K.D. Dowdall's Blog, page 29

An Interview with Judy Rumsey Bullard, Book Cover Designer!

[image error]An Interview with Judy Rumsey Bullard, Book Cover Designer!

I am interviewing today a very talented Book Cover Designer, Judy Rumsey Bullard, customebookcovers@cox.net. She has designed all of my book covers and I love each and everyone of them. Don’t miss 6 of her great designs at the end of this interview! It is my pleasure to introduce to you, Judy Rumsey Bullard, a book cover designer extraordinaire!

Judy, please tell us where you are from originally and a little about yourself.

I was born in Oregon but only lived there for my first two years.  My parents then moved to California where I’ve lived for most of my life.  My husband and I were married while he was in the Navy on the aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise.  I was a stay at home Mom while raising our two sons who are now married.  For most of our lives we’ve lived in California with the exception of 5 years in Oregon.  After leaving Oregon we moved to San Clemente, CA where we currently reside.

What peaked your interest in making book covers for novels?

While I was designing websites one of my clients, Linda Pendleton, an author and artist thought it would be fun for us to create custom bookmarks. While making bookmarks, Linda asked if I would redesign a few of her book covers.  I enjoyed it so much I decided to give up the custom bookmark business and concentrate on covers.

Judy, when did you start creating book covers?

I think it’s been about 15 years.

How many book covers, in the span of your professional life, have you created?

 I can’t even guess, there’s been so many.

What did you have to learn to be able to create beautiful book covers?

 When I started designing websites I took an online class from one of our local community colleges to learn graphic design.  At that time I was using Paint Shop Pro, which is similar to Photoshop. I had a hard time getting into Photoshop but forced myself with a little help from You Tube tutorials.  I now use Photoshop exclusively.

Where do you get your ideas from when designing a book cover?

I always ask the author what they have in mind and if they have a certain vision.  I find most people do have something in mind and that helps me tremendously.  If they don’t, I just ask for a brief synopsis of their story, which gives me ideas.

When did you consider yourself to be a professional book cover designer?

That’s hard to say, there’s always something new for me to learn but to have the confidence to say I am a professional, maybe 10 years ago.

What inspires you when you are doing a new book cover?

The author…  I have been so fortunate to meet a large number of talented people who now have the opportunity  with self-publishing to see their vision in print.  How exciting is that, to be able to go to Amazon, Smashwords or other self  publishing companies and share your work with the world.

What genre is your favorite when it comes to designing a book covers?

 I don’t really have a favorite, I enjoy each one because they are all so different.  I really do enjoy the lightheartedness of children’s books and on the other hand, thrillers are quite challenging.

Do you focus on a particular style when you are creating a book cover?

 No, each cover has its own particular style.

When an author contacts you to do a book cover or even a book series, what kind of questions do you ask them about their book or series?

 The main question I ask is what do they have in mind.  Most of the time I can get pretty close to what they want.  I use stock photos which I manipulate to best suit the story.  Sometimes I can’t make it work and have to go into a different direction but in the end, the author is pleased with what I come up with.

Do you have any advice for wannabe book cover designers?

 I think the best advice is to listen to the author.  Communication is very important, don’t leave them wondering what’s going on.

Do you have a particular time schedule for designing or just when you are inspired?

 There’s no particular time schedule, sometimes I have to sleep on an idea but by morning a light bulb goes off in my head and an idea comes to me.  Once I start a project I am usually finished within a few days.

Is there anything you would especially like your authors to know about book cover designing?

Have an open mind because sometimes it won’t be exactly what you had in mind.

Judy, Thank you so much for being here today, and we would love to see some of your favorite Book Cover Designs, displayed here on WordPress. And, please let our authors know where to fine you by listing all of you social media here. 

You can find more of Judy Rumsey Bullard’s beautiful Book Covers on Facebook and her website and contact her at her email address:  customebookcovers@cox.net.  

https://www.facebook.com/Custom-E-Book-Covers-by-Judy-Bullard-252852781478412/         http://customebookcovers.com/

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An Interview With Judy Rumsey Bullard, Book Cover Designer, This Saturday, October 20th!

[image error]As writers and authors, we know or should know, the importance of creating a book cover that shines. The cover should also represent as much as possible what the novel is all about. On October 20th, 2018, I will be interviewing Judy Rumsey Bullard, a very talented Book Cover Designer, who will talk to us about Book Cover Designing. She will be displaying 6 more of her great designs, and will talk to us about what it takes to be a successful Book Cover Designer! Here are three Book Cover designs that she designed for three of my novels and I love each one!

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Spirit Day 2018 Standing Up For #LGBTQ Youth #spiritday

Thank you, Tony, for helping us remember #SPIRIT DAY for the prevention of bullying of LGBTQ youth. We are all different, but the same – we are all human beings deserving of Equal Rights and the right to live without bullies, meanness, and cruelty.

The Tony Burgess Blog

Spirit Day now occurs every year on the third Thursday in October, during National Bullying Prevention Month, and has become the most visible day of support for LGBTQ youth.

