Author Photos For Spooky Sudbury

In early July, Alexander and I took a quick road trip up through Tobermory (where we did some fishing), took the ferry to Manitoulin Island (where I took some photos), and on to Sudbury and Levack (to visit my Mom and where I could take some more photos for use in my new book)

Part of the reason for the trip (apart from a fun "boys adventure) was so that Jenny Jelen and I could get some author promo pictures for use for our forthcoming release, Spooky Sudbury (coming in late Sept 2013)

One beautiful afternoon, Jenny and I met with John and Shelley Robbie (of Joro Photography) to have some photos taken at High Falls (a local tourist attraction in Onaping Falls, the community we all grew up in)

Barnaby, naturally, made it into some of the shots.

Barnaby Bones, Mark Leslie & Jenny Jelen - Photo by Joro Photography

Here is a grouping of some of the great pictures taken by John.

An Adventure To Choose To Support

Remember the old Choose Your Own Adventure books? How would you like to do one in real life?

When I was doing a talk at the Ontario Writers Conference last year on the topic Digital Storytelling 360° I made a point of bringing up the possibility of writers crafting a story or even a mystery based on the GPS and or QR code function of a person's smartphone (it's at about 10 minutes in to the video) that brings them to or relies on physical world locations.

Interestingly enough, being part of that dream happened. 

I am delighted to be one of a group of authors taking part in a new collaborative writing project.  The other writers and I are creating writing Choose Your Own Adventures that you can do in real life!

Not only will the readers/participants actually get to stand where the story is happening but they can dictate what happens next, while exploring the weird and wonderful features of a new (or old!) city.

I will be penning the story that takes place in Toronto, Ontario.

It's a pretty progressive plan and an exciting project to be a part of.

But we need your help to get this project off the ground.

To do this we have set up a crowdfunding page for our project http://pozible.com/chooseadventure.

If you don’t know what crowdfunding is, it’s all explained on the page. But one thing to keep in mind is it involves rewards and they are amazing, including everything from signed books to Skype conversations with the authors.

If you are interested in seeing such a project get kick-started and could pledge to this project I would be greatly appreciative. Even if the only thing you can afford is to pass the word onto your friends, family, and colleges or just pledge $5, every bit counts! It really does.

We launched a couple of weeks ago and the funding and support is coming from around the globe.  But we still have a long way to go and really could use whatever support you can offer.

I mentioned that I am writing the Toronto story, if this project is able to establish the funding required.  But it will cost a lot to get this going, ensure all the writers are paid and that the technology and physical world elements are all in place to make this happen effectively.

Here are some of the stellar writers who will also be writing a choose your own adventure for this project:

Isobelle Carmody, Marianne De Pierres, Sean Williams, Mindy Klasky, Sophie Masson, Michael Pryor, Tansy Rayer Roberts, Kim Wilkins, Angela Slatter, Lee Battersby, David B. Coe, Jennifer St George and Robert Shearman.

If you are able to donate or simply share this cool project I would greatly appreciate it.  And if this project gets off the ground, I look forward to working on the Toronto adventure and sharing updates about it.

The Kobo Writing Life Podcast

The second episode of the Kobo Writing Life podcast went live this morning.

Episode Two (or, Episode 002 if you prefer), features an interview with Robert Levine, author of FREE RIDE.

The interview includes Robert's perspectives on copyright and pricing as well as the difference between writing for dailies, weeklies and monthlies to transitioning into writing a full length book with an entirely different publication schedule.

Episode One (or Episode 001), features an interview with Steve Vernon, author of such items as the Flash Virus serialized YA thriller, The Tatterdemon Trilogy as well as non-fiction books such as Haunted Harbours and Maritime Murder.

Christina (KWL Team), Steve Vernon and me

For Steve's interview we talk about his role as a hybrid author and why he has embraced both traditional publishing as well as self-publishing.  I thought it was interesting that part of the reason is that Steve has SO MANY stories to write and share that traditional publishing just can't keep up with his production pace and schedule.

Barnaby Warrior

One of the photos I forgot to post in my Warrior Dash Barrie 2013 summary post from a few days ago was a picture I took of my skeleton Barnaby in my Warrior Dash t-shirt from last year.

It would have been hilarious to run with Barnaby or just have him posed on one of the obstacles in shirt, running shorts and shoes, as if he were a runner that couldn't make it over one of them - you know, as if he'd been at for THAT long . . .

