressed me. I would not select any of them to read from the cover only. I would need to read the blurb, and the free sample before making a decision to purchase.

Next I repeated the process only this time on Amazon (not Kindle) to include print books from the Best Books of 2011: Science Fiction and Fantasy. Out of the ten books in the list, only three were Science Fiction. The rest were Fantasy so I deleted the covers from my list.

First I noted the difference to the Kindle ebooks. Not as dark. Even at this small size I could read the titles, even if the author text and other text fields were unreadable.

The images caught my attention. I did click on each one and read the blurb. I have now added the three to my list waiting for my next trip to the library.

What did I learn? I want my covers different from all the others so they stand out.

Do you want your covers the same as all the others? Or different enough to stand out from the massive selection of books in your genre?

Your turn.

What did you discover? Did the covers you selected interest you enough to read the blurb, check out the reviews and download the samples?

Part A: Introduction

Part B: Basics

Part C: Software

Part E will cover my examples

How far along are you in understanding all the different areas of eBook creation?

Any questions or suggestions appreciated.

The image needs to be saved as a Jpeg, therefore it is easier to work in a program that can save as jpeg files.

• Microsoft Paint
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Adobe Photoshop Elements
• Adobe Photoshop
• GIMP (freeware)

There are many other programs, but you will already have Paint if your operating system is Windows.

You could already have PowerPoint as part of Microsoft Office. Like me, you could already have Adobe Photoshop Elements as part of another Adobe package. Adobe Photoshop is a more expensive option.

However, if you want a package that can do much more than required to alter or create images you can download GIMP, a free graphics program.

1. Open your browser and type in http://www.gimp.org/downloads/
2. This will take you to the download page on the GIMP site. Make sure you locate the Windows operating system version of the program.
3. Click to download and follow the instructions.
4. There is an online manual, and I recommend you take the time to read through, just to familiarise yourself with the different commands and abilities of the program.

You need to learn what each button in the tool box does. The best way is to read the help file for the program. Once you are familiar with the names, look for tutorials using each of the tools.

There are free tutorials on the web for Photoshop and GIMP. I have tried some Photoshop tutorials, then repeated the steps in GIMP. Some of the commands are named differently in GIMP but, once I located them, they work the same as for Photoshop.

To locate the tutorials, I did a Google search on “Photoshop tutorials for beginners”.

From there, I looked at the tutorials, and tried to follow the steps on my own photos or drawings to get the same or similar results.

The main thing I learnt was layers. Understand them. It is much easier to change any part of an image if you work in layers.

The Lasso Tool is useful to pick an object out of a photo and save to a new layer. The Magnetic Lasso Tool is found by right clicking on the arrow at the bottom right corner of the Lasso button.

Also learn how to alter clothing, cropping and resizing the images, setting transparent levels and how to lighten or darken the picture.

There was a steep learning curve for the advanced actions, many of which I will never use, but I am confident knowing I can achieve certain effects if needed by following the steps in the tutorials.

Once you have mastered the basics of altering images, you can search Google for more advanced free tutorials.

I purchased four editions of a magazine called Photoshop Projects. Each edition has over 20 projects with easy to follow steps. Each magazine came with a CD filled with images to help follow the tutorials. I gained confidence by practicing each of the projects.

However, if you try the free tutorials on the internet, they will be enough for you to get started.

Free Tutorial Sites

Photoshop / Photoshop Elements

Mashable Tech

Photoshop Magic for Newbies

Standout Blogger

About.com Graphics Software

GIMP

The Basics

Beginner to to expert

Photo Manipulation

youtube.com Video Tutorials for GIMP

These links should be enough to get you started, or refresh your memory, until next week.

Part A: Introduction

Part B: Basics

Part D will cover Researching Genre

Part E will cover my examples

How far along are you in understanding all the different areas of eBook creation?

Any questions or suggestions appreciated.

Reason for covers

• Attract attention of reader.  How? Colour, image, or “mood” of the cover.

• Visually display genre. Why? Make it easy for readers of a particular genre to select my novel from all the other novels.

• Visually display author name and title for readers Why? If the reader is a true fan they will purchase everything written by their favourite authors, no matter which genre.

