Isra Sravenheart's Blog - Posts Tagged "blogging"
Finding Inspiration
Hello all today I thought I would talk about inspiration.
As a writer, inspiration is a big part of the creative process when you write, you need something to be inspired by whether a person, subject or an occurrence in your life that just inspires you.
But what if none of these things are present how do you find that inspiration to keeps the creative juices flowing?
How do you get inspired?
What motivates you to keep you going so that creative energy doesn't stop and goes where you want it to go?
#
Inspiration is an essential part for all of us whether writer, artist, whatever field you are in, you need something to inspire you.
Feel free to leave me a comment below and tell me what inspires you.
My inspirations are things in my daily life that happen and I think oooh actually I could use that and turn it into something awesome and inspiration can come when I am out and about, in bed, watching a movie or just being quiet and sometimes in the shower which proves my next point you never know where your next piece of inspiration will come from and when it will come. :)
Lady Isra finds her inspiration through spending time in nature in the forest where she lives.
You read more about Lady Isra in Her Blackened Soul. Get your copy of it here.
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Blackened...
USA: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1504...
Kindle/ Ebook: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Blackened...
You can also find my book on the new website where I will be posting blogs as well as updates on http://www.israsravenheartauthor.com/
Feel free to follow me on Twitter https://twitter.com/israsravenheart and the facebook fan page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author... to not miss any updates ;)
Until next time, Isra xx
As a writer, inspiration is a big part of the creative process when you write, you need something to be inspired by whether a person, subject or an occurrence in your life that just inspires you.
But what if none of these things are present how do you find that inspiration to keeps the creative juices flowing?
How do you get inspired?
What motivates you to keep you going so that creative energy doesn't stop and goes where you want it to go?
#
Inspiration is an essential part for all of us whether writer, artist, whatever field you are in, you need something to inspire you.
Feel free to leave me a comment below and tell me what inspires you.
My inspirations are things in my daily life that happen and I think oooh actually I could use that and turn it into something awesome and inspiration can come when I am out and about, in bed, watching a movie or just being quiet and sometimes in the shower which proves my next point you never know where your next piece of inspiration will come from and when it will come. :)
Lady Isra finds her inspiration through spending time in nature in the forest where she lives.
You read more about Lady Isra in Her Blackened Soul. Get your copy of it here.
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Blackened...
USA: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1504...
Kindle/ Ebook: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Blackened...
You can also find my book on the new website where I will be posting blogs as well as updates on http://www.israsravenheartauthor.com/
Feel free to follow me on Twitter https://twitter.com/israsravenheart and the facebook fan page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author... to not miss any updates ;)
Until next time, Isra xx
The truth that Psychic's DON'T want YOU to KNOW!
Hello everyone, Isra here. I really didn't plan this post today but as a spell caster and witch it is a topic that comes up a LOT. Lots of people who contact spell casters such as myself, also contact psychics... Now just so you know I am indeed, psychic but I don't exploit my gifts and I try to help as best as I can, although I don't do this professionally as my love is in the creative pursuits but of course I still have a gift so I try to help as much as I can when I can.
Now the truth is most psychics are just nasty people who want to take your money and then after, they have your money, you are simply just another transaction to them.
Here's another truth: Psychics rely on you being unhappy, confused and stuck. This is what keeps them in business.
It's a hard pill to swallow but this is what gets them the most readings and of course the most money. Now I'm not saying all psychics are money grabbing, nasty imbeciles because that isn't true, there are some nice ones out there. I have yet to meet someone who is psychic and doesn't thrive off the financial side of it, but there are nice ones out there. I just have yet to encounter them.
Now I get a lot of messages concerning psychics so I'm more than qualified to post this. And I'm sure this post will ruffle a few feathers but I want to give people guidance, before they go for a reading.
As mentioned before I'm a witch and spell caster as well as psychically gifted and this is the most common thing I get sent in messages by people who come to me for help:
“Do you think you could read into things and tell me if (insert name here) is coming back to me, or if certain thing is happening.. I have bought a few readings and they said yes.”
Okay so this happens a lot, people buy readings from about five or six, sometimes more psychics in the hope that they can get the answers they need or want... It's most commonly, want.
Now when you buy a reading, you are supposed to sit back and let things play out. Most psychics won't actually tell you this, but you aren't meant to get another reading for six months. Let's be real if a psychic had to wait six months for a client they'd be close to broke. But of course, what they also don't tell you, is that too many readings, as I mentioned, at once can seriously confuse you and the energies and this can also produce a very negative thing. Because things can happen and manifest that you don't want too and nobody wants that, but again most psychics won't tell you this.
