editors desk

Help for California Fire Victims

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Where I am, we are safe. There are fires around us and my allergies are in charge right now, but I am not complaining. There are people who lost everything.

The scary part is, this isn’t even the time of year when fire season starts. And thanks to global warming this may be the new normal. All the more reason for us to stick together!

I have to give a big thanks and praise to the firefighting teams, they are amazing. The best in the world. They are overworked and underappreciated.

So I know it is the holiday season and we have been giving to a lot of people but I am a firm believer in human kindness so if you can please show some love for California. I know I will.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/10/us/iyw-aid-victims-of-the-california-wildfires/index.html

https://twocents.lifehacker.com/how-to-help-victims-of-california-wildfires-1821084775

Thanks! And be safe out there!

Paula

Just be safe, ok?

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Here is a picture of a baby bunny in a box to make you feel better.

I had in mind to write a very different post for tomorrow but then I made the choice to watch the news. Normally I am very pragmatic about life and a very positive person. But after finding out what is going on around the world, I have to admit that I am a little worried and overwhelmed.  So much bad is happening. The poor Caribbean is hunkered down in whatever buildings are left for another horrible hurricane. Mexico is dealing with a severe earthquake. Then there is the continuing news of problems in Venezuela, and please don’t forget Syria. I am sure there is more.

And the general disaster that is the US political system right now. Not as severe and urgent as the rest, but as a US citizen I am quite concerned. It doesn’t matter what political party you support, I really think the one thing we can all agree on is that it is a hot mess. Which means we are not doing what we American’s do best, help others. I do believe that we are a global system and that what happens to one nation affects us all.

I don’t have any witty way to tie this to writing. And that is the point. Sometimes you just can’t.

So do me a favor, just be safe as you can be.

Have a good day.

Paula

 

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Lazy writing and Logan Lucky

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I actually drive a v8 Mustang, and hell yea it is a stick…

There were enough of us home that we decided to go see a movie, and the one thing we all agreed on was Logan Lucky. I am going to try really hard to not spoil the movie for anyone who wants to see it but hasn’t yet, but this is your SPOIL ALERT warning. Read at your own risk.

I did enjoy the movie and don’t regret going to see it in the theater. However, there were two things about the movie that took away from the enjoyment.

First, there were some unanswered questions. You don’t need to have every question or problem answered to have a good story, but the major ones need to be addressed without the audience feeling unsatisfied. In Logan Lucky,  the dad started a chain of events because he needed a lawyer to stop his ex-wife, who was sole custodian of their daughter, from moving to another state. And yet at the very end, that is what happened in spite of his success. It just doesn’t add up and play into the character of the very loving dad.

The other issue I had was the introduction of characters at the last minute. I understand that the directors were trying to keep the plot twist quiet, but to have someone that the dad trusted more than the main characters in the movie to help him with the secret twist be someone that we had never seen on screen before is pretty lazy. It is like the mystery writers who run you through a bunch of characters to make you guess who did it, only to find out that it was some random psycho that happened to show up.  There is probably a scene somewhere on the cutting room floor that hopefully explains the relationship of this mysterious person. Otherwise, why not at least have him be someone that works as a bouncer in the bar?

There were a couple of other, smaller issues but I don’t want to be picking on what was a pretty decent movie. What I am taking away from this is that in my writing, I will map out my plots and not cheap out by introducing characters to fill a gap that don’t make sense.

Have a good day.

Paula

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Dogs can’t tell time and neither can readers

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If you own dogs, you know that old joke about dogs acting like you have been gone for 10 years when you just stepped outside to get the mail. We have two dogs, Paxil, a border collie/ Australian shepherd mix, and Lunesta (Lulu) who is a Papillion. Every morning the routine is usually the same. My husband, who is a saint and can deal with mornings better, gets up lets the dogs out to do their business, does his business and gets the coffee going. This is my husband’s time to relax and start the day slowly. Later when I have to get up, the dogs want to go out again. No matter if I get up in one minute or one hour later.

