# For those of you who use the DWS method...where do you get all your covers?



## kwest (Mar 16, 2013)

Hey guys! I'm new to the forum, and am also a relatively new writer. I was hoping for some insight on a certain aspect of the DWS method.

I've published a novel and two novellas so far on Kindle (priced $3.99, and $2.99, respectively). They do okay, I suppose, as the income I get helps out, though it is not enough to live on by a long shot. I enjoy writing sci/fi and fantasy adventure tales. I want to give the DWS method a go, 1) because I like writing shorter fiction, and 2) I know that I would love the challenge of trying to finish a story every week, building up my number of titles, and let's be honest, making that extra cash would be a boon to a poor, just out of college boy like me  . Also, it would be a great way for me to learn the craft of writing by cranking out a lot of stories.

The only thing that's holding me back is the sheer amount of covers I'll need. I have no idea how to make a cover (can't really use Photoshop, and I don't own it), and it seems paying for each cover individually would be financially limiting for me, especially when there's no guarantee they will be paid off. Or is that just a cost I'd have to deal with?

So for those of you who DO write lots of short titles and release them on a regular basis...do you design your own covers? If so, what does that involve? Or do you buy them pre-made? Thanks so much in advance for your answers!

One other question if you will please...do reviewers ever complain about paying $2.99 for a short (as in, anything that is 15k words or less?) I've had a review on my 40,000 word novella that complained about the price being too high, and I charge $2.99! I wish I could charge more for my work, but I don't think the market allows it at this point, since most of my competition charges at $2.99 or less.


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## Writerly Writer (Jul 19, 2012)

How much are you paying for editing? I'm surprised that's not your biggest fee. 

As for covers/graphics: 

Check out Fiverr.com 

Build up a fan base and ask them to do covers for you, maybe? Swap your stories in exchange for covers if you can. 

Take lessons in using photo editing software (tonnes of free tutorials online)... the learned skill will serve you down the track if you can get the hang of it.

You can always get someone else to do the typography. 

That's all I have for you. Good luck


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## CoraBuhlert (Aug 7, 2011)

I do my own. There's something of a learning curve, but the good thing about indie publishing is that you can always replace covers that don't work. For free photoediting programs, try Gimp or Photopos Pro. Free stock photos may be found at http://www.sxc.hu/ and a couple of other sites. You can also shoot your own photos, if you have a decent camera and the talent. If you need photos of people, you need to go to a pay site, because most of the free stock photo sites don't have the required model release.

As for price, I price stories under 7500 words 99 cents and stories between 7500 and 17500 words 2.99. As long as you are clear in the book description about the length of the story, you're going to have relatively few problems. Yes, there are always those who don't like the price or who don't like short stories, but that can't be helped. Short fiction also tends to attract a slightly higher number of returns, some of which may be malicious returns. Again this can't be helped.


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## Quiss (Aug 21, 2012)

I'm not sure what DWS is (maybe I'm tired) but this really worries me:



kwest said:


> Also, it would be a great way for me to learn the craft of writing by cranking out a lot of stories.


Would it not be advisable for you to learn the craft of writing _before_ you charge for your work? Or do you mean, more generally, "improve"?


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

I've only just started on this project, but I plan to do my own.

But even if you do your own, doing a bunch of covers costs a lot in time, if not in money. While it might be easier for a designer than for someone like you, both have to use similar strategies to keep the cost from being overwhelming.

The biggest thing you need to think about is using a "template." This is basically the same or a very similar cover for all the books in the same genre or series (or which have some other connection). I see a lot of people getting their backlists up this way. Certainly it's something small presses do all the time, especially if they are reprinting classics.

What you need to do is wait until you have a bunch of stories before publishing, then talk to an artist about the price of doing a template for the set. One design with small changes. The change could just be the title, or the title and colors, or you could get more elaborate and have a design which uses a different stock art element.

If you go to my blog and look down the side bar, I have a bunch of my covers. The first several are novels, but the ones that have "novelette" or "short stories" across the top are all done with a template I designed. Title at the top, a black band with some kind of art etched in it in the middle, and name at the bottom. (It's done to reflect some of my art style.)

http://daringnovelist.blogspot.com/

Or if you look up Dick Francis on Amazon, you'll see two generations of template designs on his novels -- one has the background in a checkered pattern of a jockey's "colors" (different for each novel) and the exact same running horse logo in the middle. The other has a solid color cover, with a vertical window with a horseracing related painting in it.

