Category Archives: Images

Introducing Jenzy Montague and learn about her children’s books.

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Interview With An Author – Jenzy Montague

 

 

Tell us about where are you from?

Everywhere, LOL I was born in Missouri. I call Colorado my spiritual home. I loved it there and would move back in an instant. I’ve lived in California, Montclair, New Jersey, and now Virginia. I love mountains and college towns. Virginia gives me both. Even though I live an hour from Charlottesville, Virginia, I consider that home too. I’m a history nut so much history to glean from this area!

What do you do when you’re not writing?

Tag team with my daughter and hubby in homeschooling my three precious grandbabies! If not a nose in a textbook, I’m sewing and working with my crafts. I love to get outside and dig in the soil with my gardening. My youngest grandchild loves mother earthing with me.

When did you start writing stories?

I wrote stories when I was a child. I got serious as an adult but put it on hold so I could enjoy my biggest achievement, mothering my daughter. I would always jot down notes about stories that were in my head for years. I was a single mom. I had to be the breadwinner. I worked in a corporate world until I met my hubby.

Since the pandemic, I found myself having time to re-visit my thoughts of getting serious in my writing. It was my daughter Nikki that kept me on track making it happen.

It also was the pandemic that made me realize I needed to write a children’s story about Covid-19 from a child’s point of view. Watching the concerned looks on my grandbabies’ faces, I just had to do something. Noah just popped in my head. Even his name conveys our surviving the pandemic. It is the new norm. Perhaps even a new beginning. With all the stories that were already in my head, it took a pandemic to shake me loose.

What or who inspired you to write stories?

Children. Even when I was one myself, I was compassionate about little people’s feelings, their thought patterns. I wanted to be heard and it would come out on paper.

What is your favourite genre to write and why?

Children’s literature at present. However, I have some notes that I plan to dabble in someday.

What is your favourite genre to read?

If I do not have my nose in a children’s book reading to my littles, I am reading the school curriculum for lesson planning. However, during my downtime, I love historical, paranormal, and fantasy stories.

Who is your favorite Author and why?

Nicole Strycharz. She is a multi-genre writer and I just get lost in her books!

There are other amazing authors I love too. There is Daisy St. James and Lisa K Miller. They both write paranormal romance. Reading these talented women’s works is like a vacation away from the real world for me!

What was the first story you ever wrote?

LOL As a child there was Humpless, the Humpless Camel. I dare say I was very little. In reality, it was Cynthia’s Thankful Halloween.

What happened to it? Did you save it or trash it, and why?

My amazing illustrator, Mara Reitsma, has joined forces with me to publish Cynthia’s Thankful Halloween. Mara turns my world of characters into the exact picture I have in my head. It is like we are of one mind.

My little character Cynthia has been a part of me for years. All I did was tell Mara, and she got me. Then there is you, Claire. You have the talent to frame it to perfection. I am happy to say Cynthia will be a reality hopefully in time for 2021 Halloween. As for Humpless, well, he is still in the file. LOL.

Are there any sub-genres that you would consider pairing together?

Not sure just yet. Possibilities way back in my mind at this time.

Do you have more fun writing the scenes, or creating the characters?

Creating the characters because for me they create the scenes.

You’re an Indie Author, so tell us, why go Indie? Why choose to self publish?

Why not? There is a world of amazingly talented authors out there but cannot reach the goal or luxury of being published. Hats off to the authors who have been traditionally published. After all, they are and have been our inspiration. I choose to support my pen and paper with the Indie world because the drive is for our work to get out there and be read. Without both traditional published and self-published, we would not have such a world of choices to choose from. Makes the reading world so rich!

Tell us how you work. From pen and paper, to your fingers dancing across the keys, do you find yourself cozy and warm with a cup of tea and a blazing fire? Or do you hide in your dungeon, slaving away on your latest masterpiece; the words of wisdom flowing from your fingers as the story is born? Tell us how you write?

LOL, I am usually working side by side with my daughter, Nicole. Our desks are next to each other, with a bookshelf in the middle. Both computers are ticking away with yes, a cup of tea or, most likely, coffee in the early morning. If it is further on in the day, most likely there are children running back and forth screaming at each other or calling Mom, Grandma…Not sure to this day how we do it, but we do. Chaos keeps you on your toes or, for us, our minds working our fingers on the keyboard.