Dogs really don’t have a sense of time. They are event driven and base their actions on reactions to actions around them. Therefore no matter what time I get up, it is time to go out again, much to the annoyance of my husband. When you come through the door, that is an event and you must be greeted.

While I was laughing with my husband over his frustration with this, I realized it is the same thing with readers.

Not that readers can’t tell time, but that in our stories there is no way for them to. So it is up to us as authors to create events to orient the reader to when things are and to the passage of time.

What do you think?

Have a great day!

Paula

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When you fall down, get back up and continue on.

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When it rains it pours and that can’t be poignant enough for right now.  Poor Barbuda is pretty much wiped out, all the islands in the Carribean, Florida, Mexico, and of course Texas is still bailing out. Our good thoughts and wishes go out for all of you now and I promise to rearrange my budget so we can give cash as needed.

Sometimes the world is good at knocking you down. But I think life is about how we react to those moments. Of course, if you are worried about hurricanes or other disasters you have to make sure you are ok first.  Things like writing have to take a back seat unless you are huddled somewhere with a notebook and pen writing your thoughts and observations safely.

Like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, you need to prioritize your needs. Take care of your physical self – shelter, food, and water, then when you can, you work on your psychological – feeling safe, connected, and healthy. That is where the writing comes in. So many mental health professionals use writing as a tool to good mental health.

As writers, we already knew that.

Stay safe and have a good day.

Paula

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Just do the damn thing and go to bed.

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This week started off so good. Part of that was the holiday but I actually managed to get some work done for this site ahead of time and that was awesome. My days were wonderful and slightly carefree(ish).

I have Addison’s second type, like J. F. Kennedy but a little different. His was the first type. Basically due to doctors error a long time ago my adrenal glands are totally fried. It took an incredibly long time to get diagnosed but here I am trying to work my program. So one of the issues is I have a shit ton of inflammation which means, happy fun time, I get to go on the inflammation diet. So today I spent the day making my own homemade flax seed cereal for breakfast and preparing kale. I f’ing hate kale. The only thing that I hate worse than kale is kale with shitake mushrooms.  If you just said “Oh that sounds yummy” then (1) I probably hate you too, and (2) please come eat mine for me.

Rant over. Hopefully, this helps, in which case it is worth every last bit of kale I force down.

Which brings us to now. It is late, I am tired and covered in carrot peels. At least my hands smell really yummy. Cinnamon, fresh ginger, a hint of garlic, and lime juice.  But I have my writing to do. I spent time making excuses. No one is making me write. But the thought of giving up makes me whimper inside. So cut it out, self. Chin up, just do what you need to do. Get the damn thing done and go to bed.

Have a great day. I hope you are able to get done what you need to.

Paula

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Just like the evil electric company

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His and hers SU bottles

I was lying flat on my bed with the fan turned high, misting water into the air with the squirt bottle we use to discipline the cats (kids occasionally too) feeling pretty sorry for myself because it was 109 in southern California today.  And I know that there are plenty of people out there who would gladly switch places with me right now, first world problems and all that, but this is my very small pity party. I don’t do well in the heat.

We have an air conditioner, a really nice one. But earlier this year I signed up for a deal with the electric company. So in exchange for a lower rate, when the grid is getting a bit overloaded, the electric company can turn off my a/c. I know it sounds stupid in 109-degree weather but this is what makes them so clever.  When I was pitched this wonderful opportunity it was cold outside.  I mean cold for southern California, but still, you want a hot cocoa and a sweater.

Then I realized how bloody brilliant that was. Because you don’t remember how much you suffered in the heat in February, so the money looks good. They only shut off your a/c for a short time and it gets rotated around with other people so it shouldn’t be too long. Blah de blah blah blah. Of course, I want to save the money.

Until now when reality hits. I could go someplace else to find some coolness but it is too hot to move or think.

