The Best 'Un Yet

. . .  or The Evolution of an Ebook.

I've been working on recycling five of my Christmas stories as a Kindle e-book. The title is The Best 'Un Yet, for the first story. In that story, newcomers to a rural community try to change the annual Christmas program. The other stories are “The Spirit of Giving,” in which a father takes his children to a mall to receive charity; “‘The Magi’ Strikes Back,” in which a gift exchange goes wrong; “You Don’t Ever Know,” in which children at a rural school receive gifts from an anonymous benefactor; and “You Ain’t Buck Nekkid and You Got Enough to Eat,” in which a country girl envious of her classmates realizes how fortunate she is.

While I've learned how to format and upload the document to Kindle, I don't have the skill or the software to make a decent cover. That's where my longtime friend Eduardo Mitchell comes in. He's designed covers for three of my previous ebooks, as well as his own ebook, Original Zen.

You can read Ed's blog, Quieting the Noisy Mind, here.

Anyhow, when we work on a cover,  we confer via email until a design pleases both of us. Recently, I sent Ed a photo, which he sized correctly and designed and placed text. After four tries, we came up with one that we liked and that many of my Facebook friends liked.

After an earlier draft, here are the first two tries:

#1

#2

I wasn't expecting white text, but I liked it. I also loved the font choice. In #1, the subtitle kind of disappears though. For an ebook thumbnail, each word should be easy to read. For the second try, the change to black text for the subtitle and the drop shadow on my name helps the titles pop out better. The black text also brings out the black in the trees. It's looking better but still isn't as eye-catching as it could be. Both covers say "winter" and "rural" but not "Christmas." Ed kept working.

Number three had red text for the title. Now it pops out, plus the red color suggests Christmas.

However, black text for my name didn't work. Makes it look a little heavy. The fourth one is what we finally went with. 

Having my name in red helps balance the title.  The black subtitle still stands out. The cover is much more eye-catching, and red is a color of Christmas.

I think #4 is the best one yet!

The Best 'Un Yet is available on Amazon for 99¢. If you don't have a Kindle, you can download a free app to read Kindle ebooks on your phone, computer, or tablet. 

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