CIP August 2023 issue

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4 EDITOR’S NOTE A HOME FOR INDIE AUTHORS

6 INDIE BOOKSTORE

Serving noRTH BAY’S BOOKWORMS

10 AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT

P.L. STUART

14 BOOK PROMOTION

How Authors Can Create Effective Social Media Graphics

18 ILLUSTRATOR SPOTLIGHT

Product of the ‘80s: A chat with illustrator Jeff Fowler

22 WRITING COMPETITIONS

Canadian Independent Publishers

August 2023

Volume 1, Issue 1

Snookbooks Publishing PO Box 30101

Mississauga RPO Cityside, ON L4Z 0B9

Subscription Rates

Canada: 1 Year: $75.00+HST

Publisher and Editor

Andrew Snook

647.779.8946

asnook@ canadianindependentpublishers.ca

The opinions expressed in this publication may not reflect those of the editor and publisher. No liability is assumed for errors or omissions. Any advertising is subject to the approval of the publisher and they have the right to reject any advertising that does not meet the publication’s standards. Any advertising approvals given do not imply endorsement of any products or services advertised. No part of this publication my be republished without consent of the publisher or editor.

A HOME FOR INDIE AUTHORS

While it was 20 years ago, it feels like only yesterday that I hit publish on my first work of fiction, Wasted Days. Oh, who am I kidding, that was ages ago!

I was so proud that I had written my first novella. I took my humble savings of eight hundred dollars that I earned working for a semes-

ter as a university teaching assistant, jumped online, found a vanity press, and hit print. When the first box of 50 copies arrived, I didn’t hesitate to toss it into the hands of everyone I knew. It wouldn’t be until many years later while working as a professional writer, that I would discover how poorly that story was written. Apparently, taking a basic understanding for storytelling and combining it with no editors, designers, or illustrators, makes for a really poorly crafted book. Who knew?!

By the time I released Remy’s Dilemma in 2015, I had learned from many of my mistakes. However, I still fumbled my way through many aspects of the independent publishing process. I lost time and money unnecessarily on poorly planned book signings, and marketing programs that turned out to be nothing more than cash grabs. Over time, I’ve learned to be more selective with how I spend my time and money when it comes to navigating the world of independent publishing, although I do still experiment with new events and marketing, which have had mixed results.

With the launch of Canadian Independent Publishers, one of my goals is to offer some practical tips in the hopes that you will be able to avoid some of my own mistakes. But the main reason I’ve launched this publication is to create a home for Canada’s independent authors, a place to showcase all of your hard

work and dedication to your craft. Just like most of you, I know there are limited options to promote your written works as a Canadian writer. While my books have done modestly well in regards to winning competitions and sales, it has been very difficult to get in front of mainstream media due to the negative stigma that exists surrounding independent publishing. While this is slowly disappearing as more and more writers (including those previously traditionally published) embrace this path, there is still more work left to do. I’m hoping that this publication will help lift up Canadian authors (and their close colleagues like illustrators, designers, independent bookstores, book printers and marketers), and help shine a positive light on some of the great independently published books that are out there.

I hope you find the inaugural issue of this publication entertaining and insightful. Have questions, comments or suggestions for future interviews? I’m all ears. Drop me a line. I’m eager to hear your thoughts.

Happy reading and writing!

Andrew Snook Editor and Publisher

Operating an independent bookstore is no easy task. It takes countless hours of hard work, dedication and innovative thinking to keep the doors open. So, when Allison The Bookman celebrated 50 years in business this past spring, the milestone was cause for celebration.

The bookstore was founded by Gord Allison in 1973. Upon heeding the advice of his wife, Esther, Gord decided to embrace his passion for literacy and opened up Allison The Bookman in North Bay, Ont. Now being operated by the third generation of the family, Allison The Bookman continues to serve readers in North Bay and the surrounding areas. The bookstore largely specializes in secondhand and rare books, but also started selling a smaller number of new books in recent years.

“The store was my grandfather’s dream. He wanted to have an organized bookstore,” says Annette

Vander Waal, granddaughter of Gord and Esther, and director of Allison The Bookman. “He knew bookstores the way they were in London, England. Lots of piles of books everywhere, an old rustic kind of style. He liked it because it was like a treasure trove. But he wanted something that was organized so it was easy for people to find what they were looking for, and not just feel like they had to look through every stack to find something.”

Annette Vander Waal is the third generation of her family to operate Allison The Bookman in North Bay, Ont. Annette and her husband, Scott, oversee all of the bookstore’s operations.

