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That doesn't look like a book cover, like, at all. When was the last time you saw a title that didn't have the words capitalized? And it starts with the most boringest of all boring prologues, continued with another boring introduction. It's like you're trying to make readers not want to read your book. Lastly, you have a bunch of song quotations for every chapter, and I'm guessing you didn't pay the royalties to those bands to license those lyrics, so if you ever do manage to make this a bestselling series, all of your money is going to be sued out of your wallet by the bands whose songs you're using without permission. My brutally honest take, hope it helps you sell more copies.
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Jul 22, 2016 06:14
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Oh hey, an extra $300 or so from that adjustment. I'll take it!
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Jul 22, 2016 08:10
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MussoliniB posted:I took all the notes I could from these threads and worked hard on creating my book. And still published it with that cover? Really? Also, you've written a guide to management. Put your credentials further forward. As it is now, you write that you've 'hosed up many times' before you tell the reader why they should listen to you. I get that the tone of the book is supposed to be irreverent, but it's still a self-help book. Tell people why they should listen to you, and by extension, buy your book. Do it in the blurb. The wankery in the prologue is also getting in the way and needs to go. Write it as an afterword or something. Bardeh fucked around with this message at 10:19 on Jul 22, 2016 |
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Jul 22, 2016 09:50
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Yeah, that cover's a problem. Here, I just went ahead and grabbed three random examples of covers in the same category (short business books) that are all doing better than yours. One was published a couple weeks ago, one was written two months ago and one was written in 2014 and is still trucking: https://www.amazon.com/Passive-Income-Beginners-Becoming-Making-ebook/dp/B01HYPXTVA/ref=zg_bs_8624204011_18#navbar https://www.amazon.com/Millionaire-Mind-Budget-Saga-Book-ebook/dp/B01H5U2LJK/ref=zg_bs_8624204011_17#navbar https://www.amazon.com/Write-Engage-Readers-Better-Booklets-ebook/dp/B00B56PP26/ref=zg_bs_8624204011_16#navbar Notice anything? All of these books have a similar style: big, bold text, primary colors, cute clip art. Hell, cut the text out of the 'Millionaire Mind' one and replace it with your title and it'd be pretty much a perfect fit for you. These covers all yell 'read me and be successful', which yours doesn't. You also botched the "Look Inside" portion of your book, which is the most important bit b/c it's what the reader sees before they buy. Looking at your chapter headings, it looks like you actually have some really good information here, but when I pull up the sample what I get is TWO introductions about yourself, then some song lyrics. The first intro talks about all the name changes and stuff your book went through (which, as an author, I get is incredibly interesting to YOU - just not to the reader), then the second says things like "I'm not claiming I know what the best thing to do is." Then why should I buy your book!?
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Jul 22, 2016 14:21
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LionArcher posted:This is my concern. I can do romance covers easy. But this one I'm having an issue nailing. Feel free to post some stock images you like here and we'll give you an opinion. Or join the Slack, why don't you.
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Jul 22, 2016 14:44
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Bardeh posted:Oh hey, an extra $300 or so from that adjustment. I'll take it! Yup, I just got an extra car payment. Not going to complain about that.
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Jul 22, 2016 23:38
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I just wanted to say thank you to every single person that had something to say about my book and I took every piece of advice to heart. I changed the cover, got rid of the song lyrics, moved the wankery intro to an afterward, changed the look inside, changed the blurb, changed the keywords, and rewrote my intro to include why people should listen to me. I tried to use all 3 books that were posted for me as a reference. Once again, sincerely, thank you everybody. Also, the cover of my book hasn't updated on the Amazon homepage for it yet, but it has updated on the look inside. Thanks again for being the editors I couldn't afford, and here's an updated link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IMHDJ1E/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awd_d_ZOoLxbARYWYM2
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Jul 24, 2016 17:23
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MussoliniB posted:I just wanted to say thank you to every single person that had something to say about my book and I took every piece of advice to heart. You still misspelled "millennials."
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Jul 24, 2016 18:31
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Drone posted:You still misspelled "millennials." You must still be looking at the old cover, I just double checked and the new cover is correctly spelled. Edit: The new cover isn't the black and white thing, it's full of prime colors now.
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Jul 24, 2016 18:54
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Ten thousand times better! I do think you should rewrite your blurb so that it's more humorous instead of telling the reader that the book is going to be humorous, if you really are going for the Chad Kultgen thing. But loads better than before.
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Jul 24, 2016 19:17
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Chokes Update™: Pen name has been changed to H.C. Cavall. Found a pretty sweet readymade buried in the horror section of Goon Write that I think is pretty arresting but also preserves the book feel. If it sucks I'm only out $45, but I think I'm on to something---especially since I'm not going to handle any of the typography or indeed anything graphical.
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Jul 24, 2016 22:43
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ravenkult posted:Feel free to post some stock images you like here and we'll give you an opinion. Or join the Slack, why don't you. Slack's easier. It's not in the OP right?
