I created a To-Do list this morning with well over 80 items on it. Not a single one of those items was “create a to-do list”.
Also, not a single one of those items was “spend twenty minutes browsing to-do list apps on the app store, hoping to find one that’s better than plain text before giving up in frustration.” If you’ve got a recommendation for a to-do list app, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
Actually, my to-do list is kind of a work of art. But it does not include “write a blog post,” so I’m going to make this quick.
Pennsylvania continues to be lovely but I am spending far too much time sitting on the guest bed banging away on my computer. I’m taking advantage of the internet to try to get lots of internet-related business tasks done — updating my mailing list software, setting up an automation sequence, working on the websites, that kind of thing. I’d rather be outside playing with my niece and the dogs, but honestly, it’s about time I took the work side of life a little more seriously.
Speaking of which… a more serious cover.
His beard is ok, but I’m not crazy about his hair.
I didn’t love his hair, either. Or his jacket for that matter. But I liked their posture. Unfortunately, I find it remarkably easy to find all the aspects of a cover that I don’t like and very difficult to focus on the ones I do like, which is why I spend way too much of my time thinking & working on covers. On my 80-some item to-do list yesterday, I got stuck on the very first entry, which required thinking about a cover for a free short story. So pointless!
I like this one… pensive, mysterious. Makes you want to open the book and read the flyleaf or the first page before hugging it to you and walking up to the cashier to put your money down on the counter–only relinquishing your hold on the book long enough to have it scanned into the cash register.
That is an excellent response! I hope that many new readers feel the same way. 🙂
I like this one too, but mind you, it was the old covers that caught my attention–the two I’ve seen here might make me think they are romance novels (i.e. focus on sex) and I might pass. I can’t say for sure, but they definitely attractive.
Looked again and I take back my initial comment. The title of the first one in particular steers me away from thinking “Romance Novel”, and their postures don’t scream “this will be all about sex” as Romance novel covers do. Sorry if I dampened your day.
This one looks a little sexier, but people will probably have read the first, and there’s nothing wrong with a sexy couple anyway.
Well, I was specifically aiming for romance style covers that did not scream sexy. That’s basically my instruction to the designer. Because the romance market is huge — millions of books sold — and I’m not reaching those readers, even though the books have romance and happy endings. The people I need to appeal to are the millions who glanced right over the old covers, believing that they wouldn’t be interested. 🙂
Cool! I DO think they accomplish the right blend. The twinkles maintain the hint of the magical, the beautiful couples are attractive and compelling, and the new covers are retaining the brighter, “this isn’t a creepy tail of black magic,” tone. 🙂
Excellent! All of that is exactly what we were aiming for 🙂
Workflowy is the one I use when I’m not using a pen and paper (which still works best for me).
I don’t use pen and paper for anything these days — too much clutter when you live in a van. But I’ll check Workflowy out. Thanks for the recommendation!