What Would You Do ?

Marriages have secrets. Christine's Marriage has a secret that threatens to explode on Christmas day. Should she expose the secret herself or wait on pins and needles, hoping it will go away? Get the story at Amazon 

Just Where Should a Semicolon Be Used?

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Here is another confusing part of writing in English. I have this sentence I'm working on; should the punctuation be a colon or a semicolon? Hmmm, a finger tapping my pursed lips, "I'm not sure." Well let's investigate beginning with the semicolon.

There are two basic uses for the semicolon. That's why I started here, short and sweet. First the semicolon can be used to separate two main clauses. Here is an example: People were flocking to buy Brigitta Moon's novel Mistake; no one wanted to miss the torrid affair between Beth and Andrew.

Secondly the semicolon can be used as if it were a comma separating clauses, lists of items, series, especially if one or more of the elements already includes a comma. Beth admired her family members who share many happy years of marriage; her mother and father, married thirty years; her cousin Cornflower and her husband Tommy, married three years.

The next post will tackle the colon. So check back or subscribe to this blog.

Formatting Your Book Cover For Createspace Using Photoshop

When I published my first book on Amazon it was quite easy to upload the book cover I wanted. Then I tried to replicate the book cover for my Createspace book. It was not the same. After ordering the proof book and seeing the cover in person, I opted not publish the physical book.

With my Trilogy book I used the cover creator offered by Createspace. It's not fancy or imaginative. It's a plain cover with fancy words. View the cover here. I actually like the cover although I preferred the cover I was unable to replicate. Now I have released a new book with a cover I have worked painstakingly hard on; even getting advice from other Goodreads authors on a cover choice. Here is the result of my first cover done in Photoshop,  TaDa. I was attempting to capture multiple moods, playful, sexy, love, serious and mystery. Now I'm satisfied; my physical book and Kindle book look exactly the same. There is one difference which is the page count, about 57 pages less in the Kindle conversion. But that is a conversation for another time.

 Perhaps this is an issue you are experiencing and that's why you are reading this blog post. I will share with you how I replicated my book cover to use for my Creatspace book.

Start here: Download the Createspace template and unzip it. Save it to your desktop for easy access.

https://www.createspace.com/Help/Book/ArtworkDownload.do

Your cover must fit your book, so be sure to fill in the form with accurate information about the number of pages your book has. You will also need to know the size of the book you want to publish. I used the popular 6X9, cream pages. 

Step 2 Design Your Cover

Design your cover in a program such as Photoshop. Photoshop allows you to add multiple layers to crank out an awesome book cover. Before you save your final version of your cover you will need to turn off all the layers to be sure text and images  do not appear in the pink zones of the template. The barcode area should also be free of images and texts.

Step 3 Save Your Cover

Once all your layers are between the lines, turn all the layers on and save the file. Kindle accepts files in the form of JPEG, or .jpeg, TIFF, or .tif(f). Createspace accepts files in the form of PDF.

I am currently tapping out my next novel on my keyboard. When I begin on the cover, I intend to list the details of creating the cover in Photoshop step by step in detail. If you are interested in this step by step approach, send me an email or subscribe to the blog. Remember, this will be a few months in the future; I have to write the novel first.
Brigitta Moon

Which Word?

I am willing to guess that at one time or another you have been in the midst of writing and had to stop, scratch your head or tap your finger on the table and ask yourself, which word? I have done this. Is it its or is it it's? Do I go farther or further? Did I lie or did I lay? The time has come to clear this up short and straightforward.

It's represents the contraction form of the verb it is. It's wonderful you are reading this, is the same as if you were to write, it is wonderful you are reading this.

Its on the other hand represents a possessive adjective, showing ownership. Its fur was all over my pants. In other words, the kitty's fur was all over my pants.

Lie refers to a position of reclining or rest. I lie on the bed. Whereas lay refers to placing something somewhere. She lay the flowers on the table. Oops, I made this mistake in a book; instead of using lie, I used lay.

Farther refers to distance. We traveled farther down the road. Easy to remember if you think of it as we traveled far down the road. Further refers to advancement. We will read further tonight in the book called MISTAKE written by Brigitta Moon.

Check back later or subscribe to the blog for more tips and interesting articles.

