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derinwrites · 2 months ago

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Do you have any advice for writing in a web serial format?

Let’s look at this in two sections – the business part, and the actual writing part.

The Business Part

1. Consistency. Consistency in updates. Have a schedule and STICK TO IT.

If your schedule is too hectic and starts affecting your health or otherwise adversely affecting your life, change the schedule; update less often. Don’t update in spurts and then randomly stop. The audience will far more easily tolerate a slow schedule than an inconsistent one; an inconsistent one will lose many readers. You’re not Andrew Hussie and you can’t get away with that bullshit.

There may be times where you need to take a hiatus due to some emergency, life event, or health condition. This is fine – your wellbeing is more important than your story. But you need to be up-front with your audience about this; tell them you’re taking a hiatus and tell them exactly how long it’s going to be. If you can, you should tell them in advance (this isn’t possible for things like a car accident, but is very possible if you’re planning to, say, move house in a month). If you’re taking too many hiatuses, then it’s better to slow down your schedule and update less often. Audiences prefer fast and consistent, but if they have to choose, slow is better than inconsistent.

The #1 helper to consistency is having a big buffer – that is, have several weeks’ worth of unpublished chapters. The length of your buffer is personal taste, but I like to keep mine as long as possible so that if there’s some problem that stops me from writing for several weeks, it won’t upset the schedule. It keeps my stress down to know that I have that leeway. Other writers prefer to only write a week or two ahead, though, so different things work for different people.

2. Decide on your monetisation system early and prioritise it.

The most popular and most effective method for monetising a web serial seems to be the patronage method, which is the one I use. You set up a patreon, ko-fi, or whatever sponsorship system you prefer, and offer rewards to those who support you. Having their names in a credit list and getting access to advance chapters are very common rewards. Some people also lock access to their discord behind a paywall, or offer extra stories or let supporters name story characters.

This model is not the only way to make money from web serials. Some people make money via advertising, or selling merchandise, or use the web serial itself to advertise stories that they sell. You can of course use several revenue streams – you can have both a patreon/ko-fi and run ads on your website (I don’t because I hate ads, but you can), or start selling merch related to your story once there’s a demand for it. Many web serial authors (including myself) sell their completed works as books. But the important thing here is that one of these systems will be your main system, and you need to know what it is and behave accordingly. If you run ads AND have a patreon, are you more focused on ad revenue or patreon revenue? You’re going to have to put your time and attention into one of them over the other. You’re going to have to make decisions that will help one and harm the other. So know in advance which one is most important to you.

You don’t have to monetise your story at all, of course. Plenty of people write fiction on the internet for free every day with no thought to making an income at all. But if you’re serious about this, I would recommend monetising it, because that makes a better and more consistent product. The reason I’m still able to keep writing these year after year is that my supporters pay my mortgage; without Patreon and ko-fi, I’d have to get a different job, and wouldn’t have time or energy to write consistently. Also, the reason I can write and update even when I don’t feel like it, and the reason I always push to make my stories as good as possible even when I’m not interested, is because I owe it to my supporters who are paying me real actual money to read my work. If I didn’t owe my readers anything, none of these stories would ever get finished, because writing is only fun about half of the time.

3. Don’t expect to be able to turn this into a career.

This advice sounds silly coming from me, who has through sheer luck, as well as the generosity and passion of my readers, somehow turned this into a career. But I need to emphasise that that luck is not typical. Most web serial writers will not be able to support themselves solely with their writing. It can make a good side hustle, but if your primary goal is “low barrier to entry work-from-home career where I don’t have to answer to a boss and can support myself comfortably,” then web serial writing is usually all of those things except the last one. There’s no harm in trying to turn this into a career – I did it, as have many other web serial authors – but don’t expect that result, is all I’m saying.

Still, if you can do it, it does have a lot of advantages.

4. Don’t expect to make money fast.

I remember when I finally started making an entire $100/month on Patreon. It was a fantastic day.

It was when I’d been writing web serials for four years.

5. Your most valuable resource is your readership.

Your readership will grow and gather momentum over time. The best business decisions you can make are those that grow your readership and allow your readers to participate in community, even if you have to give up opportunities to make money to do it.

A good example of this is discord. Some people have private discords that only their patrons can access; while this is a useful anti-spam and anti-harassment tool, I don’t recommend doing this if you don’t have a major spam or harassment problem. Some people will pay for discord access, yes, so you might get a handful of extra dollars per month that way – however, you will also get a far less active discord. When it comes to readers, population density is critically important; the more activity, the more people talking about your work together (or talking about anything and bonding with each other), the better. Plenty of people have joined my free discord just because it was there and only read my stories after seeing people talk about them there. Then they go and get their friends to read the stories. Enthusiastic readers are inherently valuable, and the best thing you can do is give them the resources they need to talk to each other and share their interest.

This principle applies to a lot of things. I have a lot of free stories on my website that aren’t the usual web serials, and more than once I’ve considered whether they should be paywalled. The answer I always land on is ‘no’; I couldn’t tell you how many readers have been roped into my web serials because they liked Copy <|> Paste, or The Void Princess, or Drops of Blood. These readers may or may not then become monetary supporters, but even the ones who don’t will increase activity and discussion about the stories, have fun and tell jokes in the discord, and may even produce fanart. A thriving community is always going to be more valuable to you than a few extra dollars; make sure to support them accordingly.

Your readership will start very small. In terms of marketing, this is your hardest time. A big readership does the majority of the marketing for you, but when you’re on your own, it takes a lot to convince anyone to give your stories a shot. It helps if you have an existing readership to leverage, which is what I did – I’d been writing Animorphs fanfiction on AO3 for years, and many of my first readers followed me over from there. If you have such a community that already has faith in your writing, leverage it. If you don’t, you can gain one my writing in a place where people go to read stories similar to your work, such as an appropriate subreddit, or a web serial site like Royal Road or Scribblehub. You are looking to gain as high a number of enthusiastic, engaged readers as possible.

And now, the fun part – the actual craft!

The Writing Part

1. Always remember that you are writing for two audiences

A web serial author has to keep two audiences in mind; the serial readers, and the bingers. You are writing a story that needs to be fun and engaging when read very slowly, at the pace of whatever your update schedule is, but that also needs to be interesting when read all at once.

This is not an easy task.

It’s something I fucked up pretty significantly with Curse Words, which was my first attempt at this. Curse Words has a lot of complicated political stuff happening throughout pretty much the whole story, as well as a complex save-the-world plot that’s reliant on a lot of secrets, mysteries and extremely speculative information. With so many wheels spinning, I decided to make the protagonist not particularly smart and move him very slowly through the plot to make sure that the reader would be able to keep up.

This was a mistake.

‘Pretty slow and simple’ at a novel reader’s pace is torturous at a web serial pace. Readers got a full week to discuss the mysteries and implications of each chapter with each other, doing the detective work of ten chapters between each one. The frustration with Kayden’s slow pace was clear, and he came across as an outright idiot rather than an average teen. Personally, I think this lesson was one of the biggest reasons for the difference in quality between Curse Words and Time to Orbit. Don’t slow down for your audience; they’re already slowed down by your update schedule.

At the same time, though, you don’t want to move so fast that you lose the bingers. You can’t assume that your readers will have time between chapters, or that they will discuss each chapter with other readers, or that they will go back over previous chapters looking for clues. Interested people reading update by update will do this, but bingers absolutely will not. So you still need to make sure that everything is comprehensible on a binge read with no backchecking or outside investigation.

My advice on this matter is to move as fast as possible, but take care to make sure that readers are reminded of everything important a few chapters before it comes into play. That way, both audiences can keep up. If you have to make a decision, it’s best to favour your update readers; they’re your most active community. They’re doing the up-to-date discussion, and probably doing the most word-of-mouth and fanart, although binge readers will do that too (I have plenty of dedicated readers who wait five or six weeks to binge a bunch of chapters on purpose, just because that’s their preferred reading style, and they’re still very engaged). But if you plan to publish your story later as a complete work, you also need to keep in mind how it’s going to read as a binge – and also, new readers will binge the earlier chapters of your story to catch up to the current one, so make sure it’s a good experience for them or they won’t get a chance to become update readers.

Two audiences. Mind your pacing and information reveals accordingly.

2. Chapter length

The general rule of web serials is that the more often you update, the shorter your chapters should be. The generally agreed ‘sweet spot’ is 1-1.5k words, 3 times a week, but this depends heavily on individual style. I update once or twice a week (depending on what stories I’ve got going) and try to keep my chapters between 2 and 2.5k words. If you update once a month, your sweet spot is probably about 10k words.

Don’t hold religiously to what other people tell you the ideal word count is – this will vary drastically with genre and personal style – but it’s best to try to stay fairly consistent. It’s not always possible to stay exactly on target because the best break points between chapters will vary (I’ve got 1.8k chapters and 3.5k chapters), but readers like to be able to predict about how long an update will be and they like it to not vary too wildly too often. As with choosing your update schedule, choosing your chapter length will depend on what suits your personal schedule, and what suits the story you’re writing.

“The shorter the chapter, the more frequent the updates” is a good rule for attracting the widest audience. Short, infrequent chapters will have a lot of readers losing interest between updates; long, frequent ones will have a lot of readers feeling overwhelmed. But the most important thing is finding something that you can consistently output year after year (remember, it took me 4 years to make $100/month; this is a long game).

3. It’s a TV show, not a movie

This advice is less useful in our age of Marvel movie franchises and made-to-binge Netflix series, so pretend I’m talking to you in the year 2010 or earlier. If a novel is a movie, a web serial is a TV show. What I mean by that is that a novel is shaped primarily as a complete experience, whereas a web serial is shaped as a chapter-by-chapter experience.

It’s best, in both cases, to have a well structures and paced story that is made of well structured and paced chapters. But sometimes you have to choose between the structure or a chapter and the structure of the story as a whole; making one better will cheapen the other. When you’re writing a novel, you should choose the structure of the whole, but when you’re writing a web serial, you should choose the structure of the chapter. Web serial readers will prefer a chained series of excellent chapters, over a beautiful story of chapters with mediocre individual structure.