Serving North Bay’s bookworms

After Gord passed away, Esther continued to run the bookstore with the help of a few family members. When she was no longer able to run the bookstore, Annette’s father (Derrick Allison) took over the operation of the store until 2011, when her father passed away. This is when Annette and her husband, Scott Vander Waal, took over ownership of Allison The Bookman.

Walking through the bookstore, Annette explained the store’s various stages of growth.

“In the front section where we let you in, that’s the original store. The back section is the newer part of the store. My grandparents didn’t take it over until 1986. The back portion was a typewriter shop and a motorcycle shop. They gradually moved back there and broke through the walls,” Annette says.

You can also see how Annette’s grandparents were innovative in how they expanded. Many of the

By Andrew Snook

bookshelves that line the store are made from repurposed wood, collected over time from various business closures and projects where the boards could be restored and repurposed. There are still some stacks of books and magazines stacked on a few tables today, but everything is in a much more orderly fashion than when Annette and Scott first took over the reins in 2011, as they had to find ways to adapt to the ever-changing industry.

“In 2011, we were faced with a lot of issues, one of them being that the equipment in the store was kind of on its last legs,” Scott says. “The inventory program that her father started using was no longer really being supported and we couldn’t get it to work on a new computer. There were a lot of glitches with it, that caused a lot of problems with how things were done. Essentially, every single book had its own stock unit, so if you had six copies of something,

you had six inventory items. It became unruly pretty fast.”

Give a book, buy a book

To help control costs and keep their inventory refreshed on a regular basis, previously read books come in from residents of North Bay and the surrounding communities. From time to time, they also purchase from fellow bookstores they have partnered with. “This keeps our inventory up without big cash payments up front,” Scott says.

Typically, when someone trades in old books, they receive credit that can be put towards the purchase of another used book.

“We have what’s known as the fifty-fifty system. If somebody was to buy a five-dollar book, you’d use two dollars and fifty cents from your credit, and then you’d pay the other two dollars and fifty cents in cash or card. It gives people a little something for their books, but also keeps a little

cash flowing through the doors,” Annette says.

Annette adds that their system does come with some challenges. “There are always some people that think they should get more than what we can give for their books and want to redeem more than what we do. Sometimes people want to bring in boxes of books and they want you to know the market price for them. Customers sometimes don’t understand why they can’t get what they researched on eBay or ABEbooks as the credit amount, and we have to explain to them that we may not price the book at what they think, because we understand there are many other factors that go into the book pricing such as condition, edition, etc.”

Special orders

Another service that Allison The Bookman offers customers is taking special orders.

“We’re a full-service bookstore. We offer a number of services and this is one of the more popular ones we offer for customers who want to shop locally or who are concerned about purchasing used books online sight unseen from unknown sources. We look for the cheapest option both from the publisher directly, when possible, and used from another seller,” Annette explains.

If they’re purchasing a book for a customer sight unseen, they make extra efforts to try make sure anything they purchase meets Allison The Bookman’s standards for quality.

“We’re picky about what we normally sell in our store, so we are also picky about what we special order for our customers for used books,” Annette says. “We have a list of places we won’t order from again because we know quality isn’t important to that seller. We’ve had broken, ripped, smelly with smoke, must or moldy books

come in from other world book sellers, and because of that, we started a ‘Don’t buy from these sellers’ list. We also know which sellers we get good to excellent books from.”

Helping local authors

Annette and Scott want their store to be a place where they can help promote authors residing in North Bay and the surrounding areas. They regularly try and work with local authors to coordinate book signings. The bookstore’s website also hosts a section featuring local authors, which currently includes award-winning author, actor and director Rod Carley; as well as local authors Martha Attema; Suzanne Bernier; Anne Gingras; Suzanne Harmony; L. Laszlo Mady; A.G.V. McPherson; Jim Newman; and Heather Stemp.

“It’s been a learning process. I have to say our local writers’ association was the one that got us set up with this,” Annette says. “They taught me the ropes of the industry and helped me also learn more about the publishing industry. Local author Steve Pitt helped a lot with that. We started with just going local interest, as it tends to sell the most. We didn’t get into local fiction authors as much until the closure of Gulliver’s Books. They were a new books bookstore and tended to deal more with those authors, as they had the best space for signings and readings. After they closed, we saw that authors didn’t have a place to go except for Coles and no other independents in town.” Annette and Scott are happy to set up consignment deals with local writers to help them promote their books, as long as they respect the store’s guidelines. “We make sure that anything that comes through doesn’t promote any type of hate. I’m here to be an inclusive environment, I’m not here to judge anybody,” Annette says. “We try

to get everything

Throughout the bookstore, you can find several shelves dedicated to showcasing independent and Indigenous authors.

promoted. We ask the authors to send us headshots, so I can create posters when we do book signings. And I ask them for anything they can give me that will help with promotion.”