Social Media Links

Noah’s Book Link: http://mybook.to/iamasuperherobyjenzym

Website: https://gaiasgirl101.wixsite.com/jenzy-myworldbooks

FB Page: https://m.facebook.com/MyWorldBooksbyJenzy/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/JenzyMontague/e/B095J8CZ53/

 

Author Bio 

Jenzy, a graduate of the Institute of Children’s Literature, has lived in many parts of the United States throughout her life but settled in Virginia with her family.

She homeschooled her daughter and aided many moms with their journey in homeschooling. She assisted with and tutored children of special needs in phonics, reading, and math.

Now, grandma to three precocious grandbabies. She joins her daughter in homeschooling them.

Jenzy’s been telling stories from childhood to grandmotherhood.

She prefers being in a cubby with pen and paper, capturing the thoughts of children. She shares that hearth of imagination with her daughter, who is also a writer. The only other place to be, she says, is enjoying her brood of three in their little classroom where she teaches!

EXCERPT FROM NOAH

I Am a Superhero A Kid’s Thoughts on Covid-19:
Available Now

Now, Mommy is my schoolteacher and school is at home. We have to stay home ‘cause there’s a sickness that hurts people. I keep forgetting the name of the sickness, so Mommy has to remind me it’s called Covid-19. I don’t like that name, so I just forget it! We have so many rules now.

We have to social distance from people. We have to stay six feet apart. That’s like as long as my dad lying down on the floor. The sickness can jump that far! Everyone wears masks. I don’t like not seeing faces, only eyes. Are they smiling or are they sad? I sing happy birthday every time I wash my hands, and it takes forever!

NEW RELEASE

Cynthia’s Thankful Halloween:
Releasing Soon

A windy start for October, just perfect for Halloween, thought Cynthia. She was the new member of the haunted house on the hill, at the edge of town. Even in the ghost world, a little ghost needs a family, and this house came with one. It wasn’t easy being a ten-year-old little ghost who just moved in and getting a new family too.

Just a few weeks ‘till Halloween. She must practice being scary. The moon would be full this year on Halloween, and her name meant moon. She had to be the best fright ever!

Formatting Issues Clients need to REMOVE

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A short lesson today about formatting. Most formatting a client leaves in their manuscript can be removed easily, however, there are a few which can’t. Or, should I say, I’ve been unable to find a way so far. I’ve researched and looked and still nothing. They only way I can think of removing this particular error is by teaching the author/writer or client to not put it there in the first place.

This all comes down to INDENTS.  IF YOU CAN’T USE AUTO STYLES TO INDENT THEN PLEASE DON’T INDENT AT ALL!!

DON’T USE THE TAB – This is easy to remove when formatting. We don’t use the TAB because the INDENT is too big. Also If you end up wanted to go to TRAD PUBLISHERS they will want you to use AUTO STYLES and will reject most things without them. Please make sure you read their criteria for submissions if you do try TRAD PUBLISHING.

DON’T USE THE SPACEBAR – There is an easy way to remove this if there are TWO  or more SPACES. If there is less then it becomes an issue. If you are self-publishing it will mean your contractor (if you contract out for formatting) will charge you extra to remove them. It would be better if they aren’t there in the first place!!

WHEN YOU FIND ONE SPACE AT THE BEGINNING OF A SENTENCE THE ERROR IS TIME CONSUMING TO REMOVE, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE A LONG MANUSCRIPT. EACH AND EVERY ONE HAS TO BE REMOVED INDIVIDUALLY.  

Most writers won’t notice they have them unless they work with the PILCROW SYMBOL, also known as Paragraph Mark (Shown below in the image.

When you use this symbol, it shows you where all your line spaces are, your extra spaces, double spaces, how your headings sit etc. In the next photo it shows you the extra space a writer has left behind. It is something most of us do. Even I have done this. for a formatter or interior book designer, it takes extra time and costs you – the writer, more.

