Book Cover Reveal and FREE Book Marketing Resources

Marketing
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The Christopher Chronicles 2.0 has been like putting together a puzzle. I've had the innards, but the book design was the missing piece. It's hard to put together a puzzle without the edges.

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Click to enlarge image in lightbox

Click to enlarge image in lightbox

I needed this book cover to be better and it needed to be different while staying true to the brand that I had established with the first two books.

Word Art & Vector Images

Phoetic was the app I found, that allowed me to create a vector of the original Christopher Chronicles artwork and fill it with words.

The words that make up the boy, are all words used to describe the contents of the book and most of them came from reviews. "Lighthearted, charming, funny, insight & charm, priceless gems, overload of adorable, witty, out of the mouth of babes, priceless gems, cute, essence of childhood, remarkably wise", etc.

I played around with the app until "A must read for anyone" fell into the palm of the right hand and volià! 

Become your own book designer, using "apps for that." #indies #authors #books #apps

Book Cover Templates and 3D Covers

Christopher's favorite color is orange, so that's where I started with establishing a color scheme. The book cover is a Createspace template, but as with any template you'll want to make it yours so it doesn't look like you've used one. 

The 3D graphic of the front and back was created using Photoshop actions. I found the free 3D mockups at psdcovers.com

Logos and Photoshop

For this project the branding image was more applicable than my author photo, so I created a logo for the back of the book. I used the orange area on the back of the book for the description, and in the lower half, I provided a subtitle and inserted a teaser from the inside of the book. 

Click on the photo; it will open in lightbox and you'll get a better view of both sides of the book cover.

I've found some wonderful free tools and resources in the last month. I'll note that I am using a Mac and a 3rdGen iPad. My husband owns Photoshop, but when you are ready, you can download a free 30-day trial of any Adobe product which will allow you full access to the software. 

Check out these FREE Book Marketing Resources! #indies #authors #books

Look at this stranger enjoying The Christopher Chronicles 2.0. Cool huh? I found this free 3D book cover mockup at Adazing.com.

Self-Publishing

Self-publishing is hard work and it is no longer the step-child to getting published. #indies

"The Martian" started as a blog by blog story and then self-published to Kindle. Look at it now! I've read the book and  I am so proud of Andy Weir like I actually know him. Bloggers and self-publishers are all kindred spirits. 

Bloggers have a wonderful advantage; our first fans & best resources are each other. #indies

Resources mentioned here: 

Next week I will give you a sneak peek of the inside of The Christopher Chronicles 2.0, my 224piecepagepuzzlebook, along with some more resources.

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