The cover on my first middle grade fantasy book. "The world of all things lost" was created by an excellent artist but it was too creepy and didn't impress the customers. I posed a question on Facebook asking fellow authors what they thought of it and I got a variety of answers.There were a few that liked it but the majority thought that I was more a horror cover rather than a MG fantasy book. Off the back of that, I will be hiring a designer who I believe will create a cover that will work to replace the one that's currently on sale and see how that does.
I enjoy the farm story...I've got a Great Pyr, 16 laying hens and 11 Cornish Rock meat birds at present. Hoping for goats. It's a lovely contrast to writing all day long (oh and homeschooling, since that's what my book is about).
We are eyeing up some Alpacas.... they apparently make excellent bird-security, keep the grass short, and their poop keeps it all looking fresh. Beats mowing the lawn is all I say.
Also Back Australorps protect your flock from prey. We processed meat birds for the first time yesterday. That was traumatic. I’m vegan for at least two weeks.
Just what I'm looking for right when I need it. I've got one on Amazon getting sufficient clicks but only one sale so far. From what I read that is most likely due to the cover. So now I can experiment.
Dear Nick. Thank you so much! To tell you the truth, when I have my first book ready, I'd rather assign you the delicate task of designing the cover, as you have the pertinent know how and the taste.
I have five ebooks ready and will follow your advice on selecting covers. Thank you Nick. I also love the animal break in your video. I would add more scenes of your animals and create a CZcams video of them and promote your books at the end, as i forward such videos to over 70 of my friends on Whats app as they feel uplifted watching happy animals in this period of shut down and stress
Thanks a bunch! Enjoyed the family farm peak. You're videos /tips are great for a new author who's starting out after retiring and unfamiliar with publishing vernacular, resources etc. available at low/no cost.
Hi Nick - are you going to do any more YT videos, or do you feel you've said all you want to say on the subject of books? Also, six years in from YF10kC course, is there anything you would change about your original strategies and tactics? I'm still not sold on the idea of FB 'events' as hardly anyone paid attention when I posted book info. I am just writing new books when I can, and concentrating on growing a quality subs list.
Hi Nick, great little video! Came across Book brush about 10 days ago and using the free 15 downloads to create Book bub ads. The cover creator looks fab but not used yet ... it really is a brilliant tool for author's to utilise - another string to the bow! PS I think you need to R.O. mance those ducks to get them to behave btw! Cheers Dave - in Northants
How about the back cover..? Any advice on doing bios and book summaries..? Do reviews fit on the back, etc. Or, is the front cover all that's necessary for ebooks..?
with spines and back covers (for paperbacks / hardcovers) you'd use the Bookbrush print templates instead. You can pretty much put whatever you want on there, but always wise to grab something off the shelf and copy the layout if you're not sure!
Just had a boxed set cover I created in book brush. KDP wouldn’t let me upload in PNG. Had to redownload as jpg, FYI. Also, bookbrush costs me about $80/yr. Photoshop costs me about $120/yr, so as long as you are tech savvy, photoshop is a much more versatile tool. I’m planning to cancel my bookbrush membership because it doesn’t make sense for me to have both and I need photoshop to create book covers for Ingram spark. That service is just too picky.
Danielle Forrest for sure, Photoshop is a superior tool if you know how to use it although I’d still use BB for quick jobs and their templates save time (eg for social images etc). And yes, you need jpeg or tiff for cover uploads (pdf for paperbacks) but better you control the compression levels, and Bookbrush doesn’t let you do that so grab a png and then convert it with minimal compression later!
haha - sounds like a fun experiment, but the read-through rate will suck. Well, that is unless you figure out how to put no effort into something and come out with a book people will buy in droves. Not that that's ever happened - ahem - *remembers every movie adaptation that came out in the last 3 years*
Thanks Nick! This video was really timely as I'm just putting the finishing touches on my 5th Crime Fiction Mystery book. Going over to check out Book Brush now. P.S. Love the ducks!
$0 - $1k Per Month With Books - Author Marketing Workshop: bit.ly/0to1kworkshop Check out BookBrush Here: bit.ly/2FTeXm0 Questions? Drop 'em in the comments!
4 minutes in, I got distracted by the egg slide and headed off to eBay and bought one! Product placements, how dare you, Nick! :D
The Quiet Landscape rather hypnotic isn’t it!!!!
For the romance authors reading here - #1, LJ Shen, is not trad. pub. She's self-pub and extremely popular.
yep. always rocking the charts. I want to be her when I grow up! :P
I love Bookbrush! It makes book ads so easy to do. Well worth subscribing.
The cover on my first middle grade fantasy book. "The world of all things lost" was created by an excellent artist but it was too creepy and didn't impress the customers. I posed a question on Facebook asking fellow authors what they thought of it and I got a variety of answers.There were a few that liked it but the majority thought that I was more a horror cover rather than a MG fantasy book. Off the back of that, I will be hiring a designer who I believe will create a cover that will work to replace the one that's currently on sale and see how that does.
I enjoy the farm story...I've got a Great Pyr, 16 laying hens and 11 Cornish Rock meat birds at present. Hoping for goats. It's a lovely contrast to writing all day long (oh and homeschooling, since that's what my book is about).
We are eyeing up some Alpacas.... they apparently make excellent bird-security, keep the grass short, and their poop keeps it all looking fresh. Beats mowing the lawn is all I say.
Also Back Australorps protect your flock from prey. We processed meat birds for the first time yesterday. That was traumatic. I’m vegan for at least two weeks.