Here’s to those who are standing up and supporting LGBTQ youth.

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Smorgasbord Blogger Daily – Monday, October 15th, 2018 – The Book Designer #Amazon Reviews – Leslie Tate with Kendra Olsen #Editing and Robbie and Michael Cheadle with James J. Cudney

Sally, I did go to The Book Designer website and I am so glad I did. Thank you and Debby Gies (D. G. Kaye) as well as Joel Friedlander’s website, The Book Designer, for posting this extremely important post. So, for authors who have not read your post, I am reblogging this critically important post. Thank you so much for sharing!

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Welcome to the first of the Blogger Daily posts this week. Apart from sharing posts that I have enjoyed (just a small selection) I also want to promote not only authors but writers across the board.

With 75 million bloggers on WordPress, it is a challenge to get noticed in the early days, despite the quality of the posts. I hope that the Blogger Daily does help boost at least 15 bloggers each week.

The first post was highlighted by Debby Gies  D. G. Kaye  and  was posted on Joel Friedlander’s website The Book Designer. It identifies the stricter Amazon approach to reviews and clarifies the issue as far as an author is concerned.

Understanding the Current “Dos” and “Don’ts” of Amazon Book Reviews.

Written by Author Amy Collins

Amazon and Amazon’s rules are changing so fast!

We would like to bring you up to date on…

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“Ravioli” and Goodnight Moon

Jennie, I love this post and the pictures, so adorable and so charming!

A Teacher's Reflections

One of our favorite times of the day at school is chapter reading.  It is intimate.  We feel snuggled together.  Much like being in sleeping bags while camping, with nothing but words to hear, we look forward to that time.

Before we begin chapter reading, we recite Goodnight Moon.  Those timeless words, soothing and rhyming, are a favorite.  Children have nearly memorized the words, and they look forward to hearing them every day.  A favorite is doing it “the silly way”, adding every child’s name into the verse.  “In the great green room there was a telephone and Mary’s red balloon, and a picture of Tommy jumping over the moon”, and so on.  Children are on the edge of their seats!

We can forget how much a child is truly absorbing, if s/he is quiet.  Often something then happens that surprises us, and we are reminded just how important…

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George Carlin 8-23-18

Velma, yes, it is beautiful, and incredibly true. Thank you so much for sharing! I think that many of us have bit into the poison apple of wanting, but not needing, and have forgotten the beauty of simple things that mean a life well-lived.

fiercefabulousfunny

George Carlin’s wife died early in 2008 and George followed her, dying in July 2008. It is ironic George Carlin – comedian of the 70’s and 80’s – could write something so very eloquent and so very appropriate. An observation by George Carlin:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have…

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Friday Roundup – 5th October

Stevie, these are wonderful tips! Thank you so much. Have a great weekend!

The Soulful Arc of the Universe

[image error] “….the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

“When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand dark midnights. Let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows.….the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

MLK

Absinthe

Hollie at House of Heart, writes a riveting, profoundly realistic and scary, scene. If this was book I would give 5 stars!!

House of Heart

Molten wax drips down the copper sconce onto the end table while you light my cigarette and  offer me a pale green aperitif    which I do not touch until you feign fascination at simple  anecdotes that I find trivial enough to share with you. Easing  into a faded blur we  lean back against brocade cushions. Now, in a somewhat dreamier state of mind you attempt to further  distract me with details of your recent dalliance with a french contemporary artist until I yawn with boredom. Suddenly, the embodiment of elegance, you  smile and arch your brow, once again hold the spoon gently to my lips and in your impossibly delectable rhythm whisper that my hair and fair skin, so near, whips your mind into arousal and my supple lips are a  crimson darkness that consumes you.  I  lean  into your far off voice  and my subconscious begins to  vibrate…

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A Vessel – Is That What a Woman Is?

[image error]A Young Woman Speaks Out…

 

Just thinking…. There are instances where women are dehumanized while simultaneously being held to a higher standard by others and this concept is indicative of impossible expectations placed on women by outside forces. Which means that a woman gains by virtue of what she is to others not by virtue of who she really is.

I was remembering a poem, “Nazareth”, by Rosario Castellanos, in which she confronts the age-old symbol of a vessel as a symbol of what a woman should be:

“A vessel is an object which serves whatever purpose is given to it. A vessel only gains value by being able to successfully hold and maintain that which is put into it. Vessels can also be filled with expectations.  Like all vessels, fragile. Like all vessels, too small for the destiny poured into it”.

Why is it that we expect more from women than men? Why is it when a man shatters a vessel, so many run to his rescue, clean up, and make excuses while we blame women and hold them accountable when they are shattered and offer no such support? I’m just going to leave it at that.

Whoever this young woman is, she is brilliant. In a few words she has stated the plight that woman world-wide have born since the triad of religions that see women only has vessels, inasmuch, to hold them accountable for mankind’s failure to be civilized. 

K. D. Dowdall