Okay now I'm going to give you some DO's and DON'Ts when you purchase a reading, if you absolutely think you need to.
Here are the DO's:
1. Do give your real birth name, even if it is only your first. It will help with the connection.
2. You can send a photo of yourself if it is an online reading. This won't allow your psychic to get any other information about you, unless they are truly psychic.
3. Communicate with your psychic truthfully so that the best possible connection can be formed.
Here are the DON'Ts:
1. Don't give out your date of birth. This can allow your psychic to do so much research about you and know more than they should, if they are truly gifted they won't ask for this.
2. Don't give out too much information about your situation to the psychic, they should be able to pick up on this themselves without you filling them in on vital information that they could use to give a reading. Yes believe me, this happens!
3. Don't give out your credit card number, address or any other personal or financial information, you could have your credit card cloned, or they may be able to obtain credit in your name and use your name illegally, (identity fraud)
4. Don't purchase a reading when you are unhappy, low or suicidal, I know this one might be hard to do, but any nasties out there, will absolutely thrive on your state of mind and it could even lead you to believing things that aren't true.
One more thing: If a psychic ever tells you the following, please do not hand over any money, don't go through with the reading and run like hell!
“You are cursed but I can remove it for $600, (or any amount)”
If this happens, please ignore it and do not hand over any money. If a psychic tells you, you are cursed, do not believe it. They are preying on your vulnerability and fear and are banking on you believing you are cursed and that you will be relying on them to help YOU. Of course you are never in any danger, until you believe this nonsense.
So you believe you need a reading! Well I'm going to give you some things to do that you can do yourself, without parting without a single penny.
1. Meditate, get into your calm state and focus on your issue and ask for guidance.... you can also ask your spirit guide to connect with you and give you this guidance too. We all have spirit guides and they are here to help us, whether we know that or believe it or not.
2. Talk to a friend, who doesn't know about your situation and don't fill them in too much. Now I know this might sound silly, but we all use our intuition and someone who doesn't know about it might be able to pick up more than what you can. They could also advise you on what to do, you don't have to take their advice but use your judgement when you decide what to do.
3. This one you may find surprising. Type in “free tarot reading” on google, there will be at least five websites at the top of this page where you can get an automated tarot reading without having to part with a penny. Now this normally shows as a deck of tarot cards and you will see a message on the screen asking you to focus on your issue. Next you will be asked to choose your cards, so you would simply click on the ones you are drawn too, this may not be the best solution, but it may provide some answers not previously found and if it doesn't it's free and it's done by a computer, so no cost and no shame or embarrassment.
4. Learn to read tarot cards yourself. This is not as hard as it sounds, again we all have intuitive gifts, it's just sometimes we are not aware of them or sometimes we are too aware of them and fearful of them also. Most tarot cards will come with a guide book that will give you the basic meanings, but I want you to actually “read” the card. Study it carefully. Read what it feels like. Listen carefully for anything that comes to mind as you look at it. Hidden messages can come in the form of images, words and even whole sentences, have your senses open and your mind open also. Pay attention to how you feel when you see the card. This all helps to form a better interpretation that comes from the heart, rather than the ego.
5. Make sure you are rested, are eating well and getting enough exercise and sleep. Because if you are not, all of these can contribute to low mood, bad state of mind as well as depression, confusion and feeling like you are off balance. Which a psychic will use to their advantage.
If you have done all of these steps and you still feel like you need a reading then proceed carefully.
Psychics are everywhere online, they are on google, they have their own websites and some you will find on websites such as Etsy, Ebay etc. These are the ones I would advise you to steer clear of the most.
Also be cautious of the ones that charge certain amount of money per minute. In most cases, they call you up and process your credit card for payment. Now after the reading, they would then charge your card for however long you were on the phone to them for, but I'd be extra vigilant here because they could be charging you more and you don't know. Again I would totally avoid these types, most of all.
When you select a reader, take a look at their rating and their reviews. If they have a lot of good reviews that's a sign that people have been satisfied with their service. If they have a lot of negative reviews, then move on.
Another thing you should take into account is their experience, are they trained, are they self taught? Do they have a degree in their field? Something else to take note of, is that their experience, is something they can very easily lie about, so keep your wits about you and if something smells fishy, it probably is.
Some psychics allow you to consult with them before you purchase. This is a rarity in itself but you can use this consultation to get more information about your reader. If you feel like they are withholding anything or avoiding questions, then that is a sure sign not to go through with the purchase.
