How to Make Fun Ads with GIMP

I've been having fun making some ads with the free software called GIMP, an image manipulation program. A friend asked me how I made these ads, so I decided to do a little blog about it to help her, and maybe someone else is curious too. If you have Photoshop, you can use that. But, for those of us who are looking for something free, I recommend GIMP. You can check it out and download at http://www.gimp.org/

A big project, like creating a book cover, takes a lot of time and effort and learning the ins and outs of the program. But to do a simple ad like the one above isn't too difficult. If you like creative things, you might enjoy designing some ads for your book.

1.) First, you'll want to download GIMP at the website noted above

2.) When you open GIMP, Click on FILE, then NEW

3.) Choose the size you want. Like 500 X 333 or 600 X 400 (or for Pinterest, something more like 600 X 900). Click OK.

4.) Now, you should see a rectangular box where your picture will be. To the left of the GIMP screen, you should also see two small menu boxes: Toolbox and Layers. (If you don't see them, look under WINDOWS)

5.) For the picture at the top of this blog, I needed to find a picture to use. So I went to a free photo site called Pixabay at http://pixabay.com/. (Sometimes I buy pictures at Fotolia: http://us.fotolia.com/.) For the ad above, I wanted a muted, stormy picture in the background, something that went along with the book. I downloaded (for free) a picture of rain. (Be sure to SAVE AS in a file you can easily find.) Then I took the picture into my Photoscape program (also free) and changed the size of the photo to match the rectangle shape I'd chosen in step #3 above. You can use any photo manipulation program to do that. So I chose 500 X 333. Now, save the newly sized picture under a new name. Sometimes I tweak something several times, so I'll name it rain1, rain2, etc.

6.) Back to the GIMP, click on FILE, then OPEN AS LAYERS. Click on PICTURES and find the file and picture you are going to use (the one you just resized.) Click the picture, then click OPEN. The picture will drop into the rectangle on the GIMP screen. Cool, huh? (If you can't see the picture you just inserted, but you see the outline where it should be, it means it's below the other picture. Do this: Right-click on the picture, then a menu pops up. Click on LAYER, then STACK, then LAYER to TOP. Now, you should see the book cover above the background. Yay.)

7.) Follow the same steps in #6 to bring in a picture of your book. You'll want to resize it first. I used 275 pixels.

8.) To grab hold of the book image, check the LAYER menu and make sure the picture file is highlighted with gray. That means it's now "active." Go to the Toolbox and click on the icon for "moving" as seen in this picture:

9.) Now, hover your cursor over the book cover shot until you only see an arrow and that "moving" icon. As long as there's an icon of a finger, it's not ready. (If you accidentally move the background picture, instead of the book cover, click EDIT, then UNDO. I've done this lots of times.) Now, you can grab hold of your book cover and move it wherever you'd like.

10.) (Optional) To get the book to be angled as my picture is above, Click on the ROTATE TOOL.

Then, grab hold of the book cover shot again and as you move the cursor, a grid will show and you can choose the angle you want. You can always UNDO in the EDIT section. Experiment with rotating and moving and find where you want the cover image to be.

11.) Now, it's time for words! Go to the Layers Menu and click on the file of the background picture to make sure it's highlighted. Next, click on the "A" in the Toolbox. Go to the background picture and click on it where you want the lettering to be. (You can always move it later.) Type your words in the little box. (You can also copy and paste from a Word doc) Then, highlight the words and click in the small menu where it says SANS. Here you can choose the type of font you want, and you can change the letter sizing. Usually, I remove the word "Sans" if I don't want that font, and if you type a letter, let's say "B," then a bunch of font options will pop up. Click on the one you want. Then, highlight the font and put in the size you want. This takes a lot of experimenting. In the example below, I've used Sans and font size 25.

Whenever you want to change the lettering, click the file with the lettering showing in the LAYER box, and click the "A" in the Toolbox, then highlight the lettering to make the changes. If you want to move the wording, click the "move tool" icon as we did above. Remember, you can undo anything. It's okay to experiment and to make mistakes.