In any case, here he is, ready for battle, but ensuring he is resting before the race . . .

Get Your Warrior On! (Warrior Dash Barrie 2013)

I ran the Warrior Dash in Barrie at Horseshoe Resort for the third year in a row.

Pierre and I in costume for 2013 Warrior Dash - photo from Barrie Examiner

And for the third year in a row I wore my "Conan the Barbarian" costume that my aunt made for me when I was 14.

My Conan costume - from my early teens (when I was a lot more skinny)

Yes, I know, it doesn't fit as nicely as it used to when I first wore it to the Halloween dance at Levack District High School

No, not even as nicely as it fit when I was in University

Halloween - at one of Pat & Mike's infamous parties in my university days

But it has been the tradition for three years now, that this is the costume I wear for the Warrior Dash.

2012 Warrior Dash - Me, Pierre, Tricia and Chad

For the first year, Pierre, Chad and I ran the race.  Last year, Chad's wife Tricia joined us.  And this year, Chad finally broke down and wore a costume. In previous years, he wore a shirt that read: "I don't do costumes!" -- but, a man of extremes, he went from wearing no costume to wearing a . . . wait for it . . . Borat bathing suit . . .

There are some things that just can't be unseen.

Me, Pierre and Chorat....for some reason, Tricia is nowhere to be seen

Chad, Pierre and I, post-race muddy

Needless to say, Chad's costume was the "talk of Warrior town" that morning.

Also needless to say, Tricia refused to run with us and ran on ahead, keeping a safe 1 KM or more in front of us lest people see us together.

Also needless to say, shortly after the race, Chad changed back into his civies.  But the damage had been done, the eyewash needed to be handed out along with the free beer that came with the tracking chits.

Fun costumes = lots of extra beer from fellow Warriors

Speaking of tracking chits, Pierre and I scored quite a few extra free beers from folks who were driving and couldn't use theirs.  No harm done there. None of us were driving, because we stay both Friday and Saturday at the resort and enjoy it as party of a mini family vacation.  Horseshoe resort has some amazing activities for the kids, and they always enjoy the zip line, the rock wall climbing, the maze, the trampolines and the Aqua Ogo balls (giant hamster balls filled with water that you climb into before it is pushed down a hill)

Alexander coming in on the zip line

Zander on the climbing wall

Cuddling with my better half in the big red muskoka chair

Horsing around with the kids (Alexander, Gavin and Oliver) in the pool on Friday night

This year, thanks to advice from my pal Sean, we booked a couple of the condo suites and had tons of space, a full kitchen, fridge, dishwasher, washing machine and dryer and two bedrooms.  (Not that the male warriors got all that much sleep -- we made friends with some cool runners from Sudbury and hung out with them both nights)

I have to say that the race this year was even more challenging, more fun that last year. They continue to improve the obstacles each year. I hurt my knees and elbows falling down the back side of some of the obstacles.  I even rolled through the mud, across the gravel and right off the trail into the woods on one of the obstacles that I fell down.

Here's the washing machine with our Warrior costumes in it. Yikes!

They reversed the course from the previous two years, beginning the race with a climb right up a long slope to the top of the hill -- talk about exhausting the runners right away -- but it served a nice purpose, quickly thinning out the pack that used to bunch up the minute we hit the woods in the previous years.  So it kept things flowing nicely.  Going up and down the side of the ski hill continues to be the biggest challenge of the race -- I mean, who cares about the bared wire (which did slice open my back quite nicely at one spot), and leaping over fire or scaling ten foot walls when you have to go back up that damn ski hill?  At least there was a lot of shade on this year's trail.

After the race, Pierre and I shaved our heads (Chad was already shaved and again, Tricia stayed far away)  We had an audience for this and were laughing about Drunk Barber....

Drunk Barber - free haircuts, if you can handle the fact it's "one cut for all heads"

One of the most hilarious pictures is when I had just jumped off the cargo net and was doing my Warrior Yell for Francine, when Chad ran in front of me. Cheeky bugger!

My Warrior Yell pose "white washed" by Chad's cheeky photo bomb

Kudos to the folks at Horseshoe Resort and Warrior Dash for upping their game yet again.

It was a fun novelty race (we don't race competitively, but rather stick together as a team and run together, enjoying the fun of going through the obstacles, laughing at each other and having some fun) and a weekend that I look forward to every year.  We mixed our time between hanging out with our families, meeting new friends and, given that Pierre and I stayed in our costumes for quite a while on Saturday, posing for dozens of pictures.