Then I realized that a smart writer would do the same thing. Place clues and hints when it is cold outside and your reader easily buys into it, but then later in the story switch the weather. Just like the evil electric company.

No matter what the weather is for you (107 for me!) please be safe and take care of yourself.

Paula

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Stuck in the middle with you.

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I am one of those sandwiched middle classians that is stuck hard between generations.  We have three kids in college, with one more we are trying to get into a certificate program. We are also dealing with more and more problems with my elderly in-laws and I am about to head for a family meeting to deal with some of those issues.

No matter what your political belief, (I do try to keep that out of this site) I think a lot of us feel very squeezed. Wages have been stagnant for a long time and the cost of life has been merrily growing. I think that is part of the reason why there is so much emotion behind the issues.

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am…

That said, I count my blessings every day because I know there are a lot of people who have it way worse than I do.  I have been there. There was a time when 30 bucks was all I had after bills for gas and groceries for myself and my daughter. Even then I was blessed because at least I had a place to live and a car.

Times are tough for a lot of us.

Which means that if you are not getting paid to write, that becomes an “extra”. I am blessed again to be able to contribute to my family’s well-being by being able to work from home as a freelancer.  I do alright for myself. BUT if I am not working, I am not earning.

So after working to feed us, and dealing with the different family issues, and sometimes actually trying to get some sleep, a lot of “extras” get cut out. You have to, to keep sane.

There are some days when there is more fur on the floor than I am happy with. I also have a huge collection of crafts and Lego kits that I now affectionately call my retirement plan because they got caught up in the “extras”.  I used to struggle with having time to write. That so easily could be an “extra” and for a long time, it was. But then NaNoWriMo came along and I made a deal with my family. I would have November to write 50K words.

I started looking forward to every crazy November. So did my family. They would ask about what my idea for my story was and then what happened next. Eventually, I realized that they were happier when I wrote in November and so was I.

Writing is no longer an extra, it is self-care. I guess that can tell you a lot about how you feel about writing and if it is something you should invest time in. Even if it is to write a daily post.

Have a great day!

Paula

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If it was 1 pm yesterday I would be on time.

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I will let you in on a little secret that probably isn’t so secret. I actually write my posts the night before and schedule them for the next day. Editing is not my best skill and I need time between readings to let my brain reset. And then because I am a chicken, I make my wonderful husband read them. You will still probably find an error or two, alas.

It would be really nice to actually complete writing my posts a few days ahead of time, so I wouldn’t be such a hypocrite when I recommend that to my WordPress clients.  I hope to get there someday and at least I am honest about it.  So “best practices” would be to have all your posts done a week ahead of time but lets agree that sometimes best practices are just goals to reach for.  Or laugh at.

On the other hand, that then that leaves me with where I am tonight. Its late, I want to write my post, and I want to keep my goals but my bed is calling after a long day. So I am keeping it short and sweet and celebrating a win that I actually wrote something about nothing but still something. Baby steps.

What schedule to you keep for your writing and how do you manage disruptive days? Share and help us all!

Have a great today!

Paula

 

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“And everything under the sun is in tune But the sun is eclipsed by the moon”

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Today if you live in the (semi) United States you have an opportunity to witness a marvel of nature. While eclipses happen all the time, this is a rare one that most of this country gets to see at least part of. Are you going to watch?

What an amazing event for a writer to witness! The corona of the sun visible, the changes in the earth as the eclipse happens. Birds will go silent or sing their nighttime songs, waves of shadows will flow over the ground. So many events in our history have been triggered by cosmic changes! What fodder for an author!

When you are fully in the sunshine, it is sometimes difficult to see everything clearly. I will sometimes get caught up in the daydreams of fame and that I will be discovered and everyone will love my stories. J.K. Rowling eat your heart out! Of course that would mean that I actually had to finish something, publish it, hope people find it, and then we will see if anyone loves it. After all, who doesn’t dream of shining in the sun.