Annette adds that an author’s interest in promoting their written works can vary greatly.

“A lot of the authors we have now are really great at promoting themselves, but some expect us to do all the work, and then they have no idea why their books aren’t selling,” she says. “Whether you’re by yourself, or you’re with Penguin Books, it doesn’t matter. The author has to promote the books. That’s just the way it is.”

Adapting to new demands

During the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, Annette and Scott created an online store to help alleviate the loss in sales felt by almost all retail outlets in 2020 and 2021. “During the pandemic, it helped a lot. We still get quite a few sales, and we’re slowly getting more people from elsewhere. But right now, it doesn’t feel like it’s a huge component of our sales,” Scott says. “We get a few from B.C., Manitoba and Quebec, and from the U.S. But it’s not like we’re

depending on our online sales. At this point, it would be nice to get a little bit more action there. But I’m not sure how to really do that. There’s a lot of warehouse-type bookstores that compete in that space. We’re also looking to put our more collectable books on ABEbooks to help with that as well as, exploring other possibilities.”

Future goals

In the future, Annette and Scott would like to continue to expand the new books section of the store to meet growing demand. “There isn’t another new indie bookstore in town since our one store closed that was selling new books. People started coming to us more, which meant we had to start expanding our new books section, and it was an avenue that I wasn’t ready for yet. You’ve got to watch your funds, and trends as well for what is or isn’t selling, because space is limited, and new book buying can get expensive fast. That wasn’t what our original store was designated for,” Annette says.

Another goal for the bookstore is to grow its support of local authors.

“I want to expand on getting some more local interest books, because there are a lot of self-published history authors here. It’s just a question of getting a hold of them,” Annette says.

“We’re also looking to expand our local fiction authors section to be more of a ‘Northern Ontario authors’ section.”

She also has agreements with another local business in town to help with hosting author readings, so she can showcase authors in a larger footprint.

“It’s nice to know that I have the opportunity to use that space and not have to worry about a fee. It’s something that I’d like to do more as time goes on,” she says.

After 50 years of serving North Bay’s residents and surviving all the ups and downs along the way, Allison The Bookman is planning to continue being the go-to place for booklovers in the area for many more years to come.

“Fifty years in the book business includes decades of changes from years of inflation in the book industry to evolving technologies. Finding ways to adapt and survive will always be at the forefront of our minds,” Annette says.

Many of the bookshelves throughout Allison The Bookman were built from repurposed wood from various places.

Pen name: P.L. Stuart

Published books:

• A Drowned Kingdom (2021)

• The Last of the Atlanteans (2022)

• Lord and King (2023)

Current place of residence: Barrie, Ontario

Website: www.plstuart.com

YouTube: The Drowned Kingdom Saga

One of the beautiful things about writing fiction is that it is an ageless pursuit. History is filled with writers that didn’t publish their first novels until later in life. For example, J.R.R. Tolkien published The Hobbit when he was 45 years old; and Bram Stoker was 43 when he published his first novel, The Snake’s Pass (he later published Dracula at age 50). So, when P.L. Stuart decided to dive into the world of independent publishing and pursue his dream of fiction writing in his fifties, there were plenty of examples to draw inspiration from.

Since releasing his first fantasy novel in 2021, A Drowned Kingdom, the first book in The Drowned Kingdom Saga, P.L. Stuart has been on a tear. He released Book 2 in the series (The Last of the Atlanteans) in 2022; and Book 3 (Lord and King) in 2023. I had the pleasure of reading A Drowned Kingdom recently, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience – don’t worry, I don’t do spoilers! Here’s the synopsis of the first book you will find on the back cover (or online):

Once Second Prince of the mightiest kingdom in the known world, Othrun now leads the last survivors of his exiled people into an uncertain future far across the Shimmering Sea from their ancestral home, now lost beneath the waves. With his Single God binding his knights to chivalric oaths, intent on wiping out idolatry and pagan worship, they will have to carve out a new kingdom on this mysterious continent―a continent that has for centuries been ravaged by warlords competing for supremacy and mages channeling the mystic powers of the elements―and unite the continent under godly rule.