In fact, whether you want a structure to the overall story at all is personal taste. My stories have strong overall structure and move towards a planned conclusion because that’s how I prefer to write (and it also makes the story bingeable, since it’s basically a novel being released really slowly), but plenty of web serials out there have no real planned ending and will wander about for years and years in no obviously consistent direction, occasionally throwing in a big twist or major change to freshen things up. These would make absolutely horrible novels, but make very popular web serials. Whether you write like me or like them, the rule is the same – the experience of each individual chapter takes priority.

Come to think of it, this might be why people call my stories “ADHD crack”…

4. Okay, so how do I structure a good chapter?

I generally try to do three things in every chapter.

- Hit the ground running

- Give them something new

- End on an open question

Hit the ground running – Unless it’s the very first chapter of the story, you don’t have to be coy getting into the action. Open the chapter as if it’s the middle of the chapter; start at full momentum. Catch the high point of the last chapter before it falls. It your last chapter ended with “We checked the fingerprints on the candlestick. It’s Colonel Mustard.” then you can start this one with “But he was in the library at the time!”, you don’t need to recap or slow down or anything.

Give them something new – Every chapter should give the reader at least one thing to talk and think about. A new choice, some new information, a shift in perspective, whatever. People are reading these updates one at a time so it is vital that they feel like they got something out of the experience. A chapter in which nothing is learned will make readers feel like their time was wasted, and they have all the time until next update to reflect on that.

This is also true of a novel, but it’s much more critical in a web serial. A novel with nothing chapters in it is just frustratingly slow-paced; a web serial with nothing chapters in it leaves the reader feeling cheated for long stretches of time.

The thing to talk about doesn’t necessarily have to be a big plot reveal or major advancement. An incredibly cute scene, or sad scene, or funny scene will work just as well. But you have to give them SOMETHING. If you’re giving them nothing, consider cutting the chapter entirely and integrating any important foreshadowing or whatever into the next chapter.

One major hurdle of mine with this rule is recap chapters. If you’re writing a very complex plot over a long period of time, you need ways to occasionally take stock and make sure everyone is on the same page and nobody’s forgotten or misinterpreted anything important. This information can be recapped or conveyed in the middle of an action sequence or something, but I personally find that putting other stuff in the scene makes it too distracting and therefore less effective. I like to literally just sit the heroes down in a room and have them go, “okay, we’re spinning a lot of threads at once right now; what do we know, what are we trying to figure out, and what are our next steps?” This is the literary equivalent of the save point or room full of health packs right before a boss battle. Game designers don’t put that room there to be nice; they do it so that they know exactly how much health you’re going to have going into the battle, and can structure it accordingly.

You can make these chapters entertaining with character banter, but you can’t really introduce new threads to talk about, except possibly as a twist right at the end. Introducing new information mid-recap distracts from the recap and makes it pointless. You might have something similar in your stories, chapters that are essential but don’t give the reader anything new to work with.

My advice for these is to just bite the bullet on this one. Release the chapter with nothing new to talk about. You can get away with doing this occasionally, if the chapter has a clear purpose (I get a lot of readers tell me that they appreciate my recap chapters). Readers who get nothing out of the chapter will shrug and talk about older stuff instead, so long as you only do this occasionally. But a chapter with no new information has a cost in opportunity and in reader patience, so only pay it if the chapter’s worth it.

End on an open question– End the chapter with a reason for the reader to come back. You want them to think about the story afterward and be eager to read the next chapter when it comes out. Adhering to this principle is probably why I have such a reputation for cliffhangers, although truth be told I don’t use nearly as many actual cliffhangers as people say, I just try to end by opening a question. By that I mean, the audience should always end a chapter asking a question, which can be something that will span dozens of chapters (“How can Colonel Mustard’s fignerprints be on the candlestick? Is he being framed? Does this mean that the candlestick was in the library and isn’t even the murder weapon?”) or span a single paragraph (“How will the narrator react to learning that Colonel Mustard lied about never touchign the candlestick?”) This could be the emotional height of a scene, or the point at which new information recontextualises everything. It could be the moment where the stakes are raised or an important assumption turns out to be false. Anything that makes the audience eager to learn what happens next will do.

There should always be at least one open question in your story, more if it’s thematically appropriate. You know how mmorpgs and crafting games and suchlike keep you playing for hours and hours by making sure you’re always near the end of an activity – keep playing til you reach the next level, oh but now we’re nearly at the end of this quest so we should complete that, oh but now we’re just 20 gold short of being able to buy that cool new armour so we should just… same trick. Readers should always have at least one ‘quest’, an open question that they’re following, and should always be close to an answer.

You don’t have to dramatically introduce an entirely new question each time; you can end a chapter by reminding the reader of an existing open question. I tend to be a fan of the Big Dramatic Reveal On The Last Line method (cliffhanger reputation), but you don’t have to do it that way. Indeed, it’s a good idea not to do it that way every single time, lest you get stuck in a rut; every chapter ending doesn’t have to be incredibly tense and snappy. Somebody mentioning that they wish they knew how they could get enough food to make it through the winter before a full paragraph of cuddling and falling asleep in their mother’s arms works just as well.

5. It will help if your story is good, but it isn’t required.

You don’t have to be very good at writing to do this.

It helps to be good at writing, of course, and I assume that since you’re asking me for tips, you’re the sort of person who wants to be as good at writing as you can. But there is some true hack garbage out there doing absolute numbers in the web serial circuit. I try not to harp on about this too much because Curse Words fans get really upset at me when I do, but I think most of us can agree that Curse Words kind of sucks. And that just sucks in an ‘author is still learning how to do this’ kind of way; there’s much worse writing, real bullshit Ready Player One-level writing, trucking along out there brilliantly.

The point I’m trying to make here is that this isn’t an industry where there’s any value in hesitating and wringing your hands and asking yourself if you’re a good enough writer to do it yet. You are. You can just start writing a web serial right now and so long as you consistently update, you’re probably already above average for the market. And your first one probably will suck (mine did), but it’ll teach you how to make a better one. I think that Time to Orbit: Unknown is passably okay, and it absolutely would not be passably okay if I hadn’t written Curse Words first. Just go for it. Try to write a quality story if you can, but if you can’t, it’s honestly not that big of a deal. What matters, truly matters, is that you are committed to improving your craft. And that means actually practicing your craft. Which means writing some chapters and setting up a release schedule.

Good luck.

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bloodyquillink-blog · 9 months ago

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Animals, CoD Ghosts HC’s

What animals/creatures are the Ghosts?

A/N🪶: These are just my options! Feel free to send me yours. These are for all the Ghosts, including former, deceased and current within the Ghosts game. This list will include Rorke, Ajax and Elias Walker. Also this is going to be formatted differently from the first HC, Natural Disasters.

David “Hesh” Walker - German Shepard

Hesh is loyal, probably to a fault. Willing to do whatever it takes to protect the ones he loves and get the job done, even if he gets injured in the process.

^ Bringing me to my next point, Hesh is very protective of his family. The mere idea of anyone getting hurt is enough to get this man baring his teeth and attacking.

In the Natural Disasters list, I mentioned that Hesh, according to Urban Dictionary, means courageous, another trait of German Shepards.

One more trait that applies is also Shepards, really any animal in general, being alert as well. This is a given, though, considering he is a soldier in active war zones especially with such effective and deadly enemies. He needs to make every second count and can’t afford to slack in these areas.

I should mention that Shepards are obedient yet stubborn. Hesh knows when to listen to his superiors but he’ll easily let you know when he doesn’t agree with something. Think about when Merrick, Keegan and Elias (mask on) picked them up and Hesh was yelling about their dad still being caught in the crossfire. Merrick got Hesh to sit his ass down but Hesh was clearly not happy about it, understandably.

Logan Walker - Mountain Lion

Mountain lions can’t roar and Logan can’t, or —depending on your headcanons, consciously chooses not to— talk.

Logan finds other methods of communicating, for example, when he and Keegan were about to bust into the room to get to Ajax, Logan used his fingers to count down.

The National Wildlife Federation website says “Mountain lions are territorial and solitary. They use pheromones and physical signs… to define their territory.” (Mountain Lion, Fun Fact.)

Mountain lions are known for being very stealthy predators, again a given considering the fact we’re talking about the Ghosts.

The Mountain Lion Foundation describes them as being relentless hunters which almost connects it to the wiki quote for Logan that calls him a cold-blooded killer and an excellent soldier (CoD Ghosts: Wiki, Logan Walker, Personality.).

Elias T. “Scarecrow” Walker - Black Bear

Scary but not as scary as you may expect.

While Elias is certainly ready to do his job at any point no matter how bloody, he still has his weak spots, that being his sons.

He’s caring but while be stoic when necessary. He’s not territorial but will protect his friends and family when the time calls for it.

Also one detail I find cute about bears is that they have DNA relation to dogs, albeit very distant. I like to call bears giant murder puppies :D

Thomas A. Merrick - Grizzly Bear

I want to say that grizzly bears are often considered to be more dangerous than black bears and more likely to attack if given a reason to.

Both grizzlies and black bears can charge but where black bears may shift away at the last second and avoid attacking, grizzlies may continue to charge and attack their target (once again I’m thinking about Merrick punching Rorke because it just makes me laugh, that man was not ready).

Of course, Merrick is dangerous but he knows when the time is and isn’t appropriate despite his temper. Merrick is a big dude too, so I think this works (“stocky”).

Gabriel T. Rorke - Polar Bear

Once he has his sights on you, you’re already gone.

Hehe, polar bears are mighty dangerous.

Polar bears are bigger and stronger sometimes, but other time grizzlies and polars can be about the same in build.

Polar bears are more likely to attack considering they have fewer resources for food and typically eat a lot as well.

Fun fact: Polar bears don’t hibernate.

^^^ Piggy backing off that, Rorke doesn’t seem to be resting. He’s always planning something, whether it be a plan B or future plans.

He’s a very large and commanding presence who will find alternatives when desperate, willing to do what he must to make sure his plans are completed.

Keegan P. Russ - Leopard

Fast, sneaky. You don’t know he’s there until it’s too late.

Fun Fact: Leopards can roar. Keegan, though very quiet, stills speaks and intimidates with his voice when necessary.

Leopard’s are solitary and ambush hunters, I don’t need to explain this but I will.

If you recall, Rorke had a lot of trouble getting his nasty ass hands on Keegan after kidnapping the Walker family and Merrick.