I consider these little ads a work of art. They're fun to make and creative. Once you start getting the hang of the GIMP program, it's even relaxing. Hard to believe? I mean it. :)

12.) TO SAVE is different with this program. You'll need to go to FILE and click EXPORT. Then, click on PICTURES and locate the file where you want this photo to go. Click on the arrow near the bottom of the screen that says "ALL EXPORT IMAGES" and choose either png or jpg, whichever you want to save as and click that option. Then go up to the name of the file at the top of the screen and change that to jpg or png in the title. Click EXPORT. Another menu will open and click EXPORT again. Now, this has saved in a file that you can use on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest. You can't change anything from THIS file. But, you should also SAVE AS so you can tweak something or adjust it to make a different wording or picture in the future. It will save as an .xcf file.

Whew. Does that sound too overwhelming? I hope not. Like any new thing, there are steps to learn. If you take each point above and experiment along the way, you'll get used to how GIMP works. Don't be afraid of making mistakes. Lots of authors are making these little ads, and I think they're pretty eye-catching. And way more interesting than showing the cover of the book only. 

Have fun with it! I know I am. If you have questions, I'm not a pro, but I'd be glad to help out.

Here are a few more of my experiments...

Here's two I did for a friend...

I have this one on my website:

Yay! You can do it too.

PS...Two days later, I'm adding a little more info. I'm always learning, making mistakes, and figuring things out, especially when it comes to technical stuff. So, I decided on Tuesday afternoon that I'd use the ad with the rain at the top of this page (I really like that one) and do a $5.00 post-boost on Facebook. When it didn't start up within the hour like they usually do, I figured something was wrong. I checked my fb page before I went to bed, and still nothing. The next morning (I live in the Pacific NW) most of the $5.00 had been used for promotion, and over 1300 people had supposedly seen it. Yay! (?) But then, I got a notice from Facebook stating my picture was denied boosting because it had more than 20% writing. Hmmm. I didn't know this little rule. So, in the future, less words and more picture. They said it can look like spam if it's too wordy. The strange thing is that it was sent out, but then rejected. I don't know what to think about that.

Until next time...

Write on.

Mary

Here's My Baby!!

Today is Celebration Day!!!

I get to show you my baby.

For the first time on this blog, let me introduce . . .

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today is Launch Day for April's Storm, the second book in my 2nd Chance Series! It's a very exciting day for me. It kind of reminds me of having a baby. Finally, my friends and family get to see (read) the story that's been living and growing in my heart for over a year.

As I release this book into the vast world, I'm saying good-bye to my time spent with Chad and April, characters who have become dear to me, and, in many ways, real. While April's Storm isn't my personal story, to read my work is to know my heart. I want to thank you for doing that, and for joining with me in cheering for Chad's and April's second chance at love.

For a limited time, April's Storm is 99 cents on Kindle!!

Get your Kindle copy today: Kindle copy of April's Storm 

Like to hold a paperback? Paperback of April's Storm

Sometimes our paths cross for a reason.

April Gray is fed up with lectures on how to become the perfect pastor's wife, and her husband's around-the-clock vigilance to the church is driving her crazy. Has he fallen out of love with her? Is he having an affair? After months of parsonage warfare, April is sure there's only one thing left to do—leave!

Being a pastor means everything to Chad. He thought April knew that when he married her. Why can't she see he's doing the work of ten men? He doesn't have time for romance when he barely has time to eat.

As a last ditch attempt to rescue their marriage, April and Chad attend a marriage seminar where Ty and Winter Williams, second-time-around newlyweds, are sharing their journey of forgiveness and second chances. Reconciliation sounds fine to Chad, but what price will he have to pay?

“In April’s Storm, Mary Hanks follows up Winter’s Past with another stellar read and gives us a front row seat to witness God mending broken hearts, restoring shattered dreams, and reviving a crumbling marriage.” Paula McGrew

Here's the main setting for April's Storm: Ketchikan, Alaska. 

The mountain in this photo is Deer Mountain, where April and Chad hike.