With a troubled past, a cursed sword, and a

P.L. STUART

By Andrew Snook

mysterious spirit guiding him, Othrun means to be that ruler, and conquer all. But with kingdoms fated on the edge of spears, alliances and pagan magic, betrayal, doubt, and dangers await him at every turn. Othrun will be forced to confront the truths of all he believes in on his journey to become a king, and a legend.

When one kingdom drowns, a new one must rise in its place. So begins the saga of that kingdom, and the man who would rule it all.

While reading the book, I had a chance to sit down for a chat with P.L. Stuart and pick his brain about his decision to jump into writing at a later stage in life and learn more about his creative processes.

I hate reading book spoilers when people interview authors, so I’ve promised myself I won’t do that. But can you share a little of your motivation for why you wrote the main character, Othrun, the way you did. Othrun is an amalgam of a lot of different people – historical figures, people I’ve known personal-

ly, people I’ve heard about secondhand from other people. He’s a composite of all these people in the context of an ancient type of ruler… and I wanted to explore it from the lens of someone who was racist, misogynist, and in the context of ancient morals. People sometimes forget that flawed human beings run countries, and they make decisions that may not be in the best interest of their country. Maybe they make decisions for their own personal gain, or simply due to their likes or dislikes, and I wanted that to come out. I also wanted the reader to peek behind the curtain and ask, ‘What the hell would I do if I was in that situation?’ And, ‘Was that wrong or right?’ And I wanted people to have a certain degree of empathy for a flawed, bigoted character. And ask themselves, ‘What do you do with these people?’ If someone has these abhorrent views and these intolerant views, what do you do with them? That’s why I wrote Othrun the way he is. I thought the journey of watching a character like that evolve in some manner would be fascinating, because he goes through a hell of a lot.

Three well-written books in three years with a full-time career is impressive. In addition to your hard work and dedication to your craft, what do you attribute to your productivity? We’re empty nesters now. Between the two of us, we have seven kids – my wife, Deb, has three and I have four – but they’re all grown-ups. My youngest is in university and Deb’s youngest is in university. Many of the rest of the kids are married with their own kids, so we don’t have those constraints. They’re wonderful constraints, having young kids is the best time of being a parent, but we don’t have those anymore. Hats off to you for carving out a great writing career amidst juggling young kids and a family, that’s tough.

What inspired you to jump into writing fiction novels in your fifties?

My dear mother was my inspiration for writing. She never published, but she’s a fantastic writer. She wrote romances like the Harlequin romance books, those little paperbacks you used to get at the grocery store. She is extremely well read, even

though she has a high school education. She never got to go to post-secondary because she was too busy looking after her younger siblings, but she’s one of most literate people I know, she’s my inspiration. My first book is dedicated to her. I think she’s where my writing genes came from.

When I was young, I used to write stories to entertain my family. Fast-forward ahead, I had a family early on in life, and I had a busy time raising kids, and have had a very crazy career in law enforcement. As time went on, I thought about what I’d like to write one day. Much later in life going towards being an empty nester, you reach an age when you realize that you probably have more years behind you than ahead of you, and if you’re

and specialized in medieval literature with a minor in history. I was reading all sorts of things, like The Iliad, The Odyssey, Paradise Lost

I wrote papers on those books and got more into medieval literature and medieval combat, stories of ancient wars and warfare, the rise and fall of kingdoms, that stuff always really fascinated me. And then I expanded to learn more about ancient Africa, Egypt and South America. But through all that, Plato’s tale of the lost city of Atlantis always permeated with me. Of all the things I read, there’s something about that one that really stuck with me. I knew one day when I wrote something, it would involve that original tale.

going to do something, you better do it. So, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m going to do it.’

My lovely wife, Debbie, who is my partner in all things, and my cohort in this entrepreneurial journey, she was so encouraging, motivating and wonderful. She said, ‘I’ll help, we’ll do it together. You do the writing, and I’ll help you with some of the other stuff.’

I didn’t know how I was going get published, whether it’s going to be through querying to get an agent or otherwise. It wasn’t until much later that I realized self-publishing was a viable option. Debbie and I discussed it, and we agreed that it was the most expedient way to get the first book out. So, that’s the route I took, and I certainly don’t regret it. It’s been phenomenal.

What kind of books did you enjoy growing up?

Fantasy was my first love as a child and as a young adult. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Lloyd Alexander, a lot of the typical fantasy, and then as I got a bit older, I got into the darker stuff, like Stephen R. Donaldson. When I went to university I majored in English

The Drowned Kingdom Saga is set to be a seven-book series. What made you decide that seven was the right number of books for your series? Is the series mostly mapped out?

