I’m thinking of putting my oldest book, Castle Falcon, up on Kindle to see what happens.
I’ve figured out the formatting. With Adobe InDesign (almost a must for any self-publishing effort), there’s a Kindle plug-in that deals with most of the .mobi problems. I already have a working test version on my own Kindle.
I’ll need a Kindle cover illustration, though. A Kindle cover is basically the signature of your book on Amazon, so it has to stick out. My original CG cover for my Lulu gift books is interesting, but a bit cryptic (draft artwork shown without text):
The stained glass is in the story. The little orange creatures are in the story too, but since I invented them the average person wouldn’t have any idea what they are. I tuned them up to look more “buglike.” In my first Lulu cover they looked more like weird jellybeans.
So based on this illustration, what genre is this? Horror? SF? A documentary on exterminators? This is a cover where you really need to look at the description to figure out what’s going on, and while that was okay for a Lulu gift book, it’s not so good for something you’re actually tossing out there to the public.
I had an idea to add something that immediately says “fantasy.” This is a more recent draft:
Bingo. Now it’s a fantasy. A bit of a plot spoiler, but I think it will grab the eye better. My wife (also my prime beta reader) likes it.
TomAlanBrosz 