Tuesday, October 22, 2019
What Makes a Good Book Cover The Secret to a Converting Book Cover
What Makes a Good Book Cover The Secret to a Converting Book Cover What Makes a Good Book Cover: How to Increase Book Sales With Your Book Cover Do you know what makes a good book cover?You shouldif you ever want to maintain consistent sales of your book.Ok, so hereââ¬â¢s the deal. What I am just about to tell you might sound controversial. It might even sound downright ridiculous.You could even get offended.But bear with me for a while. Just hear me outbecause what I really want for you is to sell more books, and your book cover is one of the most important factors playing into that reality, even though weve all been told not to judge a book by its cover.The reality of publishing isEveryone does anyways.Heres what makes for a good book cover:Focusing on the big pictureStrong compositionAn intriguing focal pointClear title and subtitlesSimplistic book cover designNOTE: We cover everything in this blog post and much more about the writing, marketing, and publishing process in our VIP Self-Publishing Program. Learn more about it hereWhat does a good book cover matter?The book cover exists to serve one and only ONE purpose. And that purpose is to sell your book. Everything else is details.Shocked? Offended? About to pick that nearby glass of water and smash it on my head? Just hold it for a few minutes.I understand how we creatives hate the four-letter words starting with an S. Sell? Sale? Sold!? But itââ¬â¢s true. If you havenââ¬â¢t read Robert Kiyosakiââ¬â¢s Rich Dad Poor Dad yet, I urge you to get a copy and read.Robert Kiyosaki was once being interviewed by this bright young journalist. She had a real flair for writing. She asked Robert if he had any advice for her. And guess what Robert told her. ââ¬Å"Go take a sales courseâ⬠, he said.The young lady was shocked. She sat there silently for a few minutes, staring at Robert Kiyosaki in disbelief. And then she spoke. She told him she had spent all her life writing and studying. She held masterââ¬â¢s degrees in literature and journalism.And she had worked so hard all her life, so that she wonââ¬â¢t have to ââ¬Å"stoop so lowâ⠬ as learning to sell! Robert explained how she was a far superior writer than Robert could ever hope to be, but Robert was still a best-selling author, while she wasnââ¬â¢t. She could write the best book ever written by a human being, but it wouldnââ¬â¢t matter if nobody read it.And that is why you need to ââ¬Å"SELLâ⬠.Makes sense? I hope it does because as I mentioned above, your books cover is one of the most important pieces of becoming a successful author.What makes for a good book cover?I have been on that side of the fence where creatives hate the concept of selling or marketing. And I have been on that side for the longest time. But the sooner you get yourself comfortable with these words and concepts, the better.And the best way to start is by understanding that investing in a good book cover design, and knowing what makes a good one.And why should you even listen to me? Well, I have a bachelorââ¬â¢s degree in marketing. And trust me, I learned nothing at s chool. After my bachelors, I spent nearly ten years convincing myself and the world that I am an artist. And you know the funniest part? All of my creative buddies and peers were in the same situation. And that is when I decided I needed to learn what I had shunned for the longest time. I needed to learn to sell. We founded Dastaan Online. And the first business that needed our help was our own. We started publishing a literary magazine called Dastaan World.Writers, artists, photographers, even those who write poetry along with readers flocked to us. I decided to design covers for every story we published. And our contributors loved them!My covers might well be beautiful, and thought-provoking and sublime and what not. But that is all secondary. They keep coming to me, because my covers help them sell their books.Every other quality of a good book cover can be indented as a subcategory or explanation of this one point.The book cover is there to promote your book, and ultimately sell it. Now, the next big question is, what makes for a good book cover that achieves this goal?#1 Focus On the Big PictureThe book cover needs to draw the viewer into the story. Even if you are writing non-fiction. You are a writer, so you know there is always a story.The cover needs to show what the book is about, without giving all of it away, much like the book title but with visuals.This example from Self-Publishing Schools coach Marcy Pusey shows just how this technique works in her book, Weirdo and Willy.The idea is to get your reader to open the book. Once they open the book, your magic as a writer will not let them put it down before reading it to the end.But to catch in your spiderweb of literary magic, you need to use a bait. And that is what your cover needs to do for you. It needs to play on the human emotions of intrigue and curiosity.So think about the big picture of what your book cover should represent.Ask yourself these questions when figuring out your book cover:Doe s your idea represent your story or message?Does it illicit intrigue?Does it stand out from other books in your category?