Book Cover Express News

Book Hits #1 spot for Amazon Kindle Sales in Japan

A big congratulations to Wayne Lionel Aponte, whose book,  The Year of No Money in Tokyo has just made it to the number one spot for Kindle sales in Japan.

Another Award For One of Our Authors

It seems our authors can't help but win awards. Willard Thompson of Rincon Publishing and author of Dream Helper: A Novel of Early California,  won Gold in the 2009 IPPY Awards in the West-Pacific – Best Regional Fiction category.

Willard is already getting ready to publish another book.

The World of Online Social Networking

A few short years ago independent publishers mingled with like-minded individuals on various online forums and eMail discussion groups. At one time there, were at least a half-dozen of these that were too hot to miss and everyone seemed to be a member.

Few of them are as active these days, some have all but vanished, some have shut down.

Now we have the world of instant updates. While it's possible to have discussions using tools such as Twitter and FaceBook, it's also possible to remain cloistered in your hedonistic world and simply post announcements to let others know what you're doing.

Some people seem to post every few minutes, sharing with the world such important tidbits as, "I just took a shower," while others offer more substantive, or at least more entertaining posts.

I stuck my toe in last year, opening a FaceBook account and a Twitter account. I haven't been too overly active, but I see real potential here, so I'm making an effort to focus on my "business profile" via these tools. I've even gone so far as to start my own FaceBook group. So, with that in mind, I'd like to invite anyone and everyone to join me:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/covergal

FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Cathi-Stevenson/710851119 

You can find the link to join Book Production for Self-Publishers and Independent Presses on my profile page.

More of Our Books in the News

On Oct. 6 and I believe, earlier this month, one of the projects we designed a cover for was featured on the Today show. Pretty exciting stuff!

And on May 14, WFMZ-TV did a segment on a children's book we designed a cover for (cover illustration by Virginia Cody, published by Tribute Books), that can be seen here. It's a wonderful, inspiring story for all ages.

Goodbye to friend and colleague

Heather Colman, of Custom Design Graphics, eBook Palace and, eBook Search Engine and so many other publishing-related businesses I can't think to name them all right now, died Thanksgiving Day, after being diagnosed with cancer only three weeks ago.

Many of my clients have worked with Heather, as it was her I sent you to when you wanted 3D images, headers and other low-resolution work done.

I was fortunate to be this woman's friend for many, many years and I can honestly say I don't think I would be half the person I am today without her support and help.

Good bye Heather.

Want a Critique of Your Book Cover?

Have you designed your own book cover and would like to know if it will ace the glance test? Post a link to it, or upload to the forum at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/publishingdesign/

We will need to approve your membership.

The group is not very active right now, but the membership includes a few well-respected designers and people in the publishing industry. We'd really like to get things moving on this forum, because it could be a valuable, free resource for independent publishers.

We ask that you only post your own work, though and not that of anyone else, even if the other person is working for you.

And, if you haven't already, please download a free copy of our new eZine, K Means Black on the home page of Book Cover Express.

Free eZine Now Available

The premiere issue of K Means Black is now available for download at Book Cover Express (upper right). We had some great people help us put this zine together and we're already working hard on the next issue. Download yours now! Did I mention it's free?

BCE Cover Wins Award and Book Makes Evening News!

Laurie Todd's Fight Your Health Insurer and Win was featured on the news recently and like all things of interest, the segment can be found on YouTube.

I was also more than a little pleased to learn the cover tied for second place in the Bay Area Independent Publishers' Association 2008 Book Awards.

Go us!
 

Shades of Gray

 
Another Book Cover Express client is enjoying success as her book receives well-deserved recognition.

Shades of Gray by Jessica James is a 2008 IPPY awards finalist in the Best Regional Fiction Category. Shades has received fantastic reviews from civil war buffs and romance readers alike.

Book Growing Legs

Author Laurie Todd is all smiles as her book gains recognition and sales increase.

"Today I went to visit my book.  It has found its way into the most prestigious place in town — the University of Washington Medical School Bookstore.  I have to chuckle ... they must not know yet what is IN the book!

In any case, I met with the bookstore manager to discuss events, etc.  He said, "I have seen a lot of self-published books in my time, and this is the best one I have ever seen."  Kudos to us all.

The book was prominently displayed by the cash register.  I want to tell you, Cathi, that that beautiful cover was visible from halfway down the aisle.

Sold my first "quantity book order" today ... one hundred books to the (a well-known health organization).

Affiliate Programs

I've long been vocal about my distaste of affiliate programs. For me, it's a matter of "my word" and well, my word is just not for sale. I would have made a bit of money if I had participated, too. In the last few years I've sent out approximately US $30,000 in business to people I believed in, by referring my clients. Who are these honoured people, you ask? Well, layout people who work specifically with books, that's a popular request; editors; printers (who usually end up in an on-going relationship with the clients, even after I'm out of the picture) and illustrators, mostly.

If the associate or vendor (many are actually my competitors) does a good job and maintains some sort of infrequent relationship with me (a "hi, how ya doing," every six months is fine), then I keep referring them or their companies.