Parts of a cover

• Title

Is the title a Hook? Think of the movies Big, or Speed.

Does the title hint at the story?

Is the title clear text?

Easy to read even at a small size?

• Author Name

Clear Text in small image?

Width of page?

On one line or more?

Still readable in Black and White image

• Font

Shape

Size

Colour

Mood

• Image

Setting

Idea

Characters

Event

Genre

Mood

• Series logo or text

• Length of story

• Cover quotes such as Bestseller, or a short favourable review

Size of Cover

The consistent details are the size of ebook covers and the file format required on each site.

All sites (at this time) accept 500 pixels wide by 800 pixels tall, but I prefer to make my covers 600 pixels wide by 900 pixels tall.

The size 600 pixels wide and 900 pixels tall is large enough to work on detail, and can be reduced to view in the small postage stamp size displayed in lists on Amazon, Smashwords, and others.

All sites (at this time) accept the jpg file format. Some sites accept other file formats, but why create the same image in different formats, when one format is accepted by all sites? I keep it simple so there is no confusion when I upload each new ebook onto the different sites.

Colour vs. Black and White Images

Most readers only display covers in black and white at this stage, but there are colour readers coming onto the market, so better to use colour from the start.

Even so, once the cover has been created, change the image to black and white to confirm what the user will see once downloaded from the web sites to their readers.

Branding Book Covers

What is branding? I think it is consistent font sizes, image creation layout and mood portrayed on each cover for each author. This can be for a series, or all books by that author. Like an icon, the author name will be recognised by the readers if the font and size is consistent.

The easiest way to understand branding is Google a series you love, or an author you love. Study the same features on each of the books.

I studied The Night Angel Trilogy covers by Brent Weeks on his site http://www.brentweeks.com/books/the-night-angel-trilogy/.

What is consistent in the series?

Same while background.

Same black clad figure with head covering and sword.

Same swirl of colour (paint diluted in water) behind figure

Same splash of colour (paint?) in front of the figure the same colour as the swirl behind the figure.

Same sized black fonts for each title.

Same sized grey fonts for the author name.

Same font for the detailed line of text.

Same positioning of title, detailed line of text and author name.

I studied L. E. Modesitt, Jr. books on his site http://www.lemodesittjr.com/the-books/

He writes both series and standalone fantasy and science fiction stories.

His series had most of the same consistencies as I listed for the Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks.

His standalone novels in both genres only had one consistent item, his author name. Same font and same layout of text. That is his brand.

You can study other genres and different authors you love, and see if there are other details I have not listed relating to branding.

I decided on my author name as my brand for my science fiction ebooks. I would be consistent with the font size and position of the author name. That way,  if I branch out in mystery or other genres readers will recognise the author name, just like L. E Modesitt, Jr.

I decided my series brand will use the same style of image for each series as well as the author name.

You need to decide your type of brand for your ebooks before you upload your first story in your genre.

You can change the brand for every other genre, and write under many different pen names.

Types of images.

Photos and Illustrations

• Take your own

• Purchase from web site such as:

Flickr

iStockPhoto

FreePhotosBank

Dreamtime

Morguefile

FreeDigitalPhotos

Deviantart 

Manipulated photos

• Use one of the programs listed above and alter one or more photos to create the final image

Drawings

• Draw your own picture and scan into your computer

• Draw your own picture, colour it with pencils, water colour paints, or oil paints, scan into your computer

Manipulated drawings

• Once your illustration is scanned, colour or manipulate using layers

• Use more than one image and arrange as required

Part A: Introduction

Part C will cover the Software Required

Part D will cover researching Genre

Part E will cover my examples

How far along are you in understanding all the different areas of eBook creation?

Any questions or suggestions appreciated.

I have never, in my entire life, purchased a book based on the colour, image or text font size displayed on the cover, and I do not intend to start now. So I wondered how I could continue to create covers for my ebooks when most authors don’t think like me.

I do pick books up if the colours on the cover are different to all the rest of the books displayed on the shelves. Note the word “different”. My old, falling apart, dictionary states that different means “unlike; distinct; various; diverse; not the same”.

