Amazing Ebooks
Mauricette Atencio
I have explored art and design for the last 30 years: creativity, fantasy design, jewelry-making, color theory, drawing, painting, model-making and all kinds of arts and crafts, both digital and traditional. I also have extensive experience writing ebooks and teaching online for since the beginning of the web, for almost 20 years. I'm sure you're going to love my ebooks!
-Eni
A few years ago, I was working an overnight job. As time went on and I became more accustomed to being awake at night, I would find it impossible to sleep on my nights off. I had become nocturnal. Working by myself and being asleep during the day, when others were awake, I also became very solitary.
On my nights off, I would quietly sit outside alone. I would look around in the dark and listen to the subtle sounds of the night. I would stare at the stars, the trees, and the wooden fence that surrounded me on three sides.
Sometimes hours would go by. But, often when I realised how long I had been sitting there, an opossum would walk through the yard. I started seeing him every night. And, since he always visited while I was quietly pondering life, I named him Ponder.
Ponder became very comfortable around me and would sometimes brush against my leg or sit near my chair. Like me, he was a solitary nocturnal creature wandering in the night. While Ponder wandered around the yard, I wandered around in my thoughts. It was nice to have him there and I began to look forward to seeing him.
Eventually, I began a new job, working during the day instead of the night. No longer nocturnal, I saw Ponder less and less. I have since moved away, but I periodically think about Ponder and imagine him still wandering around in the night.
I wanted to tell the story with the idea of showing children how much fun it can be to experience new things. So, rather than children reading a story about Ponder, they would be traveling along side of him while exploring his night-time world.
I began by putting myself in the role of Ponder and imagining some of the other nocturnal creatures and objects I would come across while exploring. I researched nocturnal animals and made a list. I then started writing five-line poetry stanzas for each item on my list.
For the backgrounds, I took photos of the actual yard in which I saw Ponder. I took photos of the trees and the fence, the environment in which Ponder lived, and worked from there. Pencil sketches of the backgrounds were next, which I then went over with a thick black marker. I then scanned my drawings to the computer where I added simple color fills. I completed many versions before I decided on the best ones to use for the book.
I uploaded my initial images to ArtStudio, an incredible app, on my iPad and began the digital painting of the backgrounds and characters. Using different layers, and airbrushed shadows and highlights, I was able to achieve a very striking visual style.
I then designed a simple transparent layer that looked like curved pages when a book was opened which was added to each page and wrote the text on top for a more illustrated look rather than using a set font.
I am very thankful that I found the Book Creator app. Without money to market my books and the initial cost of physical book printing, they would otherwise have remained unavailable to the public. Now, this app has provided the means for me to publish my books on a digital device with many extra features.
I created a website for Ponder (www.PonderThePossum.com) where I share links to the books, as well as artwork and music from the books that can be viewed for free and a guestbook for visitors to share their comments.
Thank you to everyone for all the absolutely amazing comments! I am very touched. I have three more Ponder books coming out soon so be sure to keep an eye open for them. The promo codes for the free books have been sent out to all of you so you can now download it from iBooks. I cannot express enough my gratitude for all the encouraging words and interest in my books. Thank you everyone, and I hope you enjoy Ponder the Possum!
Since 2011, Tools for Schools has committed to working alongside educators to make Book Creator the simplest, most inclusive way to create content in the classroom. Our mission is to empower students of all ages and abilities to actively engage in the joy of learning.
They are usually read on digital devices. Although traditional prints are still largely in use today, we, however, have to play a role in keeping our environment safe by choosing e-books over the traditional books.
However, when we look into the harm traditionally printed books cause to our environment, learning to read digitally is totally worth it. You will be surprised how much good you will do by simply switching to ebooks.
Undoubtedly, this is the first [and most important] benefits of using e-books. The production of traditionally printed books and newspapers require millions of trees to be cut down every year.
To prevent this from happening, opting for e-books instead of traditional prints is very necessary. Although e-books require resources to make them function properly, it is friendly to the environment and trees. And that is what counts!
Everyone has a specific amount of carbon footprint they contribute to the environment. Nevertheless, printing industries have been recognized as one of the major contributors to the global carbon footprint in the environment.
Over the years, the printing industry has caused untold danger to the environment - from the enormous amount of paper it consumes annually to the trees used to produce these papers and the release of loads of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and other noxious greenhouse gases into the environment.
Apart from the fact that electronic books consume little resources, electronic books also do not release as much carbon footprint into the environment like printed books. As a result of the reduced carbon footprint from e-books, they are ultimately the best choice for a healthy planet.
Printing books require a lot of electricity to produce traditional books. This means that more energy has to be utilized in the process. With our already diminishing energy, we can both agree that this is a detrimental exercise to the planet.
Another reason e-books are better for the environment compared to conventionally printed books is that it causes less pollution to the environment. As mentioned earlier, printed books have been reported to contribute a huge part to the carbon footprint in the environment.
Pulp, alcohol, inorganic materials, and paper mills are used for making paper, however, they are often released into water bodies during the book production process. Ultimately, this causes a great deal of harm to water bodies, polluting surfacing waters which are the natural home of aquatic animals.
Have you considered the amount of space paper books consume? Books consume a lot of space especially when they are kept on book shelves or in storage boxes. It is rare for people to read books over and over again which means once a book is bought, it could be read just once or occasionally made reference to.
When we think about the amount of energy required to keep these books warm or cool in warehouses or in our offices, we realize this also has a negative effect on the environment. On the other hand, e-books only take up space on your digital devices. It does not require the amount of energy required by printed books for preservation. Want to know more? These books could easily be referred to at any time.
E-books help in reducing the amount of waste in our landfills. When you check landfills, you would be surprised to find out that over 26% of trash all over the world are discarded paper and paperboard.
Lastly, e-books are better for the environment because they consume less natural resources compared to printed books. Printing industries require a lot of freshwater for book production. In fact, they are responsible for the consumption of a large share of freshwater.
Although living without paper would be very hard to accomplish, the rise in environmental issues has led us to find better options for reading. Incorporating small changes in our reading habits, for instance opting for e-books rather than using printed books, can go a really long way in saving the environment.
E-books save the environment by reducing carbon footprints, it drastically reduces deforestation, pollution, and the use of natural resources. Save the environment today by substituting traditional prints for e-books.
While writing and publishing an eBook is not as hard as it may seem, it is a complex process, and to make sure I covered all the bases, I decided to write a three-part blog series that will cover all the aspects of this process.
Also please keep in mind that this post contains affiliate links, and any purchase that is made through such links will award me a small commission (at no extra cost for you). I only recommend tools and resources that I truly love, use and otherwise offer as alternatives, because there is no one right way to publish an eBook. But here is how I do it:
In others words, they a great stepping stone to opening new opportunities, they get you taken seriously online and help you establish that expert status that will set you apart from other bloggers or business owners.
So whether it is a bigger online reach, more visibility, speaking gigs, interviews, more email subscribers or just blog traffic, eBooks are a catalyst for getting your name out there and helping you be remembered and noticed online.
The best part is that you can really scale your income without needing a huge audience. I made over $50,000 by selling digital products, with less than 25,000 pageviews a month and an email list of around 10,000.
What are you known for, what can you do well that is recognized by others (online or in real life), and what topics or sub-topics prove to be most sought after are all hints and breadcrumbs that are leading you to discover what your eBook should be about.