Creating 3D Graphics for Book Covers and Posters

My parents would be proud that my Mechanical Engineering degree has been put to good use over the last few years. Back in the early 1980s, I minored in CAD/CAM (Computer-Aided Design & Computer-Aided Manufacturing), and once taught automotive engineers in Michigan how to perform stress and strain analyses on car parts. The screens were green and email was the newest invention.

Now I use 3D design programs for other reasons. For instance, recently I needed to create a pizza paddle for a poster for my upcoming book, Poetry Pizza. This is a very simple example below. If you need any 3D elements for print or website design, send me an email at vic@victorrook.com.

1. Draw a rough outline

Here I created corner points and a few in between to approximate the shape of the paddle.

2. Add curves

 I then applied Bezier curves to some of those points to round the corners.

3. Extrude to create depth

Next, I created a short line to "extrude" the paddle along and give it thickness. I then altered the edge lines to form the beveled bottom and sides of the paddle. You can see those pink and blues lines off to the side and below the figure.

4. Create the leather strap

To create this, I drew a rectangle with rounded edges, then pipeline extruded the rectangle along a path shaped like a folded thread with crossing ends.

5. Position the pieces together

Finally, I placed the strap through the hole in the paddle, added a squished sphere where the strands cross for the knot, then applied a deformer to make the strap twist a bit.

6. Add textures

The last step is to add wood and leather textures to the individual components and render a final image. Here you see it in my final poster.

If you need any 3D elements for print or website design, send me an email at vic@victorrook.com. 

How To Run A Book Signing Event

This advice can be applied to any vendor event—craft show, home and garden show, etc.—but for now I will make it specific to book signing events.

1. ADVERTISE

Did you get that? No, that's not a spot for someone to advertise on my blog. It's telling you that you need to advertise the HELL out of your event from 3-6 months in advance.

I've been to over 20 book signing events in the past year, and it amazes me how much effort the organizers will put into things like event applications, event passes, online booth graphics, parking passes, etc., but do a horrible job of getting the word out. I know they mean well, but there we sit, our beautiful tables flanked with our goods....waiting for people to show.

2. ADVERTISE

It's not enough to advertise online, though you should definitely have a Facebook page dedicated to your event. Or, if you already have a group with many followers, create the Event on that page. Encourage people to share it. If your group is a Closed Group, then those in that group can't share things to their friends unless they copy and paste the links. Therefore, a Facebook Page is the best bet. Don't forget Twitter as well.

3. ADVERTISE

I see a lot of events that only use online event listers like Eventbrite. When is the last time you went to Eventbrite to see what's happening in your town? Exactly. Some online news media pair up with Eventbrite, but it's still not enough. Do it, but do more.

4. ADVERTISE

I recently asked an event coordinator where they are advertising, and you should too. They mentioned a few of their local papers...in their town of 12,000. Wow. If you have an upcoming event, pick the largest city near you and get it in their newspaper. Many times it's free. Search "Local Events" or "What's Happening Around Town?" or "Things To Do" and post your ad there weeks in advance.

5. ADVERTISE

And finally, hand out flyers at your local church, book clubs, author groups, and other book signing events to help spread the word. You want to reach both authors AND readers. Have an online pdf flyer that authors can print and give out at their signing events to encourage patrons to attend yours.

6. PLANNING

Got you there, didn't I? Check around to see what other events are planned for a weekend before you schedule your event. Don't pick a day when the largest craft show or book signing event in the state's history happens to fall on the weekend you have in mind. Sure enough, you will hear crickets.

Poem: Beer Buzz and Wine High

Beer Buzz and Wine High
By Victor Rook from Poetry Pizza

Pour it fast or pour it slow
Sip it nice and let it flow
Any way to get it in
Sooner then to feel the spin

Sweet or sour or bitter taste
Lap it up and leave no waste
Every drop has worth in gold
Once you start you will be sold

Bud or Coors or Miller Lite
Take your wine in red or white
No matter what brand of booze
Soak it in to heal your blues

In no time you’ll lose that edge
A higher plane soon to pledge
Emotions soar within your buzz
For this how and what it does

It strips away the oxygen
And takes you to your origin
Within your blood it will swirl
And make your head all awhirl

Out your mouth words will slur
Thinking now may be a blur
Everything will seem surreal
That’s the way you want to feel

Dial a friend and show you’re cool
But don’t say much or be a fool
For in the morning you may fret
On what you said and now regret

For some it may increase their lust
Walls fall down and ease distrust
Lips will meet and bodies thrust
Protect yourself if you must

For me I am a happy camper
Within my home I will scamper
And bounce around like feral ferrets
This is why they call it spirits

But moderation is the key
Thrice a month no more for me
For it’s the days in between
When loving life means being clean

When A Fan Recognizes You and Your Work

Thank you to Morgan Combs for making my day, year, and decade today at the Grounds Central Station coffee shop in Manassas, Virginia.