#2 Create a Strong CompositionThis is where is start to get into the wizardry that is graphic design and illustration.Composition is one of the most fundamental skills required of anyone working with visuals. And as with all fundamentals, the composition takes a lifetime to master, at least!This is why its advised to hire a book cover designer instead of creating the cover yourself in programs like Canva or Photoshop.But if you have some experience and want to go for it, here are some guidelines on composition:Use the rule of thirdsSymmetry is your friendUse texture and patterns to add non-distracting detailsUse high and low anglesCombine several composition tips into one for full-effect (but not ALL of them)But you can start off with a few interesting guidelines or you can simply hire a book editor whos experienced in the field of composition.#3 Develop a Clear Focal PointEvery composition, every piece of deliberately designed visual communication, needs a focal point. The easiest way to find your focal point is to ask yourself (or, preferably, a friend) where your eye goes first on this piece.Whether itââ¬â¢s the title, your author byline, a figure in the artwork, some specific abstract shape, your focal point is what grabs your attention and catches your eye the first.And itââ¬â¢s not accidental. In this example by Self-Publishing Schools Omer Redden, you can see that the focal point of his book Life Doc is very clearly and intentionally the eye-catching title.Thereââ¬â¢s a whole science behind this elusive art called composition. It is this magic skill that dictates where a viewer is going to look, and in what order.You can have multiple focal points, but they should not compete with each other. They grab your viewerââ¬â¢s attention in the order you have designed them. Primary, secondary, tertiary and so on.This dance of at tention depends on what story you want to plant in their head. This story will make them open your book and eventually decide to buy it.#4 Title, Subtitle and Their RelativesPlease donââ¬â¢t make the mistake of thinking your cover is completely at your designerââ¬â¢s mercy. No. You are the writer. And you play the key role in determining how well your cover is gonna perform.How? The book title! When trying to come up with a book title idea, ask yourself this: Will it pull your reader from across the store? Or the webpage? It should be compelling. It should be visible and readable.AND it should be strengthened further by any additional visual elements on your cover.à Self-Publishing School coach Scott Allans book Undefeated is a great example of this. Here you can see his title plays an integral role in the cover design as a whole, with a very telling message with the torn reveal of un in undefeatedYour title, and any subtitles and taglines are going to play a pivotal role i n selling your book. So get your inner Don Draper out when crafting your cover copy!#5 Simplistic Book Cover DesignAnd finally, I like to keep my covers simple. And I personally tend to like covers that are simple and minimalistic.Although, my covers may sometimes look complex because of all the digitally painted and photo-manipulated detail, the ideas and composition must remain simple. It all goes in favor of the focal point and our intention to just say enough that will compel our viewer to buy the book.Overly complex covers usually give a very blatant impression of desperation, where the designer didnââ¬â¢t exactly know what to put in. And hence, they put everything they could think of in there. Not cool. Donââ¬â¢t do this. Keep it simple!So when you decide to finally lock down your book cover, remember to keep it simple stupid. Keep the big picture of your story in mind.Make your viewers focus on the key selling points of your book. If you feel stumped about your book co ver design, you can always reach out to a professional for help. If youre a student of Self-Publishing School, youll even be provided a list of cover designers whose work already checks the boxes of this list.You can see a little preview of this below:Just keep these guidelines in mind, whether you are designing the cover yourself, or paying someone to do it for you.Ready to get serious about selling your book?If youre ready to actually have success with your book (instead of hitting publish and hearing crickets from no book sales), we have the tried-and-true methods to help you get there.