I can't wait until next year. In fact, I have already registered for July 19, 2014.

The Swimming Dead

So it was an interesting commute home last night.

Record rainfall in Toronto (yes, beating the previous rainfall record set in 1954 by Hurricane Hazel) -- no, not Mississauga's mayor, who is sometimes referred to by this name, but an actual hurricane - I remember hearing about it a lot when I was a child; my Mom would come into a room I was playing in -- and, of course, making a mess in -- and would say: "It looks like Hurricane Hazel came through here!"

In any case, at about 7 PM on the QEW in Mississauga, traffic came to a complete stop in both directions.

A transport slowly makes it way through the flooding that has stopped traffic in both directions

The QEW was completely flooded near Hurontario.

A police officer with a shovel walks through the flood waters looking to unclog storm drains

A few cars that had tried to make it through were either stuck or had just made it through before their engines had died. A few transports actually slowly chugged their way through. Some of us cheered them on each time they made it through, and they'd blast their horns proudly.

It was like an ad-hoc meetup (as one of my friends on Facebook posted)

The QEW stopped in both directions from flooding near Hurontario Street

And, when I was walking down the middle lane of the 403 on the opposite side of the highway (taking advantage of the simple joyful fact that I could walk down this completely barren stretch of highway), another one of my friends said my posted self-portrait reminded them of Rick Grimes -- another than the pictures I was posting looked like a scene out of the first episode of The Walking Dead.

Look Ma, I'm Rick Grimes, walking down a barren stretch of highway during rush hour

"The Swimming Dead, more like," I thought.

People in the crowd enjoyed talking pictures of my skeleton Barnaby, who was sitting in my passenger seat.  I quipped about the poor guy being frightened to death by all the flooding, or that he was alive when I first got on the highway.  (Yes, great ice-breaker when people say:  "No, really - why do you have a skeleton in your car?" It gives me a potential chance to let them know I'm a horror writer - always be promoting......)

I couldn't resist taking a picture of Barnaby in traffic -- if he had just a bit of flesh on his bones he might look a bit more like a scene from early episodes of The Walking Dead.

Barnaby doesn't seem all that phased by the fact that the QEW has become a parking lot

Despite the frustration, most of the folks stuck in this traffic were in good humour. We had to admit that we were lucky not to have our cars flooded over the way we noticed had happened on some other routes, and on a couple of the GO train lines.

It was interesting to see, though, how easy it was for our little part of civilization to come to a complete stop and just how fragile our day to day routines really are.

And, of course, more fuel for a post-apocalyptic storyline I've been kicking around in my head for a while.....

Yes, everything is fruit for a story. I'm a writer. What else do you expect?

Nine Years Ago

Nine years ago today my son was born.

And my life changed.

Permanently.

For the better.

I can't express just how fantastic it is to be a father - in particular to be Alexander's father.

Alexander at Tobermory

It's funny. I remember thinking (in the way that many teens do), at how little my parents knew about everything when I was in high school, and marveling at just how much they learned when I went away to university.  It was an interesting perception thing.

There's a new perception thing taking place now that I'm a parent.  It seems that now I marvel at just how much my son teaches me about the world every single day -- he helps me see the world with a fresh new perception, with innocence and curiosity; with wonder and a new appreciation.

Sure, I helped give him life, nurtured him, took care of, provided for, coached, taught and played with him -- did all those fatherly things.  But among the most important things I could ever do with simply listen to him. Actually sit and chat with him about the little things, about the big things, about the things that are important to him, the things he wants to express.

And from that, I have learned so much more about him, about me, about the world.

Barnaby, Zander and Daddio on their July 2013 Road Trip

It has become a tradition, ever since his first birthday, for me to take the first week of July off to spend with Alexander.  A fun father-son week.  This year we decided to take a road trip, try some fishing, and do a quick visit with my Mom (Baba Jean).

Alexander demonstrating how he caught his first fish (Georgian Bay near Tobermory)

Though it was a quick three-day trip (I needed to back back in Hamilton on Friday morning so that I could participate in a little Kobo chat about kids and eBooks on CHCH Morning Live), we packed a lot of fun into those days, and it was, as always, a delight to spend so much time with my son where the focus was on doing fun father-son stuff.

