Just Where Should a Semicolon Be Used?

;

Here is another confusing part of writing in English. I have this sentence I'm working on; should the punctuation be a colon or a semicolon? Hmmm, a finger tapping my pursed lips, "I'm not sure." Well let's investigate beginning with the semicolon.

There are two basic uses for the semicolon. That's why I started here, short and sweet. First the semicolon can be used to separate two main clauses. Here is an example: People were flocking to buy Brigitta Moon's novel Mistake; no one wanted to miss the torrid affair between Beth and Andrew.

Secondly the semicolon can be used as if it were a comma separating clauses, lists of items, series, especially if one or more of the elements already includes a comma. Beth admired her family members who share many happy years of marriage; her mother and father, married thirty years; her cousin Cornflower and her husband Tommy, married three years.

The next post will tackle the colon. So check back or subscribe to this blog.

Formatting Your Book Cover For Createspace Using Photoshop

When I published my first book on Amazon it was quite easy to upload the book cover I wanted. Then I tried to replicate the book cover for my Createspace book. It was not the same. After ordering the proof book and seeing the cover in person, I opted not publish the physical book.

With my Trilogy book I used the cover creator offered by Createspace. It's not fancy or imaginative. It's a plain cover with fancy words. View the cover here. I actually like the cover although I preferred the cover I was unable to replicate. Now I have released a new book with a cover I have worked painstakingly hard on; even getting advice from other Goodreads authors on a cover choice. Here is the result of my first cover done in Photoshop,  TaDa. I was attempting to capture multiple moods, playful, sexy, love, serious and mystery. Now I'm satisfied; my physical book and Kindle book look exactly the same. There is one difference which is the page count, about 57 pages less in the Kindle conversion. But that is a conversation for another time.

 Perhaps this is an issue you are experiencing and that's why you are reading this blog post. I will share with you how I replicated my book cover to use for my Creatspace book.

Start here: Download the Createspace template and unzip it. Save it to your desktop for easy access.

https://www.createspace.com/Help/Book/ArtworkDownload.do

Your cover must fit your book, so be sure to fill in the form with accurate information about the number of pages your book has. You will also need to know the size of the book you want to publish. I used the popular 6X9, cream pages. 

Step 2 Design Your Cover

Design your cover in a program such as Photoshop. Photoshop allows you to add multiple layers to crank out an awesome book cover. Before you save your final version of your cover you will need to turn off all the layers to be sure text and images  do not appear in the pink zones of the template. The barcode area should also be free of images and texts.

Step 3 Save Your Cover

Once all your layers are between the lines, turn all the layers on and save the file. Kindle accepts files in the form of JPEG, or .jpeg, TIFF, or .tif(f). Createspace accepts files in the form of PDF.

I am currently tapping out my next novel on my keyboard. When I begin on the cover, I intend to list the details of creating the cover in Photoshop step by step in detail. If you are interested in this step by step approach, send me an email or subscribe to the blog. Remember, this will be a few months in the future; I have to write the novel first.
Brigitta Moon

Which Word?

I am willing to guess that at one time or another you have been in the midst of writing and had to stop, scratch your head or tap your finger on the table and ask yourself, which word? I have done this. Is it its or is it it's? Do I go farther or further? Did I lie or did I lay? The time has come to clear this up short and straightforward.

It's represents the contraction form of the verb it is. It's wonderful you are reading this, is the same as if you were to write, it is wonderful you are reading this.

Its on the other hand represents a possessive adjective, showing ownership. Its fur was all over my pants. In other words, the kitty's fur was all over my pants.

Lie refers to a position of reclining or rest. I lie on the bed. Whereas lay refers to placing something somewhere. She lay the flowers on the table. Oops, I made this mistake in a book; instead of using lie, I used lay.

Farther refers to distance. We traveled farther down the road. Easy to remember if you think of it as we traveled far down the road. Further refers to advancement. We will read further tonight in the book called MISTAKE written by Brigitta Moon.

Check back later or subscribe to the blog for more tips and interesting articles.