Monday, October 21, 2019
Michael Jordan Essay
Michael Jordan Essay Michael Jordan Essay Dairo Moreno Novel Summary In the novel ââ¬Å"Fight Clubâ⬠written by Chuck Palahniuk many events take place. The mysterious narrator in Fight Club hates everything about his lifestyle. He hates his job as a product recall specialist for a car company. His life changes when he meets an interesting madman named Tyler Durden. Together they formed an underground fight club as a way of punishing therapy. Fight Clubââ¬â¢s members grow throughout the story and Tyler uses it to spread anti-consumerist ideas and he recruits members to participate in attacks on corporate America, originally the narratorââ¬â¢s idea. Tyler takes all the control and picks the best members of fight club and creates ââ¬Å"Project Mayhemâ⬠a group that trains as an army to take down the modern civilization. The narrator starts off as a loyal participant but then becomes uncomfortable with the dangerous activities and the deaths of the members. Eventually everything gets out of control. As the narrator tries to stop Tyler and his army he realizes that he is Tyler. His mind made up a new personality to escape all his problems. The narrator learns that Tyler plans to blow up the tallest building in the world with bombs he made. During the explosion, Tyler plans to die as the leader of Project Mayhem and plans to take the narrators life as well. He is forced to meet Tyler and is captured with a gun pointed at him. The narrator puts Tylerââ¬â¢s gun in his mouth and shoots himself. Later he wakes up in a
Sunday, October 20, 2019
DÃÂas feriados federales y estatales en EE.UU. en 2019
Dà as feriados federales y estatales en EE.UU. en 2019 En Estados Unidos hay 10 dà as feriados federales, es decir, aplican en todo el paà s y tambià ©n en los territorios como, por ejemplo, Puerto Rico. En los feriados federales por ley tienen dà a libre y se les paga a todos los trabajadores no esenciales del gobierno federal. Tambià ©n cierran bancos y escuelas. Sin embargo, las empresas privadas no estn obligadas a brindar el dà a libre a sus empleados pero lo habitual es que sà lo hagan y, adems, les paguen el salario del dà a feriado como si lo hubieran trabajado, si bien hay importantes excepciones como, por ejemplo, el caso de comercios o restaurantes. Dà as feriados federales en Estados Unidos en 2019 1 de enero, lunes, Aà ±o Nuevo21 de enero, lunes, Dà a de Martin Luther King18 de febrero, lunes, Dà a del Presidente27 de mayo, lunes, Dà a de la Recordacià ³n4 de julio, jueves, Dà a de la Independencia2 de septiembre, lunes, Dà a del Trabajo14 de octubre, lunes, Dà a de Cristà ³bal Colà ³n11 de noviembre, lunes, Dà a de los Veteranos28 de noviembre, jueves, Accià ³n de Gracias.25 de diciembre, mià ©rcoles, Dà a de Navidad El feriado del Dà a del Presidente no se celebra en todos los estados y el Dà a de los Veteranos no es feriado pà ºblico en Wisconsin. Los dà as feriados en EE.UU. como regla general son un lunes, si bien hay excepciones a esta regla. Asà , el Dà a de Navidad, Aà ±o Nuevo, Independencia o el de Accià ³n de Gracias se celebran el dà a de la semana que coincida con el dà a del mes de su celebracià ³n. Sin embargo, en esos dà as, si el feriado es un dà a sbado, el dà a libre se adelanta a viernes. Por el contrario, si es un dà a domingo, el dà a libre se retrasa al lunes siguiente. Dà as feriados en los estados en 2019 Los estados pueden establecer dà as de observancia pà ºblica de acuerdo a su historia o a sus intereses. Las oficinas estatales cierran y los trabajadores cobran por ese dà a, sin embargo, las empresas privadas no estn obligadas a seguir esa norma y deciden segà ºn sus propias reglas. Entre los dà as feriados los ms comunes en los estados destacan: El viernes siguiente a Accià ³n de Gracias que, con carcter general, es feriado en los siguientes estados: Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Idaho, Kentucky, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Nuevo Hampshire, Nuevo Mà ©xico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Carolina del Sur, Texas, Washington y Virginia Occidental. El 31 de marzo, Dà a de de Cà ©sar Chvez.