I've been to the top a couple of times myself.

Through the Eyes of a Child

A Christmas tune plays on the radio and the words draw me back to another time and place. I can almost taste Mom’s sugar cookies, with crushed peppermint candy sprinkled over the top, fresh from the oven. I can still see the blue color-coordinated decorations and lights twinkling on  my aunt’s white tree—I’m sure that’s why blue gives me so much pleasure to this day. And I can recall the joy of trying to guess what might be in a certain package.

For me it happens with “Silent Night” and blue lights and snow. Maybe everyone has a special place they travel back to when the fragrances are just right, when the sounds pull you in, or maybe, all it takes is seeing a child grinning from ear to ear, wishing for Christmas Eve to hurry up and get here, and suddenly, you remember . . .

And for a few moments you get caught away.

Can you see yourself as a child? For those of us with children, it’s easy to remember the times when they were little. But what about you? What makes you reminisce to a time in your youth when life was simple and fun and filled with anticipation over Christmas? When the joy of looking forward to Christmas morning—or Eve—consumed you. Not just about the gifts, although there was that. But, also, to hearing the Christmas story. To reliving the journey of the wisemen and angelic visitation to the shepherds. To the awe of the moment when the lights on the tree were first turned on in the dark. To lying on the floor and staring up at the glowing colors and tree decorations as if you’d never seen them before. Tasting candies you were only allowed to have at Christmastime. Hearing laughter in the house. Family. Presents. Candles. Twinkling stars. Watching. Waiting.

Close your eyes for a moment. Don’t think too hard. Just relax and smell the evergreen scents, hear the soft Christmas melodies playing, the jingling of a bell, packages being shaken and felt. Does a little anticipation race up your spine? When you were a kid, did you lay awake in bed trying to go to sleep on Christmas Eve, but you couldn’t? Did you think . . . Christmas is tomorrow? It’s coming. Somehow, I’ve got to go to sleep so I can wake up and then it will be . . .

!!!!!

Remember? Oh, let yourself feel. Think of the happiness. The laughter. Did you count down the twelve days before Christmas? Maybe, the twelve days before that? Then, before you knew it, tomorrow—the one perfect day of the year when dreams might come true—was almost here. Did you get so happy you felt like dancing? Or maybe you were wishing for a hula hoop to twirl in, and those thoughts were prancing in your mind. Or a doll. Or a new book. Did you hope for a Tonka truck or a new bow and arrow? Could you imagine yourself in buckskins like Davy Crockett?

In our busy adult world, with jobs and bills and responsibilities and stress and pain, sometimes we forget to love Christmas like we did as a kid. To see and smell and touch the beauty and traditions of celebrating Jesus’s birthday. When you closed your eyes a moment ago, what did you see? Did you remember something special?

I recall how one year, I shook a beautiful red-wrapped present, listening for any sound that might give away the contents. Was that briefest of clatters the sound of a miniature washing machine? Oh, I hoped so! I couldn't wait for morning to come so I could find out if my mom had gotten me the thing I longed for—a toy machine to wash all my doll clothes. Can you imagine a seven-year-old wanting that? Ha! After a lifetime of washing clothes, I wonder, what in the world was I thinking? Why would I want such a gift? But I did.

Another year, when I was older, we got a long wooden toboggan as a family gift. We spent days and days sliding down the hills in Ketchikan, Alaska. One time, a bunch of snow fell in the middle of the night, and one of my brothers woke me up, and the three of us and our cousins bundled up and went outside and played in the snow, building all kinds of sculptures—before it could melt away.

Oh, the treasures and memories we have inside of us. Have you thought of your childhood Christmases lately? What smells take you back to those carefree days? Cinnamon rolls? Fudge? Hot chocolate cooking on the stove?

“Silent Night” brings back warm feelings for me, because my mom and I used to sing that song while we washed dishes. It was the first song where I learned to hold the melody while someone else harmonized. Each time I hear the song, I remember her.

Of course, we can’t live in the past. We have the privilege of making new memories this year, and in the coming year. But, every now and then, it’s a blessing to go back and remember the special times we experienced in our youth. These memories are part of our story in the book of our lives.

