My favorite cover for Abundant Gifts

Trying to design your own book covers is one of the biggest mistakes I see new authors making, especially if they self publish.

One of the advantages of self-publishing is that you are in control of the whole process. When you work with a company like Intermedia, for instance, you own the rights, and you get to pick the cover, the interior design, everything.

However, there’s a downside to this. Just because you have the final say, that should not mean that you are the best one to judge the cover design, or even the title, for that matter. Having the final say should not mean having the only say–especially when it comes to areas you’re not trained in, such as the interior and exterior design.

Unless you’re an experienced designer yourself, leave this to the professionals. I have seen over and over authors who have a concept that’s so complicated, so esoteric, or so cluttered that I know their design will kill the book sales. I can almost always spot a self-published book right away, just by the look of the cover (the interior as well).

Good designers are trained not only to key into your concept, but to make sure it both fits current trends and also stands out in some way as to be interesting. Not an easy task, and definitely one for the professionals.

I came across a great article on working with a designer I suggest you read, along with Michele’s other posts.  Even if you work with a company that provides a designer, you want to work with that person and allow him or her to take the time to develop a great concept and design. Work with a great designer, and your book won’t scream, “Self-published amateur author!” like I’ve seen so many do. Instead, it will draw the eye and make the potential reader want to pick it up and explore more.

Part of the pleasure of a book is the visual nature of it–the cover.  Someone once told me about my Abundant Gifts book cover (first edition), “My wife keeps it out on the coffee table just because it’s so pretty.” That of course warmed my heart, and is about the best thing a cover can do for an author.

Rick is the author of The Purpose-Driven Life and other books that have become best sellers.

Here’s what Rick said.  You decide what you think of how he’s handling his fame and fortune.

And cancer …

“People ask me, What is the purpose of life?”

And I respond: In a nutshell, life is

preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body– but not the end of me

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act – the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys – you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don’t believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems:

If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain.’ But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people..

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don’t think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit.. We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God’s purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He’s more interested in what I am than what I do.

That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.

Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.

Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.

Painful moments, TRUST GOD.

Every moment, THANK GOD.

If you do not pass it on, nothing will happen. But it will just be nice to pass it on to a friend…just like I have done.

Do let’s all be in prayer for Rick and Kay and their family.

My name is Diane Eble, and my goal with this blog is to give people who want to write and publish the information and resources they need to get started and, if you so choose, actually make money at it.

I want you to “be well heard and well paid for what you know and love to do.”

What do I bring to the table here?

I have 32 years of experience in just about all aspects of the writing and publishing fields.

I’m the author of 11 books, all of them published by “traditional” publishers (as opposed to vanity publishers, or self-published) and more than 400 magazine and/or online articles. I’ve even won awards.

One of my recent books is  MotherStyles: Using Personality Type to Discover Your Parenting Strengths, was written in collaboration with Janet P. Penley. The “book of my heart” is Abundant Gifts. If you like stories that touch the heart, like the Chicken Soup for the Soul books you will enjoy Abundant Gifts. People have told my book is better, but I’ll let you decide that.

I’ve also been an editor for both books (mostly fiction, but also nonfiction), and magazines (Campus Life and Marriage Partnership magazines).

Finally, in the quest to actually make a living at writing words, I’ve learned copywriting (i.e. sales copy), other kinds of marketing writing, and publicity. Just recently (Feb. 3, 2006) I was on the national radio show, Midday Connection.

Now, I have to be honest with you. One of the things I want to do with this blog is bring reality to the table. Lessons I’ve learned the hard way, that I will pass on to you so that you will be able to leap over the years of heartache and empty bank accounts that I and countless other writers have experienced.

I’ll bring you the good, the bad and the ugly about writing and publishing. I’ll pass on writing tips and publishing pitfalls to avoid. I’ll introduce you to wonderful products, services and people who will really deliver, There are plenty that promise you the moon. I will warn you of what’s mere hype and what is “the real deal.” I won’t promote anything I don’t honestly believe will help you. I won’t promote anything unless it’s:

A) Proven to work
B) I’ve used it or read it before
C) I know the person behind the service or product personally.

Whether writing is your dream or your current livelihood, I think you will find much value here. Please take a moment to subscribe to this blog so that you will be alerted whenever I make a new post.

Also, I encourage you to check out the Author Success Plan. This will get you started on the right path in an almost-free meaty, five-part minicourse on “The ABCs of Becoming a Successful Author.” You won’t find these “insider” insights anywhere else, I promise.

If you have a question about writing, publishing, or promoting a book, ask it in the box to the right of the blog. I answer questions on this blog, in Publishing Coach Weekly articles, and in teleseminars.

You might also want to check out the links on the blog. There will be many more, as I check out new resources. Again, though, I only want to make sure they’re truly the best value around. I’ll be reviewing resources here as well.

To get back to the main blog with all the places to subscribe, ask your question, and sign up for the Author Success Plan, simply click the Back button on your browser to get back to the main blog page, and look to the sidebar on your right. All the goodies are there!

Happy writing and profitable publishing!

Diane Eble

Your Book Publishing Coach