Hello…I am Tucker. I am a Maltese. I live with Gigi. Today I am introducing our novelist. Yesterday my novelist gave me a haircut…well, part of a haircut because she usually trims me a couple days in a row till it is finally finished. I look good now. I weigh less. I am not as warm. I got to be brushed too. I like being brushed. I did have to get a bath before she gave me the haircut and I do not like baths. Baths are wet. I do not like being wet. And I get cold waiting to dry. I shake the water off, but it does not seem to go away. My novelist dried me off and then she wrapped me up in a blanket. Then I got warmer. Here is my novelist.
Rocktober is almost here and you know what that means! That’s right, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid! is about to be released! When I am getting ready to release a book there’s a few things I do to prepare.
Use the Read Aloud in Microsoft Word. This is my favorite new tool. Perhaps there are some of you out there who have used this for a long time, but it was only recently when I started preparing my Musicology book series that I found its great value. It is one thing to read through your writing as you go to polish your final draft. It is quite another to listen through it. This function is fantastic at catching mistakes and it is easy to find in Word. Simply open Word, go to the search at the top of Word above the ribbon and type in “Read Aloud”. Your stop and start button will be over to the right-hand side of your document. You can also change the voice by left-clicking the speaker icon by the fast forward button, clicking on the drop-down box, and choosing a voice. You can also choose the reading speed of the voice here as well by moving the level on the bar.
Choose a Good Photo to Make My Cover. If you publish on Amazon, you need to create a cover for your book. It is wisest from what I understand to use a photograph as opposed to a drawing for a cover design. I tend to be a frugal person and I think you should not be paying ridiculous amounts of money to produce a good cover for your book. I personally like to search for royalty-free images. I go to Pixabay and Pexels to find a bevy of choices and search for subjects that pertain to my book.
Prepare and Create a Cover. Again, being relatively frugal I like to get the best cover for the best price which is to do it myself. For the creation of my visual masterpiece I use Derek Murphy’s tool. He has a wonderful list of fonts and effects to choose from that help make the picture pop. For help I go through the tutorials on his site. I would have made a lot of mistakes with my cover had I not listened to him. And if you do create a cover of your own be patient. Take the time to make a great cover and be prepared to make over a dozen variations so you can choose the best one. If a writer has the patience to write a great book, they should have the patience to design a great cover. I did twenty covers for Musicology: Volume Two, Kid! before I got it the way I wanted.
Write a Book Description. This is not as easy as it sounds but it is crucial. Be prepared to rewrite this little blurb several times to get it right. I like to think of it in the same way I would a movie pitch. Make it about one paragraph and make it interesting. Be sure the first sentence is an attention getter because some of the rest may not be immediately viewable to the reader looking for your book unless they click on read more.
Make it Available in Paperback. Yes, this one is a serious pain because you must format your Word doc a certain way. But if you do, you will be glad you did. Also, I have not done one yet, but it is not a bad idea to do an audio version of your book. If you look at the book How to Publish a Book on Amazon in 2020: Real Advice from Someone Who’s Doing It Well (Work from Home Series: Book 5 by Sam Kerns he gives some good basic advice.
MY BOOKS
You can check out my books Chicane and the first book in my Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby! on Amazon both in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s website at www.musicologyrocks.com The second book of the Musicology series, Musicology Volume Two, Kid! is releasing in October 2020!
STREAM OF THE WEEK: SELF/LESS-Netflix
If there are three things movie critics hate they are sex, science, and redemption. And this one has a little of all three. Sometimes critics do not get it right. But to have so many pan this one is odd. I’ve watched it twice on two separate occasions and I’ve liked it both times. I like the concept, the directing, and the acting. And I like the mood of the film. The story is a science fiction action thriller and it works like this. Seventy something Damien Hale (Ben Kinsley) is an extraordinarily successful New York real estate developer who failed in his personal life. He has an adult daughter named Claire (Michelle Dockery) who despises him and works for a non-profit organization. Finding out he has terminal cancer he decides to make things right the only way he knows how: by giving her a check. Claire rejects the check and sends him on his way. But Damien is not ready to quit yet. He has been looking into a process called “shedding” where one leaves one’s body in trade for one that’s “made in a lab”. After paying millions for the procedure Young Damien (Ryan Reynolds, who’s great here) finds himself living a whole new life…but whose life is he really living?
SMART MOVIES FOR SMART KIDS- A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON-Netflix
I enjoy a lot of the Aardman films, and I am especially fond of Shaun the Sheep. Netflix released this one earlier this year that is quite cute. Shaun and his gang of sheep are hanging out on the farm getting into trouble with Bizer the dog who is always trying to please The Farmer. When a strange creature ends up in the barn, Shaun summons up the bravery to meet her. Half blue Christmas tree and half blue puppy dog she turns out to be an engaging little character who made a mistake and now needs to find her way back home to her parents. There is hardly any dialogue in the film, but the visuals are all you need. A great film for kids of all ages.
Gigi Catches Air 