While I was discussing distribution ideas for the Virginia Authors Book Sampler with poet and past President of the Virginia Writers Club, June Forte, a sweet and terrifically good-looking couple started up a conversation about photography with us. It came about as I was taking the selfie below with June. The gentleman, probably in his mid-20s, takes professional photographs at the DC Zoo. June was once a photo journalist, and I take photos as well.

June Forte and Me

I mentioned that I also shoot video, specifically nature videos, and when I brought up my nature film Beyond the Garden Gate, a customer across the way spoke up. Morgan Combs revealed that as a child she would watch my film often with her mother. It was one of her all-time favorites, and they watched it over and over again. Beyond the Garden Gate aired on PBS from 2001-2005, but she thinks they purchased their VHS copy at the National Arboretum at that time.

Morgan Combs and a very speechless me trying to take a decent photo.

I had distribution agreements with several garden centers and public gardens, including the renowned Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia. Even a science museum in Scotland used the video as part of one of their displays for a while. I believe they had the time-lapse photography pieces looping on a monitor inside an Alice in Wonderland tunnel.

Anyway, it's not often--in fact for many of us, never--that you get recognized for your work outside of friends and family. I was lucky enough to have experienced this twice for this film. Back in 2001, just weeks after the 9/11 attacks, a man called me from New York City one night. He said, "I pray that you can help me find the producer of Beyond the Garden Gate. I was watching it here in a coffee shop with some of the remaining firefighters of a battalion that lost a lot of men, and it brought such peace over us." He ordered 20 copies for those friends and their grieving families. It still gives me chills to think about that call, which I recorded midway through. I knew that it was a special moment that needed to be preserved.

When authors write, and filmmakers produce, and painters paint, and photographers shoot, we all do it with the hope that others will get what we are creating. That they will feel the same amount of enthusiasm as we did producing the work. That they will understand the characters, the emotions, the strokes, and the images. That's the connection that means the most to us.

That connection was made today. And I thank June, the terrifically good-looking couple that got us talking about photography, and, of course, Morgan Combs for putting a smile on my face and making me blush.

Beyond the Garden Gate is also available on DVD here and on Amazon.

Poem: Bumping Into Things

Bumping Into Things
By Victor Rook

Stumbling and fumbling while on the go
Wailing and flailing I’ve come to know
For lately I lack much finesse
What I’ll hit next I can only guess

Doors seem narrower than before
Right from the top down to the floor
My aim on entry is out of whack
Sore shoulders result from their attack

In the kitchen once an open cupboard
Left me stunned and then I shuddered
For I turned away then jolted back
And it met my forehead with a thwack

Hitting my head is a common affair
Inside or out any time of year
Like leaving a car a bit too lame
And smacking against the inside frame

Or leaning too fast in close proximity
To something hard within the vicinity
I must be blind to these hidden spots
A conspiracy in which my body plots

Soon revealed are telltale signs
Of how I moved outside the lines
The shower unveils cuts and bruises
Recent proof of all the abuses

We mustn’t forget stubbing our toes
A misstep of sorts with woeful throes
Worse it is if it suffers your nails
A pain in which everything pales

Upon this desk from which I write
I swing my legs up every night
But if I’m off within my spin
The corner wood will crack my shin

Pain does hang when you bang a bone
Like a hammer slip it makes you moan
You want to scream or cry or both
But as adults we take that oath

To grin and bear as best we can
And move on with our daily plan
Until next time a part is struck
And then we’ll blame it on bad luck

Facebook Shares Are More Than Shares

Recently I had a blog post about the Blizzard of  '77 go viral. As of this moment, the post has been "shared" 5,900 times. That's a lot of snow talk! It could have been the timing, since I posted it during the Blizzard of 2016, which, by the way, was a mere blizzard-ette compared to what we endured in Western New York 39 years ago.

I wanted to know how my post traveled so quickly, and where it was being shared. But Facebook makes it hard, if not impossible, to track down who shared a post when you use the Share feature offsite, like embedded into your webpage. Though I still don't have those answers, I have now discovered that the Share counter is misleading.

Most of us assume that the counter increments each time someone clicks on the Share button. Seems only logical. The truth is, the Share total is equal to the number of times it was Shared plus the number of Likes on those Shares plus the number of Comments on those Shares.

Share Counter = Shares + Likes + Comments

There are a few websites that will break down these totals for you. You just enter the URL of any page with a Share counter and it will reveal the true figures. Try this one. By entering my Blizzard blog post URL, it shows me that the post has currently been Shared 851 times, Liked 3873 times, and commented on 1244 times. Adding those totals comes to 5968.

The thing about Shares and Comments and Likes is that anyone on Facebook can Share and Comment and Like an offsite link without ever even visiting that link. So if you want to track how many people actually called up your webpage in front of their inquisitive eyes, the page counter is still your best bet.

My Blogger dashboard reveals that the Blizzard of '77 post has been viewed 4863 times at this point. Egads! This far exceeds the Bald Eagles controversy post that went viral last year.

The Blizzard of 2016 in Pictures

The Blizzard of 2016 from January 22-23 left 30" of snow in Manassas, Virginia, and 40" in nearby areas.  Here are some of the pictures I took during and after the storm: