My eBook eXperience -- part five of many

To recap: I had an eBook all set to go, except for the cover. I needed to find something that would support the title: It Seemed Funny at the Time. I figured I'd start by looking through the photos on my computer. I found an old one of myself that I liked, except that my eyes looked sort of quinty. The old photo made sense, since I wanted the cover to convey the idea that these pieces were gathered from a large time period, and many of them were written a decade or more ago. I had an idea how to take care of the eyes and also make the photo funnier. Here's what I roughed up:


Not bad, but admittedly a bit creepy. As I was browsing through more photos, I saw one that had been taken near Washington D.C. before the 2008 election. I realized it work work well on many levels, getting a visceral laugh on first sight from most people. The only down side was that it might alienate some potential readers. But real humor requires a touch of fearlessness. Here's the photo, along with my attempt to put in the title text:

The bad news is that I have no design skill. The good news is that I'm aware of it. I was perfectly happy to spend a huge amount of time formatting my eBook rather than paying an expert, because I had confidence in my technical skills. I knew I could do the job, and I knew I'd enjoy the process. But I could play with fonts and images for years, and never get a good cover. Smashwords provides a list of cover artists who have worked with some of their authors. I went to each page on the list, and saw lots of nice covers, but one person's work stood out. I loved what I saw on Digital Donna's ebook sample page. I knew I wanted her to do the cover. (For folks who don't have a photo they like, cover designers use stock photos and stock art, which is surprisingly affordable.) I got in touch with Donna, and told her I had a photo and a title, and wanted her to work her magic on it. She came through big time. I love what she did.



Now, I was all set. I had everything I needed to put offer my book on the Kindle and Nook. I decided to upload those versions right away. and then do the formatting for Smashwords. I'll get to those adventures tomorrow.