Tag Archives: Lessons of Heart & Soul

Book Covers and Fonts

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Like all forms of design, visual design is about problem solving…~ Bob Baxley

So, an author friend of mine is getting ready to have her next release published. Last week, she posted images of several cover designs that she is considering. I let my opinion be known only because she asked for some feedback and I understand the value of feedback with regard to publishing.

It got me to thinking of the cover design of my 2nd publication, Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul. I decided that it was time to make a change to the cover. I love the cover image but the font of the title has been problematic in a digital format. I didn’t foresee the kinds of problems I am having with it. For the title I had chosen a font that is in script. Esthetically it looked good with the cover image but it was not a good decision on my part because it is not very readable digitally.

So there has been a slight revision to the appearance of the e-book cover of Short Stories: Lessons in Heart & Soul. Here is a before and after.

Below – Initial Font Used in Title on Cover Design

Lessons of Heart V4 Cover

Below: Revised for Better Readability of Title in Small-form Digital Formats

V5 Cover revised font 4 15 15

You’ve gotta love e-books, it’s so easy to make changes. Download a new version of a cover or revised text and you are all set. Not much more than a click of a mouse and very little expense.

Chalk up this necessary revision to lessons learned in digital publishing! Since e-books are still undergoing tweeks in development I’m not the first to encounter this problem. Here is a good article about e-books and fonts. 

See you back here tomorrow. This blog is brought to you by award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard.

Film Friday: Outdoors Adventure

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Thanks to a posting I saw on www.cruxcollective.com I became aware of a documentary film of interest in the outdoor adventure movie category.

valley uprising2

Valley Uprising http://reelrocktour.com/ is a film about extreme athletes who climb to explore massive cliffs, crags, boulders and rocks in Yosemite National Park in high up places. They are a whole culture of adventurous souls who are the next generation of outdoorsmen who flock to this area and find their “religion and fulfillment” in rock climbing.

Red Bull Magazine says it’s “The best climbing film ever made.”

It won the Grand Prize at the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Just one award among several others.

Worthy of attention, I am sure, although I have yet to see it.  I am putting this film on my 2015 list of films not to miss! Sounds like a nice evening of adventure from the comfort of my living room. Yet, Yosemite is on my National Park Wish List to see upclose some day.

Valley Uprising

This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard. For information on her award-winning publication Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and her new book of stories Lessons of Heart and Soul,

visit this website http://www.allthingsfulfilling.com/about-the-book/.

Little Things Remembered

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Last fall after I did a book signing in my hometown of Towson, Maryland. My life-long friend, Chris, handed me a handwritten missive that was so meaningful. To get a hand-penned letter in this digital age is something special to begin with. The letter contained her memories of our times spent together as children. I couldn’t believe the little things that she remembered, many were the very same memories I’d retained all those decades since my childhood.

However, there was one event that I didn’t recall at all. Here is what she said:

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“A surprise birthday party I gave YOU?” I questioned Chris after reading her words in the letter. “I don’t remember it!” My sister doesn’t either.

“What!!” said Chris, in amazement. “You’ve got to be kidding! You went to all kinds of extremes to lure me over to your parent’s house that day so you could surprise me!”

“Nope, I have no recollection at all,” I said. Obviously, the surprise birthday meant a lot more to her than it did to me.

people remembering how you made them feelThe point of this blog today is that we never know if an event or person in our lives will take up residence in our hearts and never leave us. S0, try hard to be nice to others because you never know the impact a friendship might have on your life.

This blog is brought to you  by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. For more information on Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul, visit http://www.allthingsfulfilling.com/about-the-book/.