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

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

Truly combating pirates isn't something we can really do as authors. Sure, we can take out a few links here and there, shut down a few web pages, and remove a few users from YouTube, but that doesn't really do anything. More will be back instantly, more often than not the same person with new junk.

The only way to combat pirates is to make ebooks harder to copy. There is scarce little we can do about that since it is really more of a flaw of the file type than anything else. It is too easy to copy.

Even then, the tightest of tight ebook files will still get the fake spam clickbait sites targeting you, the author. That is really what happens more to us than actual pirating. Don't click that crap!

I read that the best way to check for actual pirating is to search for an entire paragraph of your book and see if that shows results.

Here is fan art for Unplanned Parenthood - E.P. Clark

Jane wrote: "Never had fan art. Now I'm jealous.... :-)"

Zing! Just like that, you have fan art.
Here is fan art for Jane Jago - Who put her in?

Now to be fair, the blurb only mentions three things - pubs, ghosts, and S&M - so this has to happen at one point.

J.D. wrote: "Not yet, but that would be so cool..."

Zing! Just like that! now you have Fan Art!

Here is J.D. Cunegan - Bounty fan art. Here the character Bounty, who might also be a secret agent I am not sure, decides in that critical moment of being stuck in acid which weapon to use - her Shock Pistol or her Laser Katana! (Sorry, little vague on the details)

Gasp! It is Clyde and the other two that don't have names!
♥♥♥♥♥

Yes! I will take the big one and like it!
...
!
*blush*

I have an entire list of goals. Seriously, you might have heard me talk about that before.

Some of them are crazy, others are not! Some are lofty, some are not. Some I know I can make, others who knows, maybe!

Little goals are great for celebration purposes! :D Make sure you have some of those as well!

Here are some goals from my list:

- Get 100 Downloads during a free promotion
- See my book 'In the wild"
- Accidentally discover fan art while looking for pirate sites
- HBO series with Gwendoline Christie
- See Anders Cosplay
- Get book 3 out
- Become Click-Bait Article

Remember, celebrate little things too!

Yes, I have fan art and fan fics! I truly have made it! :D
*checks off another thing on goal list.

Emily wrote: "I got some fan art for The Lotus Caretaker from a friend. Check it out below.

https://emilyswritingblog.wordpress.c..."

That's awesome Emily! :D I like it.

Rohvannyn wrote: "Final Fantasy love? FINAL FANTASY LOVE? Original FF? Okay... this means you might just get some fan art. I'll try to make it workplace appropriate. It might take a day or two... but you're getting fan art."

Yes, it really did sound like a Final Fantasy Story from the blurb! That is what I had to draw. :D

Also... fan art? Squee!!!

I have forgotten to come back and add to this as I made more, bad CB!

Here is fan art for Charles Hash - Promises of Eden



Vanessa Mulberry - The First Act




Christina McMullen - A Shot at the Big Time: A Maxima City Talent Novel



Ben Mariner - Apocalypse Wow 2: Apocalypse Wower


And Finally, Fan Art for C.B. Archer - Fighters of the Code
!!! Yes, I didn't draw this one, I got Fan Art! Squee!!!

:D
It was well deserved Sue. You are doing a lot here and touched many people!

Also, it isn't pestering, it is helping! I am always glad to help where I can.
Also, Yes, yes I am generous, wonderful, caring, beautiful, and most of all - modest! The most modest ever in fact! :D

I do, Sue!
There are various levels of that technology. I have a stylus with a little board I use, but they have ones you can draw right on screens now.
wacom makes some of the best, and getting the pressure sensitive ones are 100% more much better.

That depends on the cover. I use various programs for various reasons.

Illustrator I use for:
- Vectors, mostly silhouettes.
- Outlines for physical characters because the Blob Brush with a stylus is amazing.
- Logo designs.

Photoshop I use for:
- Colouring in characters drawn with blob brush.
- Backgrounds.
- Photo am image manipulation
- Fully 'painted' work.

InDesign I used for:
- Layout of covers.
- Font work

They are great. They take time to learn. They are expensive.

There are free versions of all of them out there.
- Gimp is the Photoshop one I hear about with much love
- Inkscape is Illustrator. People that know a bit of Gimp should check it out and see the difference.
- I don't know what the InDesign one is called. I haven't looked. I'll look into it.

I can help with questions on the Adobe Suite if asked, but I have no idea how to use the others as I have never tried them! :)

Sue (Rescue Dog Mom) wrote: "I understand how to import a photo into cover creating software, since it's a file on your computer. What is the best method of getting actual artwork on a piece of paper into your computer? Take a..."

Draw a line under it before you scan it. Then it is easy to make level with rotate features... if that is an issue! :)
Scanning is the way to go for a physical image on paper/other stuff.

Micah wrote: "Snow Crash ... main character's name is Hiro Protagonist."

Nice!

A book return means that someone that didn't like it isn't reading it.
That is a good thing.

You don't want people reading it that don't like it.
Let them return it happily, and send that virtual copy to someone that does!

Here is my advice.

Stick to the dialect where the story is set. I would call them dress pants, it they were fancy dress pants, because that is what I call fancy dress pants.

You don't need to cater to everyone, otherwise you will never be able to use any words at all! Besides, British people understand that us Canadians are crazy (in the best ways!) and will not be offended. They might giggle, and that is good.

Alternately, you can do what I do and remove all of the pants at all of the times so you don't ever need to worry about them! That's kinda my thing though.

New York Fries doesn't have chains in America. If that makes any sense.

Regardless, I see Poutine all the time around here, and I'm quite far from the Quebec motherload of curds.

Awe! That is a good thing Rohvannyn!
Smiles on faces.

Justin,

I found this on Amazon for you.

Do NOT include the following in keywords
- Information covered elsewhere in your book's metadata—title, contributor(s)
- Subjective claims about quality (e.g. "best")
- Statements that are only temporarily true ("new," "on sale," "available now")
- Information common to most items in the category ("book")
- Common misspellings
- Variants of spacing, punctuation, capitalization, and pluralization (both "80GB" and "80 GB", "computer" and "computers", etc.). The only exception is for words translated in more than one way, like "Mao Zedong" and "Mao Tse-tung," or "Hanukkah" and "Chanukah."
- Anything misrepresentative, such as the name of an author that is not associated with your book. This type of information can create a confusing customer experience and Kindle Direct Publishing has a zero tolerance policy for metadata that is meant to advertise, promote, or mislead.
- Quotation marks in search terms: Single words work better than phrases—and specific words work better than general words. If you enter "complex suspenseful whodunit," only people who type all of those words will find your book. You'll get better results if you enter this: complex suspenseful whodunit. Customers can search on any of those words and find your book.
- Amazon program names, such as "Kindle Unlimited" or "KDP Select"
Note: This list is not exhaustive and all keywords must comply with our Terms and Conditions.