I realise I am probably going to ruffle a lot of feathers with this post and maybe even make some quite angry but what I am telling you here is, in fact, the truth!
I'm not tarring all psychics with the same brush, but from my own experience and the amount of emails I get detailing the bad experiences people go through. I wanted to give people the facts and to help them make better choices when it comes to dealing with psychics.
Even I try to avoid them and I am psychically gifted myself, I also try to avoid doing readings because it can lead to people relying on you and they get their hopes up over so much very easily but any time someone does ask me to do a reading, which I do for free, I am always honest and I will advise them if I feel I cannot help but most will not take that initiative and they will thrive on your emotions, your state of mind and your situation.
So really my aim here was to inform people of what is what in the psychic reading world and help them form a better choice for themselves. I've disclosed a lot of factual information, here that I know most won't mention but I believe the truth needs to be heard and if someone truly needs help, the best thing you can give them is the TRUTH.
If you are reading this, and have experienced a reading and it was good, or even if it was bad, I would love to hear from you. You can comment here on this post, you can reach me on twitter at @israsravenheart or you email me at israsravenheart@gmail.com
I realise that this post probably won't lessen the amount of emails I get relating to psychics and people's bad experiences with them but I hope that this does help someone and maybe that someone won't get taken advantage of.
Well that's all from me, for now.
Isra xxx
Now the truth is most psychics are just nasty people who want to take your money and then after, they have your money, you are simply just another transaction to them.
Here's another truth: Psychics rely on you being unhappy, confused and stuck. This is what keeps them in business.
It's a hard pill to swallow but this is what gets them the most readings and of course the most money. Now I'm not saying all psychics are money grabbing, nasty imbeciles because that isn't true, there are some nice ones out there. I have yet to meet someone who is psychic and doesn't thrive off the financial side of it, but there are nice ones out there. I just have yet to encounter them.
Now I get a lot of messages concerning psychics so I'm more than qualified to post this. And I'm sure this post will ruffle a few feathers but I want to give people guidance, before they go for a reading.
As mentioned before I'm a witch and spell caster as well as psychically gifted and this is the most common thing I get sent in messages by people who come to me for help:
“Do you think you could read into things and tell me if (insert name here) is coming back to me, or if certain thing is happening.. I have bought a few readings and they said yes.”
Okay so this happens a lot, people buy readings from about five or six, sometimes more psychics in the hope that they can get the answers they need or want... It's most commonly, want.
Now when you buy a reading, you are supposed to sit back and let things play out. Most psychics won't actually tell you this, but you aren't meant to get another reading for six months. Let's be real if a psychic had to wait six months for a client they'd be close to broke. But of course, what they also don't tell you, is that too many readings, as I mentioned, at once can seriously confuse you and the energies and this can also produce a very negative thing. Because things can happen and manifest that you don't want too and nobody wants that, but again most psychics won't tell you this.
Okay now I'm going to give you some DO's and DON'Ts when you purchase a reading, if you absolutely think you need to.
Here are the DO's:
1. Do give your real birth name, even if it is only your first. It will help with the connection.
2. You can send a photo of yourself if it is an online reading. This won't allow your psychic to get any other information about you, unless they are truly psychic.
3. Communicate with your psychic truthfully so that the best possible connection can be formed.
Here are the DON'Ts:
1. Don't give out your date of birth. This can allow your psychic to do so much research about you and know more than they should, if they are truly gifted they won't ask for this.
2. Don't give out too much information about your situation to the psychic, they should be able to pick up on this themselves without you filling them in on vital information that they could use to give a reading. Yes believe me, this happens!
3. Don't give out your credit card number, address or any other personal or financial information, you could have your credit card cloned, or they may be able to obtain credit in your name and use your name illegally, (identity fraud)
4. Don't purchase a reading when you are unhappy, low or suicidal, I know this one might be hard to do, but any nasties out there, will absolutely thrive on your state of mind and it could even lead you to believing things that aren't true.
One more thing: If a psychic ever tells you the following, please do not hand over any money, don't go through with the reading and run like hell!
“You are cursed but I can remove it for $600, (or any amount)”
If this happens, please ignore it and do not hand over any money. If a psychic tells you, you are cursed, do not believe it. They are preying on your vulnerability and fear and are banking on you believing you are cursed and that you will be relying on them to help YOU. Of course you are never in any danger, until you believe this nonsense.
So you believe you need a reading! Well I'm going to give you some things to do that you can do yourself, without parting without a single penny.