I've seen much simpler covers done for short fiction (and public domain fiction) where the cover might be divided between two solid colors and then the name and title in a box at the top. Or an even simpler version of the Dick Francis cover: a solid color, name and title as big as possible in the space, with a small graphic element denoting the genre. (It's common in crime fiction reprinting -- a smoking gun or a magnifying glass.)

Talk to cover a cover artist about what they would charge for doing covers in batches like that.

As for prices: Make sure you label your stories well enough, but beyond that, there isn't much you can do about people who like to complain. Different audiences have different expectations. The one problem with the 2.99 price tag is that so many indies use it for full novels. Customers get used to using price as a signal of how long a story is.

I'm going to publish my experimental books under a pseudonym, and try to create a consistent pricing structure just for them. (Probably based most on novelettes at 2.99.) The key, I think, is that you are planning to write a lot of books. Most of the people who don't like your price-to-length ratio are only going to read and complain on one of them. The people who are interested in reading more than one of your books at that price are not going to care -- they just want to know what they are getting. (That is, if you have some short stories and some novellas, they want to be able to tell the difference at a glance, and price is a good help for them to see it.)

Camille


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Quiss said:


> I'm not sure what DWS is (maybe I'm tired) but this really worries me:
> 
> Would it not be advisable for you to learn the craft of writing _before_ you charge for your work? Or do you mean, more generally, "improve"?


As a lifelong teacher of writing, I have to disagree with the above sentiment: You can learn the basics of how to write before publishing and writing for 'real', but you cannot learn your craft. What he's proposing is _exactly_ what young "apprentice" writers need to be doing.

DWS is Dean Wesley Smith -- he's a long time prolific writer and has been a great mentor to many young writers. He tends to focus on people who know the basics already. He also tends to freak out a lot of people because he recommends following Heinlein's Rules literally. (Heinlein's Rules of Writing: You must write, you must finish what you start, you must refrain from rewriting except to editorial order, you must put it on the market and you must keep it on the market until sold.)

About 18 months ago, Dean started running numbers on how much money you could make if you wrote and published a short story a week, and the stories were only moderately successful on average. (I think he ran his figures at 5 sales a month across all platforms -- including Smashwords, B&N and others.) Now, you have to remember that Dean has a level of focus most people don't have, and he often writes a book in a couple of weeks (or less).

The key, imho, is to find out the length at which you are most efficient, in terms of turning out a satisfying story while not taking too long in development, and which also can command a decent price. I'm going to be playing with novelettes myself, though I might end up with novellas.

Camille


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## kwest (Mar 16, 2013)

Wow, great info so far.

*KJ*: I have a copy editor who I pay $1 for every 1,000 words. He catches a good deal of typos and grammar, though admittedly he doesn't catch everything. As far as content editing, I'll run my stuff by beta readers and incorporate changes as needed.



Quiss said:


> Would it not be advisable for you to learn the craft of writing _before_ you charge for your work? Or do you mean, more generally, "improve"?


Generally, I'd say I am a decent writer - good enough to where I can publish a story and entertain people. I think part of the learning is publishing - even if your stuff isn't the best. I was mainly saying that publishing a lot of short fiction would be a great way for me to continue improving my craft. As far as length, I'm probably thinking anything in the 10-15k range.

*Daringnovelist*: I really like the template idea. I plan to write a series anyway, so that is a great suggestion.


daringnovelist said:


> The key, imho, is to find out the length at which you are most efficient, in terms of turning out a satisfying story while not taking too long in development, and which also can command a decent price. I'm going to be playing with novelettes myself, though I might end up with novellas.
> 
> Camille


I think this is very practical advice. As I write more, I can find the place where I'm most efficient and find that happy balance between length and price. Hopefully, I can get to a point where I can release one weekly.


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## Writerly Writer (Jul 19, 2012)

While I'm not going to dispute DWS's methods (he's more of a pro than I'll ever be, probably), I can imagine that if you're using 'writing and publishing' lots of books to build up a specific name... then you might want to use a pen name just in case people don't like the quality of your work to begin with. I understand that publishing a lot of books makes it more likely for you to get exposure, but if that exposure results in people disliking your stories -- while it's not a waste-- people may associate that 'author name' with the quality of previous work. 

I'm probably wrong about this, though.


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## Writerly Writer (Jul 19, 2012)

kwest said:


> I think this is very practical advice. As I write more, I can find the place where I'm most efficient and find that happy balance between length and price. Hopefully, I can get to a point where I can release one weekly.