With an affiliate program, the referring person gets a fee or percentage of the sale, in other words, he or she is being paid to refer the other company or vendor. I've refused a lot of money over the years and have actually had my company blacklisted because I just don't want to get involved in these sorts of things. One printer offered me $150 for each client I sent to him. I won't do it. I don't like his product and I find the staff are not easy to work with. A publishing company wanted me to send them a fairly high percentage of my fee for every book cover I designed for one of their clients. When I refused, they put me on a list of vendors not to use. The story gets nastier from there, but that is how it began. The funny thing is, I dealt with ten times more clients than the publisher did and could have actually made him a lot of money with my referrals to him — for free!

Recently though, I stumbled on a affiliate program I decided to try. It was arms-length, meaning it was through a respected company, so it was fairly uncomplicated (no one arguing about how the sales arrived and if they earned commissions or not) and they represented companies I really liked and respected, and often referred anyway. Sign me up!

My own web-host, Jumpline.com was there, and I have nothing but good things to say about them, so I chose them to advertise on my site; likewise eFax, who I send everyone to, because it's just great to be able to work without cluttering up my office with a bulky and expensive fax machine (eFax converts incoming faxes to eMail). Moveable Type, the company that owns this blog software is another affiliate I'm proud to represent. Then there was Fonts.com and ITC Fonts, both companies who I do business with, and also PayPal, a company I have used for years to process online payments. Even Adobe was there, and I'm a huge fan of Adobe software...in fact, my entire company runs on Adobe software. So, I guess I'm now an affiliate. Each time someone clicks through the links from my site and purchases their services or products, a small amount of money will go into my account. I seriously doubt I'll make any amount of money, but it is fun imagining "what if."

I'll post my links here. Hey if you're looking for Adobe Acrobat, or eFax or want to join PayPal, click away. I could use the cash! ;)

PERFECT SCORE FOR BOOK COVER EXPRESS

Author Wayne Smith just sent me this little note that really made my day,  "I thought you'd want to know....I entered Third Eye in the Writer's Digest annual contest. Although no awards, the cover design, on a scale of 1 - 5, got a 5 rating and special notice/comment from the judge."

RETURN TO MAIN SITE

Author Wayne Smith just sent me this little note that really made my day,  "I thought you'd want to know....I entered Third Eye in the Writer's Digest annual contest. Although no awards, the cover design, on a scale of 1 - 5, got a 5 rating and special notice/comment from the judge."

RETURN TO MAIN SITE

NEW SERVICE OFFERED

Book Cover Express has teamed up with Kristen Tsetsi, MFA, to offer proof reading services for back cover text. It's just an extra set of eyes to make sure those IBSNs and prices match and to reduce the risk of typos, etc. Clients are still responsible for the final approval of the work, but it never hurts to have another reader involved.

Visit Kristen's site and check out her new book, Homefront, at,  http://www.kristentsetsi.com/

AUTHOR SERIALIZES BOOK IN WASHINGTON POST

Author David Hilzenrath will be serializing his book in the Washington Post, where he works as an investigative reporter. You can read the currently available chapter and other information about the book on their website.

I designed the cover using an image the publisher supplied, by photographer Dave Bartruff, licensed from Corbis.com.

RETURN TO MAIN SITE

I'LL BE SPEAKING AT AN EVENT WITH DAN POYNTER

I was more than a little excited recently when asked to give a talk about book cover design at a two-day workshop being held locally by the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers. Not only do I get to talk about something I love, but I might finally get to meet self-publishing guru Dan Poynter, who is the featured speaker.

The event will be held in March or August of 2007, depending on Poynter's schedule.

BOOK COVER EXPRESS AUTHOR WINS PRESTIGIOUS AWARD

One of my all-time favorite clients was the deserving recipient of an award from USA Book News.

Janet Alston Jackson, author of award A Cry for Light: A Journey into Love, won the Christian Inspiration Award from USA Book News, 2006 Best Books.

USA Book News calls A Cry for Light, "An amazing book filled with love, power, and mindfulness of how each and every one of us can make a difference in this world." Jeff Bowen, president and publisher of USABookNews.com, said this year's Best Books contest yielded an unprecedented number of over 1200 entries.

Book Cover Express has recently completed a book cover design for Janet's husband. That book will be published in 2007.

AUTHOR JIM SLOAN FEATURED ON COVER OF LIVING

Jim E. Sloan, author of How To Avoid Huge IRA Tax-Traps, was featured on the Aug., 2006 edition of Living Magazine's Bay Area Edition.

Jim is the president of Senior Money Management, LLC, located in Friendswood, Texas. He wrote the book to assist in educating the public about potentially harmful tax and money-traps, and the opportunities that exist with ever-changing legislation. He publishes a newsletter The Senior Advisor six times a year, writes consumer reports on potential tax and money-traps, and conducts public speaking engagements that address these potential pitfalls and the simple steps to avoid them.

Jim is presently working on another book project with us.

AUTHOR GIL MANN NOMINATED FOR BOOK AWARD

It certainly has one of the more colourful titles we've ever worked with, but that didn't prevent Sex, God, Christmas & Jews, by author Gil Mann, from being nominated for a book award by The Koret International, Jewish Book Award, 2005 - 2006 in the Jewish Life and Living Category. Gil's book was one of four finalists chosen from 125 submissions.

The title taught me the importance of checking file names. My system of using the first two words of the title and author's name to create file names had this one called "sexgodgil." Then, I repeatedly typed Sex, God, Christians & Jews and believe I even sent a proof out that way. Fortunately, the author, who is also the publisher of Being Jewish Magazine, has a great sense of humour.