We’re supposed to become like a child in faith. That brings to mind the verse . . . “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt. 18:3) To me, that means being free and joy-filled and full of anticipation in what God can do. A child sees the moment and enjoys it. He’s open and full of belief. His joy hasn’t been diminished by disappointment. Nothing holds a child back from expressing happiness over the smallest things. A child who is belly-laughing isn’t a bit concerned over how he looks or sounds or who might care. In that moment, he’s absolutely free. And it’s beautiful. I love hearing a child’s laughter. It’s contagious and makes me laugh too.

We get caught up in too many “serious” things in this life. I know, there are plenty of serious things to consider. But, let’s take a few minutes and remember what it’s like to see Christmas through the eyes of a child. Let’s remember. Starting with Jesus. Loving those around you. Taking it all in. Truly feeling again.

A child really can lead us. In fact, He already did.

Merry Christmas!!

Favorite Christmas Dessert

Chocolate-Caramel Bars

Many years ago, I found this recipe on the back of a Betty Crocker cake mix, and I've made it lots of times since. But I've tweaked it a little as I do most recipes, and the glaze is mine. I have to say, I love chocolate!! I enjoy caramel, but I bet these would be great with melted chocolate instead of caramel. Mmm...

1 package BC German chocolate cake mix

½ cup margarine or butter, softened

1 egg

½ cup margarine or butter

½ cup evaporated milk

1 package (14 ounces) caramels

Glaze (below)

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Mix cake mix (dry),  ½ cup butter, and egg until crumbly—or for me, forms a big lump—set aside 1 ½ cups (or about ½ of mix). Press the rest of the mixture in ungreased rectangular pan, 13x9x2 inches. Bake until crust appears dry, 10-12 minutes; cool 10 minutes. Heat ½ cup butter, milk, and caramels over low heat, stirring until caramels are melted. Pour over crust. Spread the reserved mix over the top of the caramel layer.  Bake until top layer appears dry and begins to brown, 25-30 minutes; cool. Drizzle with a chocolate-frosting glaze (below). Loosen edges with spatula, refrigerate until caramel mixture becomes firm, about 1 hour. Cut into bars.

Glaze: Mix powdered sugar (as much as desired, about a cup), a little hot chocolate mix (dry—a tsp, or to taste), and a teaspoon of peanut butter with a little hot water until desired consistency. Dribble over chocolate layer. Mm-good.

Merry Christmas!

Journey of a Book Cover

They say "Don't judge a book by it's cover." Yet, we do. The story would be exactly the same with a plain cover versus an eye-dazzling cover, but there's something dynamic that happens when the picture on the front of a book grabs us.

When my book Winter's Past was finished and professionally edited, there was a giant step yet to be taken in designing a cover that not only would be pretty, but would tell something about the story. In my debut novel, the leading lady is coming to terms with a lost love who shows back up in her life. In that process, she discovers that she may very well still be in love with the rogue, even though she doesn't want to be.

I wanted a cover that would relate to Winter looking back. I found this picture at istock:  

Winter has long red hair like the woman in the photo, she loves the Word of God, and it appears this lady is looking away, possibly into the past. She was my girl!

Because I'd spent a bundle on professional editing and valued the interior more than the exterior, I decided since I'm artistic (cough, cough) I could make the cover myself. I know, I know, but that's what I thought. I assured myself I could do it. After all, I love DIY projects!! So, I learned how to use the OpenOffice Draw program, which is free, by the way, and I came up with what I thought would be my final cover for Winter's Past:

When I held it in my hands for the first time, I was thrilled!

I still did some tweaking and ordered several proofs. But, eventually, I got it the way I wanted it to be--given my experience. In those first months, Winter's Past was available online, in a local bookstore, and sold from a clear bag I carried around with me, and I was very pleased. After all, I'd done the cover myself, and to me, it was a work of art. But as time passed, I began to doubt and judge and compare. I kept reading how people do judge a book by its cover, and how this is an area writers should not scrimp on--and I cringed. I wondered what I should do. Should I try to make another cover? Is relaunching a new cover a good idea after a year has passed? Will people be confused?

