Petra’s Comments (group member since Jan 15, 2017)

Petra’s comments from the Navigating Indieworld Discussing All Things Indie group.

Anna Faversham wrote: "I never can find the right thread! I know we were talking about getting into paperback somewhere - but where?

Anyway, this seems like the right thread for what I hope will be helpful and if someo..."

I'm sensing some resistance to the templates! Did they become a problem the moment you tried to use one? Or did all seem fine until you uploaded your book? I've manged to get my book into a template ok, but I don't want to fall at the last hurdle.

Good luck with the proof copy, I hope it looks ace.

Thank you Evelyn, that is very clear and helpful!

I know nothing about this and need to learn, so thank you for the information. When you sign up for an ISBN do you upload your book to them too? Or just the cover? How long does the process take?

Hi David, I like your book cover, and I liked your page!

Exciting stuff!
I think I'd get rid of the references about Lilian's past, the main story is enough to get my interest, and knowing that the main character has problems just dilutes it a bit. I'm not sure about the phrase 'too dark of a history to share' either it doesn't flow too well. And it's not clear who the 'its' in 'its creators' refers to, since the other question is in between that and the reference to the invention. I hope that's helpful.

D.J. wrote: "Liked your page."

Thank you! I got yours too.

I've set up an author page now, going to go back and do some adding for anyone I don't have.

I'm at
https://www.facebook.com/inkbiotic/
Please come visit.

And many thanks to anyone who added me as a friend :)

Amy - Oliviaprodesign looks amazing for the price! She's very talented.

Alex - the derangeddoctor designs are brilliant, although there's a three month wait, so it would have to be one for the future, rather than this time around (when I'm a bit more organised, maybe!)

Carole - good point to make about a series. There's a definite appeal to having a choice of designers and picking what you like.

Thank you all for your answers. I'm still investigating, so I'll post up more as and when I figure things out. With all the choices at there, it can be a bit daunting making a decision, so I figure any extra knowledge is a bonus.

I couldn't find a cover design thread, and thought it might be helpful. I tried making my own, but it looked so unprofessional, I thought I'd better go the paid route.

I liked the look of 99d because they gave you options for covers and you don't have to buy if you don't like what they do. However, they're expensive, and the process seems quite complicated.

I wondered if anyone had any good/bad experiences with paying for a design.

Followed you too, Evelyn.

Dale wrote: "Petra wrote: "Dale that was an interesting interview, did it cause problems that you were a bit critical in the review? Did the author mind? Or was he just happy to get the interview? "

No, it gen..."

An interesting answer, thank you. I'm always a bit nervous when writing reviews, because I don't want to hurt someone with my subjective opinion. But you're right, if you want to learn as an author, listening to criticism is a good way to do it.

Dale wrote: "I got a bit sidetracked, but I now have my review of Alex's An Unwanted Inheritance and an interview with him on my blog. Please enjoy and share!"

Carole wrote: "http://caroleproman.blogspot.com/2018...

Please share my blog's Author Spotlight on Anna Faversham!"

Great posts, both! I've shared them on my Facebook page, at https://www.facebook.com/inkbiotic/ if you want to see. Dale that was an interesting interview, did it cause problems that you were a bit critical in the review? Did the author mind? Or was he just happy to get the interview?

Anna Faversham wrote: "NEWS! GOOD NEWS TOO! Suitable for the 'Something Good...' thread.

BookBub are going to alert my followers. Apparently when they checked on Amazon before, the page count was not showing - just as y..."

Congratulations!

I think it depends on the quote. Often an author will use quite an inaccessible and literary quote, which means a lot to them, but not to the reader (especially since they haven't read the book at that point, and may not know the significance). A quote that is easy to understand and sets the reader up for what the mood of the book is - eg philosophical, funny, frightening - can be good.
Do you want to use quotes? Why?

Just to be awkward, I like 25. To be honest I think they're all great, except for 16 which is too dark.

Theodore wrote: "Interesting piece from Indies Unlimited:

https://www.indiesunlimited.com/2018/...

I found the adjective order most interesting."
Yes! I don't think anyone actually taught it to me, I just picked it up. Shows how effective it is to copy others, and how much we take in without noticing.

Ooh, they look great, colourful, but still stylish.

I think the traditional way of doing this would be to add a 'previously released in [name of short story book]' under the title.

Definitely a good idea this one. I've just joined Facebook (I know I'm about thousand years late) and feeling a bit lost and lonely on there, so if anyone could add me that'd make me smile big. I'll follow other pages where I can (mostly just Facebook, blogs and Goodreads, I am not very social media savvy :/ )
Almost forgot to add my pages
https://www.facebook.com/petra.jacob....
https://inkbiotic.com/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Thank you! :)

yes, thanks Anita, very useful.