Book Brush – Easy Ad Creation for Authors
Your book is done. You want to get the word out. Social media is the place to start. What image sizes do I use for Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter? How about Pinterest? Amazon? You start thinking that it could take hours to find all the information you need to put together an ad for your book. Not so with Book Brush.
Book Brush is a tool to help you get an ad created in a minimal amount of time for use on any social media platform or as a website banner ad. It has an easy to use interface.
First, you will need to create an account. Book Brush has two levels; limited and plus. The limited account is free. You can create three images a month. The Plus plan is $8.00 a month and gives you full access to all the templates, stamps and fonts available. Each plan has access to a huge selection of background images. You can even upload your own.
I used the cover from a desktop publishing assignment I am working on to create my first Book Brush image. Click on the Custom Creator button in the top menu. The first thing you will pick is the ad size you want. This is where Book Brush is invaluable. They have ad sizes for all the major social media platforms, Amazon, web banner ads, and a business card size.
They only set up three website banner ad sizes; 300px x 200px, 600px x 300px and 728px x 90px. There are several other standard sizes:
250 x 250 – Square
200 x 200 – Small Square
468 x 60 – Banner
300 x 250 – Inline Rectangle
336 x 280 – Large Rectangle
120 x 600 – Skyscraper
160 x 600 – Wide Skyscraper
Even though these are not preset up for you, you can make custom ad sizes.
Next, you may pick a pre-built template. Book Brush offers nicely done pre-made templates for you to use. You can also create your own templates from a finished ad. The next step is to choose a background image or upload one of your own. Then, you get to choose a book template. I love this section. You just click how you would like your book displayed and then upload the image of your book. Please note: the image of your book must be a minimum of 1000px in height and not more than 3mb in file size.
Once your book is placed on the background you can move it anywhere on the background. There are several editing tools you can use. Click on the “Tips button” to access instructions. Next, add some text, and finally, you may add some stamps to the image. Once you are finished, click Download in the top menu to save your ad to your computer. If you want to keep your ad, click on “Save as Template.”
That is a brief run through on how to use Book Brush. I created my first ad (shown right) in about five minutes. This is extremely fast. I work at an ad agency using tools like Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign every day. I was able to put a nice-looking ad together in Book Brush much faster than using any of those tools.
To sum up things: Book Brush is a great tool to create ads for promoting your publications. I highly recommend it. Check it out at bookbrush.com.
“Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing the product/product information. Opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did/will receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
Legacy
Each one of us is working on the legacy we will leave behind one day. How will people refer to you when you’ve passed on?
Recently, we handled a service for a lady that lived to be 90 years old. She had pre-arrangements with the funeral home, having paid the balance in advance, and had even written her own obituary. When the family came in to finalize everything for the date and time of her service, they asked me to make a copy of a sweet note she had written entitled, “Will and Testament.” I provided several copies for everyone in the family to have once I realized the significance of what was written.
While I feel it would not be in good taste to reveal the exact words written within the content of that note, I do wish to share with you the jest of it.
Wishing to leave her family well equipped for the remainder of their lives, she desired to pass along a fortune of courage for what they may face. She also desired to transfer the belief in God that had provided much strength, hope and comfort throughout her life. Realizing that each individual has to find this for themselves, she resigned that all she could do was leave her love, which was in abundance and would remain everlasting. She ended the note with her prayer for God’s blessings for each of her beloved family members.
Think on this the rest of the day – what legacy will you leave behind?
New Beginnings
Spring is here, finally, after Winter seemed to drag on forever! With Spring comes a renewed love for life and nature. Pretty shades of green begins to emerge on plants that were dormant during the cold months. New buds appear on flowers, and we pray that there’s no “cold snap” before Easter that will kill the new life that has been breathed into these flowering plants.
It’s a time for new beginnings!
In this past month since I’ve written, my mom has definitely had a new beginning. She had severe back pain for over a year and a half due to pinched nerves in her spine. Two weeks after surgery, she was finally released from the hospital after several different complications that occurred. The surgery on her back was a success, and she was not in any pain with that, thankfully. It was other matters that prolonged her hospital stay. She ended up going home with physical therapy on order and a variety of other things to deal with. After using the walker for a good while, she then progressed to the point where she only needed a cane. Imagine my delight when my parents drove up to my house last Saturday. This was the first time she felt like going any where after six weeks. The door sprung open, and my mother proceeded to get out of the vehicle, walk to the edge of the steps and then start climbing the nine steps in order to make it inside of my house. It did my heart so much good to see her getting around like that!
There has been a new beginning taking place in my life as well. We moved! After 25 years of living in the same place, we decided it was time for a change. My husband actually called it a “fresh start” and a “new beginning” for us. A lot of people wait until they retire to go on trips or buy that vacation house. Sadly, too many fall ill right after retirement and are not able to enjoy the fruits of their labor after all of those years of working. So, we decided to go for it now and enjoy life. You can’t take it with you, that’s for sure, so you might as well enjoy while you’re alive.
We moved on the complete opposite side of town and have more acreage now for us to ride our horses on! There’s a pond for us to enjoy fishing in as a family, and we will still be able to enjoy Summertime in our pool. While we didn’t “need” this house or any of the extras that came with it, it was something we felt we wanted to do as a family. My youngest daughter fell in love with the house when she first saw it, and for a month after, she asked every single day, “Have you heard anything on the house?” She was so anxious to finally move in that when we did, she would not leave the house for the entire first weekend we were there! She honestly LOVES the new house, and honestly, I am quite fond of it myself! It’s more than I could have ever imagined. After all of the years of my husband being so humble and not wanting to be too “showy,” we are now enjoying the hard work both of us have put in for all of these years.
My oldest daughter is now living in my old house. It was full of so many memories of my children growing up that it was hard to even think of selling it! Every corner had a special memory! I’ll never forget the time my oldest daughter was in her little walker. She was so cute and looked as innocent as ever, until she looked right at me and heard me say, “No … don’t you do that …” and disregarded everything I just said as she snatched the peace lily leaves and ran down the hall as fast as she could in that walker! She left a trail of dirt behind her as she had a death grip on that peace lily. I can laugh about it now! But it’s moments like those that are forever etched in my memory. How could I possibly sell that house? It’s the house that both of my babies grew up in. It was also the same home that my niece knew throughout her childhood when I was allowed to have her visit with us. I rocked all three babies in my wooden rocking chair in the living room as I patted their little diapered bottoms while singing “Jesus Loves Me.” My oldest daughter teases me now that my niece is expecting a baby of her own. My daughter mimics me rocking and humming or either singing my special tune that I sang with all three of them.
Memories!!
I could not let them go. So the house had to stay, and my heart is so full knowing that my daughter will live in this house where she will make memories of her very own there. (She and her boyfriend are talking about future plans to marry, and my heart leaps and does flips over this!) And if she ever tires of calling this “home,” then my youngest daughter has already said she wishes to live there one day, too. How wonderful to know that this house full of memories will remain in our family for years and years to come!
My niece will be 33 weeks pregnant this weekend, and we’re having a baby shower for her! Little Oliver will be here in just a few short weeks. I’ll actually be surprised if she goes to her due date of May 12th. We’re excited, yet nervous, but we’re expecting great things. God is so good … and we know that no matter what we will face with this special needs child, HE will see us through it all!
Yes, new beginnings … for everyone!