The proud fisherman (with his cooler of fish), posing near the Joseph Simon (our chartered fishing boat)

We did some fishing in Tobermory (his first time out, and almost twenty years since I had gone fishing), we took the Chi-Cheemaun ferry from Tobermory to South Baymouth, then drove up through Manitoulin Island on our way to Sudbury and Levack.

Alexander on the Joseph Simon (fishing vessel), just off Middle Island (just before catching his first fish)

A simple, trip, quick, yet the stuff that fun memories are made of. 

Alexander on the deck of the Chi-Cheemaun

And, as mentioned, a chance for me to learn more about everything from my son. Alexander is an amazing little boy and doing stuff with him is an absolute joy, pleasure and privilege.

Relaxing on board the Chi-Cheemaun (from Tobermory to Manitoulin)

I am a blessed father, a blessed man.

The Product Of Two Men

I am the product of two men. Okay, one's not yet a man, he's still a boy - but truly, so many of the things I am, so many of the things I appreciate about life, that I respect, admire and connect with, come from my relationship with two people.

So much of the way that I see myself, stems from two very important guys:

My Dad and my Son.

They never had the opportunity to meet each other. I know that my Dad would have worshiped the ground that Alexander walked on, and that my son would have had idolized and adored his Grandpa Gene.

But my Dad died before Alexander was born, so they never met.

And yet they are connected.

Today is my Dad's birthday - our family always made a big deal about that; always celebrated it, in conjunction with ringing in the summer season. Alexander's birthday is about a week later and has, for Francine and I, been a similar type of special celebration of a wonderful new season in our lives -- and thus, as June ends and July begins, I am filled with strong thoughts about how I am a better person for my relationship with these two males who define me.

Dad and me in the boat on one of my earliest fishing trips

Alexander and I are heading on a boy's trip next week. It's going to be a road trip with lots of exploring and, of course, fishing as a central activity. He has expressed a desire to go fishing; my Dad was the most avid fisherman I ever knew.  Taking Alexander for his first fishing experience is going to be fun, a little bittersweet, but certainly a wonderful memory for the two of us. I have spoken to him many times about my own experiences fishing with my Dad, but I'm sure, when we're out on the water, I'll conjure up other memories for him of other memories and stories that will come to mind.  (Fishing, inherently, goes hand in hand with tales)  Who knows, it might even become a tradition, the way my taking the first week of July off every year to spend some concentrated time specifically with Alexander has been a tradition ever since his first birthday.

Alexander and I BBQing in Levack

I'm a really lucky guy. My Dad loved doing things with me. And Alexander has always enjoyed doing stuff with Daddio.  I cherish those moments, and those memories.

And so, on my Dad's birthday, I think a lot about the two men who make me a better man, a better person.

And I'm extremely thankful for both of them.

Zombies, Run!

I have been using the Zombies, Run app now for a bit over a year. I haven't been consistent in using it for runs, since I tend to alternate between listing to podcasts and or audio books and music - and since the Zombies, Run app uses a playlist, injecting a fascinating story (and random zombie attacks) in between tracks, I tend to find it most interesting to use a music playlist when using this app.

My July 25, 2013 run map from Zombielink - Lakeshore, Toronto, ON

The story, in a nutshell, has you, the runner as "Runner 5" in a post-apocalyptic world overcome by zombies. You're a member of Abel township and are sent out on missions (with home-base folks providing commands in your ear).  The dialogue and narration from the various folks speaking with you help unroll a fascinating storyline with interesting characters and unique conflicts.

As you run, you end up picking up supplies that you can use to help build up your base and increase Abel's strength and population (remember Sim City?  Something like that)

The storytelling aspect of Zombies, Run is fascinating, but the random zombie attacks, are, of course, an additional benefit.

My June 15th ZombieRun from Zombielink

The app uses GPS to track you and how fast you are running. Thus, when a random zombie attack occurs, there's a warning, and a background beat that, like the classic Jaws theme, increases in intensity when the zombies get closer.  From 100 metres, to 50 metres to 20 metres . . . and all the while the sound of the zombies, uniquely three-dimensional in your ears, get louder and louder. It actually sounds like they're closing in on you and can be quite convincingly terrifying.

To escape from the random zombie attacks, you need to run faster for a full minute, or else you get caught.  And no, you don't die. If the zombies get too close, you end up dropping all your supplies (to distract them and lighten your load to get away), meaning you lose anything you found.