But it is when I am out of the spotlight and in the shade that I can be honest with myself. I don’t write to be famous. No lie, yeah it would be nice to make some money writing, but I write because I want to, because I LOVE my stories and the worlds I create. By writing down my ideas and stories, I get to spend more quality time with them, exploring and wrapping myself in my creations. You know you have a character in your stories that you wish were real and want to be besties with.

Hopefully, someday I will get over what is stopping me from finishing my stories and actually publish one. Maybe some people will like them, for sure some people won’t, and I doubt I will ever be as successful as Ms. Rowling. But I am happy. I know the real reason why I write, and I am doing just that.

So have a wonderful mystical (but safe) day!

Paula

PS The post title is from the Pink Floyd song Eclipse off the album Dark Side of The Moon.

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Why it is good to be different but also very scary!

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I compare myself to more successful people all the time. I wish I could write as well as Niel Gaiman, write as humorously as Terry Pratchett, or as descriptively as Steven King. In some ways this is normal. We want to see if we match up and how good we are compared to other people.

There are so many problems in doing this. Comparing yourself to others is bad for you.

It was one of the reasons why it took me so long to take a chance on writing this blog. I would use the fact that I am not as whimsical, or funny, or grammatically correct and poised as other people. So I should wait until I get good enough.

The problem is there will always be someone you admire and think of as more qualified than you. It is a procrastination excuse based in fear.

You don’t know the doubts and struggles that many others have had on their way to becoming a successful writer. Maybe you haven’t had the practice or the time to put into your writing yet. Maybe your parents hated reading and never encouraged you. Maybe life happened. It happens to most of us. So by comparing yourself to the greats, you are being unfair to you. Who knows where you will go if you continue to work on your writing.

Another reason not to compare yourself to others is that they became successful because they are unique. If you try to imitate them, you are not being faithful to your own unique voice.

Aretha Franklin is amazing. She sings a cover of Bridge Over Trouble Waters that blows my mind every time I hear it. No one sings like her.

And that is the point. No one sings like her, or Bob Dylan, or Adele. That is why they are great.

So you do you. Because perhaps if you can’t find anyone who writes (or sings) like you, then you are on your way. Or you are William Hung. Either way, you are your own unique self.

Have a great day!

Paula

PS feel free to share any songs that help you through a Monday Morning!

 

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Bringing back the dead. Why site stats are important to a blog.

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Yesterday was my big brave day and I posted and the world did not blow up and I was not attacked by rabid trolls foaming at the mouth. Today is harder. Yesterday I ran up the steps and jumped off the diving board. Today I have time to ponder about what I did/doing and go “OMG what was I thinking!” along with all the other fun thoughts of self-doubt.

But we shall still push forward! (Deep breath!)

You do have an author site, right? Please. You need an author site. The easiest one to set up is a WordPress site. Let me know if you are interested in learning more about this, or have any questions about WordPress sites you would like answered. I am happy to help!

All WordPress sites come with an amazing little tool called Jetpack. Actually, it is a bunch of tools provided by WordPress and a bunch of them are free. One of which is the Jetpack dashboard Site Stats. This tells you how many people are visiting and can give you a general picture of the health of your site over time.

Something that my stats are telling me is that you liked the Quick Links better than the Link Roundup posts. See how powerful you are! And I am listening because eventually, I would LOVE for this site to kind of be like a neighborhood coffee bar for writers. A place to find resources and hang out. So the quick links will be back but maybe with a link round up on Fridays. There is just too much good content out there. So how about that? And of course, I will still be trying to find my voice and write directly to you. And maybe, just maybe, you will write back to me.

Have a good day!

Paula

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Help! I can’t find my voice!

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If you have been coming to this site (thank you!) you might have noticed that right now I have been posting links to other peoples stuff. It’s really good stuff, stuff that I find quite helpful, but it is other peoples stuff on other people’s sites. Since my day job is helping other people with their sites and I am pretty darn good at it, I know that original content is key to a sites success. So why the disconnect?