His first objective was to find Keegan. In my eyes, it’s because he knows that as long as Keegan is alive, Rorke isn’t safe.

Like many animals, leopards care for one another, seen with families. I think Keegan is a very caring person but he avoids showing it often, which is fair.

Keegan continuously checks in with Logan throughout the game. In the underwater mission, he made sure Logan was okay. If you look closely when walking behind Keegan on the submarine, Keegan turns his head back to us briefly.

Alex V. “Ajax” Johnson - Elephant

Ajax is smart and powerful, I want to say he’s very determined.

In the short time we knew him, he was very stubborn as well. He didn’t give up anything and held out for a while. Though he was a lower rank than the other characters.

In his last moments, he made sure the last Ghosts knew what was happening in a last ditch effort to keep them safe and aware.

It’s hard to pin down super specific traits due to the fact that elephants can exhibit many and there’s not much we can give to Ajax.

I want to say that Ajax was more laid-back with his friends and comrades, leaving his bold energy for those who don’t deserve his respect ( insert the iconic scene where Ajax puts up his middle finger right at the Federation soldier ).

Like all the animals and characters on this list, Ajax was dangerous when necessary. He wasn’t spending every moment trying to be scary or intimidating or anything. He’s confident in himself and his abilities and he doesn’t need anyone else to speak up for him.

The respect we hear given to him by the Ghosts after his death was well deserved.

Love you, Ajax <3

Kick - Monitor Lizard

Some kind of reptile (I was so tempted to put him as a Gila Monster but I can’t do that to my best boi).

I’d say probably a water monitor.

These lizards, which can grow to 9 feet btw, don’t surprise their prey, but “actively pursue” them.

While these creatures have venom, but it’s not necessarily fatal.

Kick is definitely dangerous when he’s needed but it’s not like a “I am the grim reaper.” type of thing, it’s more like “I have a job to do and you won’t be in my way.”.

These creatures are known for being intelligent which lines up with Kick’s likely (not confirmed?) role as an information specialist.

The main thing that doesn’t quite line up is the fact that water monitors can be friendly whereas Kick is, if not more stand-offish, then solitary. I do imagine that he eventually opens up, but he’s definitely more comfy with his computers.

Neptune - Owl

I imagine that Neptune, being one of the original Ghosts, is very wise, though more subtle. I can’t think of what kind of owl he’d be, maybe snowy.

I mostly just wanted to include him here. Feel free to add onto him.

Riley… Riley

The most dangerous creature ever, himself.

World’s Best Throat-Snatcher over here being a cutie patootie with blood on his maw. 10/10 best boi.

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ungrateful-cyborg-moved · 11 months ago

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Social media comparison

Alright. I've tried different new/alternative platforms lately in hope to find something I really liked, and there are very promising ones. I didn't try everything, of course, but this is a kind of overview of my journey so far? Or just my thoughts on the matter.

I've tried Pillowfort, Bluesky, Mastodon (didn't last long enough to have much of an opinion, it simply didn't click), Dreamwidth and Cohost (as of today, can't post there yet).

My comparison under the cut:

► I appreciate that they're algorithm free, whether it's because they truly believe in an Internet rid of the most invasive of them or because it's too expensive to implement on a brand new platform or some other reason. Only the future can tell, but for now it's nice.

► Pillowfort: beside the post formatting that I find extremely comfortable, my favourite thing is probably communities. I feel like this is the strongest "pro" in favor of Pillowfort because this is where they truly distinguish themselves from other social media.

Communities, in a way, remind me of forums. They're however easier to take in hand since you don't have to deal with as many options and choices. In my opinion, communities on Pillowfort are a bit lacking in functionalities though. I think more tools to easily organize them would help, like a widget or something to link stuff so you can create and animate events within said communities.

(I also feel like Pillowfort would gain from not being dark blue. We have more than enough dark blue websites, and it doesn't go well with the warmth invoked by its name in my opinion, but that's a minor detail and just a matter of taste.)

► Bluesky: basically Twitter but better. No algorithm, for a start. The curated feeds are nice. They're a bit like communities on Pillowfort since they can be moderated but from a non-mod user, it's even easier to post in them: you just have to use the right keyword for your post to appear there. Well, if the mod left it open to all rather than chose to vet who can or cannot post in it. Lots of flexibility and control over your timeline overall.

I don't like the 300 characters limit, however. Never liked it with Twitter either. It's not really conductive to conversations, and the general design tends to make the website feel rather impersonal. It's really more like parallel talking than community building.

Overall I think it's a good tool to promote your (visual) art or website, etc. but not great for hosting conversations past commenting briefly what others are doing. I mean, you can make threads but it'll never be as good as Pillowfort or Tumblr for this.

► Dreamwidth: I'll start with saying that Dreamwidth isn't a social media, it's a journaling platform and I haven't used it much yet. Had in plan to post my headcanons about my muses there and stuff like that so I did spend some time trying to figure out how it works.

First, there is a lot of options to let you have complete control over who can see what. Like, a lot.

You can entirely personalize what your journal will look like. It's a bit easier than having your own website—since I reblogged a post about that yesterday—because you don't start from 0, so it might be a good option if you don't feel comfortable jumping into Notepad++ to start coding. You can just change a thing here and there, or nothing at all, or almost everything. It's pretty old school though, so for those completely unfamiliar with early/pre-web 2.0, it might not look very appealing at first. However, I'd say don't let that stop you! If anything, it's a good opportunity to learn a bit of code without pressure.

You can also create communities, which as you might have guessed is very important to me. When creating one, you can set up whether everyone can join, everyone can ask to join but has to be approved by a community admin or to limit the access to those you have personally invited. Like for your own journal, communities are completely customizable, and Dreamwidth allows adult content.

I'm not sure you can top DW communities in terms of functionalities—aside from making a forum—but it's not as intuitive as Pillowfort (though in exchange you get more customization). You're also more limited regarding image hosting (see here). That said, hosting services exist, many are free, and that's without mentioning that you can post on Twitter and the like and use the picture link in your DW posts. I don't think many will only use Dreamwidth anyway.

► Cohost: I was expecting nothing when I registered earlier today, but this is an overall good surprise: it's Tumblr, but better.

More control of what you see. More user-friendly UI. It's not fucking blue. Adult content allowed. You can change your main blog page and make it private.

The only two downsides I'd mention here would be that you can't customize your blog page appearance and you have to wait for one or two days before being able to post. Although if it means less bots, I'd rather wait.

And this ends my rather non-exhaustive tour of the social media/blogging/journaling platforms. If you catch any mistakes let me know. I didn't dive deep, this was just me sharing my thoughts.

(As far as I know, they all allow adult content and give you tools to not see it if you don't want to.)

#OOC #social media #Internet #cohost #dreamwidth #pillowfort #bluesky #long post

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stormbreaker101 · 4 months ago

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Making a Digital Visual Timeline (in Python)

I have been on the hunt for a digital timeline I could easily use to store pivotal dates on and see the distance between them, as well as keep track of which events are in which story. And ultimately, I couldn't find a single website that satisfied me, so I made my own program. And swag bitches don't gatekeep, so I'm sharing how I made my timeline, in case anyone is running into the same struggles.

All you need to get started is any sort of program where you can write in Python (I use Thonny but anything that runs Python 3.10 works), and then import the Matplotlib library. If you use Thonny, this video tutorial is super short and straightforward. If you use something else, no doubt there are other video tutorials on how to import libraries on your given platform.

Then, copy in this code, making sure not to miss any indents or capitalization. I wanted to copy-paste the code directly into the text, but Tumblr doesn't register indents, so you have to copy from an image, sorry.

If you run this code as is, you should get this scatterplot.

Under the cut is further explanation of the parts you can and should change in order to make the timeline your own.

The Dates in the square brackets [] on lines 9 and 14 are formatted as Year/Month/Day. So if I wanted to make a point on September 2, 2009, I'd write it as [2009, 9, 2]. Each date must be enclosed in its own square bracket and separated by a comma.

The captions on lines 10 and 15 can be whatever you want, just keep them in quotations, and keep each quote separated by a comma. I like writing the date on the caption as well just for ease of reading.

Importantly, the number of Dates in any group's DateList line has to be equal to the number of Captions in the Captions line, but there can be a different number of Dates and Captions between groups. (So like, Ex1's DateList and Captions both have 4 items, but Ex2's DateList and Captions both have 3 instead.)

The YVals on lines 11 and 16 can be any number (though keeping the numbers relatively low, like from -5 to 5, is better). These just determine how high or low the dots appear on the timeline, if you want to keep different plots visually separate.

There is a LOT of freedom of choice for colors (lines 12 and 17) in Matplotlib. I recommend using the CSS colors, because you just have to write the name in quotations.

You can make more than 2 groups, and you can change the names of the groups. But if you do, you have to also adjust this part of the code below:

Whatever you name your Ex1 and Ex2 lists, put them into here. Additionally, you have to keep the lists consistent. If for example, dateListList was [Ex1_DateList, Ex2_DateList] and CaptionsList was [Ex2_Captions, Ex1_Captions], the code will either encounter an error or graph the wrong captions to the wrong dates.

Lastly, you can edit what parts of the graph appears using these 2 lines to control the X-axis and Y-axis of the plots respectively. You have to keep both pairs of parentheses for each line.

These numbers are relatively small because I chose small numbers as the example Dates. When I use this code for myself, I often switch between a view of (1950, 2050) to see roughly everything in the modern era, or (400, 2400) if I want to see some of the older historical events I've included as well.

These are just the parameters you HAVE to adjust to actually control your own timeline. You can ABSOLUTELY do more if you want to (just make sure to save backups :P). And if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Happy timelineing!

#leah speaks :3 #writblr #writerblr #timeline #timeline maker #writing resources #coding #compsci #python #matplotlib #i normally don't do heavy tags like this but SWAG BITCHES DON'T GATEKEEP! I wanna share this so nobody else has to struggle like I did!

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human-blob-nessie · 2 months ago

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How to download and play music for free on all your devices

Some folks don't know how to do this yet, but it's very easy to download files on your own devices to be able to access it whenever you want forever, without paying for it, without ads and without a need for internet connection.