I decided that seven books would allow me to tell the story effectively. Epic fantasy books can be real doorstoppers, and I prefer to read something between 160,000 to 200,000 words, so I felt like this was a palatable book size for most readers.

I am somewhat of an obsessive planner. I know exactly what I want to accomplish with the series, and where I want to end it. So, I have all the titles of the books planned. All the cover synopses are written. These are things that help me focus.

You have publicly stated that you will publish a new book from The Drowned Kingdom Saga every year. What made you decide on that commitment?

One thing that I’ve realized for epic fantasy books and my sub-genre is that consistency is key, especially if you have a long series. If I can focus on my main series and get one book out in the timeframe

I’M WRITING LATE, SO MY BODY OF WORKS IS GOING TO BE SMALL, BUT GOD WILLING, I LIVE LONG ENOUGH THAT I CAN STILL WRITE 20 OR 30 BOOKS.

that I’ve told people – each year in the spring – then I think I will build up some credibility with my audience. They’ll say, ‘Okay, this person sticks with their commitments. They said they’re going to publish every year and they did.’

A lot of people don’t even start reading a series until the author is close to finishing it. Some people have told me upfront, ‘It sounds great, but I’m not touching it until I see you’ve got at least five or six books.’ So, I have a commitment to myself and to my readers to write a book a year in my series. And so far, I’ve kept that commitment. I published the first book in spring of 2021; the second one in spring of 2022; and the third book in spring of 2023. I am on track to get the fourth one published in the spring of 2024.

Has it been difficult to stay motivated putting out a new book every year?

I think the biggest challenge is going through these peaks and valleys of energy levels and motivation. I go through these periods where I can write every day and things are flowing. I can write for hours, and then sometimes it’s flat, and there’s nothing there. And it’s not because you don’t love writing, it’s just at that particular juncture in the day, week or month, you’re just not really feeling it, and then you have to make up for that.

What have been your biggest challenges navigating the world of independent publishing?

I work full time and have a busy life with my wife, kids, and grandkids, and I’ve got to write and then promote my books. And then I have to get out there and sell the books – comic cons, fairs, promoting on social media, it never stops. I feel like you get bogged down at certain times, because you can’t do all of them very effectively. For example, we just moved from Windsor to Barrie, so for the last two weeks I haven’t written a word. I also just changed positions within my organization, so it’s been chaotic. This past weekend we had family over, and it’s all great stuff – grandkids above all – but I mean, the time is just not there for long stretches sometimes. There’s also a lot of trial and error testing the waters, especially when it comes to marketing. In life, the hardest thing is having the time and the money to do anything, and it definitely holds true to self-publishing.

I’ve never done traditional advertising like Amazon, Facebook or Twitter ads. Some of my writer friends spend thousands of dollars on ads. Those financial decisions can be tough. I prefer to wait on that right now, but I’m getting reviews, and the books are getting out there. There are also many competitions I haven’t entered because they are cost prohibitive. I think I’ve entered three contests since

I became a self-published author. There’s a big reward if you win or make a shortlist, it’s great. But a lot of money can be spent on these contests. Instead, I decided to start my own YouTube channel, “The Drowned Kingdom Saga.” I was already blogging and doing author interviews on another book channel that was more established. It’s really opened up a whole new world, because I’ve met so many phenomenal authors and creatives through it. We’ve interviewed some fairly big names, especially in the fantasy sphere. We just had Tad Williams on the other day. It’s been really rewarding and fascinating doing this.

I’ve learned a lot from meeting these people. It’s really helped change how I look at writing and helped my brand, because my name is out there and is more searchable because of all these things we’ve done. It’s really helped my profile in the community, and helped me give back, too. There are a lot of authors that perhaps aren’t as recognizable that you get to know, and you get to give them a little boost.

What are your long-term plans for your writing career?

I’m writing late, so my body of works is going to be small, but God willing, I live long enough that I can still write 20 or 30 books. Besides publishing one book a year, my goal is that every book I put out is better than the last one. I want to feel like I’m improving, and I hope a lot of the comments, the feedbacks that come from reviews is that my writing keeps getting better, and the books keep getting better.

By Brian Cliffen

As an author, social media is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with potential readers and grow your audience. Creating graphics for social media is a promotional practice — one that focuses not only on your individual book, but your author brand as well.