Also, with book two in the series on its way this year, I wanted something on the covers to be similar. So I began a quest to find a graphic artist. I went to several different websites hunting for that special "look". Then, I heard of a graphic artist through someone on Facebook, and I went to her site, not once or twice, but many times to look in awe at her cover designs. Suzanne Williams is very creative, and she makes fabulous book covers. Here's her website if you want to take a peek:  http://suzanne-williams-photography.blogspot.com/p/book-cover-graphics-and-design.html

As I compared her designs with my cover for Winter's Past, I felt mine had some major flaws. With the lady's face turned away and the background slightly blurry, it wasn't engaging. On the paperback, the colors were dark and murky. Something needed to change. I wanted a delightful cover like the ones on Suzanne's website. I wanted it to say, "Read me! This is a heart-touching story."

So, I contacted Suzanne and explained my heart for this book. She was so great to work with. She hunted for pictures that would match my characters, and so did I. She offered ideas, and she was very open to me making suggestions and asking her to tweak things. I was looking for an engaging couple, with the woman having a bit of an unsettled look, a bright color overall, and a banner that would remain the same throughout the series.I was happy to find this couple on Fotolia, her with her red hair, green eyes, and a sweet, slightly unsure expression, and him gently pursuing her:

A friend looked at the cover and asked, "Is that what you imagined Ty looking like?" Now, this is a friend who really liked my first cover. "No," I answered. "But, her? Definitely." And, I'd have to say, he's pretty close.

The lacy pink banner turned out great, it representing a bit of wedding lace. In each of the stories in the 2nd Chance Series, this lace will be present in different colors.

Suzanne and I both hunted for a secondary picture for the lower half. I wanted it to say something about marriage, since this series is about the hope of reconciliation. When I found the picture below, I loved the burgundy color and the Bible open to I Corinthians 13, a section of verses Ty thinks about during a tense scene with Winter's antagonistic personal assistant. The engagement ring fits so well with the story too.

Suzanne put it all together in such a delightful fashion, and I'm very pleased with the final product. Changing a cover mid-stream may be confusing to readers. Sorry about that. But in the end, when there are several books in the series, it will be nice to have the continuity of the covers--and the beautiful, eye-catching design. To all those who own the first cover version, just think of it as the first run. (If someone wants to update a Kindle version, go to "Manage your content & devices" on Amazon and upgrade for free.)

Thank you, Suzanne Williams, for sharing your artistic gifts and talents with authors. I'm thrilled with the new cover for Winter's Past. I'm so blessed to be walking this journey of writing books. My dreams are coming true! 

Winter's Past (2nd Chance Series #1) is available on Kindle for 99 cents! (limited time) HERE

The Baron's Daughter & Youth Theater Fun

So ends another show! With some feelings of sadness, I say goodbye to another fabulous Youth Theater show--my 25th! I am so blessed to get to work with kids and watch their talents and confidence grow year after year. Wow. These kids, 7th-12th graders, were so much fun to watch and listen to. The lead characters have been in quite a few of my productions, and this was truly their shining year. And what better way to shout "howdy" to my 25th show than to celebrate with a good ole western?

We had good guys and bad guys. We had a super bad guy--the Baron. And the town hero--Jeb Donovan. And the show couldn't go on without our leading lady--Cassandra Von Zandenberg. Add to that some silly characters, a boys' line dance, a western brawl, and lots of lively fun and dancing, and it was a night (or 3) to remember!

People ask me if I'm glad it's over. My answer is always . . . no. I'm never happy it's over. I want the spotlights to keep shining and the laughter and clapping to continue. But all good things must eventually come to an end. So I say goodbye to this year's actors who have become very dear to me, I wash the costumes one last time and pack them away in 18-gallon buckets, I dust off the cowboy boots and hope for another chance to use them, and dream of an audience leaping to their feet, clapping wildly, and cheering "Encore!"