(Since it's long, color code. Green for big themes, Blue(?) for notable topic changes, Red for direct links. I have put image descriptions where relevant)

//For downloads. There isn't a single place i can point to where you can download everything that exists ever for free. BUT. There are lots of ways all over the place.

For this post, i'll assume you use all the download sites from a computer, and move files to other devices using a USB to relevant-port cable, but i think most work from mobile ? I haven't checked that. If you want to sort your files neatly i highly advise doing it from a PC anyway.

-> For Spotify specifically, i very recently found spotdownloader, you can put in a spotify link for a song, album or playlist and generate a download link. It gives high quality mp3s, with full metadata. Just know that the site seems to not do much when you click download, just let it sit for a bit and it will do its thing, slowly yes but eventually the files will appear in your download folder. There are instructions on the site (including for how to use a script to directly add a download button to spotify) so no need for me to explain much more.

(as a test for this post, i downloaded all of the Arcane S2 songs. It's not exactly perfect, I think the audio doesn't always directly come from spotify, so sometimes you might get some minor differences, like a few seconds more in the beginning or the end (for examples, i have one song with the netflix logo sound at the end, and another one with sound from a clip from arcane at the beginning), but nothing major)

-> A good place to start for other sources is cobalt.tools. You can paste links to youtube or even audio files that are directly on tumblr. The defaults setting are a bit weird, i personally go and set it to have a good automatic title and (this is important !!!) get the audio quality up to at least 256kb/s, otherwise sound quality is kinda bad (by defaults it sits at 128kb/s and it's a bit crunchy)

Since you can find most music on youtube, this is great for downloading individual tracks. It can also save video and audio files from other sources, including tiktok or soundcloud, but not spotify

It struggles with very long videos though, even when downloading just the audio (you just select "audio" on the main menu for that), i've tried with a 45 minutes video just to see, i got 9 minutes of video and 33 minutes of audio, not the entire video (not sure what's up with that, it's perfect with shorter stuff though)

Since you can find most music on youtube or soundcloud, with a bit of patience you can easily get almost whatever you want using this.

Up until very recently i had a working addon to download from youtube, but right now it doesn't work and I haven't found a working replacement yet.

-> Websites like Video Game Music Downloads are very good - and despite the name, not exclusively for video games(there is an anime section), but mostly - it's free to download tracks individually, they have full metadata. (You can access the one click album downloads by either donating - whichever amount and you're good to go for a set time -, uploading something yourself, or giving a referral link to someone else)

-> Some artists on bandcamp have stuff that you can directly download for free, but that's rare so you can check whether that's the case or not but don't count on it

//Now for reading them, just in case. Most computers have an included audio file reader, but i always recommend getting VLC, which is lightweight and can do everything you need with sometimes easier access to different options, and is compatible with every OS out there as well as most audio file formats. An important one, especially if you want to get your music on your phone, is metadata.

You access this screen by opening a file with VLC, accessing the track list screen (on the bottom or the left, it might not open by default), then right-clicking on the track and selecting Informations (or something similar i couldn't access VLC in english right now).

The most important stuff you might want to edit are the Title, Artist and Album fields, as those are the ones music readers are most likely to look at. I sadly did not find a way to mass edit these. On windows (up to win 10 at least, I did not test the later ones) you can also change these by right-clicking on files and accessing their properties, there is a metadata screen that you can edit, and if memory serves you can do that with several files selected at once.

VLC has a library section too, in which you can organise your songs, albums and everything if you want to. Personally I never used it, i prefer to rely on good old-fashioned folders to sort everything, but that's me and my habit of listening to albums rather than playlists so it can be useful, just not my thing personally.

//Now to read audio files on your phone !!

First, check your integrated music app as it normally should have fatures to read local music files, but it is important to note that you might not natively have an app that can easily read music locally. Which is terrible, i know, but I know that from first-hand experience (my current phone came with Google Play Music installed, which could read local files but was deprecated in favour of Youtube Music which cannot do that, so I had to get another app).

So just in case, here's a link to this app, which can read local files and sort them by artist, albums or even custom playlists. Comes with varying widgets you can put on your main menu for quick use, etc. It has ads, but not all the time and only in the UI, it never interrupts your music to play an ad. Might not be the best one, there are several others out there, and I don't have another example for Apple phones, sorry for that.

A thing to note : it will sort music based on metadata, which is why I deemed it important to edit downloaded music using VLC before putting said files on your phone. If you did not do it, there is a UI to edit metadata in the app, i personally find it a bit less practical but that might be a personal bias, technically it's fine. Also you can change album covers using said app, but you need to store the images on your phone too (there is a button to help find relevant album covers using the song titles and artist names, it just links to google images but it works)

@dog-with-anxiety here you go. I wanted to be extra precise just in case, and feel free to share the info.

#music download #i've always been a big advocate of getting your music stored somewhere but i get that the info on how to actually do that #especially if you aren't rich enough to pay for every single album-#isnt exactly obvious or the easiest to find if you dont know what to search for #so here #this is not an exhaustive list as that would probably be impossible #but i wanted to share at least the options i personally use. which are very versatile overall #without needing to resort to the old unreliable “google this album hard enough and you might find a link that's not super shady” technique

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blindrapture · 8 months ago

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Rapture: Before we begin.

We are about to start a long and involved process: I am about to start (tomorrow) posting OH GOD THE RAPTURE IS BURNING's final draft. As this story was first written here on this very tumblr, I have some experience with how to do this and what can go wrong.

Every day, with one single exception (May 22nd), I will post a chapter of the story (on both this tumblr and my Website). Each chapter is called a "log" (this story is also known as The Rapture Logs) and is titled with the day that it takes place. As the narrative persists from May 21st, 2011, to October 21st (and then a bit extra), I have elected to post the story now in the same way. The May 21st log will be posted on May 21st, the June 19th log will be posted on June 19th, et cetera.

As I much prefer to keep my hands on the 'product' even during delivery (there are many opportunities for something to go wrong), I do not plan on Scheduling any of these posts and will post them directly, myself, each day. I do not expect to adhere to a reliable schedule, so the exact time that a log is released may change per day. However, I may get into a rhythm. Can't promise anything. (If you want to.. what is it, Subscribe to my tumblr, make it so you get Notifications when I post? That may be a good idea. Up to you.)

After having done some testing, the exact method I use to bring these logs to tumblr this time causes some finicky formatting errors that tumblr does not allow me to fix. I've tried, many times, and they keep resetting. However, these errors are (so far) minor. When there is a long consecutive string of bolded or italicized text, for instance, you may see the bold/italics end before it should. If you see that kind of thing, I am 99% sure it is unintentional, and I am aware of it, and I am sorry. Hopefully it shouldn't be that distracting.

There are some... other missing features that the Website will have and the tumblr will not. So. The Website is the best way to read. And the tumblr will be here as a supplement, in case for some people it is just easier to stay on tumblr.

I am including links, at the bottom of each log, to the tumblr Table of Contents, and to the Next and Previous Logs. If you are following this release daily, the "Next" button will not function at first. Because the next log will not have been posted yet. Makes sense, but wanted to be clear.

Art will be included within the logs. Not every log. Not even many logs. But there will be art. And on those days, I will also post the art in a separate post after the log, giving full credit to the artist. There may be one exception I can think of, where the art is of a fundamental spoiler, and I'll.... figure something out for that event.

These logs are going to get long. They are not predictable. I mean, anything is predictable, and Rapture is easily long enough that you will start to engage with trying to predict it. But my point here is: Each day, ask your innermost heart, "Do I feel like reading this?" It is okay if the answer is "Not today." I do not require a certain number of Likes, Comments, and/or Subscribes before I post the remainder of the story. And this is not a Limited Release; Rapture will be available forever. I would like readers, of all stripes and sorts, including daily ones. But I also would like some spaghetti bolognese. Today might not be a spaghetti bolognese day, and I've made peace with that uncertainty. .....so, yeah, feel free to catch up with the story later if you must.

Now, let me remind you of the Trigger Warning that I had posted at the beginning of May.

Trigger Warnings: Sex, Gods, and Rock & Roll. (violence, to others and to the self. some swear words. teenage angst, cringe. death. insects. surrealism. symbolism. unpredictability of what will be explained and what won’t. sexual acts with dubious consent– you will be able to skip that part. religious iconography. and so much prog rock.)

The only joke in there is the word "some" before "swear words." I promise you, this story is not for everyone. I do not say that to brag; I say that to convey some of the responses I have gotten from previous drafts. I have accounted for one skip in the entire story, and it's pretty early on. Rapture hits the dubious consent theme in its least comfortable form early and then lays off of it. Being honest with you, earlier drafts did have more of it, and I cut out almost all of it, but I did not remove that early instance, even after eight big opportunities to do so. I deeply believe it is doing something beyond just shock. And so, if you choose to skip it, I have at least included a safe recap at the point where skippers resume.

That should be all the essential stuff. Now for some quick bits:

This story makes use of emoticons, including a couple that are not common. Keep in mind that every emoticon has eyes and a mouth. For instance: the .w. face is related to the owo face, but using the eyes from the ._. face. What .w. means is a sort of humble happiness, an "Aw, shucks!" (The < in <:D is intended as eyebrows, not a party hat.)

This story uses some real names, of people and places. The places are just... places. The people names are only used where permission was granted, and I explicitly only use them for the sake of aesthetic, personally enjoying the way a name looks or sounds. All the events and opinions portrayed are fictitious.

There is a caveat in the case of the main protagonist and narrator. He is a riddle of a self-insert, a caricatured snapshot in time of the author at 16. Think what you will about the merits of a self-insert. I promise you, every expectation you have has been taken care of. I promise you, I know what I am doing here.

Okay. That's a lot of words.

Honestly there's probably even more stuff I should say? But I don't want to overexplain this. Chances are, you're actually gonna be totally fine??? Chances are, Rapture in its final draft is totally readable, and not even all that shocking, and all this preparation is making it sound like it's gonna be way worse than it really is. That's the best-case scenario here. I'd rather be prepared.

So. So look. We are on tumblr. You have the ability to send me Asks. Ask me anything. Please, ask me anything. You want the best way to read? You want clarity on what the heck I was thinking when I wrote a weird opinion of Jordan's? You want to know when the story will get good? Ask me.