In the last image, I have removed all the single dots you see at the beginning of each sentence so the manuscript sits perfectly. We have to do in and put the cursor behind the dot and backspace… on every single one. If there are TWO or more, it is easy to do and can be done in one go for the whole document.

Do you see the difference?  The SPEECHMARKS are now aligned with the first letter of the one above. This is what it should look like. Your formatter will INDENT your work for you, unless you already know how to do this correctly. AUTO STYLES can be confusing to use until you are using them consistently when you are writing.

Another thing to not use in a manuscript is SOFT RETURN. Luckily they are easy to remove, though make a mess of your manuscript once it is done. Use ENTER only when you do a new paragraph and hit ENTER TWICE if you have a change of scene. You don’t need a line space in dialogue or anywhere else unless the SCENE CHANGES or you have a NEW CHAPTER. Once again all these extra lines need REMOVING and they are done one at a time.

SOFT RETURNS are used on Blogs and Writing Sites like WATTPAD. If you are putting anything from a Blog etc into a manuscript then pleas remove the SOFT RETURNS – This is the little arrow you will see when you have the PILCROW turned on in your WORD DOCX. In the image blow is a sample of what a SOFT RETURN looks like.

These are the most common things we have to deal with when formatting for clients. Yes it is all doable, though if you wish to keep your budget on target then please learn to remove the above errors.

 

Celebrating Seven Years in Business

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Plaisted Publishing is celebrating seven years in business. Established in 2014, we are growing and have most certainly changed over the years. We’ve introduced an Author Consultant Service to help writers move through the publishing process so they can learn and upload their manuscripts to distribution websites. We also offer tutoring for some distribution websites.

This year we are also supporting charities around the world with our Ghostly Youth and Ghostly Rites Anthologies. All royalties from the ebooks will go to a charity which is chosen by those who participate in the books.
     Our Charity of choice for Ghostly Youth Anthology 2021 is Gumboot Friday/I Am Hope. This is a charity for Mental Health in New Zealand Youth, so they can get the counselling they need for FREE.
  Along with the royalties, we will also donate 10% of any money made from any paid consultation or formatting/Interior Book Design. If you are looking for assistance, please consider using our services so we can pay it forward and help some charities.

You can find more information or make a donation below.

GUMBOOT FRIDAY APPEAL

FIVERR the Pros and Cons and How to Pick a Graphic Designer

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FIVERR... The place many people go to get cheap work done, especially new authors and those who don’t understand the ropes of how to get the best out of FIVERR.  This post is to help you find your way, researching who to trust and when to run. It’s a bit like people using Vanity Publishing, at times. A nightmare of…bad work. 

As a new author in 2013, I did use FIVERR after being introduced to them by a friend who worked in a different area and made items like you’d find on ESTY. Due to being a Family History Researcher, i tend to research everything and I was exceptionally lucky to find Seren Waters, who did my original Garrett Investigation Bureau book covers.  They were excellent – however, my problem was not knowing much about marketing books and book covers… Seren Waters now has 900 reviews with a 4.9 rating. This proves a point, that there are good graphic designers on FIVERR.

This is one of Seren Water’s book covers which he made for me way back in 2013. It is digital art and I love the cover, though my books weren’t selling.
The story was about an agent called Rosetta who was looking into an Art Theft Ring and like in many investigation books things go wrong.  The book cover shows a Rose for Rosetta, a drop of blood for the danger all in a picture frame with a price tag to show the Art Theft.

Today the book cover is totally different and the book is called Secrets Past. It may be time to update the book covers again. I sometimes wish I’d stayed with this one. However, the book series now has a logo and colour scheme which means this isn’t going to happen.


TRUSTED FIVERR GRAPHIC DESIGNERS

I have another lady who has also had good fortune with FIVERR. Her name is Judy Penz Sheluk, an Amazon Best Selling Author from Canada (I love Canada) Here are her words about the two people she has worked with:-

I’ve used Hadi Hassan for the concept art for four book covers (the text/layout is done by Hunter Martin, who is not on Fiverr). His prices have escalated since I first hired him, but he will do revisions without complaint and always delivers. One thing, I think when I started with Hadi, he was Level 1 (10 sales) and less expensive, but I loved his art and knew he’d get me my creepy hourglass (he did). A lot of it is also if you feel a connection to the work they do and how responsive they are to your questions. Hadi has 144 reviews with a 4.9 rating. Below are some of the images he did for Judy.