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Jul 25, 2016 21:34
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Someone give me a link to the Slack and I'll add it to the OP. I need to put Raven's cover service back in, too, so I promise I'll do it this
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Jul 25, 2016 22:13
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They need to email selfpub@mail.com for an invite. Invite email has all the deets.
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Jul 25, 2016 23:02
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So let me get this straight, when we write short stories, they're bad and stupid and we should feel bad and stupid. But when James Patterson does it...
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Jul 25, 2016 23:07
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''they're like reading movies''' wut
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Jul 25, 2016 23:09
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Hi All - I've also tried to take the advice that I was given. I spent money on a grammar guide, spent a few days absorbing it, and then spent weeks going through my manuscript to fix all of the errors. I can probably use a comma correctly at least 75% of the time now. For the other 25%, and all of the other things I missed, I hired booksidemanner - a great experience. In terms of paying attention, I've also put together a mail chimp list and added it into the back of the book. It has taken me a while, but I'm pretty happy with the writing, so I thought I'd come back for some more feedback. If I get some decent feedback, then I'll move on to distributing some ARCs (happy to send to anyone on here). I've basically copied the format of blurbs that are popular in the urban fantasy genre to get to the below: Meet Julian Adler, twenty-something, married, and London's one-and-only Dreamwalker. Striding through the Dreamscape, he battles the worst monsters that a sleeping metropolis can imagine, but flinging fire and swinging steel he makes them burn and bleed. Slaying imaginary monsters doesn't pay very well though, so Julian spends his days at an ordinary office job. Ordinary that is, until a beautiful witch walks through his office door and tries to put a spell on him. When the spell goes wrong, an eldritch horror is unleashed into the real world, bodies start to pile up, and Julian's magic is the only thing that might be able to send it, shrieking, back into oblivion. Can Julian discover the right spell to banish the demon, or will it drag his family, his city, and the entire world into a nightmare that never ends? Possible cover below: 
gerg_861 fucked around with this message at 08:02 on Jul 26, 2016 |
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Jul 26, 2016 00:11
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Bobby Deluxe posted:So let me get this straight, when we write short stories, they're bad and stupid and we should feel bad and stupid. These were all the talk at RWA. I don't know why you think "when we write short stories, they're bad and stupid." I'd personally advise against it because the market just isn't there, but if that's what you really want to do, do it. Just don't expect it to sell like a novel. These Bookshots have access to airport bookstores which is a huge percentage of print sales.
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Jul 26, 2016 00:20
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gerg_861 posted:words that i didn't read  Can't see poo poo, captain.
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Jul 26, 2016 00:39
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quote:In the US, Patterson will publish between two and four of the 150-page, $5 novels a month via publisher Little Brown He's ghostwriting up to 600 pages a month
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Jul 26, 2016 00:59
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gerg_861 posted:Hi All - I've also tried to take the advice that I was given. I spent money on a grammar guide, spent a few days absorbing it, and then spent weeks going through my manuscript to fix all of the errors. I can probably use a comma correctly at least 75% of the time now. For the other 25%, and all of the other things I missed, I hired booksidemanner - a great experience. In terms of paying attention, I've also put together a mail chimp list and added it into the back of the book. Title: It's clever but I'm worried that too many people will just glaze past it thinking it's a memoir, literary fiction or non-fiction title. Subtitle: I wish it rhymed. It's so close but so unsatisfying. Cover: It seems to have good elements tied together, but I would check to see what the bestselling books in your genre are doing. Photos or illustrations? Full character profiles doing badass poo poo, or are they more subtle like yours? Your model doesn't have a lot of intensity, so it's hard to get excited about him. Blurb: I'm more interested in the dreamslayer part of your story than the urban magic part. I get that they go hand in hand, but by the end when it talks about him trying to learn a spell, I'm checking out. But it's not a genre I normally read so I dunno.
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Jul 26, 2016 14:22
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Finally got my writing machine back again after another catastrophic software failure (which may, in fact, be a hardware failure) leading to my next point... Take this as a reminder to ensure your writing files are being backed up correctly, and that the back-ups are up to date! Losing a book would suck.
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Jul 26, 2016 15:17
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RedTonic posted:Finally got my writing machine back again after another catastrophic software failure (which may, in fact, be a hardware failure) leading to my next point... Take this as a reminder to ensure your writing files are being backed up correctly, and that the back-ups are up to date! Losing a book would suck. OneDrive or Dropbox. It's a lifesaver.
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Jul 26, 2016 16:11
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Chokes McGee posted:OneDrive or Dropbox. It's a lifesaver. I just use my OneDrive folder as my writing folder. Never even have to think or worry about backups, and all my work is always there on every computer I use. I really don't understand why there are ANY authors left worrying about data loss when it's so fast and easy to install OneDrive (or similar) and then just forget about it forever.
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Jul 27, 2016 06:45
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Hi everybody! Chokes is back with another lovely cover! I realize everyone is going to point and laugh, but the reason I keep subjecting myself to this is I want to get better at graphical design. One day I may not suck. Today is probably not that day. Anyway I bought a ready made, applied a high pass filter to the eyeball to reduce uncanny valley, then moved/resized various text and feathered it a little. I think it's better than previous attempts, even if it's not acceptable. Thoughts? Is this salvageable?
