Okay, so I’ve realized I have to bite the bullet and learn to do some graphics stuff or else be dependent on other people, which is irritating. So here’s an attempt at a postcard advertising my classes, which I thought I’d use at cons to promote them. I know this is lame, but suggestions are very welcome. First up is a different font, I think.
Want access to a lively community of writers and readers, free writing classes, co-working sessions, special speakers, weekly writing games, random pictures and MORE for as little as $2? Check out Cat’s Patreon campaign.
"(On the writing F&SF workshop) Wanted to crow and say thanks: the first story I wrote after taking your class was my very first sale. Coincidence? nah….thanks so much."
Cussin’ in Secondary Worlds
Saturday, June 10, 9:30-11:30 AM Pacific Time
Cursewords, expletives, and more – those things your characters say when nothing else will do – tells you more about the world (including issues of class, cultural taboos, and more) than you might imagine. How cussing and worldbuilding interrelate. AKA the class where we say F*ck a lot.
Join Norton Award winning author Fran Wilde, author of Updraft, Cloudbound, and The Jewel and Her Lapidary for a workshop that will leave you ready to swear magnificently.
Classes are taught online via Google hangouts and require reliable Internet connection, although in the past participants have logged on from coffee shops, cafes, and even an airplane; a webcam is suggested but not required.
To register for this class, mail me with the following details:
Upon receiving that, I will send you an invoice.
Important! Remember every class has at least one Plunkett scholarship for students who could not otherwise afford the cost. To apply for a Plunkett, mail me and tell me why you want to take the class in 100 words or less.
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This is the workshop I give every couple of years; I will not be giving it in 2023. There will be two separate one section.
This seven week workshop focuses on the basics of writing speculative fiction short stories, including figuring out and implementing your plot, creating believable and engaging characters, effective world-building, what to do with a story once it’s finished, dealing with editors and markets, and other necessities. Students will have the opportunity to workshop at least one story over the course of the class and will also be writing and sharing weekly writing assignments.
Sessions will be recorded for students and available three days after the live session. You will also have access to the Rambo Academy Discord server and discussion/events/resources there.
Section two: Tuesday 6-8 PM Eastern time September 6, September 13, September 20, September 27, October 4, October 11, October 18.
Cost is $499 for seven sessions. Each session runs two to two and a half hours. All sessions are recorded for student use only. To register, mail me at cat@kittywumpus.net and indicate which section you are applying for and how you would like to pay (Paypal, Venmo, check, etc.) There are three free scholarships in each section. Deadline for applying for a scholarship is August 19.
Testimonials
Some of the stories produced during this class:
Bo Balder, “The Doll Is Dead”, Penumbra
Nicholas Lee Huff, “Smitten“, Every Day Fiction
Jamie Lackey, “Moving Past Butterfly“, Bastion
Jamie Lackey, “The Path to Butterfly,” Lakeside Circus
Sunil Patel, “Sally the Psychic Alligator“, Fireside Fiction
Frances Rowat, “Palimpsest“, The Sockdolager
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6 Responses
Is the whole graphic the post card, with the cat image in the background? Don’t feel you need to lose valuable space for your words by scrunching them together in the corner. Give them a little room. One tip is to keep your sentences short and sharp, something a person can digest in a glance. I’d suggest your opening line read: Take your writing to the next level! Fewer words, and a sharp declarative.
I like that Courier-type font. But I am no designer.
Fwiw, a friend has used GIMP to design his own covers for four of his books; he says that once he got used to the interface it was a pretty powerful program. (I assume from the title of your post that you’re playing around in GIMP.)
Just my few thoughts. And of course, like literary criticism, this is all IMHO, and use or don’t. I could be full of crap. It’s been known to happen before.
Nice photo selection and the weighting on the lower right feels pretty good for asymmetry. I agree, you want a nicer looking font. If you’re just doing this as an online ad, you have a lot of choices for fonts meant to be read on the screen, although with higher resolutions that starts to be mitigated and you can have a wider range.
Use higher resolution unless this is meant to be 640×480 (which will only work as an online ad).
You might want to rethink the crop of the image. Show more of the eyes at the top of the cat glass bulb, right now there’s just a sliver, not enough to give us the “it’s looking at me” feeling, and not cropped off. It feels like a mistake instead of being on purpose.
I would suggest rewrite second paragraph to continue focus of first sentence. “Be launched to new heights of productivity as Cat Rambo’s online classes teach you”¦” or some such. While the focus of the sentence is still the reader, burring them six words in defuses the hook. Also, make the ad about them. Sure, it’s for your classes, but as David Ogilvy (I think) said, “I could make an full page ad in the NYTs that was only text. The first line would read, ‘This ad is all about you”¦’ and you would read the entire ad.”
Try ghosting a white box over the background instead of a solid blue box. The white will need to desaturate, and push the tones of the photo toward the lighter end of the spectrum to make the text as readable as possible. the box also feels a little large, it’s too close to the center, but not on it. Think of proportions of 2 to 3 or 3 to 5 for a more pleasing arrangement (this small, I would go with visual proportion instead of by the numbers).
You don’t need the “http://”, at this time most kids get that part, and very few of us old timer ever type it in anyway. The “www.” is enough for people to get it’s a website (actually, the “.com” is all that’s needed, but some people’s configurations differ). That will help the text look a little cleaner.
Finally, with the line breaks it feels to me like you’re shaping the text (the ragged right makes a nice over all curve if you average out the ends). And both paragraphs end with one word on the last line. Try to avoid that.
Hope that all helps.
I like the design, but I’m iffy on courier, but anything other than Comic Sans is probably a win. I have played with GIMP a bit now and like it, though I do prefer InDesign and Photoshop which I used regularly back when the fed paid me to design
As irritating as I know it is to depend on other people, I’ve learned that sometimes it’s better to use my time on my strengths, rather than trying to learn something that other people have already mastered. I mean, if you truly want to learn graphic design, that’s one thing. But if you would rather be spending your time on writing, editing, and teaching, then it might be wiser to delegate the task out, rather than learning the idiosyncrasies of GIMP and the rules of graphic design. Perhaps you could trade postcard design for a story crit or something? I’d be happy to help you out, as would, I’m sure, many other talented graphics people in the SF-writing world. (Not to say that your postcard attempts so far are horrible–they’re fine and should suffice for your purposes. Just that, as a visual arts person, I do see a bunch of things that could be improved to help make them better. As an editor, you know how it is…) OTOH, if you want to learn because you want to learn, then I’m happy to give you tips.
I think that’s true, and for something important, I’d spring to hire someone. But I’d like to be able to throw together prototypes, at the least, I like messing around with graphics, and sometimes when one is a habitual procrastinator, it’s good to know these things. 😉