 

 

 

 

 

Sandi designed these double-sided bookmarks for me. Sandi has over 1K Reviews with a 4.9 rating.

Then I had them printed by Dan Fast turnaround and delivery, and you can’t beat his pricing. I’ve had many bookmarks printed by Dan (some repeat orders).

Dan has 43 Reviews with a 4.6 rating.

This shows they can be found on FIVERR. You just need to look and research thoroughly. Also asking the right questions would be good. This is where you…the new author has things to learn so YOU can get the best service possible if you wish to use FIVERR. Also, remember you get what you pay for…CHEAP isn’t always better.

DUE DILIGENCE WITH FIVERR FROM JUDY.

Whenever I go to Fiverr for a service for the first time, I’ll Post a Request. This typically brings a ton of interest, but I whittle it down to a number of positive reviews and Level 2 seller (completed at least 50 orders on time, av. 4.8 or higher). Then I look at what they’ve done. Does it look like something “In my head?” Do they do revisions, etc? Once I’ve found a couple of possibles, I’ll send them an email through Fiverr with questions — how much, how fast, how many revisions, etc. Because the services offered can often be revised based on what someone is looking for.

Once I have found someone, and they’ve been reliable, I will keep on using them. When it comes to concept art, I will credit the artist (Hadi) in my books. It’s a small thing, but it means a lot. I will add a link to digital versions. I always send the artist the final cover in case they want to use it for promotion.
Dan Print came about in an odd way — he quoted on bookmarks but had this great printing/shipping service. I’ve used him many times and never been disappointed. Quality work, as described, with a fast turnaround.
Bookmarks by Sandi, he offers a few options and really listens to what you want. they all came about by the initial Post a Request and digging about, looking at their portfolio, etc.

In other words, you do have to do your due diligence.

 

QUESTION TO ASK GRAPHIC DESIGNERS

1. Where do you get their images from?  – These should be stock photos and they should be able to provide a link and receipts for proof
2. Are you an illustrator, photo manipulator, comic book inker? – These could be one-off drawings, though DPI still needs to be relevant to either paperback or ebook…Perhaps both.
3. Do they know what DPI is? – DPI is Pixels per Inch, your graphic designer should know what they need to be. Paperback is 300 dpi and ebook at least 97 dpi.  This is for you to know. Ask your questions the right way. However, it is always best to do 300 dpi for ebooks as well, in case a customer wishes to zoom in on the image. Anything less than 200 dpi will be fuzzy.
4. What is the DPI for a paperback?
5. What is the DPI for an eBook?
6. Do you have a portfolio?
7. Do you have clients who share their work?
8. Do you have a logo? Are they wanting to display in on your work as a promo? – My business logo goes on the back of all paperback books and inside on the copyright page. You can find my logo at the top of this post.

Like with anything else in life. There is always a negative side and one you need to be aware of so you don’t have to find another graphic designer to get you out of a mess. I’ve worked with several authors who have had huge messes made of their artwork. The main worry for all authors should be copyright. None of us want you to get sued for using images that were plucked off google or anywhere else where you can prove ownership of the image.

Many authors use PIXABAY and UPSPLASH for images. Yes, they are FREE and good, though sometimes you can’t prove ownership even though they say they are Creative Commons.  I would personally only use them for TEASERS…NEVER a book cover.
   To make a book cover you really should use STOCK IMAGES from places like DEPOSIT PHOTOS and ADOBE STOCK PHOTOS. These come with a standard license that covers about 500k uses. Most of us won’t sell that many books…unless we are exceptionally lucky. If you did hit this, then you can buy an extended license.
     If you are having illustrations drawn, some graphic designers do use VECTOR IMAGES, though they have to make at least seven changes for legal requirements. However, many also draw from scratch.
     If the images are not legal, you could be sued by the original artist/photographer. Please be careful and research well.  Make sure the business has a 4.5 rating or higher with reviews. In fact go read some of them, look at their work, see if anyone in your author groups can give recommendations for a book cover artist, be them on FIVERR or not. I know quite a few and I have some favourites which I will list on a Contractors Page, which I am going to establish in due course. Anyone who is on this list will have my recommendation for awesome work and there will be all price ranges to suit most people’s budgets.
Ask them questions from above to see what they know? As Judy pointed out you can get great work from those just starting out which presuming they’ve done an excellent job, you will review giving them a hand up the ladder to success. Make sure they will do at least three revisions. A good graphic artist will work with you, not against you. If they come across as rude and negative, then don’t hire them.