The posts you publish and their accompanying graphics represent your story. It’s a chance to introduce your brand to your target audience, and therefore you need to speak their language in a persuasive way. You’ve already done that in the writing of your book, so now you need to translate that to visual means.

While the graphics you share should adhere to basic design principles, each design choice you make should also be informed by a consistent marketing mindset that optimizes the sale of your book.

If that all sounds like a lot to manage, don’t worry: to help you create visually stunning and effective social media graphics, we’ve enlisted the expertise of the FriesenPress Book Promotions team. They’ve provided thousands of authors the industry-leading guidance they needed to successfully market their books — including how to tackle visual branding.

Here’s their advice for the fundamentals of design and how to maximize your marketing potential with social media graphics:

Typography

The appearance of text in your graphics is one of the first ways you can establish your unique style. While many fonts might look appealing in your graphic, you should use one that matches the tone you’re trying to convey in your book

and brand. And make sure it’s easy to read! The clear, readable characters of the sans-serif font Futura could be a great choice for a business book as it’s a classic corporate font. But if you have a YA fantasy novel, your target audience would respond better to something more dynamic and bold. Fonts exude a personality that inevitably communicates with your potential readers, so be sure to choose something that matches your message. If you have an adventurous brand, you should have an adventurous font. Lastly, when it comes to the choice of colour for your typography, always ensure the text contrasts with its background to make it more legible and appealing. The cover of FriesenPress author Becca Sandford’s novel All That Remain is a good example of this idea in practice. Although there are translucent clouds gently covering certain letters to establish depth, the contrast of the dark text colour and the light background colour make it prominent and intriguing. You also may want to think about the social media platform’s interface; some have Dark Mode settings with pale font on a dark background, others have black text on a white background. Especially if your graphic has a transparent background, this could affect how it appears.

Colour

Colour has a strong influence on the perception of your graphic, and it affects every aspect. Psychological studies have concluded that a colour isn’t just a colour in our eyes; in fact, certain hues can elicit certain moods and behaviours. With that in mind, choosing a colour palette for your brand identity becomes an important part of communicating the right tone to your readers. Here is a basic overview of colours and their associated meanings:

•   Yellow: Happiness and Cheer

•   Orange: Warmth and Playfulness

•   Red: Passion and Excitement

•   Green: Life and Health

•   Blue: Tranquility and Reliability

•   Purple: Wisdom and Imagination

For instance, if you have a children’s book about meditation and mindfulness like FriesenPress author Sherree Dee, you might consider incorporating both blue and green to prompt associations of tranquility and health. Another example: you’ll notice that the header graphic we created for this blog post leverages the psychological association of the colour purple with wisdom and imagination. Note that colour connotations can vary by culture. For example, in Chinese cultures, red is associated with luck and prosperity, so using reds for a book about Chinese immigrants to Canada can elicit a positive response from your target audience.

Composition

The way you arrange the el-

ements of your graphic can drastically change the viewer’s experience of it. To ensure the most appealing and professional composition, here are some key design principles to follow:

•   Focal Point: is the primary element of the graphic that you want the viewer to see. For an author, this might be a book cover or, if you wrote a picture book, it might be one of the characters from your story. Once you’re aware of the focal point of your graphic, you can compose it in such a way as to direct the visual flow from most important to supporting elements.

This can be done by creating lines (or arrows/triangles) that lead the eyes in a particular direction, having the focal point stand out by contrasting it with other elements (using colour, font, size, etc.), or creating a clear distinction by framing it in a boundary (border or margins).

•   Rule of Thirds: is an effective method of composing images by

BOOK PROMOTION

dividing it into thirds both vertically and horizontally, like a tic-tac-toe board. Those areas where the lines intersect represent key points of visual interest. You can use the snap-to-grid function in most design software to ensure you’re in perfect alignment.

•   Hierarchy: creates order among objects in an image using headings, fonts, colours, and anything else that creates a ranking of importance. You can use it to give certain words or phrases distinction over others. What should the viewer see first? Where should it lead them? A hierarchy maintains a controlled visual flow from one place to another.

Although, too many positions in this hierarchy can make the image look unprofessional. For typography in particular, it’s best to use only two fonts (with a maximum of three).

•   Negative Space: is the area of an image that is left empty. Giving your image some breathing room can avoid clutter, make text more readable, and emphasize the focal point of the graphic.

•   Margins: allow for a cushion around the edges to create a balanced frame. A good rule of thumb is to keep objects a third of their length away from the edges. To keep things neat, establish equal margins on all four sides, either with a visual border or by centering the content of your image.

