When You Split with Your Publisher: Book Covers

newspaper-502778_960_720 smMany of us, in our writing odysseys, have had intervals working with traditional publishers, some more reputable than others, and many of us have seen those arrangements come to an end for one reason or another. Our IU mailbag often includes letters from writers who have been taken in by predatory publishers and who want to cut their ties, but also from writers published by small presses that have come on hard times and shuttered their doors. While the larger issue of what to do to get out of a bad contract or when your publisher goes belly-up would take more time to detail, let’s concentrate on one part of that equation: the book cover design.

If this issue resonates for you, the first thing we would suggest Continue reading “When You Split with Your Publisher: Book Covers”

Free Online Resources for Self-Publishers

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FREE courtesy of Pixabay!

Just over a year ago I wrote a post highlighting some free online resources for writers. Since that time, I’ve discovered even more wonderful free resources for photos, music, backgrounds, fonts, and more, so it’s definitely time for an update.

Each site has a section regarding licensing, which needs to be read prior to downloading and using content. Some sites don’t require any attribution, but some do, so make sure to read the fine print.

Links to all the various sites won’t be included in this post, because minions can get into trouble with Google for posting too many scammy-looking links. But at the bottom of this post will be a link to one of Indies Unlimited’s fabulous resource pages, where you can find links to all the sites mentioned.

First up, Photos: Continue reading “Free Online Resources for Self-Publishers”

Canva for Free eBook Covers (and more)

Canva LogoCanva, an online graphic design site for do-it-yourselfers, offers hundreds of free design options for writers. You can create your own Facebook covers, YouTube channel covers, business cards, twitter headers, posters, flyers, menus, invitations, album covers, and, most importantly, eBook covers.

Let’s make an eBook cover right now. Continue reading “Canva for Free eBook Covers (and more)”

Tutorial: Resizing Pictures

Why in the world could I possibly need to know how to resize a picture? you ask. Well, Skippy, it goes like this. A reporter or blogger or some other nice person who wants to feature your book asks you for a jpg image of your book cover – or a head shot – no larger than 500kb. But the only image you have of yourself looking all sexy and authory is 4 megabytes. So you send it anyway. BAD AUTHOR!!!! That’s a really good way to annoy someone who’s trying to help you. But…how do I make the image smaller? you say. Well, I’ll show you.  Aren’t you glad you asked?

See the cover above? The size of the original file is 606 kb. That’s over half a megabyte and still doesn’t meet the criteria of the 500kb requested by whomever. Making it smaller is very fast and easy. Go to the folder where your picture is stored. If you mouse over it, that should tell you how large the file is. (I knew you were going to ask that next. Ha!) See the photo below. Continue reading “Tutorial: Resizing Pictures”