1. Meditate, get into your calm state and focus on your issue and ask for guidance.... you can also ask your spirit guide to connect with you and give you this guidance too. We all have spirit guides and they are here to help us, whether we know that or believe it or not.
2. Talk to a friend, who doesn't know about your situation and don't fill them in too much. Now I know this might sound silly, but we all use our intuition and someone who doesn't know about it might be able to pick up more than what you can. They could also advise you on what to do, you don't have to take their advice but use your judgement when you decide what to do.
3. This one you may find surprising. Type in “free tarot reading” on google, there will be at least five websites at the top of this page where you can get an automated tarot reading without having to part with a penny. Now this normally shows as a deck of tarot cards and you will see a message on the screen asking you to focus on your issue. Next you will be asked to choose your cards, so you would simply click on the ones you are drawn too, this may not be the best solution, but it may provide some answers not previously found and if it doesn't it's free and it's done by a computer, so no cost and no shame or embarrassment.
4. Learn to read tarot cards yourself. This is not as hard as it sounds, again we all have intuitive gifts, it's just sometimes we are not aware of them or sometimes we are too aware of them and fearful of them also. Most tarot cards will come with a guide book that will give you the basic meanings, but I want you to actually “read” the card. Study it carefully. Read what it feels like. Listen carefully for anything that comes to mind as you look at it. Hidden messages can come in the form of images, words and even whole sentences, have your senses open and your mind open also. Pay attention to how you feel when you see the card. This all helps to form a better interpretation that comes from the heart, rather than the ego.
5. Make sure you are rested, are eating well and getting enough exercise and sleep. Because if you are not, all of these can contribute to low mood, bad state of mind as well as depression, confusion and feeling like you are off balance. Which a psychic will use to their advantage.
If you have done all of these steps and you still feel like you need a reading then proceed carefully.
Psychics are everywhere online, they are on google, they have their own websites and some you will find on websites such as Etsy, Ebay etc. These are the ones I would advise you to steer clear of the most.
Also be cautious of the ones that charge certain amount of money per minute. In most cases, they call you up and process your credit card for payment. Now after the reading, they would then charge your card for however long you were on the phone to them for, but I'd be extra vigilant here because they could be charging you more and you don't know. Again I would totally avoid these types, most of all.
When you select a reader, take a look at their rating and their reviews. If they have a lot of good reviews that's a sign that people have been satisfied with their service. If they have a lot of negative reviews, then move on.
Another thing you should take into account is their experience, are they trained, are they self taught? Do they have a degree in their field? Something else to take note of, is that their experience, is something they can very easily lie about, so keep your wits about you and if something smells fishy, it probably is.
Some psychics allow you to consult with them before you purchase. This is a rarity in itself but you can use this consultation to get more information about your reader. If you feel like they are withholding anything or avoiding questions, then that is a sure sign not to go through with the purchase.
I realise I am probably going to ruffle a lot of feathers with this post and maybe even make some quite angry but what I am telling you here is, in fact, the truth!
I'm not tarring all psychics with the same brush, but from my own experience and the amount of emails I get detailing the bad experiences people go through. I wanted to give people the facts and to help them make better choices when it comes to dealing with psychics.
Even I try to avoid them and I am psychically gifted myself, I also try to avoid doing readings because it can lead to people relying on you and they get their hopes up over so much very easily but any time someone does ask me to do a reading, which I do for free, I am always honest and I will advise them if I feel I cannot help but most will not take that initiative and they will thrive on your emotions, your state of mind and your situation.
So really my aim here was to inform people of what is what in the psychic reading world and help them form a better choice for themselves. I've disclosed a lot of factual information, here that I know most won't mention but I believe the truth needs to be heard and if someone truly needs help, the best thing you can give them is the TRUTH.
If you are reading this, and have experienced a reading and it was good, or even if it was bad, I would love to hear from you. You can comment here on this post, you can reach me on twitter at @israsravenheart or you email me at israsravenheart@gmail.com
I realise that this post probably won't lessen the amount of emails I get relating to psychics and people's bad experiences with them but I hope that this does help someone and maybe that someone won't get taken advantage of.
Well that's all from me, for now.
Isra xxx
Releasing/ Purging but Giving in to the New- November 2017
Hello everyone Isra here, I have came on here today to talk about something very different than what I would normally do. This post is going to have nothing to do whatsoever with books or book sales, yep that 's right and that might make some shudder or really confused because an author wants to talk about books right? No.
What I want to talk to you today has far greater value than me plugging my books so here we go.