What Makes a Reader Want to Buy a Book

      I am constantly thinking about what I can do better to make my book more appealing to someone browsing for a good read. I read so many advice posts and books insisting the cover of a book matters. Next the first sentence matters. Jeff Gerke even talks about a recipe for success using a point system that will determine if your book will be the one selected.
      Today I walked unknowingly in the shoes of a reader looking for a good read. As I passed the books on the shelves, they were all saying, pick me, pick me. I looked at the book covers to see what the book was about. If the cover wasn't interesting I put it back. I didn't even flip to the back cover or look inside. I moved on.
      I recognized the author's name typed boldly and colorfully on the spine of a book. I had never read anything by him so I picked it up to see the cover. Very nice cover. I opened the book, A Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels Mystery. I liked it. I looked at a few pages and you won't believe what I thought; beautiful page. The font was crisp and neat.  The page was like a picture.
      I laughed at the first sentence. I read the entire prologue and laughed.  Now it's home with me waiting to be read. It made me think about all the advice on having a great cover and a smashing opening line. Today I was someone looking for a book to read. I had to stop and think, this is what it's all about, getting the reader to choose your book. And choose I did based on the cover and the first sentence and prologue. The book is Bloody Mary written by J.A. Konrath.
Brigitta Moon
Author of Mistake

Shortening a Web Address

Have you written a post or a tweet and wanted to add in a web address? After you added in the web address it was just too long. It took away from the symmetry of your post or article or Twitter wouldn't post it because there were too many characters. Well, help is here. A while back I found a website called tiny url. This was a golden find. I was able to condense a long web address down to a few letters and symbols. Here is an example:

The link to my new book is http://www.amazon.com/MISTAKE-Brigitta-Moon-ebook/dp/B00NLSS852/ref=la_B00D6XTDV0_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412529209&sr=1-2

Wow, it doesn't look to appetizing in my post. You agree? Now here it is using the tiny url:

The link to my new book is http://tinyurl.com/nm8ck4y

Simple and quick to use. Here is the address http://tinyurl.com/

GoodReads Book Giveaway

I enjoy these give aways. Although I was quite disappointed with my last give away when I stumbled upon the fact that at least three of the winners were not interested in reading the book I offered but only interested in the resale of it.

Today I have decided not to let that dampen my spirit. I am now offering my new book MISTAKE in a drawing for one autographed copy with the hope that this copy will find a home with a true reader who will enjoy the story of Beth, Andrew, Zara and Theron.

Enter to win your copy at the link below.

 
 

    Goodreads Book Giveaway
 

   

       
   

   

     

          MISTAKE
     
     

          by Brigitta Moon
     

     

         
            Giveaway ends December 01, 2014.
         
         
            See the giveaway details
            at Goodreads.
         
     
   
   

      Enter to win

Should an Author Participate in the Goodreads Book Giveway

I was quite excited about participating in my first book giveaway on goodreads. 
I was hoping by offering five books in a giveaway, it would give my book exposure and a review or two. Unfortunately, I see the reviews aren't coming. The winners I sent the books to are actually resellers. So far three of the books have been posted for resale as new on Amazon by BooKnackrh, brandnewgoodsus and super_star_seller. Too bad Goodreads can't or won't find a wat to weed this type of activity out. 

It cost me about $11per book per winner. They are reselling it for $11.24-12.84 on amazon, a book they received for free with no intention of reading but selling. I know the winners are not obligated to leave a review but it seems like the giveaway is a hunting ground for free books for resellers to obtain free merchandise they can sell as new to profit on. If the authors doesn't deliver the books, they are banned from participating in the program. The winners have nothing like this. I'm beginning to think the giveaway doesn't have real reader entries, just resellers. I know there is a way this problem can be handled. 

As for exposure, my book was added to 266 bookshelves. I guess that's exposure. I have to wonder whose shelves? Book sellers or readers? Out of over 500 entries I received the addresses of three winners who were resellers that I know of to send my books to. Perhaps the other two will turn out to be true readers who will enjoy the free book they won.  

Would I do it again? My next book is almost complete. I'm not sure if I will do it again. I enjoyed it and would love to do it again if my book was going to a true reader. Unfortunately there is no control over this. So, time will tell. One fact is sure, there will only be one book offered in a giveaway. So I can only feel robbed once instead of five times. 
Brigitta

Avoiding Mistakes With Characters

So, there I was happily writing my new book entitled at present, Mistake (I am toying with the idea of a new title). Somewhere near the middle of the book I noticed friends Beth and Lil had switched boyfriends. What a mistake. I now had to endure the task of combing the book for where the switch occurred and fixing each instance. What an undertaking that was.

I have a way of saving myself time and heartache by preventing this going forward. First of all I have invested in a character notebook. I prefer this over sticky notes. My sticky notes were falling off their designated home and landing on the floor over time with use. With the notebook, I have designated a page for each character, including minor characters because you never know when they will make a surprise visit.

At the top of the page is my character's name. The page is graced with physical attributes as well as emotional attributes. I also include tone and traits of the character such as whether the character is   serious, playful, a pessimist, an optimist and so on. I also include family relationships an friendships between the characters. After-all, my readers would have been confused wondering how Beth was now involved with Richard and Lil with Andrew or was Beth involved with Richard and Andrew? Who was involved with who? Now you see, don't leave the reader confused with a mistake. By the way you can meet Beth, Lil, Andrew and Richard in my new book MISTAKE, coming soon.

Now when I need to refer to a trait or a physical attribute later in the story, it is at my fingertips.

Add you email for the date MISTKE is available. No spam.
Brigitta