Mostly fear.

I’m just a dandelion!

I am afraid of you. Yep. Little ol’ you.

So afraid, that I hesitate on what to do. Who am I to you? What if you don’t like what I have to say or how to say it? And how do I find my goddamn voice?

I think I just found out that my voice cusses a little bit. Sorry. But it is me.

But I change and so doesn’t my voice. Constantly. Depending on the situation, on my mood, how hungry I am, and just because. I do an awesome evil Elmo voice.

Where does that leave me in terms of finding my voice to speak to you? I don’t know.

But I do know that to do nothing, to continue to be afraid to speak is like losing a little piece of myself.  I know that I am very honest if you are speaking kindly of me, or god awful blunt which is probably closer to the truth. I don’t filter myself very well.

Plus I hate the feeling of being scared and weak more than I hate what scares me.  One summer very long ago, my friends and I were at a pool with a very high dive. My friends were trying to decide if they dared jump off and were trying to rationalize their fear.  The diving board was quite high, used for Olympic training.  They turned around to try and get me to go first, but I was already gone and halfway up the ladder. The trick is not to think about it, just do it. One determined baby step at a time until you run out of diving board.

Perhaps that is the answer. I am going to take a deep breath and hold it in and take a baby step, then another until I run out of diving board. Hopefully, you will stay with me. I am still afraid of you but I am more mad at the fear I have in me.

Have a good day and thank you for reading.

Paula

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Editor’s Note: Traveling For A Few Days

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76_roo_crossingHi! I am going to be traveling for a few days but I will be back as soon as I land and can find wifi!  I will be going across the international dateline and I am horrible at time change, but I should be back online by sometime Monday(ish?).

Thank you so much for visiting and supporting Publetariat!

Loves!

Paula

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Editor’s Desk – A Cover Is Worth 1,000 Words. 10 Tips To Make Your eBook Cover Awesome.

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Please note that while this article is targeting eBooks, there are still some great tips for print covers. However, print covers are more complicated and will be addressed in a future post.

You are not suppose to judge a book by it’s cover, but that is exactly what people do. In the post Categories, keywords, Amazon, and you. How to get the most out of your choices  I showed you how to use categories and keywords to help your book rank higher in Amazon’s search. Now that your book is showing up in front of more potential buyers, you need to make sure you grab their attention. How? With an awesome cover.

You need awesome, because there are a lot of other books competing with yours. You have about 6 seconds to grab potential customer’s attention, and let them know that their next great read is your book.

There is a lot of information that goes into a great cover: color theory, font choices, layout flow, and more. If you can, you should hire a professional. If you can’t hire a professional, don’t use MS Word to create your cover. Use a better program such as Canva, which is free, and will at least give you an option of professional layouts. Either way the tips below will help you.

  1. Goodreads ScreenshotSize – A good cover will look great even in thumbnail size. Readers should still be able to get the gist of the book and at minimum be able to read the title. A lot of dedicated eReaders are in grayscale, so make sure you check that your cover works for them.  The ideal height/width ratio is  8:5 (1.6). See the screen capture of the recent book list I got from Goodreads on the right for some examples.
  2. KISS (Keep it simple silly) –  Simple is better, especially if you are designing your own cover. A simple design sizes better and is easier to convey information to the reader. This doesn’t mean your cover needs to be boring, far from it. A simple design can be very powerful. Covers with more details need careful handling, and are best managed by a professional. You don’t want to overpower your reader or loose the essence of your story with too many details.
  3. Title – Make it stand out. This means good space around the title, a readable font, and a good size.If you have a long title, take the best part and make it the focus. Have the less important parts be, well, less important. For example:
    THE AMAZING TRUE STORY OF BELA LUGOSI AND HIS WONDER RACING LLAMAS: PART ONE – BELA LUGOSI IS ALMOST KILLED AS A CHILD BY A RUNAWAY RACING LLAMA (PART 1 IN THE RACING LLAMAS SERIES!)

