Happy Friday! Things are boiling here in Texas. With 36 days of over 100-degree weather, we’re cooking. 21 of those were consecutive days. Was it always this hot, and I just didn’t notice, or is the earth heating up in general?
I don’t know, but come on, Fall!
Let’s talk about Twitter.
Many folks left Twitter for personal reasons when Elon Musk took it over. Each person has to do what’s best for them. I stayed. Why? Twitter has been a good platform for me to share blogs, other authors’ books, and reviews and market my books. Has it changed? Of course, it has. Everything does. Nothing stays the same.
I used to make it a practice to visit Twitter daily and tweet or retweet posts. Now, I’m lucky if I make it over once a week. However, that being said, I do still think it’s a viable social media platform. I’d love to get your thoughts on it. I’ve seen several new platforms mentioned in various chat forums, but honestly, I don’t have the energy to start over anew and build followers. Have you seen changes in the way you interact on Twitter? Are you going to stay or search for another platform? Let’s talk.
On the author front, I have decided to create new book covers for my True Story Series and re-market them to try and breathe new life into them. Easy peasy, right? NOT! I have scoured through thousands of images trying to find something universal that I can use across all four covers with minor changes to fit the stories with no success. I’ve even tried using AI to create images and some of the ones they come up with are hilarious! Here’s an example. I asked AI to create an image of a cowboy holding a guitar. I laugh out loud every time I look at this. That hat! 🙂 And the skewed guitar! 🙂 Maybe AI doesn’t understand my language.
Another thought I had was a stage with a guitar on it, then change the guitar from cover to cover. For instance, place prison bars in front of the guitar for the second book, then show the guitar closed up in the case for the third, and then the curtain closing on the guitar for the third. This is way harder than I ever thought.
As you can see, I am unsettled about a way to change the covers and make them look like a series. The entire series revolves and evolves around music and an epic love story. Suggestions?
If you missed it, Sally Cronin shared her review of Flowers and Stone on her amazing blog site yesterday! Here’s the LINK.
On the dizzy spell health front, I suffered through 3 torturous hours of Vestibular Testing, and the results were all within normal range. There is nothing else to test, so I am moving on, hoping it never happens again. These bodies are a mystery. The older I get, the less I know about how to take care of it.
One of my late husband’s favorite sayings was a Teddy Roosevelt quote, “Always do the best you can where you are with what you have.” That applies every day.
A brief reminder because I don’t want you to feel like I’m beating you over the head with it, the Harbor Pointe Series books are all available for pre-order!
Thanks for stopping by and tolerating my ramblings today. Have a great weekend!
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You may want to consider hiring out for your series covers Jan. About Twitter, I’m with you. I don’t care for the site, never did. I don’t visit anyone’s pages, and never read any feeds. I send many shared posts there, and I visit only once while drinking my morning coffee to reply and thank those that have reshared my shares. I get stupid DMs from people, including men trying to befriend me romantically, and many DMs from newbies sending me links to read their books – SO ANNOYING! So no, I don’t do much there except share. And when I am sharing a post, the box will show a few in my feed and I always hit a few reshares then too. 🙂 x
So, maybe AI images aren’t ready for “Prime Time.” I’ve never used Twitter and after Musk took over I have no plans to. I’m thinking it will fold soon.
I agree about AI, John. And who knows about Twitter. It is still going strong although many have abandoned it. Time will tell. Thanks for visiting.
Lot to chat about on this post, Jan! Twitter/X–Love one big change, that Musk added the category ‘Creators’ for those who create on the stream. These people are raving over their monthly checks–in the thousands! You have to have a certain volume of followers and tweets, neither of which are me!
Teddy Roosevelt–that man was so much more than I ever thought he was. Great Quote, especially for the physical challenges he faced. His father had another he told his son–“I know you, Teddy. You have mountains to climb, and no one can stop you.” I love that one.
Thanks for stopping by, Jacqui. I had not heard about the new category “Creators.” Great that some folks are benefitting from it! Interesting. That’s a great quote from Teddy Roosevelt’s father. What a positive thing to say to a child. Have a great weekend!