Take risks! Work hard! Develop your skill set! Don't look back


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

KJCOLT said:


> While I'm not going to dispute DWS's methods (he's more of a pro than I'll ever be, probably), I can imagine that if you're using 'writing and publishing' lots of books to build up a specific name... then you might want to use a pen name just in case people don't like the quality of your work to begin with. I understand that publishing a lot of books makes it more likely for you to get exposure, but if that exposure results in people disliking your stories -- while it's not a waste-- people may associate that 'author name' with the quality of previous work.
> 
> I'm probably wrong about this, though.


Dean is really big on using pen names. He has lots of them. His wife has lots of them. And he recommends it, not just to preserve your own good name (most of his more successful books are under pen names), but to give a brand identity to different kinds of books.

Me? I am using a pen name in order to give myself freedom -- freedom to price novelettes at 2.99, freedom to write with a different tone or flavor, freedom to try out similar ideas in different ways. I can reveal a pen name later on if I like.

Camille


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## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

I second Fiverr for cheap covers. Some designers there are very, very good and it's really better -- at least for me -- to pay somebody $5 than to spend time trying to come up with something decent on my own.


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## Joshua Dalzelle (Jun 12, 2013)

Everything has been stepping stones for me. I didn't publish to make any money and really only hoped to make enough to cover costs. The first book I did everything myself and, unfortunately, it shows a bit. The cover is simple, yet a bit played out with the rising star, and I had to release a second version because I caught more typos than were acceptable. (You know the adage; if an author has edited his own book, it hasn't been edited.)

The second book I had a pro do the cover and it paid big time. It was eye-catching enough that I was getting a lot of clicks that translated into sales of not only it but the first book as well. The second one I also called in a favor from a proofreader I know.

The third in this series that's a WIP will have not only a pro cover by the same guy but a pro editor touch it as well. By this third book I have no out of pocket expenses for my hobby, which was one of my goals.


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## kwest (Mar 16, 2013)

Awesome. If I do end up doing this, it will be with a pen name for sure, then. I want to get book 3 in my series under my own name done first, which should be August, and then I can experiment with shorter works. I can see a series of shorts MAYBE doing well if the first is rather cheap (maybe $.99 or free), but the rest are $2.99. That way the ones that go on to book 2 and beyond already know what they are signing up for.


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## Christa Wick (Nov 1, 2012)

gimp.org for photoshop like software - plenty of tutorials on there and elsewhere. It's pretty facile by all reports. (Caveat - I haven't used it. I have an adobe creative cloud license $50 a month for all access, so photoshop, audition (for recording audiobooks and editing them), premiere (video trailers, etc.), etc.)

stock photography - dreamstime.com is my primary source, it has best search facility IMO and istockphoto is getting too expensive. You have to consider the platforms you want to sell on. Amazon/BN/Kobo you're looking generally at a minimum of 1400 pixels on the longest side - I think the Apple minimum is 2100 on the longest side. (I do 1825x2738 - this also scales down to omnilit's 200x300 without mucking about.) Learn to do it yourself, spend time learning gimp and searching dreamstime and you'll produce competitive covers (that are big enough for Apple) for around $20. *And if you are doing a series, you can turn one $20 cover into 3 (etc) covers with tonal changes to the image, title font color changes, cutout changes, what have you - while adding consistency to your series look and feel!*

ETA - since you mentioned SF - here's a dreamstime CG artist with a nice portfolio (not all CG artists are created equal but that's true with all mediums, so don't be shy about using CG if it's good) - http://www.dreamstime.com/philcold_more-latest-adition_pg1


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

I went and looked up those Dick Francis covers.

This is one of the newer style -- and most of his books are now in his style: Dick Francis cover 1

That would be really easy to do with stock photos in the window. Since you're not Dick Francis, then you might want to swap title and author name (though, frankly, with short stories, people will be buying based on your name).

This one is the older style, which his son is now using in continuing the series: Dick Francis cover 2

The concept of this one would be relatively easy to emulate: Basically, it's a background which can vary in color, with the horse logo that stays the same on all books. You could commission someone to do a logo (or find a bit of clip art - people don't tend to use simple clip art like that on book covers). Then you could just change the title and colors for each book. (Or not change them -- if the title is big enough, changing the words changes the design.

Camille


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## zandermarks (May 20, 2013)

daringnovelist said:


> DWS is Dean Wesley Smith -- he's a long time prolific writer and has been a great mentor to many young writers. He tends to focus on people who know the basics already. He also tends to freak out a lot of people because he recommends following Heinlein's Rules literally. (Heinlein's Rules of Writing: You must write, you must finish what you start, you must refrain from rewriting except to editorial order, you must put it on the market and you must keep it on the market until sold.)
> 
> About 18 months ago, Dean started running numbers on how much money you could make if you wrote and published a short story a week, and the stories were only moderately successful on average. (I think he ran his figures at 5 sales a month across all platforms -- including Smashwords, B&N and others.) Now, you have to remember that Dean has a level of focus most people don't have, and he often writes a book in a couple of weeks (or less).
> 
> ...