'Cause, starting tomorrow until the story's done, I'm only going to be posting about Rapture. I'm going full Rapture Mode. I will only reblog posts relevant to Rapture. I will only post links to the Website, or anything relevant to the story.

Right now, as of May 20th, I am still in the process of rewriting later sections of the story. I have hit some slowdown as there were some logs that took multiple days, but I am still over two months ahead of where you'll be, so there's a bit of buffer. I should be done around August? So you're watching me do a public performance here too. Trying to outrun my own story and finish it before the present catches up with me. We'll see. God, we'll see.

God, I hope my new readers are ready. Rapture was once called a "butchery of epistolary literature," are you ready to see what spawned that insult?

Am I ready to expose myself to the world once again?

Let's!!! Let's do this thing!!!

#ogtrib #oh god the rapture is burning #ogtrib preface

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theblackauthorhub · 25 days ago

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Book Launch Checklist: Everything You Need to Make Your Release a Hit

by: Ricky Patterson

12/28

Alright, family—your book is finished, it’s polished, and it’s time to share your hard work with the world. The excitement is real, but let’s keep it 100: a successful book launch isn’t just about publishing and hoping for the best. You’ve got to plan, prepare, and make noise so your book gets the attention it deserves. If you want your release to be a hit, here’s the ultimate Book Launch Checklist to guide you every step of the way.

1. Get Your Manuscript Right

Before you even think about launch day, make sure your book is tight. You don’t want to drop anything less than your best.

Edit and Proofread: Don’t skip this part. Whether you’re working with a pro or doing it yourself, editing is crucial. Get your grammar, structure, and flow on point. You want your readers to be hooked from the first page.

Formatting is Key: Your book’s look is everything, whether it’s digital or print. Make sure it’s formatted professionally so it reads smoothly and looks sharp on every device and page.

2. Design a Cover That Pops

Your book cover is the first thing people see, and trust, they’ll judge it. Make sure it’s on point.

Work with a Designer: Unless you’re a designer yourself, it’s a good idea to hire someone who knows what they’re doing. Your cover needs to speak to the heart of your book.

Get Feedback: Don’t be afraid to ask for opinions. Show it to friends or fans who know your work to see if the design matches the vibe you’re going for.

3. Pick the Right Launch Date

The timing of your release can make a huge difference in how your book performs.

Avoid Busy Seasons: Don’t drop your book in the middle of a bunch of big releases or major holidays. Find a window where your book can shine without being overshadowed.

Give Yourself Time: You don’t want to rush it. At least 6-12 months of prep is ideal to get everything together, from marketing to reaching out to influencers.

4. Build Your Author Platform

Before you drop your book, you need a strong foundation. Build that platform so you can easily connect with your readers.

Create Your Website: Your author website is like your home base. Make sure it’s clean, professional, and showcases your book. Include a buying link, your bio, and media info.

Get Social: Update your social media profiles to reflect your author brand. Post regularly and interact with your followers. This is where your tribe will come from.

Email List: If you don’t have an email list yet, start one now. Offer an exclusive preview of your book or behind-the-scenes content to get people to sign up.

5. Get Your Marketing Materials Together

A book launch needs a solid marketing plan. Don’t just post one picture and hope for the best—be intentional.

Create a Press Kit: Have a press release ready, plus images of your book cover, your author bio, and a few sample interview questions. This makes it easy for media outlets to talk about your book.

Write a Killer Book Description: You need a description that grabs people’s attention and makes them say, “I need to read this!” Keep it tight and to the point.

Social Media Content: Plan your posts in advance. Share teasers, sneak peeks, and quotes to keep your followers engaged.

Book Trailer (Optional): A quick, professional book trailer can go a long way in getting people excited. This is optional, but it could help get your book in front of a larger audience.

6. Reach Out to Reviewers and Influencers

Reviews are the lifeblood of a successful book launch. You need to get people talking about your book, and you want to do it early.

Send Out ARCs: Advanced Review Copies (ARCs) are critical. Send them to bloggers, reviewers, and influencers in your genre at least 6-8 weeks before the release date.

Connect with Influencers: Look for influencers on platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Offer them a free copy in exchange for a review or shout-out.

Collect Testimonials: Reach out to other authors or people you admire for testimonials to include on your site and promotional materials.

7. Engage Your Audience

Your readers are your biggest supporters, so make sure they feel included every step of the way.

Run Giveaways: Giveaways are an awesome way to get people excited. You can give away free copies of your book, swag, or exclusive content.

Host a Launch Event: Whether it’s virtual or in-person, a launch event is a great way to connect with your readers. Do a live reading, Q&A, or panel to celebrate the big day.

Create a Launch Team: This is your squad. Get a group of your biggest supporters to help promote your book by sharing posts, leaving reviews, and spreading the word.

8. Invest in Paid Advertising

Sometimes, a little extra push can go a long way. If you’re serious about getting your book out there, paid ads are a smart move.

Facebook/Instagram Ads: These platforms give you the ability to target your ideal readers based on interests, demographics, and behaviors. You can create custom ads that fit your budget and goals.

Amazon Ads: If you’re selling on Amazon, use Amazon’s ad platform to increase your book’s visibility.

Google Ads: This is a more advanced option, but Google Ads can help you reach a larger audience, especially if you want to promote your book beyond social media.

9. Stay Active During Launch Week

Your book is officially out—now it’s time to make noise and keep the momentum going.

Promote Every Day: Don’t go silent after launch day. Keep posting, sharing, and engaging with your audience on social media and through your email list.

Respond to Comments: Interact with readers who post reviews or comment on your social media posts. Show them love, because they’re showing you love.

Monitor Sales and Reviews: Track how your book is doing in terms of sales and reviews. If things aren’t picking up as expected, try adjusting your marketing strategy.

10. Post-Launch: Keep That Energy Going

The launch isn’t over just because the book is out. Keep pushing!

Ongoing Promotion: Continue to promote your book through social media, newsletters, and ads. You don’t want the buzz to die down too soon.

Schedule Future Promotions: Think about running promotions like discounts or bundles to give your book a second wave of attention.

Keep Collecting Reviews: Reviews are important long after launch day. Keep asking for reviews, testimonials, and shout-outs.

Final Thoughts

A successful book launch is a marathon, not a sprint. With the right plan in place, you can turn your book into the next must-read. So take your time, get your marketing materials together, and always keep the focus on your readers. Your book is a reflection of you and your hard work—now it’s time to let the world know. Let’s get it!

www.theblackauthorhub.com

#publishers #authors #writing tips

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the-mononoke-facade · 8 months ago

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I’ve been meaning to ask for a while – you purchased the digital copy of Mononoke Shu from Bookwalker, yes?

How easily can you purchase it with non-Japanese currency? And is the format a downloadable PDF of sorts? I’m trying to find a more affordable/shipping-free alternative to getting my Mononoke merch fix ;u;

Yeah, I got it from Bookwalker for around $5 USD

I had to use google translate to figure out what it was saying while I was going through the checkout (it's only on the Japanese side of website so it's not translated), but other than having to run it through that, it was a pretty standard online shopping experience, just make the account if you don't have one already and then go through the putting in the payment info and then you can grab the book whenever you want from your account. The price is listed in yen but they don't seem to have an issue converting to dollars or euros

Annoyingly, if you do buy it through Bookwalker, they have a proprietary file format they use to where you can only view it on their website or their mobile app, which if your internet is reliable is...okay, but it's not like you can download it and access it and you own it, you're pretty much just buying access to it on Bookwalker. On the other hand (and I'm not saying you *should* do this necessarily but I will put it out there) there's nothing stopping you from going into the browser version of their reader and using the snipping tool on any part of the page you might find interesting...or the whole page...or flipping through and getting every page to ad hoc an offline version for use. You know. Hypothetically. It's not like Crunchyroll where it'll block out the contents of the screen when you're using any kind of screen recording tool. So...there is that. Again, hypothetically, do with that information what you will

Hope this helps :)

(And if you're looking for other shipping-free merch and don't already have them, I know that the manga adaptions for the show are on Bookwalker too, probably with the same deal, but I haven't actually nabbed those just yet. I sure do know that they went out of their way to make the medicine vendor real pretty though)

#ask #mononoke #mononoke shu #mononoke merch talk

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deramin2 · 1 year ago

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How to edit captions with your video track

Why: I like making edits of my favorite series, but I hate redo captioning. But I also know quality captions are vital to some viewers (I also use them). To me adding captions is the bare minimum for release, but also hearing all the words and timing them or even re-timing existing captions is very hard with my disabilities and this has been a barrier to me releasing edits. But no more!

DaVinci Resolve lets you add a SubRip (SRT) subtitle track to any video and then edit it at the same time as the video. It also counts as an edit for the Go To Previous/Next Edit button. Con: You can't use the button to jump to big cuts in the video. Pro: You can now easily jump to the an existing timing for someone starting to talk.

DaVinci Resolve:

DaVinci Resolve is a professional video editor with widespread industry use that also has a no-strings-attached perpetual free version. It's got a ton of features in the free version that will more than cover basic editing. It's relatively easy to use (basic tutorials help). If you need more advanced tools you can upgrade to a full license. They don't pester you about it in the free version unless you try to use the advanced tools. I would already recommend using this program to anyone looking to get into video editing.

SRT Subtitles

The SRT subtitle standard is a type of text file that includes subtitles with timings and no formatting. They can be stored separately from a video file or embedded into certain files like MP4s. This is what you'll get if you download captions from YouTube (some YouTube downloaders embed them in the video, some don't). DVD rippers usually have several options. You want an SRT file. And there are websites that host fan-made or fan ripped subtitles for less officially obtained material. You can also make your own SRT file with timings within DaVinci Resolve or with an SRT editor. You can also use this to improve on official captions while making your edit.

A pro feature of DaVinci is it can do machine captioning and then you clean it up. You can also do this for free using YouTube by privately uploading the video, letting it auto-caption, and then editing the captions. You MUST edit machine captions. They are not accurate enough on their own to be accessible. But they can be a step in helping you get it done.

Extracting Embedded SRTs

DaVinci needs an SRT file to import captions. It doesn't seem to extract embedded SRT files from MP4s. Fortunately, it's very easy to extract them.

Subtitle Edit is an open source subtitle editor. It's a great tool if you're making your subtitles from scratch or editing existing ones.

For our purposes, simply open the video with the embedded subtitle track. Click save. Save the SRT file with a useful name somewhere convenient. I recommend using the same name as video it goes with in the same folder.

Adding a Subtitle Track to DaVinci

Rev Tutorial with text and video

Open your project in DaVinci Resolve. Add your SRT file to the bin.

Under "File" select "Import" then "Subtitle."

Or click the Import Media button and add it as normal.

From the bin, select your video and subtitles. Right-click them and select "Create New Timeline Using Selected Clips".

You should now have a timeline where the video and captions are reunited and can be edited together.

Editing the Subtitles

You can now move around the subtitles like any text overlay, including making them longer or shorter. If you click a subtitle you can edit the text and exact timing using numbers. Or edit the timing visually using the timeline. The Go To Previous/Next Edit button can now help you skip to a timing someone else made for you which is usually good enough for a fan cut, making your job easier. From the Edit view you can see the audio track visualizer along with the captions for a perfect cut.

Putting Your Tracks Together

If you're making a compilations, where's where things start to suck. The subtitles are not brought along when you next your clips. They will play over the video, but they won't export to an SRT video or be embedded. You're going to have to manually copy them. But at least now they're the correct length and you have them synced up. I would highly recommend you start your subtitles right at the beginning of the clip or put a fake one in to delete later.

Add your Timelines to a new timeline as usual.

Go to the timeline of the first clip.

With the clip at the beginning, right click the seeker bar and click the select to right button on the circular menu.

Use CTRL + left click to deselect the video/audio tracks. Copy the subtitle track.

Go to the combined timeline. Go to the start of your clip.

Paste the subtitles. You may have to add a subtitle track.

Copy the subtitles from the next clip.

Go to the combined timeline and move to the start of the that clip. Paste the new set in.

Rename your subtitle tracks with the language they're in or type.

Export

Go to the deliver tab. Choose the file name and location. If you're posting to YouTube, render as a single clip, and export to MP4. Under the Subtitle Settings, select "Export Subtitle", Format "As a separate file", and Export As "SRT Without Formatting". Select the subtitle tracks you want to export with the video.

Add to Render Queue. Then render the clips over on the right.

Uploading to YouTube

Upload the video as normal. At the Video Elements step, add subtitles. Select upload file, then with timings. Your subtitles should show up on the timeline and you can check they're correct and fix anything last minute. Do this for each language you add. Continue uploading as normal.

Conclusion

That's my process for adding existing subtitles to my videos. I've wanted something like this for ages so I was super pleased to learn Davinci Resolve has it. I hope this encourages other clip makers with some access to pre-made captions to use them for their videos. It's easy, free, and can even help speed up the editing process. It makes your videos much more accessible and creates a transcript that's searchable and timestamped for easy navigation and quote copying. I really recommend working this into your process so more fans who need captions can share in your work.

#long post #DaVinci Resolve #Video edits #fan edits #captions #tutorial #reference

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hetubers · 1 year ago

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How to Upload Video to He Tuber: A Step-by-Step Guide

Uploading a video to He Tuber can be a daunting task for beginners. However, with the right guidance, it can be a smooth and easy process. In this article, we will guide you through the steps of uploading a video to He Tuber, so you can share your content with the world.

First, it's important to have a HeTuber account. If you don't have one already, you can create one for free. Once you're signed in, click on the camera icon in the top right corner of the screen. This will take you to the upload page, where you can select the video file you want to upload.

Before uploading your video, it's important to make sure it meets YouTube's guidelines. This includes ensuring that it's not too long, doesn't contain copyrighted material, and doesn't violate any community guidelines. Once you've confirmed that your video meets these requirements, you can proceed with the upload process. By following these simple steps, you'll be able to share your content with millions of viewers on YouTube.

Creating an Account

Sign-Up Process

To upload videos on He Tuber, users must first create an account. The sign-up process is straightforward and easy to follow. Users will need to provide their email address, username, and password to create an account.

After filling in the required fields, users will need to verify their email address by clicking on the verification link sent to their email. Once the email is verified, users can log in to their account and start uploading videos.

Profile Setup

After creating an account, users can set up their profile by adding a profile picture, a cover photo, and a bio. The profile picture and cover photo are essential components of a user's profile as they serve as the first impression for viewers. Users should choose a profile picture and cover photo that are relevant to their channel's content.

In the bio section, users can describe themselves and their channel. It's important to keep the bio concise and informative, highlighting what viewers can expect from the channel. Users should also include links to their social media accounts and website (if applicable) to help viewers connect with them outside of He Tuber.

Overall, creating an account and setting up a profile on He Tuber is a simple process that can be completed in just a few minutes. By following these steps, users can start uploading videos and building their audience on the platform.

Preparing Your Video

Before uploading a video to He Tuber, it's important to make sure it meets certain requirements and is edited and enhanced to the best of your ability. This section will cover those aspects of preparing your video.

Video Requirements

He Tuber has certain requirements for the videos that can be uploaded to the platform. These requirements ensure that the videos are of high quality and can be easily viewed by viewers. Here are the video requirements for He Tuber:

File size: Videos must be less than 128GB in size.

Length: Videos can be up to 12 hours long.

Resolution: He Tuber supports resolutions up to 8K.

Format: Videos must be in one of the following formats: MP4, AVI, WMV, MOV, MPEG, FLV, 3GP, and WebM.

Aspect ratio: He Tuber supports aspect ratios from 16:9 to 4:3.

Make sure your video meets these requirements before uploading it to He Tuber.

Editing and Enhancements

To make your video stand out on He Tuber, it's important to edit and enhance it to the best of your ability. Here are some tips for editing and enhancing your video:

Use a good video editing software: There are many video editing software options available, both free and paid. Choose one that suits your needs and skill level.

Cut out unnecessary footage: Make sure your video is concise and to the point. Cut out any footage that doesn't add value to the video.

Add transitions: Transitions can make your video look more professional and polished. Use them sparingly and appropriately.

Add music and sound effects: Music and sound effects can enhance the mood and tone of your video. Make sure they are appropriate and not too distracting.

Use color correction: Color correction can make your video look more vibrant and appealing. Use it to correct any color issues in your footage.

By following these tips, you can make sure your video is edited and enhanced to the best of your ability before uploading it to He Tuber.

Uploading the Video

Uploading a video to He Tuber is a simple process that can be done in just a few easy steps. In this section, we will guide you through the process of uploading a video to He Tuber.

File Selection

Before you can upload a video to He Tuber, you need to select the video file you want to upload. To do this, click on the "Select File" button on the upload page. This will open a file browser window that will allow you to select the video file you want to upload.

Once you have selected the file, you will see a progress bar that shows the upload progress. The length of time it takes to upload the video will depend on the size of the file and the speed of your internet connection.

Upload Options

After you have selected the video file, you will be presented with a number of upload options. These options allow you to customize the video's title, description, and tags. You can also choose whether you want the video to be public or private.

It is important to note that He Tuber has strict guidelines regarding the content that can be uploaded to the platform. Make sure that your video complies with these guidelines before you upload it.

In conclusion, uploading a video to He Tuber is a simple process that can be done in just a few easy steps. By following the instructions above, you can upload your video to He Tuber and share it with the world.

Video Details

Title and Description

When uploading a video to He Tuber, it is important to provide a clear and concise title and description. The title should accurately reflect the content of the video and be attention-grabbing to entice viewers to watch. The description should provide additional information about the video, such as the topic or purpose, and can include links to relevant websites or social media accounts.

Tags and Categories

Tags and categories help viewers find your video when searching on He Tuber. Choose tags that accurately describe the content of your video, and use relevant categories to make it easier for viewers to find your video. It is important to select tags and categories that are appropriate for your video to avoid misleading viewers.

Thumbnail Selection

The thumbnail is the image that viewers will see when browsing videos on He Tuber. It is important to select a thumbnail that accurately represents the content of your video and is attention-grabbing to entice viewers to click and watch. You can choose a thumbnail from the video itself or upload a custom thumbnail. It is recommended to use a high-quality image with clear and easy-to-read text if applicable.

Overall, providing accurate and attention-grabbing video details is crucial when uploading a video to He Tuber. By following these guidelines, you can help your video stand out and reach a wider audience.

Publishing Your Video

Once you have finished editing your video and are ready to share it with the world, it's time to publish it on He Tuber. Here are some important things to keep in mind when publishing your video.

Privacy Settings

He Tuber offers several privacy settings for your video. You can choose to make your video public, private, or unlisted. Public videos can be seen by anyone on the platform, while private videos can only be seen by people you invite. Unlisted videos can be viewed by anyone with the link, but they won't show up in search results or on your channel page.

When choosing your privacy settings, consider who you want to see your video and how you want it to be discovered. If you're uploading a personal video for friends and family, a private or unlisted setting may be best. If you're creating content for a wider audience, a public setting may be more appropriate.

Scheduling Release

If you want to publish your video at a specific time in the future, you can use He Tuber's scheduling feature. This allows you to set a date and time for your video to be published automatically.

Scheduling your video release can be useful if you want to build anticipation for your content or if you want to make sure your video goes live at a time when your audience is most active. It can also help you stay organized and plan your content strategy in advance.

To schedule your video release, simply select the "Schedule" option when uploading your video and choose the date and time you want it to go live.

By following these tips for publishing your video on He Tuber, you can ensure that your content is seen by the right audience and at the right time.

#tiktoks #video post #vines #hetuber #video #upload #youtube

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alyanajuliet · 2 years ago

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Elevate Your Designs: How PSD Mockups Can Transform Your Creative Projects!

In the world of design, presentation is everything. Whether you are a graphic designer, web developer, or marketing professional, the way you showcase your work can make a significant impact on its reception. This is where PSD mockups come into play. PSD, short for Photoshop Document, is a file format that allows designers to create and manipulate realistic, high-quality mockups. In this article, we explore the transformative power of PSD mockups and how they can elevate your creative projects to new heights.

1. Visual Realism: Bringing Designs to Life

One of the most compelling advantages of using PSD mockups is their ability to bring designs to life with visual realism. By integrating your designs into a mockup template, you can present them in a context that closely resembles the final product. Whether it's showcasing a website on various devices, presenting a branding concept on packaging, or displaying a poster in a realistic setting, PSD mockups provide a visually immersive experience that captures the essence of your design. This level of realism helps clients and stakeholders envision the end result, making it easier to communicate and sell your ideas.

2. Streamlined Workflow: Saving Time and Effort

In the fast-paced world of design, efficiency is key. PSD mockups offer a streamlined workflow that can save you valuable time and effort. Instead of starting from scratch and creating physical prototypes or coding entire websites, you can utilize pre-designed mockup templates. These templates are customizable, allowing you to easily insert your own designs and customize them to fit your specific project requirements. With ready-to-use mockups at your disposal, you can focus on perfecting the design itself, rather than spending hours on the technical aspects of presentation.

3. Consistency and Branding: Establishing a Cohesive Identity

Maintaining consistency and a cohesive brand identity is vital for any creative project. PSD mockups enable you to present your designs in a consistent and professional manner, aligning with your brand guidelines and visual aesthetics. By using mockup templates that are customized to match your brand elements, colors, and typography, you can create a cohesive visual identity across different platforms and mediums. This consistency not only enhances your brand's recognition and professionalism but also helps build trust and credibility among your target audience.

4. Client Engagement: Showcasing the Possibilities

When working with clients or stakeholders, it's crucial to showcase the possibilities and potential of your designs. PSD mockups provide an excellent platform for presenting multiple design variations and options. By presenting your designs in realistic settings and contexts, you can effectively demonstrate how they will look and function in real-world scenarios. This visual representation helps clients visualize the end product, fostering better understanding and engagement. Additionally, mockups allow for easy iteration and feedback, enabling you to make adjustments and revisions based on client preferences, leading to a more collaborative and satisfying design process.

Conclusion

PSD mockups are a game-changer in the world of design, offering numerous benefits that can transform your creative projects. From visual realism and streamlined workflows to consistency in branding and enhanced client engagement, mockups elevate your designs to new levels of professionalism and impact. By leveraging the power of PSD mockups, you can effectively communicate your ideas, impress clients and stakeholders, and ultimately deliver outstanding results that leave a lasting impression. Embrace the power of PSD mockups and unlock the true potential of your creative projects!

Check out: Download A4 Resume CV Free PSD Mockup

#psd mockup #mockup

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resumeera-xyz · 4 days ago

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How to Optimize Resume Format PDF | Download Now Free for Everyone

In today’s competitive job market, your resume is your first impression. You want to ensure that it’s not just well-written but also professionally formatted and visually appealing. One of the best ways to do this is by using a resume format PDF. A well-organized and correctly formatted resume can help you stand out to hiring managers, even in a pool of hundreds of applicants.

In this article, I’ll walk you through how to optimize your resume with a resume format PDF, why it's important, and how you can easily download templates for free. Whether you're a recent graduate or someone looking to advance their career, this guide is for you.

Table of Contents

Why Use a Resume Format PDF?

How to Optimize Your Resume Format PDF

Benefits of Using a Resume Format PDF

How to Download a Resume Format PDF for Free

Tips for Designing Your Resume in PDF

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Key Takeaways

FAQ

Conclusion

Why Use a Resume Format PDF?

Before diving into the specifics of how to optimize your resume, it’s important to first understand why resume format PDFs are so widely used. Here are the primary reasons why PDF is the top choice for resume submission:

1. Universal Compatibility

The PDF format ensures that your resume will look the same on any device or operating system. Whether the recruiter is using a Windows PC, Mac, or even viewing your resume on a mobile phone, it will appear exactly as you intended. This consistency is vital because it maintains the integrity of your resume’s formatting, fonts, and layout.

2. Professional Appearance

A resume format PDF provides a clean, polished, and professional look. Unlike editable formats like Microsoft Word or Google Docs, a PDF locks your formatting in place. No matter where it’s opened, it will maintain your original design.

3. ATS-Friendly

Many employers and recruiters use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to scan resumes before they are even seen by human eyes. A resume format PDF is more likely to be parsed correctly by these systems than other formats, ensuring that your resume gets in front of the right people.

4. File Size

PDFs can be compressed without losing quality. This makes them ideal for emailing or uploading to job portals, ensuring your resume is easy to download and quick to open.

5. Security

PDFs can be password-protected and encrypted, offering an additional layer of security for your personal information. Moreover, once your resume is in PDF format, it can no longer be accidentally edited, ensuring that no unauthorized changes are made.

How to Optimize Your Resume Format PDF

Optimizing your resume format PDF means making sure that it is as effective as possible in helping you get noticed by hiring managers. Here's how to do it:

1. Choose the Right Template

Start by selecting a template that fits your industry, career level, and personal style. Whether you’re applying for a creative role or a corporate position, your resume should reflect your professional brand. Free templates can be downloaded from websites like resumeera.xyz, which provides a wide range of customizable, ATS-friendly templates.

2. Focus on the Layout

The layout of your resume is critical. It should be clean, easy to read, and organized. Consider the following tips for an optimized layout:

Use clear headings for each section (e.g., "Work Experience," "Education," "Skills").

Choose legible fonts like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman.

Keep margins consistent (1 inch is standard).

Use bullet points to highlight accomplishments, making it easy for recruiters to skim through your resume.

3. Highlight Key Information

When it comes to resume content, you want to highlight the most important information first. This includes:

Contact Information: Ensure your name, phone number, and email address are at the top.

Summary or Objective: A brief, impactful summary of your skills and career goals.

Skills: A section for both technical and soft skills.

Experience: List your work history with accomplishments, not just job duties.

Education: Include your most recent educational achievements.

Each section should be succinct yet informative, giving hiring managers a quick yet thorough overview of your qualifications.

4. Use Keywords for ATS Optimization

Many employers use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to scan resumes for relevant keywords. Optimizing your resume format PDF with industry-specific keywords can help ensure your resume gets past the ATS and into the hands of a recruiter. Here’s how to do it:

Study the job description: Use language directly from the job description in your resume.

Include relevant certifications and technical skills.

Avoid images or graphics that ATS might not be able to parse.

5. Proofread for Errors

Nothing detracts from a resume more than typos and grammatical errors. Always proofread your resume before submitting it. You can also use tools like Grammarly to catch any overlooked mistakes.

Benefits of Using a Resume Format PDF

The resume format PDF offers several benefits that make it the go-to choice for job seekers:

1. Uniformity and Consistency

As mentioned earlier, PDFs ensure that your resume looks the same on any device. This consistency is crucial, as it prevents formatting errors that could make your resume appear unprofessional.

2. Easier to Share

When you create a PDF, you can email it or upload it directly to job boards without worrying about compatibility issues. It also allows for a quicker download, which is something recruiters appreciate.

3. Security and Protection

With a resume format PDF, you can add password protection or restrict editing, giving you more control over how your resume is handled.

4. ATS-Compatible

Most modern Applicant Tracking Systems can read PDFs. This means that you don't have to worry about your resume getting rejected by the system, as long as you've optimized it correctly.

How to Download a Resume Format PDF for Free

If you're ready to get started, downloading a resume format PDF is easy and completely free. Here’s how:

Visit Resumeera.xyz: This site offers a wide range of customizable resume templates for every career level.

Choose Your Template: Browse through the available options and choose a template that fits your style and profession.

Download for Free: After selecting your template, download the resume as a resume format PDF.

Customize Your Template: Open the downloaded PDF in a PDF editor or use an online tool to make adjustments to fit your personal information.

By using a professional template from Resumeera.xyz, you can save time and ensure that your resume is designed in a way that stands out.

Tips for Designing Your Resume in PDF

Creating an optimized resume format PDF doesn’t just mean filling out a template — it also involves making design choices that are both aesthetically pleasing and professional. Here are some design tips:

Use White Space Wisely: Don’t overcrowd your resume with text. Use white space to create a clean layout that’s easy to navigate.

Choose the Right Font: Stick to classic, readable fonts like Helvetica or Georgia. Avoid overly stylized fonts that can be difficult to read.

Limit Color Use: Keep colors to a minimum. A professional, clean look works best for resumes. If you want to add color, choose one or two accent colors.

Prioritize Content: The content of your resume should always come first. Ensure that it is clear, concise, and impactful.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even with a resume format PDF, there are several common mistakes that job seekers often make. Here are a few to avoid:

Using an unprofessional email address: Always use a professional email address for job applications.

Overloading the resume with unnecessary details: Keep your resume concise. Focus on the most relevant experience and skills.

Forgetting to tailor your resume: Customize your resume for each job you apply to by using keywords from the job description.

Using poor-quality images: If you choose to include a photo, ensure it’s high quality.

Key Takeaways

A resume format PDF ensures your resume appears consistent across all devices, which is crucial for making a professional first impression.

Optimizing your resume for ATS systems can help ensure that your resume gets noticed by recruiters.

Using free templates from trusted sites like Resumeera.xyz saves you time while ensuring a professional and ATS-friendly format.

Always proofread your resume and avoid common mistakes like excessive text and poor formatting.

FAQ

1. Can I edit a resume format PDF?

Yes! You can use a PDF editor to make changes to your resume format PDF. Some online tools like Adobe Acrobat or Smallpdf allow you to edit and modify your document.

2. What is the best resume format for 2025?

The resume format PDF continues to be the best option for 2025. It offers consistency, security, and compatibility with ATS, making it the ideal choice for job seekers.

3. How do I download a resume template for free?

You can download free resume format PDFs from websites like Resumeera.xyz. Simply choose a template, customize it, and download it in PDF format.

Conclusion

Optimizing your resume with a resume format PDF is one of the most effective ways to ensure it stands out in the competitive job market. Not only does it offer professional presentation, but it also guarantees that your resume will look consistent across different platforms and devices. By following the tips outlined in this article, you can create a resume that is ATS-friendly, easy to read, and visually appealing.

Start by downloading a free template from Resumeera.xyz, and begin customizing your resume today. A professional resume format could be the key to landing your next big opportunity!

#create resume online #resumeera #modern resume builder #frontend resume builder #online resume platform #react-based resume builder #professional resume templates #resume builder for job seekers #resume builder #resume customization #resume format #resume format pdf #resume format for fresher #simple resume #simple resume for fresher

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visionlanguageexpert1 · 10 days ago

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Where Can I Practice PTE for Free?

Preparing for the Pearson Test of English (PTE) requires dedication, the right strategies, and regular practice. However, not everyone can afford expensive preparation courses or materials. The good news is that there are many ways to PTE free practice test! Below are some effective and easily accessible resources to help you prepare for the test without spending a dime.

1. Official PTE Website

The official PTE Academic website offers free sample questions and practice tests. These resources are designed to simulate the actual test environment, giving you an idea of what to expect. The website also provides guidance on test format and scoring criteria.

2. Free PTE Mock Tests

Many online platforms provide free PTE mock tests. These mock tests allow you to assess your performance in a timed environment, helping you identify strengths and areas for improvement. Websites like Vision Language Experts offer high-quality mock tests with scorecards, enabling you to track your progress and improve effectively.

3. YouTube Channels

There are numerous YouTube channels dedicated to PTE preparation. Channels like Vision Language Experts’ YouTube channel provide video tutorials, tips, and strategies to tackle each section of the exam. Watching these videos can give you valuable insights into common mistakes and how to avoid them.

4. Free Mobile Apps

Several mobile apps offer free practice materials for PTE. Apps such as “PTE Tutorials” and “PTE Preparation” provide practice questions, vocabulary-building exercises, and tips on managing time during the test.

5. Online Forums and Communities

Joining PTE preparation forums and communities, such as Reddit or Facebook groups, can be extremely helpful. Members often share free resources, tips, and advice. Additionally, these communities can be a great source of motivation and support during your preparation journey.

6. Educational Websites

Websites like Vision Language Experts and others often provide free resources, including practice questions, study guides, and webinars. These resources are tailored to help students understand the test format and enhance their skills.

7. Library Resources

Many public libraries offer free access to PTE preparation books and materials. Some even have online resources or e-books that you can access from the comfort of your home.

8. Practice with Friends

Practicing with a study partner can be both effective and enjoyable. You can work on speaking tasks, review each other’s writing, and discuss strategies for improvement.

Conclusion

Preparing for PTE doesn’t have to break the bank. With free resources like mock tests, YouTube tutorials, mobile apps, and online forums, you can practice effectively and achieve your desired score. Start exploring these options today and take the first step toward PTE success!

For comprehensive guidance and personalized support, Vision Language Experts is always here to help you. Visit our website for free PTE practice resources and expert advice.

#free PTE mock tests

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cubicdash · 14 days ago

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Why Every Business Should Consider Using a Design Bundle for Their Next Project

It’s time to create a new brochure for your company. As before, you open a basic design program and put something together. The result is okay, but it still lacks the “wow factor” you want your customers to see and feel when they look at it.

If this sounds familiar, you might have thought about hiring a professional designer before—and here’s why you should think about it again. A professional can give your brochures and print materials a polished, impressive look that truly represents your company and helps you stand out.

Your Brand Image Matters!

You can’t hide poor design work. People judge your business based on how it looks—your logo, brochures, website, and everything in between. If your brand doesn’t look great, potential customers might not give you a chance, even if your services are the best.

You risk poor printing results if a print piece is designed with low-quality graphics and fonts. Blurry, unclear brochures don’t make a good impression, and you won’t want to hand them out to customers. Fixing these mistakes means spending extra time and money on reprints—resources that could be better spent elsewhere.

Your brand image is too important to leave to chance. This is where a design bundle can help. Opting for a graphic design bundle ensures your business looks its best and stands out. You get high-quality visuals from the start with professionally made design elements. It saves you the hassle of costly reprints, and your brochures look sharp, clear, and ready to impress your audience.

What Are Design Bundles?

If creating cohesive, professional marketing materials has been a challenge, a design bundle is the solution you need to make a strong impression and showcase your business with pride.

With a design bundle, you can access professional, pre-made elements tailored to give your company a polished and consistent look across all your marketing materials. This ensures that your brochures, flyers, and other print pieces reflect your brand’s identity and are easily recognizable to your customers.

A design bundle can also save you time and money. Instead of starting from scratch or relying on limited in-house resources, you’ll have high-quality design assets ready.

Benefits of Using Design Bundles

A design bundle is ideal for businesses looking to improve their marketing materials. With designs that proudly showcase your brand, save time, reduce costs, and make a lasting impression.

Cost-Effectiveness

Hiring a professional designer for every project can be expensive, especially for smaller businesses with tight budgets. Design bundles provide a cost-effective solution by offering a variety of pre-made, high-quality design assets at an affordable price. Instead of paying for individual designs, you get everything you need in one bundle, saving you money while achieving a professional look.

Time-Saving

Creating designs from scratch can take a lot of time, especially if you don’t have advanced design skills. A design bundle eliminates this challenge by giving you access to ready-to-use templates, graphics, and fonts. With everything pre-designed, you can quickly customize and finish your brochures, flyers, or online materials, freeing up time to focus on other essential business tasks.

Professional Quality

Design bundles are created by skilled professionals, ensuring every element meets industry standards for quality. From crisp graphics to clean fonts and layouts, you get polished designs that help your business look credible and trustworthy. This professional edge ensures your materials leave a lasting impression on your audience.

Versatility

Whether you’re creating brochures, flyers, social media graphics, business cards, or website elements, design bundles offer versatile assets to meet all your branding needs. With various styles, themes, and formats included, you can adapt the designs for print or digital use, ensuring your brand stays consistent across all platforms.

Ease of Use

You don’t need to be a design expert to use a design bundle. Most bundles are built with user-friendliness in mind, allowing you to edit templates using standard design software easily. You can create professional-grade materials in minutes with some customization—like adding your logo, brand colors, and messaging.

Licensing Advantages

One of the biggest perks of using design bundles is their licensing flexibility. Most bundles allow you to use the assets for personal or commercial projects without restrictions. This enables you to confidently create everything from marketing brochures to online ads, knowing you have full rights to use the designs.

Types of Design Bundles Cubicdash Offers

Each of our design bundles helps you save time, ensure consistency across your branding, and create high-quality materials, whether for digital or print purposes. We at Cubicdash provide everything you need to represent your business professionally and stand out.

Logo Design: A logo design bundle typically includes a variety of logo templates, icons, and graphic elements that can be customized to fit your brand identity. These bundles are perfect for businesses creating or refreshing logos with professional, easily editable designs.

Complete Branding: This bundle offers a full suite of design elements to establish a cohesive brand image. It may include logos, business card templates, letterheads, color palettes, and fonts, all designed to create a unified and professional look for your business across all platforms.

Social Media Graphics: Social media design bundles provide pre-designed templates for posts, banners, stories, and ads on multiple social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. These graphics are optimized for each platform’s specifications and can be easily customized to maintain consistent branding on social media.

Flyers/Brochures: Flyer and brochure design bundles include templates for marketing materials like event flyers, promotional brochures, and informational handouts. These templates offer eye-catching layouts that can be tailored to fit your company’s message and style, making it easier to create professional, print-ready materials.

Ad Creatives: Ad creative bundles provide templates for digital and print advertisements, including banners, display ads, and social media ads. With various styles and formats, these bundles help businesses create attention-grabbing ads quickly, ensuring consistent branding and a professional appearance.

Pro Illustrations: For businesses that need unique, high-quality illustrations, this design bundle offers a collection of customizable illustrations for use in websites, brochures, or marketing materials. Whether it’s icons, illustrations for infographics, or decorative graphics, these bundles allow you to incorporate professional artwork into your designs.

Presentation Design: Presentation design bundles include templates and slides for creating impactful PowerPoint, Google Slides, or other formats. These bundles help businesses produce sleek, professional presentations with pre-designed layouts, charts, and graphics that enhance your content and captivate your audience.

Marketing Collateral: Marketing collateral bundles include various materials, such as brochures, flyers, posters, newsletters, and other print or digital resources. These bundles provide a set of professionally designed templates that businesses can customize to create cohesive marketing materials across different channels.

UI/UX (User Interface/User Experience): UI/UX design bundles focus on creating high-quality templates and elements for websites or mobile apps to improve user interaction and experience. These bundles may include wireframes, UI kits, icons, buttons, and templates that streamline the design process and ensure a user-friendly experience.

Tips for Choosing the Right Design Bundle

The following tips can help you find the perfect design bundle that meets your goals, saves time and effort, and enables you to create stunning, professional-quality materials that proudly showcase your business.

Identify Your Needs

Start by understanding your project requirements. Are you designing a logo, social media graphics, brochures, or a complete branding kit? Knowing your needs will help you select a design bundle that aligns with your goals and saves time.

Look for Customizability

Choose a bundle that offers flexible, easy-to-edit templates. Ensure the design assets are compatible with popular design tools like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Canva, or PowerPoint so you can customize fonts, colors, and layouts to match your brand identity.

Quality Over Quantity

More isn’t always better. Focus on bundles with clean, professional designs that align with modern trends. High-quality graphics and templates ensure your marketing materials look polished and professional.

Check for Licensing Terms

Pay attention to the licensing terms. Make sure the bundle allows personal and commercial use so you can confidently use the assets for marketing materials, ads, and other business purposes.

Ensure Design Consistency

Look for bundles that offer a cohesive set of templates and design elements. Consistency across your logos, flyers, and social media graphics helps build a recognizable and trustworthy brand image.

Focus on Versatility

Opt for design bundles that offer versatility in file formats (e.g., PSD, AI, PNG, SVG) and usability across different mediums, such as print, digital ads, presentations, and social media platforms. This will give you maximum value for your investment.

Check Reviews and Previews

Before purchasing, review customer feedback and preview the bundle’s design elements. This will give you an idea of the quality, ease of use, and how well the assets match your needs.

Budget-Friendly Options

Design bundles are meant to save time and money, so choose one that fits within your budget while still delivering the quality you need. Look for bundle deals or seasonal discounts for added savings.

Scalability for Future Projects

Consider your long-term needs. A well-rounded design bundle with multiple assets can be used for current and future projects, saving you the hassle of buying additional templates later.

Why Choose Graphic Design Bundle from Cubicdash

How you present your business makes all the difference. Investing in your brand is like building a solid foundation—it strengthens your presence and helps you grab your audience’s attention. Design bundles offer you the chance to work with high-quality assets from some of the web’s top designers at a fraction of the price of creating them yourself.

Schedule a detailed consultation if you’re curious about how our design bundle can help your business. You can also fill out the form below or email us at [email protected] to learn more.

#graphic design

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