I’m not completely ready to let go of Halloween. A few days ago I updated my wallpaper with a mad science motif. No apologies. I did my backgrounds by whatever month it was for a year. I’m going to go with things I like for now.
I gave the blog a bit of a facelift. I reduced the size of my book links. I may have taken them too far down. I thought they were starting to overwhelm the page. Let me know what you think. I may take them back up a notch.
I also added the link to the free Kindle apps. People don’t need to own a Kindle to read ebooks. They probably already own a suitable device. I encourage every independent author out there to do this. Let’s make it easy for our consumers to read our books.
I’m still toying with the idea of a new theme. I’d like to find one that would accommodate my linked book covers with a slider or rotating gallery. I found one called itheme, but the image orientation is horizontal, and I need vertical. I’m open to suggestions if you have any. (This is a free WordPress blog, and I’d like to keep it that way.)
Here’s the random musing part of this post. Why hasn’t anyone created computers, phones, iPads, Kindles, and Nooks that we can focus? See, the thing is that I wear glasses. When I’m using my iPad, like now, nobody else is using it, just me. Why can’t some creative soul allow me to focus the screen so I can take these Damned glasses off for an hour or two?
Chime in on my modifications or if you know of a theme I should check out.
Entertaining Stories 
I read this on my android phone Craig, it shows up different to how it looks on the laptop. Eg theres no sidebar. So I will check it out later tonight and let you know. Good idea about the kindle app link. I dont have a kindle, believe it or not, I read everything on my phone using the app.
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All my reading is iPad and phone, using the app. I prefer the iPad because of the larger screen. I started reading Conor on the phone, but am finishing on the iPad.
The sites look different on my phone too. All the sidebar stuff shows up at the bottom. It looks good, but I’ll have to take that structure as they deliver it.
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It does look good but I want to see it ‘in real’ before I comment…
Glad Im not the only author w/o a Kindle lol!
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I just use my iPad for everything these days. I write on it, pay the bills, read, etc.
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I dont know if I could use it to write my books on though. Carys has one, I must try it actually…
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I wrote my very first book on mine using two thumbs. Then I bought a bluetooth keyboard. Much nicer now, and the keyboard holds the iPad, laptop style.
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Hey thats cool! What a great idea!
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I’m always on my PC and I think it looks really great. They are there, but don’t dominate the page like they did before. Has a classier look and feel to it. There is plenty of white space to right if you want to bump them up a notch. I wouldn’t go too much bigger though, but a little bigger might let folk see detail a bit better.
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That was my thought too. I didn’t like them as large as they were. I prefer a rotating carousel or something. I’ll probably bump them up a tiny bit.
Thanks for weighing in on this.
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I don’t like the carousels. I’m not likely to pay attention long enough to a display that is not linear.
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The slider thing is pretty cool. It would be stationary until I have too many titles, then viewers can slide it over. The only one that would accommodate links has horizontal photos.
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I love your idea of having a focus button! I’d love a break from my reading glasses once in a while too. With regards to the improvements, I love the new background. For a minute I wasn’t sure I was at the right place. 🙂 I’ve also seen themes like the ones you talked about with the rotating gallery, but sadly, I have no idea which ones they are. I can tell you that I think your book size is perfect in the sidebar, not too big, not understated. Great job!
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I think most of the really cool themes are for self hosted or paid blogs. I appreciate the advice. I’ll figure out what I’m going to do after a few more comments.
Glad you enjoy the blog too.
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I liked it better when your books were bigger and more in my face. Are those the images from the Amazon links or did you upload them? Because if so, maybe a border around them would help make them be more in my face without having to make them bigger.
As for the focus thing, on my computer, I just hold the control key and roll the mouse wheel away from me to make it bigger. There’s a similar fix on my Nook. Surely your iPad has to have some sort of feature like that? Have you Googled it?
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Thanks, those are my images. I may have to try a border on them.
I can make fonts bigger on everything, and zoom in too. I want to correct the astigmatism and all the rest with a sliding bar or something. Maybe even add a slight filter to cut down glare and eye fatigue.
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If you can’t do a border in WordPress, send them to me and I’ll throw a border on them in 30 seconds or less. 🙂
Yeah, I’d like that eye-fix, too. You know how 20/20 is perfect vision? My sister Michelle had 20/950!! She was one step from being legally blind! Then she got lasik and now has 20/20 in one eye and 20/15 in the other! I’m jealous of her storebought eyes!
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I’ve thought about lasik. I just have a problem letting someone modify the only eyes I have.
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She swears it’s definitely worth it. It only takes a few minutes and you have to sleep with an eye guard on for a few days so you don’t rub your eyes in your sleep, but then you’re good to go.
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