I refuse to call Twitter “X”, lol! I worked hard to gain followers and will continue to use this social media platform. It’s great to spread the news about blogs. I’ve increased my daily presence on IG, but I’ve drawn a line in the sand with using TikTok. For the first time in my writing career I’ve said, “No!” to another social media platform, especially with videos. I do not have the time, Jan. And truthfully, I don’t even view others who post videos.
Good luck on your book covers. Not a fan of turning over creative inspiration to AI, so I’ll be sticking with my publisher and a “human” when I step into the indie arena one day. I’ll keep you in my healing prayers, Jan. The body is indeed a mystery. Can I solve it one day? Teehehe… Enjoy your weekend! xo
I am right there with you, Mary, about not leaving Twitter and the followers I’ve worked for years to build. I need and want to increase my presence on IG, it’s just so frustrating to have to do everything from my phone. I much prefer my PC or laptop. 🙂 I also have said “no” to TikTok. I know many authors sing its praises, but I have no time or energy to invest in learning another platform that requires expertise I don’t have. Thanks for the good luck wishes on the covers. I most certainly won’t be relying on AI for what I need. 🙂 Thanks for the healing prayers, and if you solve the mystery of the body, you’ll be a saint! Thank you for adding to the discussion!
I am still on X mostly because of my followers and those I follow who haven’t jumped ship yet. Regarding the AI covers. Well, we all know AI is a bad artist, so why bother fooling with it? I wouldn’t hire a human artist who lacked creative skills and produced poor quality designs and images to represent my book. We need artists who fully understand the story, setting, and characters to collaborate with us. That engagement requires human intelligence, emotional insightfulness, and the creative mind. I like to see my cover artists excited about designing a story cover. Going back and forth, exploring ideas, and discussing options, even that tweaking stage, is a rewarding and productive experience.
I love your comment, Paula. You describe what a creative process the simple act of designing a cover needs to be, and I agree about AI. I love it when a cover designer gets excited to create the perfect symbolism for my story. Thank you so much for stopping by and adding to the discussion!
Book covers are hard, especially when you want a theme to carry across novels. I’m now at the point where I just hire someone to do mine, but I have faith you’ll work it out Jan (I think AI still has a long way to go in understanding what you want, LOL).
I’m still on Twitter (even though I only see it called “X” now….apparently even the Twitter name has been replaced. ). I use it to share posts of blogs I visit, and also to follow a few Tweeps (X-ers??) that I like to keep up with. I’m not on FB and haven’t touched IG in too long to remember, so Twitter/X is really the only place I have to keep up with the threads I like. I still also like it for trending news.
Thanks for chiming in, Mae. I used GetCovers for the Brazos Wind new cover and was pleased with them. I found that I needed to give them some visual images to work from, or they didn’t see the picture in my head. So, once I find what I’m looking for, I will shoot it to them and let them create them. Regardless of whether it’s called Twitter or Twitter X or just X, I think it’s still a viable platform. Glad you agree. I appreciate your comment!
Best wishes on the rebranding of your books. Not sorry to say AI is an untalented artist.
Thanks, John. And I agree about AI. 🙂
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Talk about Twitter! I’ve always found it convenient and better than Facebook. Authors respond and promote each other. But I liked the bird better than the X, which is aesthetically and visually jarring!
I am glad to note that AI is no good at artwork. We have laughed at its creativity in our writer’s club, dismissing it as plagiarism.
So sad about the heat Jan. Stay cool and stay indoors. ?
Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment today, Balroop. I agree that Twitter is convenient and I, too, don’t care for the black X. Have a good weekend!
That AI guitar….. what does it sound like? hahahahaha 😀 I know the pain of coming up with new covers (or at least one new cover lol). I eventually hired someone to do it and surprisingly, it didn’t cost very much at all.
Lol, Kymber. I’d hate to hear what that guitar might sound like. 🙂 Thanks so much for visiting today and leaving a comment. I wish you a great weekend!