Once the book is in my hands I read the title, author, blurb, and date first published. If I am looking for science fiction (mostly) or fantasy (sometimes) or mystery (rarely) I also check who the publisher is. Why? Because I know the style of story chosen by individual publishers and feel “safe” spending over A$20.00 on the product.

I do not care if the character displayed on the cover is fully shown, or from the waist up, or just a floating head in a background of stars and planets. I do not care if the only image is a sword, or spaceship, also floating in a background of stars and planets.

I do not like from the neck down photos, but I understand why it is very common in ebook covers these days. The cover creator is not breaking any copyright laws by showing a model’s face without a signed permission form.

If I know the author, publisher, and like the blurb, I will purchase the printed book. If I am not familiar with the author, I try to find that author in the local library to get a feel for the author’s style, storytelling abilities, and plot layout. If I enjoyed the story, I add the author to a list I carry in my purse, and refer to whenever I enter a book store because I will purchase books by that author.

Ebooks are different. I get to download a sample first. I read the sample. If the words flow, there is action from the start and reasons to care for the characters, I will return to purchase the ebook.

Personally, I can not see the cover at the small postage size on the web site, so there is no way I can pick a book from the cover. When looking, I read the title and author name, and then the blurb. If the blurb is good enough, I will take the next step and download a sample.

However, I am lead to believe that is not what most readers do. Most readers are attracted to the cover, but I am not aware of their next step in the process of selecting an ebook to purchase. Whether they read the other details relating to the ebook such as the  blurb and length, or if they go straight to the reader reviews to make their decision, I do not know.

There are many different web sites and blogs that tell us how to create ebook covers, both non-fiction and fiction. It is easy enough to Google them. I bookmarked a few and read each new blog, in hopes of gathering some secret information required to make my covers stand out from the crowd.

I noticed over the past four years how ePublishing has matured so I need to update my Cover Creation information, hence this article.

When I started I was told to place an icon in the centre of the cover, add the title and author name and that was that. Now, I need to add the length, so as not to confuse the readers. I then included a text field for length.

Then I monitored other blogs where they discussed the font required to make the cover outstanding. I have not changed the font.

Yet other sites are telling me the cover must portray the genre, the cover must show mood, etc.

Just a note here: Mood is a word that was overused when I was studying oil painting techniques, water colour techniques, and cartooning and illustration. Mood is still an overused word. As far as I am concerned the image sets the mood. Enough said.

So I have been learning how to create covers readers are attracted to and decided to write it all in an article. This is the article.

I hope I get better at creating covers, and once the cover attracts the reader’s attention, they will read the blurb, then download the sample. If the sample of the novel is good enough, they will return and purchase the book. If the storytelling is good enough, hopefully, they will return and write a review.

Part B will cover the Basics of eBook Covers

Part C will cover the Software Required

Part D will cover researching Genre

Part E will cover my examples

How far along are you in understanding all the different areas of eBook creation?

Any questions or suggestions appreciated.

My novels, novella, novelettes and short story are available on both Smashwords and Kindle Direct. That in itself is a achievement. I can now say I understand how to format into HTML, compile to MOBI files and upload to Kindle Direct, after formatting the word document for Smashwords.
I am gaining confidence each cover I create.

I am happy with the first three novelettes in my new series, Galaxy Freight, and can’t wait to for Captain Alana Black to tell me what happens in the next two stories.

I am also looking forward to planning the next P. I. Robins adventure, to add to the single cosy mystery I wrote.

New goals for next year are write more stories and create covers and get them published.

That includes using Scrivener for all steps in the plotting, writing and compiling process, with many backups along the way.

I also need to learn more about marketing on the internet, such as using twitter and other tools to help readers discover my stories. And locate and participate in review sites for Science Fiction Adventure stories.

I should also print out my 2012 Year Planner, ready for January. The actual size is A3. I print it on 4 X A4 pages and glue them together.

If you would like a copy of my Excel template for creating Year Planners, I will be happy to email a copy.

What about you? Have you completed your To Do list for 2011?

Are you already preparing new To Do lists for 2012?

Have a wonderful holiday.

Captain Alana Black owns a freighting company called Galaxy Freight and pilots her space ship between earth and colonized planets at the edge of settled space.

She has an android to help called Sam, and an artificial intelligence program called Ship.

