Creating Amazon KDP Paperback Book Covers Using Just PowerPoint.

My book covers may not be stellar, BUT I believe in the time worn adage that you should never judge a book by its cover. My books, as some of you know by now, are idiosyncratic — & I would NOT have it any other way. So, it would be crazy if I didn’t design the covers myself. Yes, of course, I have tried the ‘cover creators’ provided by KDP (& others). I find that they kind of force me into a straight-jacket. But, to be fair, they have given me inspiration & ideas.
I used to create my book covers using Word. SMILE. I had it all nailed down. I used a TABLE as the basis for the cover. That way I could set the height & width of each cell — one cell for the front cover, one for the back cover & another for the spine. It worked, & I successfully created over 25 covers that way.
Then it occurred to me, one fine day, that it might be even easier to create a cover using PowerPoint. There were TWO points in favor of this approach.
- With PowerPoint you can specify a CUSTOM slide size (via the DESIGN tab) to the exact height x width dimensions you need (& in my case specifying that in inches). There are NO margins you have to contend with. So, once you get from KDP — via the HELP section — the cover dimensions (via a set of two TEMPLATES), you can just bang them in & BINGO you have a slide that is the right size. In the above example, for a 166-page, 10″ x 7″ book, the required dimensions, including the TRIM was 14.63″ x 10.25″. So, I created a slide EXACTLY to that size. No margins. You can see that above.
… - PowerPoint’s built-in ‘Save As PDF’ works a treat. No messing about. You don’t have to specify any options or parameters. Just a straight ‘Save As PDF’. Within seconds you have a PDF to the EXACT dimensions you (& KDP) need. That is it.
Once you know how many pages are in your book, you can get a KDP cover template …
The templates are downloaded as a .ZIP. No problem. Just click on the zip file & you will see two files inside. Just copy them & save them somewhere else. One of the files is a PDF. Check the PROPERTIES on this file to get the cover dimensions. That is what you use to set up your PowerPoint custom slide size. The other file is a PNG (i.e., image file).
Once you have created your PowerPoint slide INSERT the PNG file. It should fit the slide 100%. Exact size. You can now really use it as a template. Keep it as the BACKGROUND.

PNG template that you INSERT into PowerPoint. You can CREATE over it. Delete it towards the end or even just keep it in the background.
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Irish ‘Catherine Ryan Howard’ Could Be The 21st Century ‘Agatha Christie’ — Despite Her Focus On Serial Killers.

As you can see I RAVED about her in October. Let me now confirm that I think she is absolutely bloody brilliant. Over the last few weeks I have finished listening to her “The Nothing Man” & “Distress Signals“. Both are BEYOND good. And the crazy thing is that I am not that much into crime stuff! But, she is quite the writer. I am in awe. I think she is exceptional. A rare talent. I am sure glad I stumbled upon her.
You definitely should check her out. You will NOT regret it.
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‘The Passionate Journey’ (1949) By ‘Irving Stone’, About U.S. Painter ‘John Noble’ Was A Tortuous Read.

My copy of the 1949 book.
Nothing that tells you what it is about!
I class ‘Irving Stone’ as one of my favorite authors in that his ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy‘ is one my most favorite books & I am also very fond of his ‘The Origin‘ & ‘Men To Match My Mountain‘. As is my wont when it comes to authors I know, I invariably pick up any & all of their books whenever I come across them — used, swap or just giveaway.
That is how I had come across ‘The Passionate Journey’. It was a discard from a local library. Since it lacked a cover, I had NO idea what the book was about! But, it was a ‘Irving Stone’ & that was good enough for I.
It proved to be about mentally-tortured American painter ‘John Noble’. I had never heard of him. I had to look him up. Quite the painter. Interesting style. Very powerful & compelling in a strange way. I do like his paintings. So, I am glad to have learnt of him. NOT a happy soul. Had mental issues & resorted to alcohol to try & mitigate them — though never successfully.
The book, though based on ‘John Noble’, is classed FICTION. A lot of it is just that. Made up, conjecture, embellishment.
This was one of his early work. 12-years prior to ‘The Agony‘. He had NOT hot his stride as a writer.
This book was HARD to read. Though not a very long book it took me nearly 3-months to read it. It would put me to sleep — though the story was quite interesting. So, unless you are interested in ‘John Noble’ you should give this book a skip.
I have nearly all his books. Must try & read another later this year or next.
A ‘John Noble’ SAMPLER from the Web.
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I Am Skeptical As To The ‘Validity Of The Fibromyalgia Blood Test — The So Called “FM/a”.