There is so much more we could discuss, though you all need to learn the ropes and make mistakes, the same as I did. Remember to research and use your instinct, it could save you $100s of dollars. None of you want your book cover screwed up.


RESEARCH IS A MUST FOR BOOK COVERS

I WILL BE DOING MORE POSTS ON INTERIOR BOOK DESIGN AND EDITORS IN THE COMING WEEKS. 

Forever Mine – Cy & Rylan Book Cover Reveal.

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Finally… It’s arrived. My book cover for Cy & Rylan’s story of true love. A Wolf Shifter Romance with murder and mystery surrounding two lovers as they learn about each other. Looking at their differences, how to live together, how to grieve together. A unit and family. You can PRE-ORDER HERE

Publishing 30th June 2020

SYNOPSIS

Cy is an Alpha wolf-shifter, heir to his father’s pack. Cy is also gay, something his father won’t accept. In fact, he’s already lined up a female mate for him. A woman Cy hates.

Cy found his true mate ten years prior. He waited and watched, praying for salvation.

Rylan Jessop is from the other sides of the tracks. Not good enough for the elite of the pack. A university graduate due to a scholarship, Rylan returns home and accepts a date with Cy. They mate. At first, Rylan is horrified, he wanted other things from life.

Mated, he finds himself loving Cy and taking a stand against Cy’s father who is furious. Cy takes the lead and their adventure begins as they travel across America to Canada, learning to love and getting to know each other.

Will they get their ‘Happy Ever After’?

This is the first novella in a series called ‘Forever Mine’. Mature content due to a new relationship. LGBT Erotic.

PRE-ORDER LINKS

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08B5Q6KK7  

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08B5Q6KK7

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08B5Q6KK7

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B08B5Q6KK7

TEASERS

AUTHOR BIO

You want to know who I am? Well, let’s see!

I’m British born and bred, although I have lived most of my life in New Zealand. Sweet as? (Kiwi Saying) I love New Zealand, the best little country in the world today, though I’m sure others will have different opinions.

First and foremost, I am a wife and mother of four children, though we lost our youngest 17 years ago. My husband and I have been married for 28 years this year. Our two eldest daughters are in the UK having their OE (Overseas Experience as they call them in Kiwiland). My son is about to start university to study architecture.

This will be the first time my husband and I will have true freedom to do as we wish, when we wish, without the phrase “Get a room” from the kids with our reply of “Don’t need one. Got a house.” And that was just about kissing…lol. Kids these days!

I am a Family History Researcher and have been for the past twenty years. I fell into writing in 2012 and became a multi-genre author because the muses…yeah more than one…wouldn’t shut the up. I have published over thirty books and have over a hundred drafts on my computer. My main genres are Children’s Adventure Stories, Young Fantasy, Young Adult Fantasy, New Adult Murder Mystery Romance under my own name. Under my pen name of Beth Bayley, I write Contemporary Billionaire Romance (reverse aka the woman is the billionaire) as well as a set of Mythical Welsh stories. I also have one wayward muse who I call Chloe King, who is an Erotic Author. Pain in the…and a nympho. Meanwhile, I’ll stay prudish, thanks.

In 2014 I established up my own Publishing Company called Plaisted Publishing House Ltd, which now runs Author Services for Formatting, Editing and Book Covers. We’ve helped over forty clients in various different ways. We also do Family History Books and Ghostly Anthologies.

