Every have a DAHHH moment?!?!

       I always try to get all the covers for my book series done at the same time even before the content is finished. It is just something that makes me feel better to have done.
        Well, I was NOT happy with my rain forest books so I decided to do one cover over; the book cover.
        Then, like so many other things, one thing leads to another and after finishing it and being happy with it I realized the other two covers now did not work with the new cover, so back to the drawing board.
        I like my book titles and everything to be consistent so if you lay them side by side, the fonts line up, etc. (my graphic artist friend has been influencing me!).
       This would seem like an easy task however my computer is not very good (never buying Asus again!), so I can’t layer things as much as I would like in my Affinity program. It crashes too much if I do it this way which would be the logical way to do things. Instead, I have to open the two files of the book covers with the template I downloaded for book size and number of pages for spine width and copy from one and past to the other.
      The one good thing I did realize is that if I copy from one cover the font, with the point tool selected and not the Text tool, when I take it to the other file and paste it, low and behold, the font will be in the exact same place! Yahoo!  This is great however when I use the guides, for whatever reason, the stupid rulers don’t line up. It gets very confusing so I finally started making a custom grid!
       By the time I play with colors and decide on font sizes and then change the other font to the same size in both files of the covers, a great deal of time and energy has passed and I am exhausted from it all.
        Well, the other morning I woke up and thought, “you idiot! Why don’t you just make a template of the covers!!!!?!?!?!? Once I got that idea, banerang, template made and life so much easier.
       I think this is likely the difference between thinking like a graphic and a visual artist. Now that I have made that transition, it will be so much easier!
        As life carries on and summer comes and things get more and more demanding, and needs over take wants, I cannot stress enough the importance of finding as many ways as possible to not only make life easier for yourself as an Indie publisher, but also to make it so that you will remember what you were doing.
      If you are anything like myself, you will get side-tracked because you have to, and when you come back, you will have to re-invent the wheel. If you have pre-sets, templates and even a log book like I have made (available on Amazon) then it can mean the difference between spending days remembering or just a few hours. I for one would prefer the later.
       And just another quick note: changing gears and going to work is not a bad thing. Any good writer will tell you, to be a good writer, you need life experience. You need to not isolate yourself even if as a write you would be content to do so! After all, what would you write about? Since I left Nova Scotia, I have had a wealth of new experiences to add to my tickle trunk. Some are great, some are not, but either way, it is still a good thing as a writer to have these experiences and lessons. I wouldn’t change most of it for the world....ok one thing but other than that! lol.
       Don’t give up if you are slugging through. It takes time to do things and do them properly. I for one know I am not a young chick who grew up in the world of electronics and my son is already passing me in so many ways as he takes his training as an animation artist. Soon the student will pass the master but frankly, he isn’t there yet! lol.
       Whether you are young or “older” give yourself some credit! I have always believed, and I shall always will believe, life is what you make it. If you want something, it is up to YOU to make it happen. There is no written law out there that says life has to be fair or easy. It is what it is, and you just get on with it.
        In my own case, I have beat so many odds; in so many ways. I survived when I was near death and wasn’t supposed to live and was given last rites. Just goes to show, we decide our own destiny, not a doctor, lawyer, partner or anyone else. If you want to write and create books, then do it. One step at a time, one book at a time. It may take a year, or it may take 20 years, however isn’t it all about the journey in the end anyhow?