Fantastic New Reasons To Use Book Brush

 

You guys know I love using Book Brush, and now I'm giving you more reasons to subscribe to this awesome tool created for writers. 

ANIMATION TOOLS

Want to make something like this?

Or this?

This animation tool which has been in beta for Platinum users is NOW available to all paid subscribers!

It's an easy tool to use. And I hear through the grapevine that we'll have music to add as well at some point! 

WWW.BOOKBRUSH.COM

use the code LASARTOR15 to get 15% lifetime discount off a paid subscription

OKAY WHAT ABOUT BOOK TRAILERS?

Yep, you can make book trailers now. Currently only for Platinum subscribers, there is an "easy or advanced" user platform.

This includes music, text boxes, videos. The famous 3D book covers and, yes more.

You decide just how much creative time you want to spend!  

I love it. 

(turn on your speakers)

How much more fun do you want?

WWW.BOOKBRUSH.COM

use the code LASARTOR15 to get 15% lifetime discount off a paid subscription

INSTANT MOCKUPS?

These are one of the most requested and used assets in Book Brush, and they're available in the Gold and Platinum plan. 

Go From This

To This!!

With the magic of smart objects, I can add my cover to the above image just by clicking, then I added another one again by clicking and then add the text and stamps (Amazon in this case). ALL included in your gold or platinum subscription.

WWW.BOOKBRUSH.COM

use the code LASARTOR15 to get 15% lifetime discount off a paid subscription

VIDEO BACKGROUNDS?

News! 

Unlimited video background downloads in the Custom Creator for all paid plans!

(While this video background shows my old cover, I just changed it, you get the idea.)

You can create covers, social media memes, animations, book trailers, 3D covers, Boxed Set images, there is a dedicated FB group page. Cover templates-fully editable. New Instant Mockups, covers, stamps, images every month ... the list is long!

(I am not an affiliate of Book Brush, they don't have them!)

Writer's Block And 8 Ways to Defeat It

Yep, you're right, this looks different. I have the wonderful opportunity to write blogs for Book Brush. You've heard me talk about this amazing company before, made for authors to create ads, social media and book covers. And they've given me permission to post a link to these blogs written by me. 

Nope, I haven't given up writing my own blogs, so you'll find two very interesting ones coming up soon. 

Writer's Block

Do those two words strike terror in your writer’s heart? Have you faced it? I have and many of my author friends have as well. It doesn’t have to be the death knell to your career, promise. There are ways to combat it, overcome it, and move forward.

I hope you find this post helpful. 

And to add a little extra something, if you want to join Book Brush, you can start with a free trial, or you can start with a paid program and get more of the bells and whistles. 

Get Book Brush

I'm pleased to offer you 15% off any NEW paid plan. Use the Code SARTOR15.  

Plottr & Book Brush’s New Features I Love

You guys have probably seen in prior posts that.... 

1) I use both Plottr and Book Brush

2) I really, really like them. 

So I thought I'd give you an idea of how much they've added in the past few months to what they offer you, the author, who always has way too much on their plate.

These two companies have simply grown and grown by listening to their users and creating amazing new tools for us to use.

Plottr is barely 7 months old, and as a “founding member” I’m amazed at the functionality they’ve added. 

Stellar customer service and they listen to their FB group. Did I mention that?

Plottr Academy

A full list of video tutorials that walk you through each step to create the time line YOU need, not some canned version that doesn't really work for you. 

• Scrivener Integration: To start, this will include the ability to export your Plottr file directly as a Scrivener file, and import Scrivener files into Plottr.
• Act Structure: The ability to create an overarching Act structure above the Chapter level.
• iPad app: The release of a dedicated Plottr iPad app, along with significant functionality improvements to the smartphone app.

Adding sorting by way of Priorities 

1) Create a Priority custom attribute

2) For the characters you want together, assign them the same Priority value (e.g. a number value like 1)

3) Sort Characters by Priority

In this image, you can see Dave and Fred are next to each other because they have the same Priority value of 1 -- normally Dave would be first because the default sorting is by Name value.

Scene Stacks

• Adding scene lists to chapters

Color  

• They've added the functionality to add color to your text. Want to know if you've added the Romance thread? Color your text whichever Romance color you choose.  

• I love this because Plottr is visual already and this enables me to check with one glance. 

Blogs

• Want to find out the latest helpful tips and what's new, go here.

How about a coupon code? Yes please.

LASARTOR

for $5 off your initial subscription!

Book Brush is focused on the customer as well. They listen and react.