Totally enjoyed this video. Also was humorous. ❤️
Just what I'm looking for right when I need it. I've got one on Amazon getting sufficient clicks but only one sale so far. From what I read that is most likely due to the cover. So now I can experiment.
Dear Nick. Thank you so much! To tell you the truth, when I have my first book ready, I'd rather assign you the delicate task of designing the cover, as you have the pertinent know how and the taste.
haha yes - though it's rather easy if you're starting off using a decent image. The templates make it pretty simple!
Thanks for the laugh chasing ducks! to feed them! so cautious. Makes learning new stuff easy.
Thanks for this great video of the Cover Creator!
Awesome data! It's appreciated. And the duck chase--priceless! :)
Welcome back, Nick! Another great topic. I was feeling overwhelmed by the whole making your own cover thing. This video helped!
I have five ebooks ready and will follow your advice on selecting covers. Thank you Nick. I also love the animal break in your video. I would add more scenes of your animals and create a CZcams video of them and promote your books at the end, as i forward such videos to over 70 of my friends on Whats app as they feel uplifted watching happy animals in this period of shut down and stress
Very interesting. I like to use photoshop and have a design and art background BUT I can see where this would save time for magnets and such. Thanks.
Pexels is also an awesome site for royalty free images for free
Great video. Thanks.
Thanks a bunch! Enjoyed the family farm peak. You're videos /tips are great for a new author who's starting out after retiring and unfamiliar with publishing vernacular, resources etc. available at low/no cost.
Hi Nick - are you going to do any more YT videos, or do you feel you've said all you want to say on the subject of books? Also, six years in from YF10kC course, is there anything you would change about your original strategies and tactics? I'm still not sold on the idea of FB 'events' as hardly anyone paid attention when I posted book info. I am just writing new books when I can, and concentrating on growing a quality subs list.
Thanks, Nick! I will try Bookbrush
BookBrush cover creator is not free. I need to buy a plan if I want to download the cover I created.
Connie Lafortune yes! You do. 30 day guarantee tho. As explained.
Great practical advice for new authors. Thanks Nick.
Hi Nick, great little video! Came across Book brush about 10 days ago and using the free 15 downloads to create Book bub ads. The cover creator looks fab but not used yet ... it really is a brilliant tool for author's to utilise - another string to the bow! PS I think you need to R.O. mance those ducks to get them to behave btw! Cheers Dave - in Northants
How about the back cover..? Any advice on doing bios and book summaries..? Do reviews fit on the back, etc. Or, is the front cover all that's necessary for ebooks..?
with spines and back covers (for paperbacks / hardcovers) you'd use the Bookbrush print templates instead. You can pretty much put whatever you want on there, but always wise to grab something off the shelf and copy the layout if you're not sure!
That's awesome Nick! Well done!
Excellent video. Concise and informative!
Just had a boxed set cover I created in book brush. KDP wouldn’t let me upload in PNG. Had to redownload as jpg, FYI. Also, bookbrush costs me about $80/yr. Photoshop costs me about $120/yr, so as long as you are tech savvy, photoshop is a much more versatile tool. I’m planning to cancel my bookbrush membership because it doesn’t make sense for me to have both and I need photoshop to create book covers for Ingram spark. That service is just too picky.
Danielle Forrest for sure, Photoshop is a superior tool if you know how to use it although I’d still use BB for quick jobs and their templates save time (eg for social images etc). And yes, you need jpeg or tiff for cover uploads (pdf for paperbacks) but better you control the compression levels, and Bookbrush doesn’t let you do that so grab a png and then convert it with minimal compression later!
Great stuff Nick! This is a very thorough training!
Glad it was helpful!
I am pretty good with photoshop but this is nice option.
Thanks Nick, this was useful.
many thumbs up. great video. I forgot about book brush. I am going to use it ...Thank you1!!!!
Love the music! And the content, of course!
i couldn't agree more. my plan is to put all my money and effort into the cover/thumbnail...and then no effort into my project.
haha - sounds like a fun experiment, but the read-through rate will suck. Well, that is unless you figure out how to put no effort into something and come out with a book people will buy in droves. Not that that's ever happened - ahem - *remembers every movie adaptation that came out in the last 3 years*
Nick Stephenson I hope you realize of making a joke
Thanks Nick! This video was really timely as I'm just putting the finishing touches on my 5th Crime Fiction Mystery book. Going over to check out Book Brush now. P.S. Love the ducks!
Cynthia Westland they’re a quacking good time. Sorry.
GIMP can do pretty everything Photoshop can - and it's free.
yes, very powerful software - big learning curve though!
Very nice! Thank you, kind sir.
Love this! Great job, Nick!
pleasure!
Lovely
P.S. love your new place. Had to laugh..!
Merci!
Oh, also, what about the spine..?
$0 - $1k Per Month With Books - Author Marketing Workshop: bit.ly/0to1kworkshop
Check out BookBrush Here: bit.ly/2FTeXm0
Questions? Drop 'em in the comments!
Do you think you'll be making a cookbook anytime soon on gourmet dishes made with only eggs and apples?
Crissi Langwell I really should. There’s at least two dishes there.
@@therealnickstephenson I'd be interested to learn what those are! ;-)
Crissi Langwell the first one is apples. The second is eggs. There might be a third involving an apple omelette.
@@therealnickstephenson 🤣
sorry Nick ( damn predictive text!! )
No problem, Feter :D
Had a look, and those would. be the categories I'd go for! Nice looking cover, btw :)
3:38 this b.s. earned my thumbs down.
technically, it would be duck sh*t. Or d.s.