C.B.’s Comments (group member since May 01, 2015)

C.B.’s comments from the Support for Indie Authors group.

You don't need to fit in! That is the great part of writing. You can be your own idea, let your book be your book.

I don't think three not very explicit sex scenes in a book make it erotica though. You need not worry about that. (Unless they are 50 pages each, and the book is 160 pages)

I don't think I can be blamed for pie... I think that pie needs to be blamed for itself.

I mean seriously, it is a flaky crust filled with decedent fruit. Can't you just see the cold vanilla ice cream melting into the hot succulent fruit?

Okay, I just got back from getting some restaurant pie and I remembered my point!

Pie is delicious.

...
No wait, the point not about pie!

You don't need reviews as an author, but you see the reviews that others have gotten and they are very tempting. You want to have a taste. You see books that have many reviews and it is easy to covet them. You get a review and you want more. It is easy to dwell on reviews, like many other aspects of writing, and get lost.

Because, even if they are bad reviews, they are still pie, and you want pie.

So far I have found getting book reviews much like restaurant pie.

You are sitting at a restaurant, happy and oblivious.
Then someone shows up and sits at a table next to you
They order a piece of pie and it comes.
You start to eye up that piece of pie.
You know that don't really need a piece of pie.
But that pie is right there.
It smells nice, doesn't it?
You are full, you don't need pie.
The crust looks so flaky.
You really don't need the pie though.
You are full.
That ice cream is just melting off the crust isn't it?
You are happy without pie.
Wait, is that cherry filling? Didn't they have a cherry tree outside? Are they from that tree?
You don't need pie. You just wrote about a great salad.
That ice cream has real specs of vanilla bean.
You ate already! Get a grip.
Look at how light and buttery it looks.
What do you mean pie is on sale right now?
You don't need it!

When your pie shows up and you devour it, regardless of what it tastes like.

My point is... actually I forget where I was going with this. Excuse me, I need to go get some pie.

Sarah wrote: "Thanks for the advice, but I already tweaked it and finished it. Here is the final version: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W...

Which is the evolution of the one you liked the best.

As f..."

I like the final version! Glad I could help. kind of. well... not really but still. glad it worked out!

I just noticed this today! :D I am helping even if you don't need help anymore!

I really like the art, but it has things that must be worked around to make the cover work. (You have done much of this already in the thread I noticed.)
- It is graphically intense.
- It has a lot of red and contrast in itself.

I think this one works the best thus far: https://goo.gl/photos/d3DLgqCfbHvjrjSc6
I think you should work with that one and refine it.

This one works the best because:
- The text isn't over the busy graphic elements! They are really hard to read text over.

- Black text is no longer over large red sections. Red on black (or black on red) is super hard to make out visually due to how the colours contrast. There is still a bit near the edges. Perhaps a thin outline on the text, of a yellow or orange tone would help with your contrast. Try playing around with options. A subtle 'outer glow' can do wonders! Try using yellow, or even some darker colours. It may sound crazy, but blue/green done very subtly can help your text stand out more due to complimentary colours.

I know that book titles should be as large as possible, but even just making the title a little smaller will also remove it from the red range, and make it easier to notice.

Honestly, I think the only thing left to work on is contrast.

The best tip for contrast? Black and white. - Take your art, convert it to gray-scale and see what visually works simply from a contrast stand point.

The print book version shows how much easier white on red is to read. But I am afraid that it is visually confusing due to the words being over the graphically intense sections. The sun is really pretty on both sides like that, but legibility should be the top concern with any book. Try the sun on just the front. The back can be a solid colour taken from the palette of the front and still look pretty poppin' (That is the technical term)

Good luck!

When I go to my writer's group we try to do a prompt based on a word. 10-15 mins of writing, then read what you have.

I find they are a good way to get some writing in, generally about something you wouldn't write about normally. Plus, they are absolute blog post gold. That is where all mine end up.

Jenycka wrote: "Only if I get to watch..."

At least I didn't make the misheard lyric joke from
♪Don't let the sun go down on me♪

^-^

Christina: Whomever made that meme knows exactly what I think is funny. So completely random! I 'Alt 3' that!