Where do I start listing all the new things Book Brush can do for an author.

• More video backgrounds than ever
• New grid for centering
• New tool bars on the upper task bar, something we’re used to
• New Mockups, Overlays and Stamps added monthly!
• Animation is beta trial in the Platinum Plan.
• Background remover tools. 
• Cover creator for Print, ebooks and audio! 

Blogs that help solve problems and show you new ideas.

Here's a cool ad I made using their transparency mode. I'll have a blog up on their site next Friday (Oct. 9th) about how to use transparency in your ads and book covers.

How about a coupon code? Yes, please.

SARTOR15

(coupon redemption code)

For 15% off the plan of your choice. Lifetime discount.  

These two companies are people driven and people centric. Wow, how about that!

A Book Brush Webinar and Coupon Just For You ~ Readers and Followers of An Indie Adventure

DUE TO UNFORSEEN CIRCUMSTANCES THIS WEBINAR IS CANCELLED BUT WILL BE RESCHEDULED FOR A LATER DATE.

PLEASE BE SAFE ~ BE WELL

I'm so pleased to be able to offer you this Book Brush webinar.  

This company is constantly expanding to meet its users' needs and has become a one-stop creating tool for me. 

Kathleen, customer service manager, and market lead, has created a great webinar for my blog readers and followers, see her invitation below.  And remember, there is a coupon for 15% off ALL PLANS...so keep reading. 

What is Book Brush? Join Kathleen from Book Brush & Leslie Ann from An Indie Adventure Blog on Tuesday, June 2nd at 5pm MST for a fun live walk-through of the Book Brush tools.

Register to learn how easy it can be to use Book Brush to design your own eye-catching images. We’ll share handy tips & tricks along the way and have time for Q & A, too. See why authors say that Book Brush saves them both time and money!

This session is dedicated to readers and followers of An Indie Adventure Blog, so if you're reading this, you're in like Flint.

 Can't make it live?

No problem, you can register to receive a link to the recording once the session has concluded.

Jun 2, 2020 5:00 PM in Mountain Daylight Time (check your time zones!)

Register:  Book Brush Webinar Exclusive  To Be Rescheduled

Book Brush has a variety of plans from free to premium. And while free is free, the rest are paid plans and a great value...to make it even better is a 15% lifetime discount for any plan you choose.

SARTOR15

Join us for a fun, informative webinar.

Helpful Blogs From Book Brush ~ And A Lifetime Coupon For Any Paid Plan

I've been lucky to be able to write several blogs at Book Brush's request.

It's an amazing company with truly wonderful folks at the helm and I'm pleased to be a small part of that team.  

With their permission, I'm listing the blogs I've written for them and offering you a coupon for you to use to get a 15% lifetime discount for ANY PAID PLAN. 

SARTOR15

(Coupon redemption code)

www.BookBrush.com

How To Create A Boxed Set In Minutes

There is truly no better time than right now to quickly create boxed content for readers. It can be a series, all your titles, or maybe even the first book in several series to hook your readers! Book Brush features a Box-Set Creator that’s quick and easy to use. If you don’t have a Book Brush account, you can register here.

Save Your Sanity & Your Pocketbook With MailerLite

I’m an author and I’ve had a newsletter for years. However, this post isn’t about writing and angsting over a newsletter, it’s about how changing to MailerLite has upped my attitude and my game.

Photo Usage Best Practices For Author

Starting With Pixabay I'm listing What I've Learned

First a disclaimer. I am not an attorney, nor do I warrant the information here. Your best bet is always to check out the links and information yourself.

With the launch of the new and amazing Cover Creator in Book Brush, there have been questions about licensing of images you may want to import and use in the creator. And along with the Cover Creator is the new Remove Background Tool, making creation so much easier. But then comes the question of "can I use this image?"

I will add any additional blogs that I am fortunate enough to write for them. So bookmark or join this blog as one of your resources.

SARTOR15

(Coupon redemption code)

www.BookBrush.com

How To Add Music To Your Book Brush Video

This is a simple way to add music to the video you've already created in Book Brush's Custom Creator Tool using the hidden video creator in Windows.

Remember you can double click on each image in this blog to see a bigger version of it. Feel free to print.

Step 1

Save your Book Brush video (.mp4 file) to your Pictures > folder of your choice.

 I named mine Book Brush :)

Step 2

Right-click that mp4 image of your file > Open With> Photos

Step 3

Click the drop-down arrow on EDIT & CREATE > CREATE A VIDEO WITH TEXT

YAY, now we're in the new video screen.