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Jul 27, 2016 16:17
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That's actually pretty good. Not sure if it's good for your book, but good overall. I'd try a different font for the title though.
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Jul 27, 2016 17:13
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ravenkult posted:That's actually pretty good. Not sure if it's good for your book, but good overall. I'd try a different font for the title though. Yeah. I was thinking it's fine for the small tagline but for a title font it's a crime against nature. I think it'll work as far as covers go. It's visually arresting and gets people to look at the blurb, represents the horror of the Taint, and actually ties back loosely to a scene in the book. Slap Astin's name on the front to prepare for a possible series and Bob's your uncle. Let me work over the title font a bit and I'll repost. Goon Write provided the ready made though which was a pretty solid base. Just gotta dig sometimes.
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Jul 27, 2016 17:16
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The illustration is cool. I also agree that the title typography could use some work, though. The font isn't the best, but the stark white isn't quite doing it for me. Perhaps try matching it to the sclera on the eye (which is off-white)? Maybe some light texturing on the title and penname would also improve the look.Bardeh posted:I just use my OneDrive folder as my writing folder. Never even have to think or worry about backups, and all my work is always there on every computer I use. I really don't understand why there are ANY authors left worrying about data loss when it's so fast and easy to install OneDrive (or similar) and then just forget about it forever. Chokes McGee posted:OneDrive or Dropbox. It's a lifesaver. Absolutely. Fortunately, most of my poo poo was backed up in a couple spots, but I almost lost some recent progress - didn't realize my Scrivener saves were not going to the google drive anymore. Probably happened during a software update. Anyway, I figure a PSA now and again might catch more people who've neglected automated back-ups or, like me, hosed up somewhere along the line and are not as safe as they think.
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Jul 27, 2016 18:06
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RedTonic posted:- didn't realize my Scrivener saves were not going to the google drive anymore. FYI - Scrivener does not play well with Google Drive. Literature and Latte, the folks who make it, used to have a warning post about it. I had a similar issue where a weeks worth of writing just disappeared from Google Drive. I've had no issues with Dropbox.
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Jul 27, 2016 18:21
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I write directly into google docs and save all word, vellum, and cover files into a Dropbox folder...never lost anything!
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Jul 27, 2016 18:37
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angel opportunity posted:I write directly into google docs and save all word, vellum, and cover files into a Dropbox folder...never lost anything! I actually have a lot of trouble with google docs and longer documents. Not sure if it's because my internet connectivity is lovely or the old local infrastructure or what. I used to make heavy use of gdocs, but the load times/crashing/file conversion issues I experienced became too much after my 2nd book. Though I cleaned out my Dropbox account this weekend so I can start using that again... Yooper posted:FYI - Scrivener does not play well with Google Drive. Literature and Latte, the folks who make it, used to have a warning post about it. I had a similar issue where a weeks worth of writing just disappeared from Google Drive. I never saw that post.  Probably would have saved me some stress. Have you used the mobile sync option on Scrivener?
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Jul 27, 2016 18:47
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RedTonic posted:I never saw that post. Nope! I'm on a writing hiatus right now while I wrap up some health issues. I assume it's for the new mobile version of Scrivener? I despise writing on mobile devices so I probably won't try it.
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Jul 27, 2016 18:54
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thanks for the reminder about backing up work, thread. I had my entire book on a single hard drive and backed it up to dropbox just now
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Jul 27, 2016 20:37
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Now you guys get to see my lovely typography skills, too! Try #2. I went with Tarjan for the main font, because I'm rapidly learning you can't ever go wrong with Tarjan. Also added some beveling on the title text to spruce it up a bit. Left the rest as is, though, until I see how this attempt went. 
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Jul 27, 2016 21:10
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Jalumibnkrayal posted:Title: It's clever but I'm worried that too many people will just glaze past it thinking it's a memoir, literary fiction or non-fiction title. Thanks for the feedback - the lack of rhyme was driving me nuts too. I've changed it to "Spells fly and nightmares die".
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Jul 27, 2016 21:16
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Chokes McGee posted:Now you guys get to see my lovely typography skills, too! Now change the author name font. Try Bebas for the title?
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Jul 27, 2016 21:57
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Try #3. Changed the title font out to Bebas, used Trajan for the secondary font, then went mad with power with Bevel Object.  
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Jul 28, 2016 02:41
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Chokes McGee posted:Try #3. Changed the title font out to Bebas, used Trajan for the secondary font, then went mad with power with Bevel Object. I really like this.
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Jul 28, 2016 03:53
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Bardeh posted:I really like this. Holy poo poo. I did it. I came up with a cover that doesn't suck. 
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Jul 28, 2016 04:45
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While I'm at it, can I run these two phrases by the Greek speakers in this thread so I don't sound like a dumbass post production? (These are both things Nemesis says since, y'know, Greek goddess.) Ρε λαμώτο - Speaks for itself, probably  Θέμης μας βοηθά; - "Themis help us." It's probably terrible but it's the best I got 
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Jul 28, 2016 14:50
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