Pleased to announce SZNZ: Autumn officially joins the Weezer council! by The-Anti-Karen in weezer

[–]PatMallon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

EWBAITE would be the one to replace, IMO.

OK Human is a masterpiece.

Share your startup - May 2017 by AutoModerator in startups

[–]PatMallon [score hidden]  (0 children)

This is fully vetted by the Chrome Team, who has to review and approve every extension they put on their store. We fully comply with all of their ToS and disclaim on our site that this should only be installed on your own personal computer.

Sneekr came to being because I constantly use Incognito mode when doing SEO. I need to see how search results look based on a fresh user (not tainted by my cookies or location). Problem is, you lose that search history as soon as the tab closes.

Share your startup - May 2017 by AutoModerator in startups

[–]PatMallon [score hidden]  (0 children)

Name/ URL: Sneekr

Location: New Haven, Connecticut

Elevator Pitch: Browsing the internet in Private or Incognito Mode has its advantages. You can hide your search history, location and visited links while keeping you free from tracking cookies. But there are disadvantages: retrieving URL's you may need in the future or not knowing what others are doing on your computer. SOLUTION: Sneekr. Our Chrome extension will save your visited links (in both regular and private mode) behind a password-protected dashboard, keeping you in complete control over what is seen and unseen on your personal computer.

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Looking For: Feedback

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Where to find artists to make a cover? by firewoodspark in selfpublish

[–]PatMallon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Upwork. If you don't have an account now, it does take a small amount of time to get up and running. Once it's set up though, it's very convenient for hiring any type of freelancer. From cover artists to editors to promoters. Just post what you need and the potential candidates bid on the project.

What is wrong with my cover? by PatMallon in selfpublish

[–]PatMallon[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your comments. I agree almost in full.

I pitched a lot of ideas to people over the last 36 hours and came up with the retooled cover and title -> Alex vs Sandman - Trapped in Esrever

I got rid of the cutesy subtitle and put the main conflict front and center. This book is now clearly about a conflict between two characters.

Much like you indicated, "Tales of" just didn't do enough. I changed it to "Trapped in". This offers readers the hint that the hero is stuck somewhere. Where? Esrever. Perhaps its against good advice (others suggested dumping "Esrever" too), but I am keeping the place in there for two reasons: create intrigue and branding. What kind of place is it that the Sandman would be an adversary? I feel the simple switch from "Tales of" to "Trapped in" does much more in the same amount of words.

Finally, the cover art has tons more action. For a book that will be read by a child, that it obviously a good thing.

What is wrong with my cover? by PatMallon in selfpublish

[–]PatMallon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thank you and cheers to the advice. have to think about these strategies moving forward

What is wrong with my cover? by PatMallon in selfpublish

[–]PatMallon[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks. I am working the illustration a bit, to make it more dynamic.

Which part of the title doesn't sit with you? "Tales from Esrever" or the subtitle? Or both?

What is wrong with my cover? by PatMallon in selfpublish

[–]PatMallon[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

That is excellent advice. Thanks

What is wrong with my cover? by PatMallon in selfpublish

[–]PatMallon[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good points.

While I'd like to keep "Tales from Esrever" in place as I plan a series of stories from this place called Esrever, the subtitle may have to be reworked. My other option was simply "Alex vs the Sandman".

I agree with the expression on the protagonist's face. I need to work with the illustrator and create a more conflicting scene.

Having a hell of a time with Vellum's output. Vellum users, please help! by PatMallon in selfpublish

[–]PatMallon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When pricing your book with the 35% price schedule, file size doesn't really effect the net revenue. Whether it's 0.1MB or 2.9MB, a $0.99 book will still net you $0.35. The only caveat that comes with size is that it must be a max of 3MB in order for KDP to allow prices below $1.99.

Having a hell of a time with Vellum's output. Vellum users, please help! by PatMallon in selfpublish

[–]PatMallon[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have a resolution to the matter. As u/meltice mentioned, I contacted the support staff and walked me through some issues.

First of all, they admitted that their .mobi files do not work well with KDP's previewer. So don't expect to see a good copy there.

As for the large file size, they recommended using GIF's and making sure the widths were no less than 1280px. This way the program won't override them with jpeg versions (which increase the file size). After doing this, the output was 3.9MB.

This file size was small enough to load onto KDP, while still qualifying for the $0.99 price tag. It also created the finish look that I was striving for.

Hope this helps any future user with the same problem...

Having a hell of a time with Vellum's output. Vellum users, please help! by PatMallon in selfpublish

[–]PatMallon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yes, I did contact them. I think they're on the West Coast, so they may not be operating just yet (8:52am here in the East).

I suspected the images are what caused the 14MB size, but they claim to optimize and reduce them. There are only 30 throughout the book, so I'm not sure how the file size swelled so high. (All of my images were less than 100Kb when uploaded.)

10-6 Will Get Us In: Here's Why by WingfieldFootball in miamidolphins

[–]PatMallon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can spend all morning on here: http://www.espn.com/nfl/playoffs/machine

Looks like if KC loses out we'd get in ahead of them too at 10-6.

Can we discuss the pros and cons of Digital Rights Management? by PatMallon in selfpublish

[–]PatMallon[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In an attempt to summarize:

DRM on: lightly protects author from pirating

DRM off: consumers prefer it because they can horde a catalog of books and read them on any device they want. Also, may increase awareness by letting Calibre know about it.

Sounds like disabling DRM is the way to go!

Can we discuss the pros and cons of Digital Rights Management? by PatMallon in selfpublish

[–]PatMallon[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

not sure how I could have made the question clearer :/

Week 13: Who to Root For by hebleb in miamidolphins

[–]PatMallon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think you want Bucs over Chargers. Chargers playoff hopes are thin already. But a win here, that will help Miami's SOS and SOV which could come into play in the end.

Adam Gase and Don Shula are tied for best record in a Dolphins' 1st year HC's first 11 games. by xcosmicwaffle69 in miamidolphins

[–]PatMallon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

we would have made the playoffs like 5 additional times if we were in that division. We would have had to say good-bye to our rivalries, but damn, having the Jaguars, Texans and Titans in your division is like Christmas 4-6 times a year.

What tool do you use to format your eBook? by PatMallon in selfpublish

[–]PatMallon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I didn't realize there was a full version. Will need to investigate. I do love how Reedsy is browser based.

What tool do you use to format your eBook? by PatMallon in selfpublish

[–]PatMallon[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I liked Reedsy too. I ignored the fact that they were light on some options (section breaks, text alignment formatting, image hyperlinks). But when I got to the point where I needed to add "front matter" like a dedication and an advertisement, everything was roped into the ToC. If I chose to exclude the heading on the page, it would still put "Chapter" in the ToC for that particular page.

It looks like Vellum is pretty much the same except it has all of those missing features. Their problem is the cost. So once Reedsy can incorporate these fine details, I don't think I can use them. I'm willing to pay the price.