Seven deadly sins of layout: Luxuria (lust!)

I thought I'd blog about the seven deadly sins of layout, having seen some sinfully bad layout. So I turned to the seven deadly sins for inspiration. And the first one that comes up is... lust. Or luxuria in the original Latin. I quite like the idea of luxury, myself. I just never thought of lust as a luxury.

So I thought of how lust could be a sin in layout, and I had the strange thought: maybe lust could be a virtue instead. Don't get me wrong here: I don't think you need a row of scantily-clad cheerleaders to sell dog food. Although replacing the Australian iconic "dog on a tuckerbox" with a "Playboy bunny on a tuckerbox" might bring the tourists back.

But I digress. When you think of lust, what color do you think of? Me, I think of red. Well, it's hardly going to be fawn, is it? ;-) Even phrases such as "scarlet woman" are suggestive of red's pulling power in terms of lust. And let's face it, sex sells. (Although I'm still not sold on the idea of bikini models on packs of kitty litter, not even if they're sex kittens.) If you're still not convinced of red as a sexy color: ever seen a woman wear green lipstick?!

Adding warm reds, pinks and browns to your copy can have some merit -- for example, panels of a pale warm pink (less than 10% ssaturation) can be inviting. I've dedicated several chapters in my book to the strategic use of color -- use it wisely and well in your material, and sales can double.

Luxuria..l maybe it's not such a bad thing... ];-)

IT'S ARRIVED!

Yes, the book Juicy Red Berries is now for sale! This is the book that tells you how to get effective layout -- so that you get increased sales!

Reading my book you'll find the secret keys to effective layout, and avoid the seven deadly sins of bad layout. You'll have layout for your brochures and letters that increases your sales -- in some cases, dramatically!

Do you know what color increases your sales? And what color positively kills your sales?! If you're interested, click on the button at the top right hand of this page to buy my book. Priced at a bargain basement price of just $7.77 (US dollars), it'll more than pay for itself with increased sales.

I'm excited to be able to offer my eBook for sale -- I hope you enjoy it too! Now, on to the sequel... improving layout for electronic media!

A slight hitch... but great photos!

I'm four days overdue with the e-book. Unforseen circumstances, just getting the website up. But I had a great bit of synchronicity -- after the travail of not getting the site up I met someone at a party (a friend of a friend of a friend, literally!) who pointed me in exactly the right direction that very night!

So the Universe is looking after me.

And I had some photos taken by friends who are professional photographers ( http://www.petphoto.net.au/ -- don't laugh, I'm not a Penthouse pet but they do a great job!). Anyway, the photos have apparently turned out really well and I'll have some up on the site and as the front cover once they're photoshopped. :-)

So it's still happening, just a slight delay.

Three quarters there...

It's getting closer. The book is finished, set into encrypted pdf format, raring to go. Now it's just a case of joining the dots to get it up on the net safely, so that people can download it easily, I get paid and it's secure.

Almost there. :-)

It's getting closer...

Only three more days and my book is up on the net for sale. Actually, it might be only one more day.

I saw the first color-printed copy last night, which is exciting.

Just one more edit, I promise, just one more edit...

T minus 6 days

It's getting close...

I printed the book out last night, just to do a last minute bit of proofreading. Or "poofreading", as I once saw in a newspaper advertisement. Guess they really needed some proofreading there! ;-)

The photo shoot's been delayed till next week. So if I'm to make the target of release next Monday 18th Feb, I'll just have to go without the photo for a few days. I won't wait until all my ducks are in a row.

Calling all Americans out there: I need a volunteer to read my e-book (and get a free copy in the process, before the rest of the world!). Being an Australian, I write like an Australian -- which is not a problem, as long as the rest of the world can at least understand me. Or maybe I should make that "Ostrayan".

I've got the website to set up, Paypal to get in order, a photo shoot... the next few days will be low-level flying (I work full time with a two hour commute, so I'm a past master at time management!). I'll be thrilled when the book is up on the net for sale!

It is written

Yes, the book is finally written, including the checklist. The checklist is a real value-adding feature that I thought of while writing the book -- you can check the copy that you have against the checklist, making sure you're not committing any major bloopers.

I'm starting to get a bit absent-minded and forgetting things (like a leather jacket in a café -- I got it back!), probably because I'm focusing so much on this book. I'm looking forward to having it up on the net for sale.

It is written, but it's a loooooooooong way from finished...

T minus 10 days...

...and counting.

Part of me is saying how insane it is to try and finish my book in a weekend. Another part of me is saying that it's high time I got up of my derrière and just did it. Today, that part's winning. :-)

Tomorrow's the big day -- I'll be completing the writing part of the book. Then, of course, I have to do the layout (there's no point in writing a book on layout with bad layout!!!) and setting up the Paypal account. And then -- I'm an author!

I'm starting to get a bit excited...

T minus 11 days

Howdy outstanding people,

Steve Jasper here in beautiful downtown West Melbourne, getting excited (if a little apprehensive!) with the launch of my first book, Juicy Red Berries.

What started me writing a book to begin with? Well, at one point in my life I supported myself by writing copy -- letters, web pages, emails, brochures, advertorials -- you name it, I wrote it. And it was a lot of fun -- I got to see clients (who were also good friends of mine) get their businesses to the next level. They had fantastic products -- products and services that really added value to their clients' lives. It was great to be part of that process, and I was proud to be part of it.

But I also saw something that absolutely broke my heart. I saw a lot of very bad layout -- layout that actively worked against the product sales. Things like black and white photographs on pale yellow paper -- turning everything into a sickly hospital green. No, I don't want to buy anything that's a sickly hospital green either, thank you very much.

So I've written a book for business owners producing their own brochures (or outsourcing them) with a checklist that would be useful to maximise sales. And I'm releasing it on Monday, 19 February (Australian Eastern Daylight Time), which means I have a lot of things to organise in the next few days.

Wish me well. :-)