Book Review – Book Cover Design Formula by Anita Nipane

I was invited to download a review pdf copy of this guide by the author and I was most certainly glad I did.  The book cover is usually the first feature to draw a potential reader’s attention.  It is therefore essential to make it as appealing as possible to the eye while at the same time capturing the essence of what the book is about.  It is one of the hardest ingredients of the book to get right.

Mainstream writers will probably employ a professional designer but for the self publisher this investment will mostly prove too expensive.  Some are lucky in that they may know of a student going through Art College who will produce an acceptable cover at a low fee, or even for free, for a chance to include it in their CV.  Others might know of a family member or friend who is willing to do this for them cheaply or again for free.  There are also cut price offers online from sites such as Fiverr.  But often the cover they produce will not be of good quality.  The alternative is to attempt to do it yourself which invariably leads to a mess.  But this book guides the do-it-your-self publisher through the process while pointing out the pitfalls of such an approach along the way.

I was fortunate to acquire the guide when I was about to launch my forthcoming novel, “Magic Bullets”.  I am most glad I did but only time and the comments I expect to receive from those who follow my work will allow me to reflect accurately whether I made the right choice.  However, I do know that the final cover choice was down to me and not the fault of this guide or its author.  I thoroughly recommend it for any writer even those who employ professional help as it will prove invaluable in choosing between the various designs such a professional might come up with.

Keith Jahans

Available on Amazon’s Kindle Store.

 

Book Review – Quota by Jack Bold

A frightening account of what could happen in a future society.

Jack Bold is the penname for the writing partnership of Brian Bold and Jackie Green.  The authors have put together an excellently crafted novel.  The characters are believable and, as in the case of all good narratives, drive the plot.  The story centres on the activities of one family living in an all too credible dystopian world where people have the length of their lifespan determined by the government.

The scientific basis for the increase in dementia as being due to consuming meat from cloned GM cattle was sketchy as was the case of these animals having a mild case of mad cow disease.  Dementia is a health problem in the developed world and it might have been better that the authors left it as that and not speculated on its cause.

Despite this minor point, I found the tale completely absorbing and my desire to discover how the central characters would fare kept me reading right to the end.

Keith Jahans

 

Quota is published by Amazon CreateSpace