à Esta conmemoracià ³n es uno de los festivos opcionales y se celebra en Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Nuevo Mà ©xico, Texas, Rhode Island, Utah y Wisconsin. El 24 de diciembre, Nochebuena, que es feriado en Carolina del Sur, Dakota del Norte, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia y Wisconsin. El 26 de diciembre, dà a siguiente al de Navidad, es feriado en Carolina del Norte, Carolina del Sur, Texas y Virginia. Cabe destacar que Texas es uno de los estados con ms dà as feriados. Adems de los federales y de celebrar el Dà a de Cà ©sar Chvez, Nochebuena, Dà a despuà ©s de Accià ³n de Gracias y de Navidad, son feriados pà ºblicos las siguientes fechas: 19 de enero: Dà a de los hà ©roes confederados.2 de marzo: Dà a de la Independencia de Texas21 de abril: San Jacinto19 de junio: Dà a de la Emancipacià ³n27 de agosto: Dà a de Lyndon B. Johnson Dà as no feriados pero celebrados en EE.UU. Estos dà as reciben gran atencià ³n en los medios de comunicacià ³n y, en muchos casos, las tiendas y las escuelas estn muy involucradas en las celebraciones. Sin embargo, ni las empresas privadas y las oficinas federales y estatales no estn obligadas ni a dar el dà a libre a los trabajadores ni a compensarlos econà ³micamente si no trabajan. 2 de febrero, sbado, Dà a de la Marmota14 de febrero, jueves, Dà a de San Valentà n17 de marzo, domingo, San Patricio19 de abril,Viernes Santo21 de abril, domingo, PascuaCinco de mayo, domingo.12 de mayo, domingo, Dà a de la madre.16 de mayo, domingo, Dà a del padre.31 de octubre, Halloween Dà as feriados y compras En Estados Unidos es habitual que los dà as feriados coincidan con grandes rebajas. Sin embargo, no debe confundirse con los los dà as conocidos como feriados de impuestos y que se celebran en algunos estados y que implica que en determinados dà as no se cobran impuestos a las ventas en determinados artà culos. Puntos claves: Dà as feriados en EE.UU. Nà ºmero de dà as feriados federales en EE.UU.: 10. Los estados pueden decidir no observar algà ºn dà a en especà fico.Dà as feriados que no son siempre un dà a lunes, sino que se observan en su fecha: Aà ±o Nuevo, Independencia, Veteranos, Navidad. Adems, el Dà a de Accià ³n de Gracias es siempre el cuarto jueves del mes de noviembre.Dà as feriados ms comunes en los estados: Cà ©sar Chvez (31 de marzo), viernes despuà ©s de Accià ³n de Gracias, Nochebuena y dà a despuà ©s de Navidad. Este artà culo es informativo. No es asesorà a legal.
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Reconstruction Amendments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Reconstruction Amendments - Essay Example The reconstruction amendments of the US constitution comprise the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments. The amendments were adopted just after the end of the civil war in the period between 1865 and 1870 according to Franklin (3). The amendments were necessary for the reconstruction of the Americaââ¬â¢s Southern states. The Thirteenth Amendment was influential in the abolishment of slave trade. The succeeding amendment stipulates privileges, immunities equal protection as well as due process On the other hand, the Fifteenth Amendment gives the right to vote people of all color, race and those previously held in servitude. The fourteenth amendment of the United States constitution was done in 1868 in the month of July. The ratification of the fourteenth Amendment was not accepted by all and it had a lot of contentions (Franklin 11). The southern state legislature was among those that refused the ratification of the amendment. This ratification led to the introduction of the Reconstructio n Acts. The existing states governments were ignored and in return military governments were imposed. This was followed by the establishment of civil governments, hence the ratification. The reason for ratification was significant in several ways which are implied in its clauses. The first clause is the citizenship clause. It is important as it defines citizenship overruling the decision which denied the blacks the right to become citizens of the United States (Collins 13).
