Canva is the Answer

It took me over a week, but I have now spruced up my all my eBook covers and added Amazon A+ content to individual book pages. In this gal’s opinion, it looks rather flashy. Kate McVaugh's Amazon Author's Page. None of this could have been done without utilizing Canva.

I found out about the online, mostly free, graphic design site maybe a year ago, after noticing some classy book/author graphics.  I asked around and was directed to their site.

Initially, I made a few simple graphics that could add to my short-lived twitter account. I then used it to produce a few things for my blog. But the book cover thing didn’t happen until a week ago.

It turned out that all the time I had spent on my book covers might have been defeating the purpose of author exposure. Although I had spent hours on covers, and they look great as paperbacks, those images did not translate to readable eBook covers on small devices. Blame for that is clearly on me. As a person who does not like to read on a kindle, does nothing but text on her phone, it never really penetrated the brain that the rest of the known world lives on their tiny screens. I got to work.

Back when I was first able to self-publish, the only tool at my disposal had been the KDP cover creator. Although quite limited, one could play around and get a decent cover, especially when I provided my own cover art. (photographs.)

On my book, Broadsided in Bali, I had a clear idea in my head, but it was impossible to achieve with the limits of KDP publishing. I turned to the internet and poured over tutorials on creating a book cover.

With only Word, Paint, and a purchased image of a temple in Bali, I came up with a cover. It took hours and hours – which I thoroughly enjoyed – and was quite pleased with the end result. If you had asked me two weeks ago if I still liked the cover, I would have pulled it off the shelf, looked at it, and replied Yes. Ask me now and the answer would be different. None of all the fancy stuff I employed on the cover translates to a tiny kindle image.

As for my other seven books, I took a good look. They all seemed professional and clean to me but did not stand out, especially in tiny form. Time to get to work using Canva.

Oh my goodness, I told myself after I started. I had no idea it was this easy and fun to create a cover on Canva. My preference is to use photos and there is no end to what is available on their site. For Murder, Jaz, & Tel Aviv, I went for a shot of the city coastline. When it came to the series sequel, Jaz, Tall Men, & Mayhem, I found a night shot of the same scene. (for that one I had to subscribe to the Pro account, but it’s a 90-day free trial.)

Another author advised using the same font across all books. Initially, I thought this would not work as six of my books are stand-alone titles. But I soon realized that employing the same font actually does make everything on my Amazon page stand out.

There is no shortage of fonts from which to choose. I played around until I found the one that appealed to my eye and was clearly readable, no matter the image size of the book cover.

Once all the covers were done and uploaded to KDP and on to my Amazon page, it was time for Amazon A+ content. 

Again, I only found out about this in the past few weeks. I had noticed all these fun banner-type graphics under, From the Publisher, on an author’s site. But was that available to self-publishers? Yes, it was!  Upon further reading I found that A+ content is especially important for book sales that come from browsing books of their phone. One other thing I had never even considered because I could not even imagine perusing book titles on my phone.

Back to Canva and more fun graphics. The part about actually using the A+ templates and having the right sized Canva images proved to be a bit tricky. I might need some more work on that but am more than satisfied with the end results.

The best part about all of this, or at least an added bonus, is that it is loads of fun! Possibly not all authors would feel the same, but I say give it a try. It really is very easy, and you can’t really make a mistake.

I would say the only bit of a problem is choosing the correct blank template for a given project. When I searched for book cover, then hit enter, it came back with “no such template.” But if one pays attention to list under search, book cover is there.

Also, I still can't figure out the difference between Jpg and PNG. Jpg seems to work better for my needs, but Canva suggests PNG. Minor problem.

Now, if I could just figure out what Canva templates will fit into the Amazon A+ templates, I’ll be set.

 

On the Pronunciation of Foreign Words, Masks, & Nuclear War

The Great Gate of Kiev, from Mussorgsky’s masterpiece Pictures at an Exhibition, is how I first learned of the city. Up until a few years ago, the only way I ever heard it pronounced was kee-EV. Gradually, news broadcasters began to call the city Keev, citing something about “That’s how the locals pronounce the name of their city”. That being a rather questionable proclamation, I decided to investigate. Over the past few days, I have carefully listened to several Ukrainians speaking about their capitol city, and not a one called it Keev. They also did not say kee-EV, however all pronounced it with two syllables. I challenge anyone to find me a native Ukrainian who calls the city Keev. That is not to say that kee-EV is any closer to the “proper” pronunciation, but it is no worse. And it sounds much more lyrical to my ear.

When a language is spoken by a non-native, and is also transliterated from a different alphabet, there is no correct way to pronounce it in English.

Should the world now adapt the practice of only saying the names of foreign cities the same as the locals?  By that reasoning Germany should be called Deutschland, Cairo – Al Qahirah, Moscow – Moskva, Rio de Janeiro, Hee-o.  I won’t even mention the inaccuracies when attempting to pronounce the name of a city where the local idiom is a tonal one. It simply cannot be done. It is an impossibility to assign a politically correct spelling or pronunciation to any geographical location. In the big picture, it does not matter.

With the exception of a very few, no non-native speaker – other than small children – will ever speak another language without an accent. Again, as long as one is understood, it is of no importance. I speak a few languages fairly well and I have always been able to get a good grip on any accent. Still, I doubt I will ever enunciate the words as well as one who grew up with the language. The reason for this is all the muscles in the face and mouth and throat need to be developed from the earliest age. If not, the brain never learns how to use those muscle combinations. Maybe it’s not quite atrophy that sets in, but something similar.

In order to mimic the sounds of a parent or teacher, a child must be able to see the face and mouth as well as hear the words. When that mouth is covered by a mask, the ability for a child to replicate a word is severely hindered. Ask any adult to attempt to learn a new language from a teacher whose mouth is covered. It will not work. Language is both auditory and visual.

The vast majority of the states have now carried out a real-time, two-year experiment, in the damage done to children attempting to learn language from masked adults. No doubt someone in the future will use this as a doctoral thesis. Regrettably for those small children who had to endure the torture of masks while trying to learn, it is too late. Some kids will be fine, others may never fully recover. All perpetrated in the name of pseudo-science.

I have now cleverly woven together the two insanities that are currently permeating our world. Regrettably, one has taken over the other. While the Covid lies continue, the narrative is rapidly falling apart and the truth, that has always been out there, is becoming more widely accepted. But when the Powers that Be feel they are losing their control of the populace, they switch as fast as they can to the next alarming situation. After all the destruction that the false covid hysteria has brought, I honestly did not think it could get worse. But I was wrong.

We have gone from covid panic to the current attempt at regime change in Russia in record time. Masked profile pictures switched to yellow and blue flags in the blink of an eye. All the Free Speech-ers who gladly handed in their membership cards two years ago have now relinquished their No More War bumper stickers in favor of promoting a nuclear conflict.

For the past two years, those who shared my thoughts about the China virus and tyrannical government mandates have been maligned and ostracized. Nevertheless, there were always a few sane voices on TV who were open to discussion of the subject. In this new rush to destroy the world, there is barely a whisper to be heard warning of the insanity of it all.

With all the advances in technology and availability of information, one would think that people would do the simplest of research to better understand the current geopolitical situation, the military industrial complex, and the real reasons for seemingly the entire US government going down a hot road to a hot hell.

I will leave you with the words of Dr. Michael Savage. He explains exactly what is going on. I join him in a Prayer for the Ripples of Peace.