    It is a bit much for a cover. The eye is overwhelmed. Try instead:

    The Amazing True Story Of Bela Lugosi
    And His Wonder Racing Llamas
    Part One –  Bela Lugosi Is Almost Killed As A Child By A Runaway Racing Llama
    (Part 1 In The Racing Llamas Series!)

    The bold part is still long, but it gets the title and general story across. The rest can be moved to other areas of the cover, breaking up the text into nice bite size bits. Notice the natural breaks, which happen where there is punctuation. Each section can stand on it’s own.

  4. Story – Does your cover convey a general sense of what your story is about and the genre? Your graphics should match the mood and fit your story. If your story is a regency romance then having a woman on the cover in a modern slip dress doesn’t fit, no matter how breathless and heaving her bosoms are.
  5. Invest – Resist the temptation to be cheap. It is OK to want the best value for your dollar, but I guarantee I can spot your MS Word clip-art a mile away and so can potential readers. If you go to a site where you can hire someone cheaply, be aware that they are probably working off a template. Your cover will look a lot like a bunch of other ones. There are places where you can get good images or artwork for a decent price. A true professional will take time to understand your story and make the cover match.
  6. Image Effects – There are a lot of fun tools you can play with to create rainbow gradients, text outlines, and embossing effects. Go nuts and have fun! Then delete all the effects and put those tools away.
  7. Color – Most website’s backgrounds are white. So if your background color is white, you will fade away. Even using a few shades different from white will make a big difference. Don’t use a big black frame to fix this.
    Your cover will look better if you use color judiciously. This doesn’t mean that you have to use boring colors. If you use colors that are harmonious with each through color theory, it will be more pleasing to the reader’s eye. There are tools that will help you pick out a palette of colors that looks good together. I like the one at Adobe. It is free.
  8. Fonts – Fonts are like spices. A few mixed together is yummy, too many a disaster. Pick two or at most three that look good together and stay with them. Google Fonts are free and offer a wide variety of choices. Make sure you pick one that matches the mood of your story, but is not so fancy it can’t be read. If you have one “decorative” font, pick a simpler one to match. Avoid Comic Sans or Papyrus like the plague. No seriously, don’t use them – ever.
  9. http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41MLd2DZYwL._SX312_BO1,204,203,200_.jpgFlow – The eyes can only look at so many things at once. Your layout should be set up to guide the reader to the main points you want to convey. You can use position, size of elements, and even your graphics to lead the your reader down the path that communicates your story.
    Symbolism can be very powerful. Instead of using a literal part of your story as the cover, use symbols to convey the main point or mood. This attracts your reader but can also leave a little mystery to the reader. No matter how you feel about the story, The Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer, have wonderful covers that use symbolism in a very powerful way.
  10. Review – Have someone you trust look at your cover. Someone who will tell you the truth. Then get a second opinion. Get lots of opinions, lots of eyes, to look at your cover fresh. Be open to feedback, but don’t start changing everything based on what individual people say. If you can manage it, get a couple of different covers and hold a contest where people can vote on the best.
    Look for unintended consequences. I recently came across a wonderful story, very well written about the power of family and a group of sisters. The cover was well done with one exception. The graphic was a pair of shoes, positioned on the top, with the title below. They symbolized the need to see other people’s perspective. Very nice. Except, they still had legs in them. Dangling from the top, with no body. Like one of the sisters made the mistake of using the Comic Sans font and couldn’t face the consequences any more. How more powerful would it have been to just have a pair of shoes, waiting to be stepped into, so that the reader could figuratively walk in the characters footsteps?

Brainstorm what emotion, concept, key thing about your book you want to get across to your readers. Take a look at the screenshot above from Goodreads. What books stand out to you and why? Go to Amazon and do a search on your genre and ask the same questions. While you can’t copy another person’s cover you can see what elements seem to work for them and apply those elements to get your own awesome cover. A great cover is the next step in connecting with your ideal reader.

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.