The Foaling Guide

Mark Andrews of www.thefoalingguide.com asked us to review his ebook cover so here are a few things that should increase its apearance and increase sales:

• a 3d look will help alot
• add some more text (author and perhaps a statement)
• the font for the title is a big no, no – Comic fonts conveys the lack of seriosity
• the image is quite good – you might want to keep it
• adding some graphical elements will help too.

All in one, you have a very basic e-book cover that I’m not so sure is helping your sales.

Best regards,
Ovi Dogar

New Network Marketing Secrets

Roger Loh of newnetworkmarketingsecrets.com asked us to review it’s main cover:

Here are a few points to help with the design:

1. The title going over the image is a little disturbing;
2. You should save it as a jpg instead of a gif as that will improve the color rendition;
3. Revealed is way to empowered by both size and the color reversal – I would rather like to read Network Marketing Secrets in a larger font;
4. The image doesn’t have to do much with the book’s message;
5. The red color gets your attention, but considering the lack of trust people have in Network Marketing, a touch of blue would help a lot with the credibility.

Hope this helps,

Ovi Dogar
AbsoluteCovers.com

Re-Creating Your Life

Here are a few points to make this cover look better, and increase your sales:

1. your photo…should be flipped horizontally so you’re facing the middle of the cover instead of the left edge

2. the text is a little too crammed vertically.

3. the title touching the cover edges is a big no, no

4. you have too much space around the preface’s author.

5. a 3D look for the cover will improve the conversion. If you can’t make it in 3D, you might want to consider displaying only the front cover and cut off the spine

Hope this helps!
Ovi Dogar, The CoversExpert

Here are the steps you need to take in order to start creating your own ebook covers:

1. If you don’t have Adobe Photoshop on your computer, download the trial version (works for 30 days) from here.

2. Create the following folders on your hard disk:

• c:\AbsoluteCovers.com\script\layouts
• c:\AbsoluteCovers.com\output

To receive the steps 3 and 4 through email, simply fill in the following form and click Submit:

Once you had completed steps 3 and 4 you can proceed on step 5 below:

5. In the Actions palette you should have a new folder called eBook(1)

6. Select Step 1 and click on Play(>). This will create the flat layout of your cover.

7. Finialize your cover design and click on Step 2 – Play

8. Add/remove shadow/reflection and then click on Step 3 – Play to save the ebook cover (you will find the images in c:\AbsoluteCovers.com\output folder)

9. Send us some samples of your designs, if they are good, we might hire you!

10. Here is a video detailing some of the steps:

Best Regards,
Ovi Dogar

PS: You can view some covers created with this action script here.
PPS: If you don’t have Adobe Photoshop, you can buy a cover creator from here.

And Hemingway was right to the point. You can always recognize a great idea when you look at the bad ones.

This holds true in every area of life, but most of all in the design industry.

So, let me share with you a secret that most people ignore: ALWAYS CREATE AT LEAST TWO DRAFTS OF WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO, EACH TIME STARTING FROM SCRATCH. This way, you always have something to relate to when you make your decision.

When I first started my work as a designer for a newspaper, I was always deleting my drafts, thinking that the chief designer will laugh at me when he will see my bad drafts and that it might think that I’m not a good designer.

But later, when he only saw my finished layout he was asking me why didn’t I make it so… or so… all I could do, was to tell him that I did but it didn’t look as good as this one.

That’s when I learned a valuable lesson: it’s hard to create something great from nothing but it is possible when you put together more different not so good drafts to end up with a wonderful piece of art.

One of the best methods to create something great is to create more than one different pieces of what you have to do and then get rid of the bad ones.

All this because you’ll know what’s the best idea when you can compare it with all others bad ideas.

I was talking a few days ago with one of my mentors and he reminded me that every obstacle that we pass, take us closer to our desired goal.

It’s a true fact that we were born to succeed and not to fail. Someone, up there, wants us to succeed. All the failures we face are experiences we must learn from. And remember that all these failures make the success much more rewarding when attained.