I only heard of this test, “FM/a“, via a radio commercial, this week. I was immediately intrigued. As some of you may know, I know a fair amount about Fibromyalgia given that my ‘Central Pain’ book deals with it in much detail.
What worried me about this test is that we now know that fibromyalgia is a central nervous system disorder. I didn’t think we had any tests that could detect such disorders.
This test claims to test immune system imbalances. I, at least for now, am skeptical.
This test is supposed to ‘rule out’ other diseases. I am not sure I buy that.
The folks promoting this test — for MONEY, of course — have EXTENDED what was the original SCOPE of fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia was about distributed, widespread pain. These folks have extended this to include symptoms of DEPRESSION as well. Given the EXTENDED scope a lot of folks — mainly women (alas) — will fall into the ‘dragnet’. I am sure that MOST in this vulnerable group will LIKE to be told they have fibromyalgia. To them it would be a relief, a vindication. I know. I have LIVED with ‘fibromyalgia’ — though I do NOT have it.
There used to be the 11-point DEFINITIVE TEST for fibromyalgia. That has now been DEBUNKED. Even the original creator of it, a supposed doctor, has admitted that he was wrong. Tens of millions of American women were told they had fibromyalgia based on that 11-point test. Well the test was FAKE.
So ….
I am not convinced.
Check out my book. You can read it for free in many places. SMILE.
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Amazon’s Kindle KDP (i.e. ‘Direct Publishing)’ Is Badly Logjammed.

Just a heads up.
KDP is logjammed.
It is NOW taking 10-days or MORE for ‘Look Inside‘ to get activated. I know. I spoke with them in November about this. Yes, it used to take less than 24-hours. Not now.
Phone support is still available & they REALLY do try. But, what they can do ‘on-the-fly’ is limited. EVERYTHING has to be submitted, in batch mode, to the ‘Back Office’.
Publishing still works. I published the Kindle version of my ‘The Conclave’ book in hours. SMILE.
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Converting A Tightly Formatted Print Book Into An Acceptable eBook Is Hard Work.

Printed Pages
People just don’t appreciate the work, effort & time involved. Yes, converting a NOVEL without any pictures, tables, lists & FANCY formatting is TRIVIAL & can even be done automatically.
NOT so with my books. SMILE.
I like tightly formatted print books & I REFUSE to ‘sell’ those that buy my eBooks short. I will not give them a SHODDY, unacceptable version.
Though I always charge rock bottom prices for my eBooks (typically just $0.99) I still insist on giving the reader the BEST that I can deliver.
So, yes, I am working on the 518-page “The Conclave” book.
This is the LARGEST book that I will have published as an eBook.
I have been working on this conversion for weeks. SMILE.
It is NOT fun being I.
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I Have Just Discovered British Authoress “Rose Tremain” & I Am In Absolute AWE.

I have just finished listening, via Amazon ‘Audible‘, to her book ‘Restoration‘, in a kind of spellbound awe. Given the language (which is often extremely crude) & strident style I had just assumed it was written by a man. That is one of the drawbacks of LISTENING to a book rather than holding it in your hands & reading it. It is easy to overlook who the author is. And I had not listened carefully to that part.
Wow. I am hooked. I just got the sequel ‘Merivel’ on ‘Audible’. I plan to listen to a few more.
Please check her out or at least read about her. She is 77 & still very much alive & active. Has been made a Dame. Good for her. I am glad. She is so clever & talented. I am in AWE. Just amazing. Please …. do yourself a favor.
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Just Ordered Obama’s Latest Book: “The Promised Land”.

I was vaguely interested BUT, as always, I have a huge backlog of books to read & I knew that I wouldn’t get to this in months … if that.
But, wife was interested & that was good enough.
Ordered it, as you can see, from Amazon. Getting it on Sunday. SMILE.
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