NAME YOUR VIDEO
 I'm calling mine POG 1 (For Prince Of Granola)

CLICK okay.

And you'll see your Book Brush video is now in the storyboard below. 

Step 4

The "BACKGROUND MUSIC" is a drop-down, scroll down and use what appeals to you. It automatically plays the length of the MP4 video you brought in.

The "PROJECT LIBRARY is where your assets live, so if you want to bring in your own music (make sure it's royalty-free or creative commons and please be careful that you don't violate licensing of music) open CUSTOM AUDIO button and go to where you've saved your music.

Make sure that your video hasn't run yet and the counter is at 0:00:00, so the audio file should be blue all the way across the timeline.

Step 5

If you want your project to be longer, drag your video asset and put in it the next box. (see video screen graphic above with arrow). 

Now, if you add your own music, most companies ask for attribution, so you'll want to add a TITLE CARD (see it in Storyboard panel). Drag it to the end of your Storyboard. And I also think it's really a great idea to give attribution to Book Brush :)

Animations are now in the Custom Creator tool

Step 6

Add your text, and have fun trying the styles to see what you love. Go back up to BACKGROUND and change your color. And you can change the position of your text layout as well.

The duration for this is three seconds, which always seems about the right time for someone to read and digest what it says 

Step 7

You need to double-check that your music, if you brought in your own, matches the entire length of the video. 

Click on the left little handle on the left and drag it all the way to the left.  Then hit the play arrow to test it, and watch as the blue soundbar beneath each Storyboard image jumps from segment to the next one until the end. If it's not complete, drag either the left or right handles until you have the entire length with sound added.

Fantastic, you're almost done. 

Step 8

Click FINISH VIDEO and choose where you want to save. 

Now use it where you want.  

Sources I use most often for music :

Bensound  (they sell and offer free music, and kindly ask for attribution)

Incompetech (they sell as well as offer free music, and kindly ask for attribution)

This process moves quickly once you're familiar with the steps, promise. I can create one in a couple of minutes.

Do You Know About Book Brush ~ And A COUPON!!

So, do you know about BookBrush, and what they can do for you?

Let me start at the beginning...

Co-founders, Josh Wiley & Corey Alderin, developed an email marketing platform specifically for authors called Author Reach.  As time went on, and being very receptive to the feedback they were getting from users, Josh and Corey expanded the platform and named it Covers Sell Books (because the cover really does "sell" the book). 

At NINC 2018, they did demo sessions and authors loved the features of the service but pretty much all of them said the name needed to be changed. Covers Sell Books gave the impression that our service was for cover design rather than creating marketing images. So, in the fall of 2018, they rebranded as Book Brush! 

www.BookBrush.com

Back to the future...I fell in love with the platform the first time I used it as it was faster and easier than Photoshop or Illustrator. And many people swear faster than Canva. 

Book Brush offers a free Limited Membership, no credit card required for you to try it out. Which is how I started.

But it didn't take me long to figure out that I wanted all the bells and whistles, and I opted in for the Plus Plan.

And now I feel like I'm part of the Book Brush family all because I helped solve a little Instagram posting problem. BTW, Kathleen Sweeney, who is their liaison is a gem to work with.  

As a thank you to me, Book Brush has given me a coupon for you to use to get a 15% lifetime discount for the Plus Plan. (I'm not an affiliate, this benefit is all about you.)

SARTOR15

(Coupon redemption code)

They have an entire series of videos here as well as frequent webinars. You can learn and practice, and if you need to, always ask questions on their FB page. (And show off your work!!) 

What did I help them with, you ask?  I showed them how to post to Instagram from your computer. This way you can create your Instagram meme in Book Brush, and post it from your computer. (Usually, Instagram wants you to post from your camera.)

Here is the Pinterest Infographic I created.

One last step if it's not uploading your PNG which is what BB saves in.
Once you're at the point of loading an image, the drop-down menu in the lower right corner will say custom, and you want ALL FILES. 

Now you can create standard sizes for oodles of social media posts, including Instagram and Pinterest. And you can create custom sizes as well, all by using Book Brush.

The folks (err family) at BB do listen to you and are constantly bringing out new features to enhance what you can do with Book Brush. And I know they have many more in store for 2020.

I'll be bringing you more posts about this very cool company. But don't delay, use your coupon now for that 15% lifetime discount for the Plus Plan. 

SARTOR15

(Coupon redemption code)

www.BookBrush.com