That's a fascinating approach, and I definitely can see the benefit of writing prolifically to build out the skill set. It would loosen up the writer and get the words flowing, and lower the barriers to actually getting the writing done.

I don't ever see myself doing it that way...I'm _way_ too picky about fitting the plot and the tone together as precisely as I can.

In terms of purely building skills, I found that short stories made a big difference for me. Not for money, and certainly not under my current pen name. (The content of the stories was...ahem...in a venue that I wouldn't want my mom to know about. But since the...uhm...goal of the stories was to capture the reader's imagination and make the story feel as realistic and interesting as possible, I actually learned a lot about writing characters. When writing this...errrr...kind of content, you actually spend far more time creating realistic dialogue, setting up situations and believable characters efficiently, and sharpening the pace than you spend on the actual...ahh...activities, at least if you want to leave readers begging for more. And since you won't be putting it on your resume, it has a liberating effect on the writing itself.)

So that's another way to do it. (No pun intended.)


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

kwest said:


> So for those of you who DO write lots of short titles and release them on a regular basis...do you design your own covers? If so, what does that involve? Or do you buy them pre-made? Thanks so much in advance for your answers!


I'm actually actively writing short stories and designing my own covers and will be publishing this fall once I get my business details in place. Largely following DWS's ideas.

I took his covers workshop, which I'd highly recommend. Consider it a business expense, especially if you're planning to write and publish a lot of stories. I also signed up for a monthly subscription to Adobe InDesign, I think it was $19.99 a month. That plus whatever the stock image costs will be ($10-20 per image, mostly) will be the extent of my costs for covers. Right now I'm downloading comp images to use as practice on cover design.

You can download the GIMP, which is pretty much a free version of Photoshop and do good covers with that. Just take the time to learn the software and practice by making lots of covers and studying other covers out there.

If you're planning to do a lot of stories and a lot of covers, I think the DIY approach is the most cost effective, and you'll be getting the covers you want rather than trying to find a pre-made that sort of fits your story.


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## zandermarks (May 20, 2013)

JimJohnson said:


> You can download the GIMP, which is pretty much a free version of Photoshop and do good covers with that. Just take the time to learn the software and practice by making lots of covers and studying other covers out there.


I endorse downloading and learning to use GIMP.

For the short-term, you might want to look into the other pre-made/template options that others have mentioned here, but learning to use GIMP is a skill you will never regret having. I've used it on my own cover, and although I am now working with a designer to create something better, GIMP has been a godsend to me for interim covers, banners, and other graphics needs.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

Be wary if you use Fiverr for cover design. There are some people on there who, either through ignorance or intent, just grab unlicensed images from Google or somewhere else on the web. If the photographer or artist recognises their pic and decides to sue, then you're the one they'd be coming after.

Here's a post George Berger made about his experiences using Fiverr: http://www.deatharcade.com/fiverr-shootout-april-2013/


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

If you find the cost of so many covers prohibitive, even with options like Fiverr, etc., then I suggest you get a copy of GIMP (a free, opensource virtual-clone of Photoshop).  I use it for all my graphics stuff.  It's super easy to get the hang of, and tutorials on anything and everything you could possibly want to learn are all over the internet.  If you have the inclincation, it is not hard to learn how to make good covers for yourself.    Though it will take a time investment while you practice the necessary skills.


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

Zelah Meyer said:


> Be wary if you use Fiverr for cover design. There are some people on there who, either through ignorance or intent, just grab unlicensed images from Google or somewhere else on the web. If the photographer or artist recognises their pic and decides to sue, then you're the one they'd be coming after.


Also keep in mind that many display fonts have commercial licenses that need to be paid for in order to use. Usually just a donation to the designer of the font, but just remember not to assume you can download any old font and use it. Do try to find the original creator and give them some love for their hard work.


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## Carradee (Aug 21, 2010)

I've long been of the opinion that every author should attempt cover design.

I spent over 40 hours making the cover for _A Fistful of Fire_ using free stock images and software, except for a temporary subscription to BeFunky for the watercolor effect. My resolution was too low for print, so I eventually hired someone to increase that for me so I could make a print version (and have since realized I probably could've done it myself without too much trouble, but you live and learn).

These days, I can create a basic cover mock-up in an hour or two. (I keep track.) They might not be wowsers, but I'm improving as I go. I find it relaxing and useful to study and practice. Making covers helps develop my eye for what I like and dislike in a cover. It also helps me identify components I should or shouldn't have for covers in my genre.

