Animated book covers get more social media engagement than still covers, increasing your chances of making more sales and of getting word out about your book.
The reason? Simple. Elements in motion drive the eye to focus on it longer as there’s more to see. And because people have to linger longer, they’re more likely to retweet/share, like, reply and/or check out the book on Amazon and other sites.
Animated covers is a marketing trend that’s becoming more and more popular. And eye-catching covers deserve recognition because the reality is that most people do still judge a book by its cover. It’s the first thing readers see and the first thing that makes them decide whether to check out the book or not. And since animation jumps out, having an animated cover ensures that future readers will hover over your book instead of just scrolling past it in their social media timeline.
Morgan Wright is the upcoming fantasy author of “The Traitor’s Gambit”, the first book in an ongoing series, and editor/contributor of the “Calendar For Writers 2019-2020” which became a Top 10 Bestseller in the USA, Canada, Germany, Spain and the UK. Morgan has been writing stories since age 7, her earliest imaginations sparked by the fantastic tales of C.S. Lewis and Gothic oeuvres such as Dracula by Bram Stoker and The Sandman by E.T.A. Hoffman. Thus inspired, she mainly writes medieval fantasy with a dark (and possibly morally-dubious) edge.
In March 2017, at age 18, she joined Twitter in the hopes of hitting the 1000 follower-milestone within a year. 10 months later, through the help of Twitter’s loyal #WritingCommunity who have supported her in ways she never imagined possible, she became a Twitter influencer with a current following of over 80.000 people.
Morgan recently graduated with honours from her BA (Honours) English Literature and Creative Writing which she began at age 16, and her short story “Unchained” was Longlisted in the “Let’s Get Published – Spring Writing Contest” while another short story, “The Bad-Wisher’s Lament”, was chosen for publication in Fantasia Divinity’s “Wishes of Illusion” Anthology.
In August of 2019, Morgan launched her now-in-high-demand Book Cover Animations service which brings book covers to life through animation. VISIT MORGAN’S PORTFOLIO HERE.
I love to watch virtuosos on YouTube — pianists, violinists, dancers, and singers that seem to have supernatural abilities. They make their performances look effortless, but no one sees what it took for them to reach that level of mastery.
What about the hours of practice, the hundreds of times they got it wrong, and how they pushed forward despite the criticism? We don’t realize everything they sacrificed — family, friends, sleep, and fun — to become what they are. They remind me of the investment I need to make to become the best writer I can be.
Until recently, I’ve been a self-taught writer. I always thought that if I read enough books, followed enough writing blogs, and kept working hard, that I would get better. I did get better, a little bit at a time. Still, I sensed I was missing something.
I couldn’t put my finger on it, but the lackluster sales and rejection letters reaffirmed my suspicion. The feedback from family and friends said everything I did was great. So why was I stuck?
I figured what was needed was more effort. I wouldn’t become better just by wishing, right?
But working harder is not the answer.
As I browsed virtuoso videos, the algorithms directed me to a TEDx Talk, Become a Virtuoso by Mike Rayburn. I wasn’t planning to watch a Ted Talk, but of course I wanted to see if I could find out the secret not to becoming a good writer, but to becoming a writing virtuoso.
Mike Rayburn talked about how most of us coast, learning at a leisurely pace. We don’t actively seek out the most effective and efficient ways to develop our talent, so we hit a plateau and never discover what we’re truly capable of. It’s up to us to make the decision go beyond being competent to becoming the best.
Many of us pride ourselves on being self-taught. I always did. I thought I was making good progress, but what Mr. Rayburn says next was a bitter epiphany.
Here’s the problem about being self-taught: The teacher’s not that good.
Drop the mic right there. Would I presume to teach someone else how to become a virtuoso writer? What makes me think I’m qualified to teach myself how to become one?
The secret is, when you discover the stories of virtuosos, these geniuses didn’t do it alone. They had the best teachers and mentors to give them invaluable feedback and advice. This is what fast-tracked them to mastery, building a foundation on what’s already been done while cultivating the unique style that is each great artist’s signature.
It’s only after taking my first writing class that I’ve realized how much time I’ve wasted “teaching” myself. How would I know how to develop my strengths and work on my weaknesses when relying on feedback from everyday people who don’t even read in my genre? I’ve learned more in the past 2 months than in 7 years of struggling on my own.
My message to self-taught writers is this:
Invest in your dream. Seek out mentors. Budget for writing classes — online or in your local area. Find a tribe of knowledgeable writers in your genre.
You will be amazed at how quickly you improve, how confident you will feel, and how hopeful you’ll be about your future as a successful author.
Don’t waste another minute going it alone. You have no idea what a writing virtuoso you could be.
Anna David is a NY Times Bestselling and her new company, Launch Pad Publishing, is all about helping business owners position themselves as leaders in their industries by launching bestselling books.
Likewise, my goal for Let’s Get Published and the upcoming online Writer’s Mastermind is to help fiction writers position themselves for success in the fiction market.
But first, dear writers, you must get past everything that’s holding you back from realizing your best work.
I wrote this list for anyone who’s ever dreamed of creating something new but always talks themselves out of it.
(You’ll also get the scoop on how honestly scared I am about launching the Writer’s Mastermind!)