In Crash Landing, Captain Alana Black uncovers new information on illegal mining on a remote colony in the Cassiopeia system, so she sets course for the closest Peace Keeper base in her spaceship S.S Escape to report what she discovered, but things go downhill from there. To read the full blurb for Crash Landing click here.

In Altien Rescue, Captain Alana Black agrees to observe an unauthorised human mining operation on the unmapped planet while waiting for her ship to be repaired so she can include the information in her report to the Peace Keepers. To read the full blurb for Altien Rescue click here.

I am working on the third in the series and hope to have it up in December, or early January.

The stories are science fiction novelettes, all based on a female, Captain Alana Black, owner of the Galaxy Freight company, flying a spaceship around the outer fringes of human colonisation, light years from Earth.

Two are ready to check the format for Smashwords, the third is being edited, and the fourth is in the plotting stage.

I was planning to have at least four ready to upload to Smashwords within the next two weeks, ready for all the new ereader owners to purchase after Christmas. However, I may overrun my self-imposed deadline, so may only have three ready to go in two weeks.

I can’t believe how quickly this year has flown by without my noticing.

In the meantime, I also finished editing Divided Loyalties, a Cosy Mystery Novelette I wrote earlier this year or late last year. I am so tired, I can’t remember exactly when the first draft was finished.

However, I made most of the changes suggested by my beta reader and uploaded  it to Smashwords tonight. I am waiting for it to be approved for distribution to the other sites.

I was impressed with how quickly Smashwords formatted the word document. Previously it has taken hours, but this time it only took five minutes, and already has 6 downloads. I am assuming the downloads are samples.

Next, I have to convert it to HTML and upload to Amazon. That will be a whole new experience for me.

Blurb:

When Private Investigator Daniel Robins accepts his first murder case near the sleepy country town of Casino in the north-east corner of New South Wales, he realises he is out of his depth so teams up with the local police to trade information.

With no clues discovered at the scene, he struggles to find a motive.

Even if he uncovers the motive, will it lead to the killer or killers?

You can check out Divided Loyalties at Smashwords

What do you think of the cover image? Too gruesome? Or is it suitable for a cosy mystery?

No doubt like many others around the world, I fell in love with the characters in every book she wrote, even the romance stories.

She was the reason I changed my reading preferences from murder mysteries to science fiction. I know Americans think of Anne’s stories as fantasy, but, they were based on science, so I will continue to think of them as science fiction. I loved travelling to the many different planets and political systems she described, and I loved her strong characters making good decisions; even the women.

She was the reason I learnt how to write my own stories whenever I had free time.

She was my escape from every day life.

She was the reason I ignored all the negative feedback on my writing attempts and kept writing. I followed her advice: keep writing, finish each story and start another, while trying to sell the current and previous stories. (This was before ebooks.)

I waited in anticipation of more Pern stories when she passed the baton to Todd, and, yes, I purchased each one, ignoring the negative comments by other readers.

I have just finished reading Dragongirl by Todd McCaffrey, and look forward to his next release sometime next year.

So, thank you, Anne McCaffrey, for taking me on many exciting adventures with your words.

I am off to let the tears flow while I again travel read all her series and stand alone stories.

Thank you, Anne McCaffrey.

Condolences to your family and friends, and may you rest in peace.

Yes, I understand that one user is talking to another user, but if I am not following both users, the tweets are redundant.

Then, I clicked on a link on one user’s comment and found a wonderful blog that explains tweeting in a way I understand. It is called Tweetsmarter. And it is aptly named. I also clicked their link to follow them.

The blog that I totally agree with is here  and well worth reading. For those of you who are still learning Twitter, also read other blogs on the site to get a feel for good and bad tweets.

The link in the previous paragraph explains how to get retweets, what trending topics are, how to get clicks on your own blog, getting comments on your blog, response tweets, replies from key users, and if you are interested getting on the favourite leaderboard.

I agree that I do click on tweet links that look interesting. It is how I found the Tweetsmarter blog.

I don’t see the point of a trending topic, but it may come to me later. Or, if someone can explain it well enough I might see a use for writers.

Getting lots of clicks to my blog, and lots of comments does help spread the word that I write novels, and could help publicise my novels.