Dwayne: I was honestly surprised I was the first. ♪♫

♪'Scuse me while I kiss this guy♪

Latest misshear:

♪Hey I just met you
And this is crazy
But here's my number
Don't call me, maybe?♪

(as opposed to ♫So call me maybe♫)

I personally thought my version was more playful and in the mood of the song. It was many many months until I was told I was wrong and my dreams were crushed like sexually explicit misheard sheep lyrics.

♪♫

I didn't know that the gender discrimination in the author world was still so dominant. (I just read about it, and it still can be. which is a shame.) I knew it was stronger in the past, but Gender really shouldn't matter when It comes to storytelling.

More authors in my genre area tend to be female, and I almost made a female pen name to fit in Better.

Honestly, thinking about it, I've bought more books written by women than men in the last... well... since the year 2000 at least. I even found out that some of my older favourite authors from the time of being a kidlett were women with initial names, which I thought was pretty cool.

Be who you are! :D If someone will not read your book because you're a woman, or a man, or gay, or of a certain religion, or race or anything else... you probably didn't want them to read it anyways! :D

Side note: (The last thing I ever wanted to ruin for anyone ever was cake! I love cake! Frosting and all!)

I knew I shouldn't have posted about my new ivory tower. dang it! such a lull after that.

Personally I sign my name on the page that I left a space for signing names (and stamping) when I designed the interior of the book.

I suppose not everyone has that option, but it is my blankiest page, the dedication page. Feels like a good spot!

I made a custom green ink stamp of a close up of my character's face! If it isn't stamped, I didn't sign it.

I make sure to put one of the bookmarks my friend made for me, that shows a character 'from a completely unrelated franchise' that is in the book, just cause it is fun.

I always use a custom message related to the situation in which the book was signed.

A few I have used, so far:

"Please enjoy this book giant Boa Constrictor. After you have read it be sure to let the woman holding you take a look."
"Thank you for buying this on Amazon, before I had a chance to tell you I got a whole box shipped to me!"
"When you hugged me unexpectedly just now, you knocked this book out of my hands. When it hit the parking lot it dented the corner. That is on you."

Writing: Done in Word.
Planning Spreadsheets: Done in Excel

Book Layout: Done in InDesign
Cover: Vector sections done in Illustrator, Photoshop for raster sections, then InDesign for the final layout work.

Blog Post Art/Fan Art: Illustrator with drawing tablet.
Super Secret Mystery Thing: Secret Program!

Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign are all great. There is no doubting that, but there are alternatives you can use for free posted in this thread.

I have the advantage of knowing how to use all of them, and owning them, as I am a trained Graphic Designer who needs to own them for work. If I didn't own them, I would be a lot less published right now!

Wendi wrote: "I released my debut novel on 6/24, so it's been out about 5 weeks. I held a free promo for two days, garnering 455 downloads. I had 10 units borrowed through KU before the switch to KENP and 35,765..."

Goodness! If my debut month had 59 copies sold and 35k pages read on Kindle Unlimited, I would have fainted!

I think pen names are more common in certain genres! Am I proud of my work? Of course! So very proud that I could burst! Did I want my real name used on something called Elfrotica? No, no I do not.

This is for multiple reasons really.

- My last name is short, but completely unpronounceable by nearly everyone.

- If a prospective employer, or a family member googled my name, I wouldn't want any books to show up, regardless. It is easier to have a pen name, because then you can tell people you actually want to know about your novels. No Great Aunt Betty reading something she found on the internets! (I am sure you could trace me if you really tried, but simple curiosity googles will not yield sexy book writer alerts.)

- My name didn't fit the style of book in the slightest. The entire thing is such a parody of fantasy books, so I went with something obviously om nom nom de plume. There is an archer on the cover and the name is sort of a joke. That is how much I care about my readers, I made my own name a jab at myself. For you! :D

If I had gone with my other non-sexy book idea way back when, I may have used my actual name. I probably wouldn't have though. Pen names are mysterious! Who doesn't like a good mystery!?

Reading what you wrote, I Looked for hidden titles.

I found these

Architect of her Own Misery
Hopeful Element(s)

We should try to mix up more things and see what we get!

Artictect of Ash(es)
Misery's Architect
Broken Misery

I like this one :)

From Inside the Broken Ashes: A Story of Taking Yourself, the Architect of Misery, through A Principal World; A Rope of Sand

KP. They wake up while describing themselves! It is genius! Double trope.