Friday, October 18, 2019
Music paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1
Music paper - Essay Example Among the songs that were performed are ââ¬Å"Both Sides Now,â⬠ââ¬Å"I Donââ¬â¢t Know Where I Stand,â⬠and ââ¬Å"Big Yellow Taxi.â⬠Joni Mitchell is actually Roberta Joan Anderson in real life. She is a Canadian who started her career as a folk singer but later adapted other styles such as jazz and pop. Her influence was mainly derived from jazz artists such as Charles Hancock and Herbie Minugus according to the Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians. What made Joni Mitchell popular is her guitar style that is really refreshing. Technically, most of the songs can be considered homophonic which was given due justice by the deep vocals of Judy Coe. It was like hearing Joni Mitchell herself when you close your eyes. The blending of the instruments were really harmonious but the guitar really stood out as an accompaniment. Over-all, the tone was really easy and light which made the listeners sentimental and relaxed characteristics songs in that genre. After the concert, everybody felt better and happy including
Writer's choice Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3
Writer's choice - Article Example s scheduled in which people engaged in different party activities such as listening to music and dancing, drinking, eating besides sharing stories among other amusements. All the expected people were in the scene besides everyone seeming to be in a party mood depicted from their facial expressions. This was a very amazing event to me because it was the first I witnessed besides that attracted many people including some from the neighboring community. Additionally, it had a programed unlike many other such ceremonies that I had ever attended before besides was followed to the latter. Through the entire process, I learned that people have their own way of doing things as well as doing different things from the normal you would get a dissimilar result. This is because most ceremonies that I had attended there before lacked good planning and in mostly resulted to vices such as fights and injuries. Whatever one encounters little experiences out of lecture, which he or she gets while in the university, counts much in his or her future life. This is because such experiences equip an individual with knowledge hard to earn or achieve in class work. Moreover, students ought to indulge in such activities provided they do not harm them because they are also part of
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Religion and Americas Founding Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Religion and Americas Founding - Essay Example Things have greatly metamorphosed from how they were in the past. It is true that the Founding fathers were truthfully religious Christians. They did not only read the Bible, but also lived by it. Their children were also given Biblical names, and most of their communities were given names after the cities in the Holy land. The Christian Americans of the eighteenth century saw their rise and development in religious and mostly Biblical terms. Nevertheless, in the declaration of independence, they appealed to God as the creator, the highest judge of the whole world and the divine providence for legality and protection. In the Constitution of the United States of America, we find that there is nothing like separation of the church and the state. The separation of the church and the stateââ¬â¢s purpose was not to create freedom from religion, but creation of freedom for religion (Rauchut 4-21). One book that was taken seriously by the Founding Fathers is the Holy Bible. The people of America have always been considering themselves as a Christian state, embracing all religions, as long as they all they all agreed with the traditional Christian-Judeo principles as they are stipulated in the Holy Bible. Even at present, up to about eighty-five percent of the people of America consider themselves Christians. ... It would also be to the shock of the Founding fathers to realize that their descendants, whereas preaching to the Christians who are Bible believing, are following a scheme that is dreamed up by the republic of Saudi Arabia, a nation that is aggressive against the Jews and Christians, as well as the Western Civilization. I believe the modern or present-day demands of the world have led to the separation of the church and state. This is because the world is currently considered to be a rotten place and the church cannot single-handedly clear up the mess. There are several things that happen in the world today such as terrorism that are not supported by the church; however, it cannot offer an appropriate solution, which makes it difficult for the church to be involved in such matters. Fighting terrorism requires an intensive fight with the suspected perpetrators, which leads to several deaths, and this cannot be supported b the church (Rauchut 6-19). Does morality depend on any Godsâ⠬⢠existence? I believe there is no apparent reason as to why people should believe a thing like that. If we actually believe in the presence of a God, even one that has most of the theism, philosophical and classicalismââ¬â¢s traditional qualities, then there are no specific moral values that can be derived from that premise. One major complaint regarding the issue of secularism is that belief in God and religion are the fundamentals of morality, a democratic society and justice. Here, the fundamental premise is that the only values that eventually matter are those that are inspirational, and they can only be understood and perceived via connection or relationship with divine and religious tradition. Religious and different kinds of theism have literally had decades of years
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