I agree that if a user asks a question, and I answer it for them, they should acknowledge my answering. The same goes for me acknowledging their answers. It is good manners.

I also agree with their comment not to follow or read every blog. Some are not useful, unless you are good friends. I see that every day, where users advise every bite of food that enters their mouth, or every action from rising in the morning to going to sleep at night. I have thought to unfollow them, but I have learnt to recognise the icon and ignore the comment.

Another user tweeted nothing but daily readings of those who follow star signs. I did remove the follow button on them.

I do agree that to get followers, you have to respond to their tweets, and retweet their good blogs or other links they provide. That too is manners, because if the link helps me, it will help others as well.

The other big thing is the time of day or night to tweet. There is a link on the above blog page that will take you to Win Friends and Influence People On Twitter in Just 5 Seconds.

It is interesting. It explains how to spread out your tweets over 24 hours, so your tweet is placed in front of more people, rather than getting lost in a flood of tweets.

I have noticed that when I get on Twitter, there are not many tweets from most of the #htts group, because they are asleep when I am awake. That is what happens when you live in Australia, always behind the times, or in twitter talk, the trends. If you have this problem, you can spread out your tweets over 24 hours, especially if there is a link back to your blog.

So, I now understand the workings of Twitter a little better, and will try to participate more.

Do you know other good “teaching me to use twitter” sites or tips on getting the most out of Twitter?

I am off to check out my followers, and maybe follow them. See you on Twitter.

Firstly, I do not like part of the money I earned during the past year going to a wasteful government, but I have no control over how they spend the tax they collect from me and all the other citizens.

Secondly, I hate the way the government punishes those who save and invest money, and rewards the people who choose to spend their weekly earnings and have no savings or investments.

If I could live my life over again, I would spend every cent I earned and accept the handouts from the government after I paid the minimum tax possible, but, having lived through the ‘50s and ‘60s where most Australians lived just above the poverty line, I am afraid I believe in nest eggs for rainy days. Therefore, I have to accept that I pay tax on the earnings from my nest egg, whether I like it or not.

So, I chose to sacrifice world travel, and many other things, to save every cent I could and invest it. No good complaining now.

Instead, I travelled the world and beyond the solar system in the books I read. I loved every moment I was lost in the worlds other authors created.

I hungered for more stories, but the publishers owning the rights to publish in Australia (British publishers) deemed it necessary to shut the gate on the good stories from the rest of the world, and only allowed certain authors the right to publish their stories.

And, as you have probably noticed, it didn’t work out so well, now everyone can see the shrinking bookshelves, the closing book stores and the increased price of books.

The lack of choice of genre is why I decided to write my own stories, and when Smashwords opened, I decided to share my stories with readers around the world, if they wanted to read them.

You might ask what that has to do with tax.

Well, doing my tax this time, I included the earnings from my ebooks for the 2010/2011 year.

I worked through all the receipts I spent on printing  paper, courses, and anything else remotely related to writing in 2010/2011 period, because I had earnings to show that the expense of learning how to write fiction was worth it.

Of course, I also included the tax America kept before I received my payments and have no idea how that will be treated by my accountant, but I don’t care. I can honestly say I am a published writer because I now receive an income from my writing.

How cool is that?

Even though there is not a level playing field for ebooks yet, it is getting close.

I do care that Amazon will only reward sales with 70% if the sale is in their listed countries, and for all the rest, only 35%, and until I figure how to get around that, I am hesitating to put my books on Amazon.

But I don’t care what the percentage of sales is paid to the authors for each sale in all other distribution sites, because it is a level playing field. The sales can be in pounds, dollars, yen, or other currencies, but Australian dollars are deposited in my bank account.

The readers now decide if they want to read the sample, and the readers decide to pay for the rest of each story if they like the sample. The price range dictates the percentage paid, and the author gets paid.

How wonderful is that? How wonderful it is to write these days.

I even have the incentive to record my expenses each month for the next 12 months, so I will be ready to complete my tax by tax time next year.

What about you? Are you excited to write and publish ebooks? Are you excited to see the small amount of money slowly grow over the months, while you hurry to get more stories onto the sites? Can you see the potential as you write and improve and make more stories available to a growing reader base as ebooks grow?

Exiting, isn’t it?