Joseph Sale is an editor, novelist, writing coach and co-host of Monaghan & The Mindflayer. His first novel,The Darkest Touch, was published by Dark Hall Press in 2014. He currently writes and is published withThe Writing Collective. He has authored more than ten novels, including his dark duologyGods of the Black GateandBeyond the Black Gate, and his love-letter to fantasy:Save Game. He grew up in the Lovecraftian seaside town of Bournemouth.
He edits non-fiction and fiction, helping fledgling authors to realise their potential. He has edited some of the best new voices in speculative fiction including Ross Jeffery, Emily Harrison, Christa Wojciechowski, and more. His short fiction has appeared in Tales from the Shadow Booth, edited by Dan Coxon, as well as in Idle Ink, Silver Blade, Fiction Vortex, Nonbinary Review, Edgar Allan Poet and Storgy Magazine. His stories have also appeared in anthologies such as Lost Voices (The Writing Collective), Technological Horror (Dark Hall Press), Burnt Fur (Blood Bound Books) and Exit Earth (Storgy). In 2017 he was nominated for The Guardian’s ‘Not The Booker’ prize.
He is obsessed with Attack on Titan and Community.
Joseph Sale is not only one of the most brilliant modern minds in fiction, he is a passionate and hardworking editor. He has an incredible sense of story and thorough knowledge of classic literature, as well as a finger on the pulse of contemporary fiction. He won’t let you make your story anything less than the best it can be.
Where I live in the mountains of Panama, the only change of season we see is from rainy to dry. This begins to take place in November. There’s a shift in the wind and the town braces itself for the Fiestas Patrias (Panama’s Independence Days). Strings of small plastic flags crisscross the streets and flap as if applauding you whenever you drive beneath them. Grey clouds hover above the town as barjareque, (not quite rain, but heavier than mist) falls on the tourists and marching bands, covering them with a sparkling layer of microscopic droplets.
November also signals National Novel Writing Month, which I first participated in 2012. I had been wanting to write a novel my whole life, and the only thing that forced me to get a book started and finished was NaNoWriMo.
I completed my first ever book, surprising myself and triggering an addiction to finishing books ever since. Now when the winds of November change and I hear the echoes of the marching bands practicing for the Independence Day parades, I feel like a horse at the starting gate ready to race to my word count with all the other bucking writers.
I think anyone who’s participated in National Novel Writing Month start to look forward to it as a yearly tradition. It’s something to get excited about, and you are not alone in your enthusiasm and anxiety. You can connect with other writers who are on the same crazy train. NaNoWriMo helps to stop the usual procrastinating and put writing first for a whole month.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to participate in the last few years. My job consists of mostly writing now and my writing fuel and tolerance for sitting at the computer are wiped out by the time I finish my work for the day. I’m often traveling during this time for the holidays, which makes it difficult to scurry off to some quiet place to write.
I also don’t allow myself to participate because have to stop piling up manuscripts. It’s becoming a problem. I wrote three novels in a mad dash and they are still left rumpled up and tossed aside like piles of dirty laundry on the floor. I have no business writing more Nano novels until I clean these up, right?But I wonder… just because I wrote them, does that mean they should be published? Is it worth salvaging them? These were my first practice novels, before The Sick Series, when I had no idea what I was doing. Hell, I still don’t know.
Then, I decided to revisit the books to do a damage assessment. The story is about two artists – Antoni, who can’t stop the creative outpouring of his soul, and Ona, who is creatively stunted. They frequently talk about the reasons behind making art and what it means to them.
Their wisdom baffles me (did I actually write that?). In the very book I was going to chuck to the side, I received message from my characters. My voice came through them to tell me that maybe the world doesn’t need these books, but that doesn’t matter, because I do. I must finish what I started.
NaNoWriMo has taught me to get the book out. I’m so used to making the 50K a month word count that to this day I write in 1,667 word spurts. But it’s time to face reality and learn how to clean up the messes. Those of you who’ve followed this blog are sick of hearing it. I know a few of you are ready to clobber me over the head if I keep dragging on about The Sculptor.
Believe me, I attempted to revise several times. I did a lot of work and still didn’t get the desired results. I’ve realized that the most important part of writing is rewriting. No matter how experienced a writer is, no one writes a perfect first draft (or second … or third).
All the rewriting and revising methods I’ve tried helped so much, but they still left something missing. Even worse, sometimes I over-rewrote and the story it lost its raw core. That’s because I was trying to control it. Then I ended up completely lost.
Update Nov. 2019:
Another two years has passed since this original post above. November is here, with its cloudy, breezy days and the sound of snare drums ricocheting through the valley.
And no, my NaNoWriMo Novels are still not published.
And yes, I have new ideas for books that I’m dying to put on the page.
But I am restraining myself from NaNoWriMo this year again. No more new novels until my work on The Sculptor, which will resume in 2020.
In the meantime, I completed three new short stories which I am happy to announce will come out in an anthology with three other super-talented writers. It’s called Lost Voices and will be published by The Writing Collective.
As writers, we all have times of confusion, self-doubt, and setbacks. The important thing is to adapt as circumstances change, keep moving forward, and never give up on a story you believe in.
Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year?
What are your plans for the NaNo novels you wrote?