A good example of a graphic that uses many of these design fundamentals comes from FriesenPress author Chanel Chow. In this simple “Now Available” post on Instagram, she uses a gallery to extend the graphic into two parts, which avoids scaling objects down too much in order to fit them into one image: Notice the soft, pastel colour palette and the whimsical font borrowed from the book to mirror its youthful tone. A basic hierarchy is established with an uppercase title and normal text for the description, which separates them visually. The margin around the edges and center alignment help to create balance. The overall simplicity of the graphics allows for a clear focus in each part: the book cover in the first, the title with book blurb in the second.

Graphic Design Tools

Designing your own graphics has never been simpler with the wide array of choices in graphic design tools. Cloud-based software like Snappa, Stencil, and VistaCreate are all great free options, but we recommend Canva for its ease of use, extensive selection of creative assets/templates, and a multitude of little features that vastly improve the designing experience.

For instance, instead of using an outside colour picker tool or browser extension, Canva automatically pulls out colours from the images you upload and places them onto a new canvas. It’s great for finding the exact hex colour code used in a part of your book cover

to apply elsewhere in a graphic.

Posting Tips

Dimensions

Each social media platform is a little different. Unfortunately, that means one size does not necessarily fit all. Three of the biggest platforms — Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram — vary in post sizes from 1200 x 630 to 1600 x 900 and 1080 x 1080 pixels respectively. Without the optimal dimensions, your images can appear blurry or unfavorably cropped in order to meet the platform’s specifications.  Check the platform’s specifications before you begin designing to save you time and edits. Create multiple versions for all of the platforms you use for a unified brand across all your social media channels.

Tagging

You can’t rely on a fantastic graphic and an eloquent caption to take care of everything for you. If you want to increase the exposure of your well-crafted post, you’ll need to tag other people (like your pub-

lishing partner) so they can help amplify your work. For instance, if your post is related to a book event you’re attending or hosting, it would be a good idea to include a tag for the bookstore or venue where it takes place.

It’s also important to remember the power of hashtags. Adding a handful of well-researched and relevant keywords can be invaluable in widening the audience who can see your posts.

With a basic understanding of the principles of design to create beautiful graphics, the branding know-how to draw in an audience, and easy access to the tools you’ll need to make it happen — all that’s left is to get started on your own. Take what you’ve learned, make your own graphics, test and optimize, and find the right style to represent your book and author brand.

Brian Cliffen is the marketing manager for FriesenPress. This article has been republished with permission from FriesenPress. For more tips on marketing and promotion, visit: www.friesenpress.com.

When trying to think of the right person for the first illustrator profile in the inaugural issue of Canadian Independent Publishers, I could not think of a more deserving artist than Jeff Fowler, freelance illustrator, television and film producer, editor and director, and the brains and talent behind Evil Genius Productions in Hamilton, Ont.

While Jeff is best known for his work in film, performing video editing for media outlets like Scott Brothers Entertainment, CTV, TSN, CBC, and many others, he has also produced two of his own award-winning short films, Shelter, and Odds. While film and television are the bread and butter of Jeff’s career, illustrating has been a lifelong passion of his. I learned this when Jeff was my Artist Alley booth neighbour several years ago at Fan Expo Canada. We quickly became friends, and a few years later, I convinced Jeff to come on board as the illustrator for my dice-rolling, monster battling game book, Dungeon Jest: The Ruby of Power, which was released in 2022. From there, I harassed poor Jeff non-stop for about a year as he created close to 100 pieces of original artwork for the book.

PRODUCT OF THE ‘80s JEFF

To date, Dungeon Jest: The Ruby of Power has earned nine independent publishing awards, which would have never happened without Jeff’s amazing illustrations (as well as the hard work of everyone else that worked on the project). So, yet again, I harassed Jeff until he agreed to take part in a Q&A session for the magazine, so I could share his talents with all of you.

What were your biggest influences growing up that got you into illustrating?

I grew up in what I would call almost a golden age of pop culture and cartoons. In the ‘80s, a lot of the older Japanese cartoons were imported to North America like Voltron, Grendizer, and Danguard Ace. There was Transformers and Thundercats, and then there was G.I. Joe, and all these other amazing cartoons and kid shows, and then there were all the related comics. Growing up, my dad was really big into shows like The Green Hornet and the Batman T.V. show starring Adam West. So, I watched a lot of that stuff growing up. When it came to drawing, it wasn’t ever something I planned growing up, I would just start doing it. Things like drawing snowmobiles with spiked treads and machine guns, because you’re a kid and there’s G.I. Joe on the T.V. That’s where it all started.