All the great artists out there are no more talented than you and me; they all work harder and have the ability to set aside what’s bad in their work from what’s good.

And this fact holds true in every area of life.

There are millions of ebooks online and everyday there are at more then one hundred new ebooks that hit the stands of the online library. Some of them are free, other not. But they are all full of fresh information or they will be forgotten.

As a reader, it’s tough to decide which one to read and which not. That’s why most surfers do pretty much the same thing they do in a real library.

Remember the last time you were in a real library or bookstore? If you are like me, you will more than likely base your decision of reading or buying a book on the first stimulus that catch your eye. And that one stimulus is the COVER.

And that’s the way everyone decides to read or buy a book: THEY LOOK AT THE COVER AND MAKE THEIR DECISION BASED ON IT!

So, what must accomplish a great cover?

First, it has to be an eye-catching cover so the visitor will pick up your ebook instead of the ebook of your competitors.

Second, even if the cover piqued your visitor’s attention it also have to be interesting enough to make him actually read your ebook.

How can you make a cover to stand out in a sea of covers?

Well, this is not an easy task if you have no design experience? Why? Because, even if your cover is different then all the other ones, it may be different in a wrong way.

You have to consider the general nuance of color for the cover, the main and the secondary font.

Here are a few general tips for you:

1. The colors tell a lot about the general subject of the ebook so you must use them accordingly
2. Use a combination between red, blue, black and white
3. Yellow it’s OK used sparingly in combination with black because it generates the strongest contrast
4. Always use a strong font for the main title – Impact its fine if the title is longer and Arial Black for shorter ones.
5. If your ebook is on a lighter subject you can toy around with different fonts but never use more than three different fonts for the same cover
6. The cover should contain:
   1. the main title
   2. one teaser phrase or a good subtitle
   3. the author name and eventually the URL of the ebook (avoid using http:// and subdirectories) usually a simple domain name will do just fine.

And finally one more tip: always KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid. Do not forget that the cover will be a small image and if you fill it with lot of info, it will be unreadable.

If you’re like me, than I’m sure you’re pretty familiar with the well-known writer’s block.

From time to time, when you have to start writing something, be it an article, an ebook, or just a letter, there is that moment when you just stare at the blank sheet of paper (or at the vibrant colors of your monitor) and nothing seems to come out from your mind.

The good news is that there is a cure for this disease.

American poet William Stafford offers this advice to poets who suffer from Writer’s Block: “There is no such thing as writer’s block for writers whose standards are low enough.”

But, this is not an incentive to write junk!

Perhaps the most important reason that leads to WB is the lack of an idea. You just sit down in front of your perfectly empty monitor and think about what should you be writing. “There is nothing I can write about” seems to be the only thing that you can think about.

This doesn’t happen to me anymore because now I have a text document right on my desktop where I note down any important thought, idea, question that comes into my mind during my daily habits. Every time I start writing about something, all I have to do is to open that (now pretty big) file and “presto”, I know what to write about.

If you don’t have an “ideas file” on your computer yet, no problem, just take a look through some forums related to your niche market and look for questions.

Well, now that I have a great idea of what I want to write about, I just sit down again in front of my computer… and here comes the block again.

How should I start?

Here is a tip for you: It’s OK to start writing at whatever point you like. You can begin with the final chapter. You can start writing the middle of the book. It’s OK if the introductory part of your book is the last thing you’ll write.

Another thing you can do is to talk over the subject with a friend. If you can’t do that, you should record yourself talking about the matter.

Anyway, you must force yourself to write down something, however poorly worded that approximates your thought and go on with the next idea.

Also, you can always try free writing. All you have to do is to choose one sentence in a paragraph and write a paragraph about it. Then, choose a sentence from that paragraph and do that again.

Whatever you do, it’s always a good idea to be flexible. Be willing to throw out sections of text that are causing problems or just don’t work.

Physical actions can move your brain in good directions so move around, stretch, or walk.

Get a snack or drink, talk to someone, or just relax for five minutes before you start to write again.