Two different zombie chase stats - Caught & Evaded

The random zombie chases, of course, make for a fantastic interval training experience.  The frustrating thing, of course, is when they come when you're at the bottom of a hill.  That can be truly killer.  (I much prefer when the come just as I'm about to run downhill)

One of the fun stats to look back at shows you your average speed during different songs, which can help you adjust and manage a playlist of songs that you might just run faster when listening to.

Zombielink song stats

Of course, this doesn't show if you happen to be running up or down elevations, so you have to sometimes remember that.  (For example, in the screen shot below, I'm running down the "Jolly Cut" of the Hamilton escarpment and am thus going a lot faster than average speed due to the favourable incline....

 

....and on the flip side, the chart below shows just how slow I was moving when I was heading back UP the Hamilton mountain up a set of stairs....

Deathly slow speed going up stairs

 

In any case, it's a fantastic app that I have gotten a great deal of benefit and entertainment from.

Bookstore Barnaby

I was cleaning up files on my iPhone recently and came across a few of Barnaby at some events I had done in bookstores in the past 9 or so months.

Here's one of Barnaby at the Indigo in Stoney Creek where I had done a workshop on writing horror during the March break.

Barnaby posing in a chair with Yorick - Indigo Stoney Creek, March 2013

Here's Barnaby sitting in the front row of a workshop I had done on digital self-publishing for a writer's group in Stratford (May 2013).  This time he was here to demonstrate the manner by which a writer can use a prop or some sort of consistent messaging to ensure the audience knows exactly the type of thing they're in for (my example is, when Barnaby is sitting with me at an author table, customers who approach likely have a pretty good idea what genre I write in -- or, at the very least, it makes for a handy ice-breaker......)

Barnaby sitting front and centre for a workshop

The following is a picture of Barnaby at the Indigo in Stoney Creek (October 2013)

Please don't feed the starving writer

And, of course, Barnaby at the Coles at Eastgate Mall in Hamilton (Sept 2013) - which was the very first book signing I had done for Haunted Hamilton last fall.

This poor guy waited FOREVER for the author to show up

Big Monster On Campus

Yesterday we took Alexander and his cousin Madison to see Monsters University.  It was a fantastic movie and a wonderful prequel to Monsters, Inc.

While, as a horror writer, I wished I could have gone to a university like MU, I was delighted to see that they actually had a great tie-in website made to look like virtually any other university website out there, complete with admission info, faculty profiles, academics, campus life, etc . . .

Monsters University website

For example, they outline the various schools within the university, wonderfully mimicing

Academics listing at Monster University

They even go so far as to outline different courses for the schools.  Example below from the School of Scaring....

MU Sample course listing from School of Scaring

And, the cool swag shop called The MU Store for MU branded clothing (which is what I had been looking for) . . .

Banner for The MU Store

I had originally been looking to find a t-shirt that might have played on the "Big Man on Campus" motif.  I remember, when Alexander was a toddler and I had been working at the bookstore at McMaster, we got him a "Big Man on Campus" McMaster shirt -- he loved it.

I would LOVE to be able to get a "Big Monster on Campus" shirt for him.  So, though the MU store online is pretty cool, there are, I think, more opportunities to sell some really cool swag.  Maybe the Disney store already has one - I'll have to go check.

And, given the trend I have seen with university bookstores abandoning books in favor of tchotchkes and other branded crap (even abandoning the name "bookstore" in favor of "campus store" [insert loud audible sigh here]) I find it interesting that in this fake MU Store there isn't even a single mention of textbooks - despite the fact that Mike Wazowski spends a good deal of effort studying from some classic monster textbooks, and some of the ones used in the movie, however brief, were really funny.


[insert second audible sigh here . . . ]

In any case, it was a fun movie, and I really am interested in getting ahold of some of the fun swag; and, of course, going back and watching Monsters, Inc again.

MU forever . . . . .

Man Of The House

I used to receive great little tidbits of fatherly advice from my Dad. And, interestingly enough, the advice that he would share with me didn't seem like all that much when he was relaying them to me. But now, I think back on those nuggets of wisdom and cherish them.

I have tried to do the same with my son Alexander.


I travel quite a bit for work. And, every time I do, I usually sit down with Alexander the night before and have a heart to heart chat with him about what it means.

Alexander has always been a helpful little person, assisting with chores around the house and he has always been working right at my side at various tasks and DIY projects in the home. And he takes his responsibility very seriously.

So, respecting that, I usually sit him down prior to my departures to pass on the "man of the house" duties to him.