Did you always want to be an illustrator? When I started to get really into comics in junior high, that’s when I started thinking that I might

A chat with

FOWLER

By Andrew Snook

ILLUSTRATOR SPOTLIGHT

want to draw comics for a living. That didn’t end up being the path I took, but for a long time that’s what I wanted to do. But I am, admittedly, a very lazy artist as far as practicing goes. I realized I didn’t want to draw every day, working on comics or in animation. So, I ended up moving to film, but I’ve always done illustrating as a side thing.

I’ve always worked on illustrations or storyboards, and it’s something that comes in handy for my primary career and also for secondary projects like Dungeon Jest, designing posters, and other things. It’s a combination of a hobby and something I’ve made a bit of headway on as a secondary career.

Do you find the creative process illustrating for others challenging?

It doesn’t really feel like a job because it’s really fun, but it can be frustrating at times, because, like any artist will tell you, they’re their own worst critic. I’ll do something and stare at it and think, “this sucks,” or you stare at it and you think it looks great, then you look at it the next day and you’re like, “What I was thinking?” It’s easy for something small to go off the rails to make you start over. I do the same thing when I’m writing. If I’m writing a script, I have the bad habit of editing as I’m writing and going back and forth. I’m trying to get past this bad habit.

The best quote I’ve ever heard with regards to scriptwriting is, “Write the first ten pages, and then write the last ten pages.” The middle isn’t the easy part, but if you know where things are beginning and ending, you can weave things easier. I’ve started to do this for illustrating. Now, I do thumbnail sketches. It helps a lot to create a rough visualization of what you’re planning, and then refine that.

What type of illustrations do you find the most challenging to sketch?

Usually, for me, it’s backgrounds. When backgrounds get really intricate, that’s when things take a lot of time. I’m better with characters than I am with architecture. I remember all the rules, I’m just really a bad student when it comes to that stuff.

Are there illustrators whose work has influenced you over the years?

Yes. I grew up in the hype of Batman in 1989 when the first Michael Keaton movie came out. There was this huge hype around that, and in the year leading up to it. Comics at that time were exploding. A few years before, Alan Moore was writing Watchmen, and Frank Miller was doing The Dark Knight Returns. At that point, there was some adult-themed stuff. Not in the R-rated sense, but thematically with the violence and the

messaging. I also grew up with Neal Adams’ Batman from the ‘70s, which was more of a detective style. It was very different from the Adam West Batman. But the artists I really started idolizing at the time were guys like Norm Breyfogle, Jim Aparo, and Frank Miller. In my teenage years, Image Comics had started up, and everybody was into Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee and Jae Lee, that core group of guys who had left the big two comic companies. I’m also a big fan of Lee Bermejo.

Do you have any projects that you want to tackle sometime in the near future?

I have a concept fleshed out for a graphic novella that is building up a world for a television series that I want to write. The idea is to create this graphic novella as the first episode of the show, and then use that to help build funding to do the show. And depending on the feedback from the graphic novel, maybe do the rest of the episodes as a graphic novel. I want to build something where I can visually show the concept and the world that I want to build. But at the same time, it’s a good sort of tease to get people into the idea of the project. I’m going to try and crowdfund it as much as possible, so that I can fund it without having to pay out of pocket. Art-wise, that’s what I’m looking at doing. I know you’ve talked about the second Dungeon Jest, and that would be something else I’m excited to do, it’s just about balancing everything. I’m also doing sculpting of masks and other costume stuff, and I usually do sketches for those. I’m also trying to branch out into digital sketching, learning some 3D stuff so I don’t have to do everything by hand. It’s to make myself more efficient and streamlined.

To check out Jeff Fowler’s portfolio of illustrations and short films, visit: www.evilgeniusproductions.ca

WRITING COMPETITIONS

Writer’s Digest Self-Published E-book Awards

Deadline to submit: August 15, 2023

www.writersdigest.com

Independent Press Awards

Deadline to submit: August 30, 2023

www.independentpressaward.com

Best Indie Book Award

Deadline to submit: September 1, 2023

https://bestindiebookaward.com

Next Generation Indie Book Awards

Deadline to submit: February 14, 2024

www.indiebookawards.com

Next Generation Story Awards

Deadline to submit: February 28, 2024

https://storyawards.co

Independent Publisher Book Awards

Deadline to submit: March 16, 2024

www.ippyawards.com

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