You can contact me at:

claireplaisted@gmail.com

http://www.claireplaisted.wordpress.com

http://www.billionaireromances.wordpress.com

http://www.authorchloeking.wordpress.com  ADULTS ONLY

http://www.plaistedpublishinghouse.com

http://www.facebook.com/claireplaistedauthor

http://www.twitter.com/plaistedpublish

https://www.instagram.com/rotosis/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-plaisted-6054816a/

https://www.pinterest.nz/plaistedpublishinghouse/pins/

The Importance of Book Covers

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I do wish the days of coloured hardbacks would return and get rid of the silly paperback covers which have to be so brilliant to get anyone to buy your book. I didn’t need an image on a cover to read a good book. I read the blurb/synopsis at the library or bookstore and …well read the book.

Now it’s all graphic design and it has to be a certain type for each book to be a winner and get sales. I hate this and I’ll tell you why.  I personally don’t want to see naked male chests on my book covers. It’s not me. The reader should be reading the story because of the enticing synopsis on the back.  

A lovely person gave me the link to Amazons top 100 books for a certain genre…it also linked into the top 100 FREE Books and since I was experimenting, I decided to do with five of the FREE books to see what I thought.  I downloaded on the cover alone. Then read the synopsis…and then the story. OMG!!

Why would an author pay out hundreds for the perfect book cover and not an editor or interior book designer? All five stories had issues. One was all over the place with first-person mixed with third person, etc. Another had what looked like huge chunks left out or not written in the first place, a third one was a bear shifter story, it was cool, fun and funny and by the time I got to the end I realised the Main Character had not shifted once in the story. Sex scenes in another were much to be desired.

Now to my own books. My book covers aren’t great, they are ok and I do update and change them as well, especially if I have the money to spare. However, I do try and get the editing sorted and the interior design…I’m pedantic about interiors. It has to be as perfect as I can get it and it’s my day time job to do this. I love formatting.

As for the stories. Well most people I know who have read them, usually say ‘I want more’ or ‘When’s the next book out’ or even ‘You’re going to continue…’  I’m good with dialogue and I try to not be too boring with the background. 

What I’m really asking is, would you prefer to buy a book with a fab cover and a wonky story or…read the synopsis and get a good story with a not so good cover?

 

Summer Indie Book Awards 2017

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SIBA Awards…were amazing this year.  Continual voting for eleven days and keeping our fingers crossed.

Ghostly Writes Anthology 2016 was nominated and we came second in the Anthology Section.  We are all jumping up and down, celebrating how great we all are.  Personally I would like to than all the authors who participated in the first Ghostly Writes Anthology. You were all amazing, with enjoy able stories.  You deserve the win.  I’d also like to thank all those who helped with promotional material, marketing and the book cover.

Thank you all for your support and lets hope we can take out the number one spot in Anthologies next year.

Our Authors last year were:

Kyrena Lynch, J G Clay, J B Taylor, Adam Mitchell, Sarah Mosier, Neil Newton, Rocky Rochford, Karen J Mossman, J L C Roche, Eve Merrick-Williams, Wendy Steele, Jennifer Deese, Stewart Bint, Michael J Elliott, Adele Marie Park, Amy Budd, Jessica Wren, C A Keith, Claire Plaisted, Ashley Uzzell, Jane Risdon, Cayleigh Stickler, Marjorie Hembroff, Jim Adams and Elizabeth H Newton.

 

 

Images in Children’s eBooks

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The first image shows what was wrong.  The second shows how it should be

Well that took a while and what a rigmarole to get sorted.  A total of three weeks emailing KINDLE to work out what and how to sort out making images look great in my children’s eBooks.  

So it took a while.  I never had issues with my books until a few weeks ago. I’m not sure what KINDLE changed or updated, however the images in my books were all over the place and looked nasty.  Nothing like the PRINT edition.  I wasn’t impressed, though finding out and finally getting it sorted was AWESOME.

What was the answer?   Saving WORD as a Web Page Filter, putting the two files this makes into a ZIP File and uploading it.  Then checking in the PREVIEWER.   YAY  it worked, well after a few attempts.  Not to do the other books…with other distributors..

No what is the next learning curve?