Exposing myself to the world.

[morelandjoe]

I published my first book in December, 2011 (as a Christmas gift for my grandchildren).  "A Place to Lay My Head" is a Creative Nonfiction memoir of my childhood living in squalor in the hills of western Oregon in the 1940s and 50s.  If you've ever wondered how the "family at the end of the road" lived, this is your chance to find out.  Check out my Spotlight http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/morelandjoe to see what I've written.

Family and friends have been generous in their praise.  Now it's time to see if strangers enjoy my work.  I'd love to hear any thoughts you might have on the approach I took to tell my story.  Is it readable?  Is it entertaining?  Is it informative? 

In addition to the paperback on Lulu, eBooks are available at Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and Apple's iBookstore for $2.99.  I have links to vendors who sell  "A Place to Lay My Head" by Joe A. Moreland on my BookBuzzr website.

BookBuzzr http://www.freado.com/users/31158/joe-a-moreland

[kevinlomas]

Hello.

Printed book version >>

Cover >>

I think you need to enlarge the photo on it, otherwise it is a bit 'dull'. Perhaps a faint background would help. May be of fields.

Layout >>

Copyright normally comes after the Title page. I think that first photo should be just before the story starts.

The second Title Page should also be after the Copyright Page. There's no need for the Lulu logo either.

Copyright Page has no need to say where it is printed, because it may not be there. There's no need to say by Lulu either because Lulu do not print.

Apart from that, it looks a worthy book. Well done!

[RiazAli]

I read the prologue and a page of the first chapter. Your writing style is very good - accessible, flows easily and draws the reader in.

Your formatting is good also - much, much better than my first attempt!

Well done. I hope this finds a large audience :-)

[kevinlomas]

Huh?!

[morelandjoe]

Ken,

    I've dealt with your abrasive behaviour in the past and, quite frankly, it is getting a bit tiresome.  Who the hell are you to jump in the middle of MY post to spew vitriol.  Get a life...and stay the hell out of my space unless you have something useful to say about my book.

[morelandjoe]

Kevin,

   Thanks for the suggestions and supportive words.  I totally agree that the cover needs some work.  I asked my son (a very successful Advertising Consultant) for some help in designing an attractive cover and all I got from his was praise about the book.  He didn't seem to grasp the fact that a cover draws in an audience.  Guess I need to "hire" a professional to design something that will serve as a magnet.

[morelandjoe]

RiazAli,

    Thanks for the kind words.  I appreciate the feedback.  I'm sorry that Ken jumped in the middle of our conversation.  I've never quite understood people who think it's appropriate to lash out at the world and attack innocent victims.  Small minds can do great damage.

[kevinlomas]

It is very strange that an advertising consultant does not understand that the cover of a book is its advert.
I design my own covers, but from scratch (not cut and paste of stock images as so many seem to charge for) and I do them freehand as 'art', so I would not dare even suggest that I could do it for you. Most of my own covers can take many hours running in to weeks ( few hours a day not 24/7!) so even if I charged some country's basic minimum wage the cost would be horrendous!
There are a few around the forum who can do cut and paste jobs for you at a far smaller rate.

[Peter May]

Interesting book and well laid out inside - with the exception of the few from pages.

Copyright statement normally takes the form Copyright (c) Authors Name and year.

I am not sure about the postioning of the authors name on the cover. I think it's look better either centred like the title or right alingend to the edge of the photo.

[morelandjoe]

Thank you Peter.  It's obvious I need to do some work on the cover and front pages.  When I started this project (the self-publishing part, not the story), I looked at books on my shelf to see how the "big boys" do things.  By the time I found Lulu, I already had formatted the front of the book and didn't give it much thought.  Obviously, that was a BIG mistake.  I guess I didn't realize that people would actually look at what I considered to be boiler-plate.  I personally flip through the first few pages to find the story and figured that's the way everyone else does it.  Now I see that those first few pages need to be carefully crafted to attract potential readers.  Good suggestions.