I wish you a great weekend, too! 😀
Thanks for the link to my review yesterday Jan and delighted to share again.. I wanted to remind myself anyway before reading the long overdue second book. Review later in September and will follow on with the third soon. I have stayed with Twitter despite posts not being linked automatically anymore from WordPress. In fact doing it manually allows for tags to be added and makes more sense. Twitter sends more traffic my way to the blog and also when I promote other authors it gives a much wider spread of publicity. I am sorry that authors have left and are leaving Twitter as I think it is a very useful platform and also enables them to broaden their readership and participate more fully in promotions. Today as authors we have little option but to be online and as you say changes are part of progress. I may not agree with the politics or opinions of those who run them, but the people I follow and who follow me have not changed an provide a strong writing community that offers support and promotion for us all… With regard to your covers, I actually like them as they are and they are. ♥♥
Thank you for chiming in about Twitter, Sally. While I’ve seen less traffic on Twitter, I still think it’s a viable platform, and I’m not the least bit interested in the politics or beliefs of the people who own and run it. I am selfishly there for me and to help promote other authors. And I agree. If we want to sell our books, we must be online. It’s a connected world through the web. Thank you for the love shown to my covers, but when I produced those four books, I knew nothing about the importance of making a series look like they are connected, and the covers are made from the heart. The bottom line is that the books have gotten stagnant. They are not selling at all, and “‘Til Death Do Us Part” has never sold well. That’s my motivation for freshening them up and giving them more marketable covers. I appreciate your comment today, dear lady, and wish you a fabulous weekend!
That hat and guitar are hilarious. Most AI-created images I’ve seen are obviously not up to standards. They look “contrived.” I’ll stick with real photos.
I’m still on Twitter, but I only use it to share other posts. Musk hasn’t made it easy with the elimination of Tweet Deck.
Thanks for spreading the word on Harbor Pointe!
And great news about your dizziness.
I am right there with you, Joan, about the AI images. I’m not sure they understand my language. 🙂 You are right about Tweetdeck going away. It was an easier way to reply and retweet posts. And I’m happy to keep spreading the word about Harbor Pointe! Have a great weekend and thank you for stopping by!
I laughed also at the cowboy! What’s going on with his eye? I was so happy to read Sally’s review yesterday. I snagged a copy of Flowers and Stone. I’m looking forward to reading it! I hope those dizzy spells are a thing of the past for you, Jan. Enjoy your weekend! xo
P.S. I left Facebook over a year ago, but Twitter is still a platform I enjoy.
Thanks Jill.. ♥
Lol, Jill. Yep. That cowboy was just ALL wrong. 🙂 Thank you for purchasing Flowers and Stone! I am thrilled. And yes, I, too, hope the dizzy spells are nothing more than a fading memory. Have a great weekend and thank you for your support!
Hi Jan, I have studied AI pictures and generally find them to produce ‘off’ pictures that just don’t look right for various reasons. I use a cover designer for some books and some I make myself. Teagan Geneviene has some nice pre-made designs. Colleen also designs covers. I hope your weather cools down soon ?
Thanks for chiming in, Robbie. I have seen some of Teagan’s pre-made, fabulous covers. I just haven’t seen any that fit what I’m looking for. And thanks for reminding me that Colleen does covers. I’d forgotten that. I hope your weather cools down soon, too, but there is no end in sight right now. Even the trees are turning brown and dying. I hope you have a good weekend!
I’m sorry, droughts are awful. I hope you weekend is good despite the heat.
I’ve made book covers using Canva. I’m no expert, so it took forever, but eventually got it done. Paid 12.99 per month for the privilege.
Yes, I’m on Twitter/X. I’ve definitely sold books through Twitter/X, so money-wise (since it was free) it was a good investment.
I think your covers are pretty good, Vera.
Thanks, Robbie.:-)
I, too have the paid version of Canva, Vera. So far, I’m not finding what I need, but I’m still on the hunt. 🙂 I’m glad you decided to stay on Twitter. Y0u are right about the cost being zero. At that price, it’s a great investment. Thanks for chiming in!
My own experiments with AI artwork have been just as dismal. There are some paid versions that might do a better job, but I’m not going there. I like Sean’s artwork and we’ve done so many together I can’t see myself doing it another way.
Well, I must say that I am pretty pleased to know that AI won’t be taking over the art world just yet.
Exactly, Robbie. There is some comfort in that. Thank you for visiting.
Nope. I’m definitely not paying to access AI images. I love the artwork Sean creates for you. It is unique and a great marketing tool. Thanks for chiming in, Craig.