After you already have a few ideas written down it’s ok to reread and jot down ideas while doing so.

Relax! Because the more you worry, the harder it gets to think clearly.

And once you have your book ready, remember that you will need a cover for it.

I can help you with that at www.AbsoluteCovers.com

Have you ever wondered why only about 5% of us are actually making money online? Have you ever think about the main reason that stops the other 95% of them?

If you are like me, I’m sure that it happens to you to read ebook after ebook, report after report and newsletter after newsletter searching for the missing key that will open the gates to your richness.

See you, most of the Internet entrepreneurs are complaining that they have spent thousands of dollars for various info products and they are almost ready to start. All they need is a small piece of information that will make all the other info to click and the money will start rolling into their bank account.

Far from the true they are… because there is no such information. And guess what… as they search for that missing part, all the info they learned and paid big bucks for, become outdated.

Even if there are a few who really build their fortunes based on this “virus” called “there must be something more to be known”, in reality, it is the most dangerous thought that ever came into your mind.

Let me tell you a little story about a friend of mine – let’s call him Orlando.

Orlando is a great guy, he have a great house and an outstanding job, he cash in great paychecks every month but he use to be very unhappy.

Why? Because he can’t reach the woman he loves more. Her name is Dana, and she is one of his neighbors. They see each other everyday but they never speak to each other.

He use to postpone the moment of asking her out because he was thinking that it has to be the most special moment and he should say something very unique to her in order to gain her interest.

In the same time, Dana, was thinking about Orlando. She was interested in him from the moment they first meet. She was giving him all kind of positive signals every time they’ve seen each other but Orlando’s lack of initiative really turned her off.

A few days ago, Orlando finally decided himself to talk with Dana. He even has a script rehashed so he was very confident in his ability to seduce Dana. Finally he meets her. As he was approaching
her, he finds himself loosing all his thoughts. He didn’t even remember all that he rehashed that morning. The stress was overwhelming but he just couldn’t drop it as has already seen him going her way.

(3, 2, one step and Booom!)
- Hi! My name is Orlando…

The words just flew from his lips… he didn’t even thought about them. As he extended his arm, a smile flourish on Dana’s face

- Hi! I’m Dana! It’s a pleasure to meet you.

And that was it… no need for fancy patterns or preparations. It’s all that simple.

Actually the biggest secret of success is that there is no secret! There is no magic bullet! There is nothing more to be learned in order for you to START making money! As Nike slogan say: “JUST DO IT…” and you’ll soon be on your path to happiness and financial freedom.

So make sure that as soon as you read the last line of this ezine, you’ll make the first step toward your success.

STOP SEARCHING FOR MORE SECRETS! Just do something that will start the movement of your business.

Do not postpone it for tomorrow!

JUST DO IT NOW!

These secrets are still valid in real world as they are online.

The main mistake most entrepreneurs do is to create a product and then they WORK HARD TRYING to sell it.

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

SECRET NO. 1
Always create a product ONLY if there is a market for it!

How can you find out if there is a request for your product?

Quite simple, read the forums, search them for terms like
“I wish there was a thing that…”
“Can anyone help me do…”
“What’s the best way to…” etc.

I’m sure you understand. All you have to do is to create a product that will fill that want.

Secondly, you can search the web, using terms related to your product. If there is competition that looks like is doing well, then there is a market for your product. Just make it better than the one of your competitor and you’re on your way to riches.

Thirdly, you can see how many people search for terms related to your product using Overture’s suggestion tool located here!

SECRET NO. 2
Never try to sell something to people that don’t have the money to buy it. Always create products that appeal to people with money.

This is a great mistake most people make. They try to sell high priced products to people that cannot afford them.

SECRET NO. 3
Always create a product that you would love to buy. Put yourself into your buyer pants and think about how would you like to be sold.

Create products that you’ll want to buy; sell like you would like to be sold to; and, in generally do things the way you would like the things to be done to you.

Follow these three secrets and in less than 999 days you’ll have a six-figure income. Guaranteed!