Alexander and I, summer 2012 - Swiss Family Robinson tree house, Walt Disney World, FL

This is how it went last time.

Mark:  I'm heading to New York tomorrow and will be there for almost a full week. You know what that means, don't you?

Alexander:  That you'll be spending most of your time looking up on the side of the tall buildings to see if you can spot Spider-Man?

Mark:  Of course. How could I visit New York without doing that? What I mean is, you know what that means around here, right?

Alexander:  That I'll be the man of the house.

Mark:  That's right.  And you know what your main job as man of the house is, don't you?

Alexander:  Yes.  Listening to Mom.

Mark:  Exactly.

Again, my son has nailed it.

In celebration of what it means to be the man of the house (until she gets home), here's Rodney Carrington's "The Man Song" in which he sings:  "'Cause a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, and I'm gonna do what you tell me to.  Because I'm top dog around here . . . but I've been neutered....


To all the "men of the house" out there . . . Happy Father's Day!

Digital Publishing Workshop

Among the fun and amazing things I got to do this past week.  (Such as participate in the act of awarding Alice Munro a CBA Libris Lifetime Achievement Award, hand the CBA Libris Author of the Year Award to Terry Fallis and Fiction Book of the Year Award to Will Ferguson), I ran a workshop for the Stratford Authors on digital self-publishing.

I arrived in plenty of time to set up, and, since Barnaby was in the car with me, I placed him front-row centre.  (My skeleton Barnaby was part of the "author branding" segment of the talk - in which I explain how I use Barnaby at book signings, etc, to ensure people immediately "get it" that I write horror/Twilight Zone style fiction - an easy way to quickly help people decide if it's worth their time coming to my author table, etc.  IE, attracting my target audience along with creating a fun ice-breaker for people to crack jokes about my skinny friend)

This was the first time I had done a workshop where I live published a book on Kobo Writing Life in front of the audience (walking them through the setup of my book in WORD format, the upload process, how I then download the converted ePub file and then use Sigil to manually polish it up, adjust the metadata and then re-upload a better version of the ePub).  It was fun to walk through each of the steps and show them the time and care it takes to

I published a short story I had previously published, BTW, demonstrating that an eBook doesn't have to be a full length novel sized work but can be, in fact whatever length (longer or shorter) that you want. The key is making sure the potential buyer is made aware of that through a solid synopsis/description so they don't feel tricked.


Here are some of the highlights of tips from my presentation:

• The Hard Truth:  This is a business. If you want to self-publish, you need to assume all of the responsibilities that the publisher normally takes on, and it is no small feat. You need to ensure all the elements of editorial, design, metadata, art, layout, listing, marketing are completed.
• The Three P's of Self-Publishing Success:  Practice, Patience and Persistence. Keep writing, write every day, re-write, edit, write again. Then some more.  And, just in the same way that submitting your work to agents and publishers takes a lot of time and effort, so to does becoming successful in self-publishing take a lot of hard work and patience. If you don't see results right away, maintain Persistence. Believe in yourself, never give up and focus on writing your next great book  (this advice, of course, also applies to traditional publishing)
• Know Your Audience.  Your book is not for everybody. If you believe that you are deceiving yourself.  You need to spend time figuring out who your ideal/target audience is, and don't waste any marketing efforts trying to blast your marketing efforts everywhere. The worst thing you can do is sell (or try to sell) your book to the wrong reader. If they buy it, you get one sale, but they won't like it, and it'll be a negative experience - what's the long-term benefit there?
• People DO Judge a Book By Its Cover.  A great cover, targeted for your ideal audience, can help you gain attention and sales.  A poor cover will send people running away (screaming, laughing, or some combination of both) and do more harm than good. Don't take short-cuts. If you don't have a good design eye (and it is hard to be objective), you need a cover designer.  Here's one of the articles we have posted on the Kobo Writing Life blog regarding cover design.  This one helps with what to look for in a book cover designer.
• Think of price as a VERB not a NOUN.  Price deliberately, price responsibly. And don't paint all your titles with the same "price brush" -- be prepared to react to the markets -- and the markets are different and unique and following their own trends, so be prepared to research and understand what price points work in various categories in various global territories and create a strategy incorporating that.  More great pricing advice appears HERE.

Those are five generic tips that were mixed in along with the details of the step by step process for digital self-publishing. I hope that you found them helpful.

I know Barnaby did.  (At least, he never stopped smiling at me from the front row the entire time, so I'm reading a bit into that)