Giveaway

Here's my first blog giveaway.
Why? Because it's my birthday next week.
On October third one luck follower is going to win an e-book copy of guardian and a swag (hopefully consisting of a calendar, a magnet and a bookmark)
All you have to do to win is follow this blog, and like my Guardian Facebook page easy.
So what are you waiting for? Follow and Like.
I live to write
Gillian

Why is it so hard to make a decision on a book cover?

So obviously a book needs a nice cover, something simple but effective right. There are pages on the web that let you design your own cover for a minimal charge and I figure, hey I design houses for a living how hard could it be to design a cover for a book? So I Start with something basic and come up with a few options but then I can't decide which I like better. So I jump on Facebook and upload a couple of the options so people can let me know what they think. The only problem with that is, different people like different covers. This is a lot harder than I realized. There are a couple of alternatives I quite like but nothing really stands out at me. There has to be something else.

Luckily there are quite a few book cover designers out there who know what they're doing and based on a recommendation I jump on the Paragraphic Facebook site and have a squiz. Wow, some of those covers are absolutely fantastic but none is quite right, there's one girl who looks perfect for Hannah but the rest of the cover is just too prissy, so I contact Tisha and she is more than happy to help come up with something else, she plays with some of the images and we to and fro a little bit and I love the final design, so why do I still feel a bit apprehensive. It's so hard to be unbiased when it comes to your own cover. I can look over covers in the bookstores all the time without so much as a second glance at what could be a really good book. But how do I know if I would do the same thing to the cover I have decided on. Do I go back to Facebook again? This time around the praise is unanimous, maybe I'm on the right track. Not only is the new cover the most popular by far but, but it has managed to triple the likes on the page. So that’s definatly all good. If people are liking the page because of the new cover then they'll defiantly pick up the book. Won't they? I still can’t be objective. I do love it though. What do you think?

I live to write

Gillian

Woohoo...... I did it.

Wow I can't believe I actually did it. I am now officially a published author.

My book Guardian is now available on line. Check it out if you get a chance and let me know what you think.

I'll tell you what though it isn't easy getting a book ready for publication when you’re an indie. It's not that it’s hard, it’s just that it's fiddly and time consuming and takes a lot of effort and a lot of patience. If you want to publish yourself the first thing you need to do is get on the smashwords website. Then download their style guide and book marketing guide and these will tell you what to do. I’m still half way through the book marketing guide though.

Firstly I set up my Guardian Facebook page, but you can't just let it sit there, you need to generate interest and set a network of likers so you need to become a Facebook stalker. Get on and like as many book related pages as you can find and don't be afraid to ask them to like you back. If you can become friendly with one of the more popular book review sites they will probably do a lot of the work for you and you'll end up saying thank you an awful lot. You have to spend time working it if you want to generate interest, but the facebook family are happy to help out when they can. Make sure you also have a twitter page, not that I have any idea what I'm doing there, the followers are slow coming so I have to admit that help and guidance about twitter would be appreciated. Then you apparently also need to set up myspace networking but I haven't gone there yet which is why I say I’m only half way through the marketing guide.

I set up a web page and a blog, and there are a lot of free options out there that are really easy to use so don’t feel you have to spend a fortune.

During all this I was busy formatting the book for smashwords. They recommend what they call the nuclear method if you have problems with reformatting but I just decided it was better to be safe than sorry so I implemented it straight away. Then I just had to go through and reformat all the formatting I had just undone. Hard tedious work especially when the main character can communicate with her mind and all those conversations were in italics so I had to go through the whole book and reinsert all the italics. Oh well it's for a good cause and If you are planning on uploading to smashwords I think it's the safest way to make sure your formatting is right from the onset.

Then finally, the really hard part. Clicking the ok button when it asks “do you want to publish”. My answer was yes and it's done. Woohoo. But now the really hard work begins. Now that it's available I have to let everybody know and really start implementing the tips available in the book marketing guide.

I live to write

Gillian

Welcome

Welcome to my official blog page, and my very first post.

I’ve got no idea what I’m really doing here and I’m not really a very organised person so I’m just going to wing it and see where we end up.

I just went to check on my kids before going off to bed last night and as I've gone in to my ten year olds room I noticed a book and a torch sitting on her pillow beside her head. I had to chuckle as I thought to myself "wonder where she gets that from" but it got me thinking about how much influence we inadvertently instil on our children. I mean don't get me wrong, I love that my children have picked up my love of reading. From the time they went into a big bed our night time ritual has included a bedtime story. We go to bed and read together, and it seems to have instilled a love of reading in both of them. I went in with my son the other week and he says. "I've finished my story mum, I'm just reading the blurb." love it. How Many six year olds refer to a books blurb?

But they're the good habits that they're picking up without me having to do anything, what are the bad ones they're picking up also. Am I ruining my kid’s lives with petty prejudices and beliefs without even realizing it? Of course I am, but I'm not racist, not sexist and not even very judgmental so all I can do is hope that the traits my children pick up from me are mostly positive, like the love of reading and writing.

Feel free to post up a comment and add your own thoughts.

Live to write

Gillian