For example, I have a novelette coming out later this year from a small press. I don't have permission to share the cover yet, but I was shown a mock-up, and the artists had followed all my requests but one, though she'd said she could adhere to my other request. But I was able to see that she'd made the right choice, because my one request, if followed, would've made reader expectations not match the content. (She also told me she found my cover mock-up helpful, since I'd sent her a copy, though the cover she came up with was completely different and better than my mock-up.)

One place I practice is short stories. I have templates I use for my various short stories. They still aren't quite what I want, but with each cover, I'm getting closer. 

I always double-check the license on my items-fonts, images, etc-and I picked up some packages (like from InkyDeals) containing commercially licensed items.


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## CoraBuhlert (Aug 7, 2011)

Christa Wick said:


> ETA - since you mentioned SF - here's a dreamstime CG artist with a nice portfolio (not all CG artists are created equal but that's true with all mediums, so don't be shy about using CG if it's good) - http://www.dreamstime.com/philcold_more-latest-adition_pg1


Thanks for the link, Christa. That guy's work is really good. More importantly, he also does retro stuff, which can be very hard to find.


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## zandermarks (May 20, 2013)

Carradee said:


> I've long been of the opinion that every author should attempt cover design.


That's a great post. I'll add one more reason of my own:

After my first disappointing attempt with a cover artist who didn't seem interested in creating a cover that matched my book's tone and story, I got mad and did my own cover.

It was a lot of work...I scoured stock image sites for a model who didn't look like a model, worked with the colors to make it look different and funky, and came up with a not-terrible cover.

I am now working with a new cover designer, because I know my own limitations, but in the process of doing my own cover, I learned a few things about what I wanted my cover to _feel_ like.

Hopefully this new designer will come up with some things that never occurred to me. The new cover probably won't look anything like the one I created for myself. But the entire process of creating it has left me with a more solid feel for what I want my cover to say and do, and I think the end result will be better because of it.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Just one more thought on doing your own covers from stock photos:

Dean likes to start with his title and write the story to suit.  You can do the same thing with covers!

If you're doing his story-a-week method, then you're going to need to do regular brainstorming of new ideas anyway.  And the thing that takes the longest in searching for cover images is finding an image to suit your story. But it's easier to browse through lots of images and pick the ones that inspire you.  Also brainstorm titles -- pick a couple random words, phrases or ideas related to the image and come up with as many possible titles as you can, and pick the best.

Then, when you sit down to start a new story, pick the most evocative title and cover image and write something for it.

(Actually, that's how a lot of the great pulp writers worked.  The pulp magazine would commission covers in advance, with an exciting illustration, and titles of several stories. Then the authors got to fight for the commission to write those stories.)

Camille


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## KMatthew (Mar 21, 2012)

I design all of my covers myself using stock images from BigStock and Photoshop. Once you learn that basics, it's pretty easy. If you can't afford Photoshop, GIMP is a decent free program for photo manipulation.

I would say that 99% of my 1 star reviews are complaints about the length of my stories being too short. Most of my shorts are in the 7k - 10k range. People still buy them though, so I do my best not to real the reviews. The people who aren't willing to pay $2.99 for a short aren't my target market anyway.


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## ruecole (Jun 13, 2012)

If you've got the chops to do your own designs (have an art or design background and are familiar with and comfortable using one of the design programs out there--Photoshop, GIMP, PSP, In Design, CorelDraw, Xara, InkScape, etc.), then I recommend getting a monthly stock art subscription from either Fotolia or DepositPhotos or Canstock. Buying with credits get expensive fast. If you pre-plan what you're going to buy, you can get your stock for as cheap as .50 per image (vs. $5 or $10 or even more if you're using Shutterstock or Dreamstime). If you're not super savvy with book design, then I suggest looking into professionally designed pre-made covers. Mine start at $35. I've seen others as cheap as $15 or $20. There's a thread around here somewhere with a list of pre-made cover sites. Do a search. 

Hope that helps!

Rue


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## CoraBuhlert (Aug 7, 2011)

daringnovelist said:


> Just one more thought on doing your own covers from stock photos:
> 
> Dean likes to start with his title and write the story to suit. You can do the same thing with covers!
> 
> ...


Recently, I came across a really great stock photo, so I wrote a novelette to go with the photo.


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## kwest (Mar 16, 2013)

Wow, had no idea GIMP existed. Already downloaded and I'm trying to figure things out. This is just another way to practice my creativity. Thank you all for all the kind and helpful responses!


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