Now, every time Stanley speaks we stand up and stretch! Everyone in the office, regardless of what we are doing is required to standup and stretch.  Stretch for health.

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Nisa Burns, author of Kitchenability 101

Take, for example, our long-time client Nisa Burns, author of Kitchenability 101.  When we first designed her website many years ago, she opted for third-party hosting through a company that charged approximately $20 monthly for their services (we think that’s a bit too much to pay).  In addition to being expensive, Nisa encountered many problems (namely, the load time for her website was excruciatingly slow). She eventually opted to switch to HostGator.  The run time of her website has noticeably improved and she has been pleased with her decision to make the switch.

Linda Crill: Author, Speaker, and Facilitator

Another one of our clients made the switch to HostGator yesterday.  Meet Linda Crill: author, speaker, reinventor, and author of her memoir Blind Curves.  She called us yesterday afternoon with an urgent issue: her site was completely down and inaccessible. This was not the first time this had happened to Linda. After spending an hour on the phone with customer service (another provider who shall remain nameless), it was determined that there was nothing we could do but wait.  Linda had just had her first spot on National TV in promotion of her new book, and so we knew that she could not afford more hick-ups like this one.  Linda agreed that we needed to migrate her site over to HostGator; her site was up and running within a few hours!  And even better, the load time of her site was noticeably faster. What could have turned into a devastating blow to Linda’s business ended up being a learning experience that will keep her from losing even more book sales in the future.

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The original cover

Barbara’s new cover, designed by Monkey C Media

The phrase “Never judge a book by its cover” is great in theory, but is rarely executed in real life.  The original cover is shown on the left.  We knew right away that this cover did not represent her ideas.  When judged purely by its cover, it looked like a work of young adult fiction- far from her intent.  Barbara’s memoir of escaping a stifling marriage and adventuring to self-liberation is an empowering message to mature women who feel dissatisfied with their current livelihoods to take life by the reigns and live unbridled.  She needed a cover that captured the essence of her adventure.

We wanted to keep certain aspects of the cover, but change them to be more sophisticated.  The landscape in the background was essential, as a majority of her memoir takes place in Ireland, and Barbara frequently rides horses throughout her travels.  We chose a more vibrant landscape photograph and an abstract image of hair flowing in the wind.  The hair can be seen as a woman’s hair or a horse’s hair, and we enjoy this ambiguity.  The title and tagline were also changed to be more consistent with the maturity level of the design.  Overall, we feel the new cover is not only more appropriate to the subject matter, but draws in a much more diverse and expansive group of readers.  What do you think?

To learn more about Barbara McNally’s journey, or to buy Unbridled, visit her website (also designed by Monkey C Media).

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Coming to Rosemont by Barbara Hinske

The author of the Rosemont Series, Barbara Hinske, has some great things to say about her web and cover designers!

Good Morning!  I’m so excited to let you know that my cover definitely sold books for me this weekend at the Tucson Festival of Books (the 4th largest book show in the nation!).  In fact — the person who bought the very first book — while we were setting up — said she bought it because of the cover. I’ll be back to you for the next cover. Take a bow, please!  Thank you!

We feel so privileged to work with such vibrant and talented individuals, and we are so excited that Barbara will be one of our repeat clients!  We know that our future will bring us more and more brilliant clients!

To buy the first in the Rosemont Series, Coming to Rosemont, click here!

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Chad did a great, make that fantastic, job putting together their Kickstarter video.

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Plus, Matthew has been working with Monkey C Media for one year now and we are delighted to have his endless talent, positive attitude, and handsome smile!  We look forward to a very bright future with the fantastic team!

Happy Birthday Matthew!

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Our Website has changed… completely! Check out the new upgrades.

Hello, and welcome to the new Monkey C Media website.

In January, 2013, Monkey C Media will have been serving authors all over the globe for more than nine AWESOME years.  Wow.  We’re pretty excited about what we’ve done and where we’re going.  With technologies and latest practices improving by the second, we always have something new to share with you! Check back soon for tips on writing, publishing, marketing and more!

Jeniffer Thompson
Head Monkey at Monkey C Media

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