Design Your Own Adventure

Workflow

admin — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:55:15 +0000

Here’s the general workflow we’ll be going through in the class (you can click on each arrow to learn more on each phase):

As you select the item on the menu bar above, you’ll be taken to the resources and guide for each phase.

The Interview

admin — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:45:23 +0000

The Interview method:

Pick a topic/theme
Determine the questions
Conduct a self-interview
Edit for relevance to theme

Tutorials on publishing to Kindle & Nook

admin — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:53:49 +0000

Video tutorials on how to publish your title at Amazon and Barnes & Noble:

(New tutorial will be posted soon).

Cover Design

admin — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:53:07 +0000

A note about covers: People do unfortunately judge a book by it’s cover. It may be sad, but it’s true. So you really need to have a good cover if you expect to sell books – even ebooks!

I’d recommend you hire someone with a strength in graphical design if you can afford to.

Or.. If you don’t want to spend much, start with a stock image from one of these sites:

First off, here are 3 sites that have royalty free images you can for no charge:

Here are some others that have very low cost stock images you can purchase:

And if you want to try the Do-It-Yourself route, here are some options:

Take the image you purchase & use it with the cover creator tool I walk through how to use here.

There are also some great programs now available (most are online which is wonderful for cross-platforms):

Gimp (like Adobe Illustrator):
http://www.gimp.org/

Sumopaint:
http://www.sumopaint.com

Google Sketch Up:
http://sketchup.google.com/

Photoshop Online:
http://www.photoshop.com

Aviary Phoenix – Has built-in collaboration. Create and edit with the world. LifeHacker reviewed this as the best online image editor!
http://www.aviary.com/tools

Remember: The ideal images size is 600 (wide) x 800 (high) pixels – Even if your cover is smaller than 600×800, you should create a file that is 600×800 and past the smaller cover image in the center of it (if you want the cover it centered on the eReader)

Critique Groups

admin — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:51:58 +0000

Here are some places to seek out critique groups to help you sharpen your writing…

Filling the gaps

admin — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:51:12 +0000

There will be gaps in your life story. Spend some time filling those gaps to make your book helpful to your reader who will want to learn more.

Dynamic ebook templates

admin — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:49:50 +0000

These templates are not only optimized for publishing directly to Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but also structured for a low cost ($99) conversion through KindleExpert.com

Kindle Template for Open Office

ePub Template for Word

Outline

admin — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:46:23 +0000

Outlining Techniques

4-UP / 8-UP
Index Cards
Mind Mapping

Life Resume

admin — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:40:14 +0000

The Life Resume Technique

Your purpose / mission statement – Describe what is most important to you in life (you will likely revisit this statement after you complete the rest of the items below). Stuck? Ask what have you created (or still creating) in the world?
Life lessons (education) – Not necessarily traditional education. These are the things you learned that have shaped your life & continue to shape your future. Some of these may have happened in school, but most are the life lessons.
Notable accomplishments – The things you are most proud of and others would say about you.
Life events – events that have shaped your life – could be tied to events that have shaped our world.
Fondest memories – events, activities, trips, or things that bring you joy every time you think about them.

Hero’s Journey

admin — Tue, 31 May 2011 02:12:41 +0000

The Hero’s Journey

The call to adventure
The conflict
Divine intervention
A rebirth
The sacrifice/fight/struggle
Testing your conviction
Overcome obstacles to succeed
The climax (supreme ordeal) & the reward
Returning with the Elixir