If you don't know, I am a twinflame. This is a very deep spiritual connection that I share with another, my divine counterpart. Now this journey/ spirituality has forced me to undergo a lot of transformations in my life- including my book writing, yes that does feature. But it's all good right? Yes. Is it easy? No but nothing ever worth having in life is.
It doesn't matter how you got here, how you got to where you are at now but the point is you are here. You are prospering and you are making progress in your life whether you believe it or not. Even if you doubt things are materialising to the way they feel they need to be, you are going on the right path and things are as they should be.
I don't know you from Adam. I have no clue who is reading this right now but I can tell you, you are awesome. You can do this. You can succeed and you will do so. I believe in you.
And if for some bizarre reason you aren't on the right track at the present, you can be golly sure the universe will guide you and switch you back to where you need to be. I am not trying to be patronising or undermining anyone's hard time or whatever it is they are going through but I am aware of the power of the universe and I know it is real. I hope you get to sample some of that power that I know to be.
You may not realise it reading this but we have the ability to change everything that we have in our experience. There is a need to look back upon our not so positive times so that we can see how far we have, this is a really strong message that is coming through here and I hope somebody reading this can relate to that and understand just how far they have come because they really have come so far that words cannot describe it.
But now is a great time for transformation and what we need to do first is release that which does not serve us. So this could be physical items/ possessions. It could be old belief systems that we no longer resonate with. It could also be people in our lives that we no longer connect with so while it could be a variety of things. I want to share with my personal story of something I have found this week to let go of.
I have known about my being a twinflame for about a year. This has led me to releasing many people, things and ideas that no longer serve me as I've plunged from one thing to another as I've gone forward making progress and healing myself as well as others around me. Now there is a lot of things written regarding the healing process that twin-flames go through during the time in which they are separated from their divine counterpart. Now during this time I did some deep digging into many aspects of myself, many core wounds and some things I would I would revisit until I was able to let go of them completely but the one thing that is most prominent is the letting go of old beliefs. I used to have very bad beliefs about myself, that I wasn't worthy of this, that I wasn't good enough for that and it extended to many areas of my life. Over the course of the past year I have shed many of those beliefs, bringing in new more positive beliefs which I now hold in myself to attract more abundance, happier relationships and more stable finances and despite shedding all these beliefs that I wasn't good enough or deserved love and I have shed those completely, I found another one came up. I wasn't good enough to receive money, and again this has nothing to do with book sales but I found this has been a belief that has held me back for literally YEARS. Funny how we think we have totally dealt with something and then the universe turns around and says, nope I am going to bring this back to your attention as you aren't over it yet. And that is exactly what I have experienced this week. The knowing that I am good enough to receive financial abundance (doesn't matter where from) and that I am worthy and deserving of those things and that brings me to a very interesting point.
There are so many people in this world wanting things, wanting to better their life but yet they believe they are unworthy of said thing they desire. So now spend a little time focusing on what it is you want to manifest into your life, it can be anything and now spend some time focusing on your belief surrounding that desire. Is it that you don't deem yourself worthy to have it? I'm actually going to close this post at that thought.
Blessings and love. Isra
What I want to talk to you today has far greater value than me plugging my books so here we go.
If you don't know, I am a twinflame. This is a very deep spiritual connection that I share with another, my divine counterpart. Now this journey/ spirituality has forced me to undergo a lot of transformations in my life- including my book writing, yes that does feature. But it's all good right? Yes. Is it easy? No but nothing ever worth having in life is.
It doesn't matter how you got here, how you got to where you are at now but the point is you are here. You are prospering and you are making progress in your life whether you believe it or not. Even if you doubt things are materialising to the way they feel they need to be, you are going on the right path and things are as they should be.
I don't know you from Adam. I have no clue who is reading this right now but I can tell you, you are awesome. You can do this. You can succeed and you will do so. I believe in you.
And if for some bizarre reason you aren't on the right track at the present, you can be golly sure the universe will guide you and switch you back to where you need to be. I am not trying to be patronising or undermining anyone's hard time or whatever it is they are going through but I am aware of the power of the universe and I know it is real. I hope you get to sample some of that power that I know to be.
You may not realise it reading this but we have the ability to change everything that we have in our experience. There is a need to look back upon our not so positive times so that we can see how far we have, this is a really strong message that is coming through here and I hope somebody reading this can relate to that and understand just how far they have come because they really have come so far that words cannot describe it.
But now is a great time for transformation and what we need to do first is release that which does not serve us. So this could be physical items/ possessions. It could be old belief systems that we no longer resonate with. It could also be people in our lives that we no longer connect with so while it could be a variety of things. I want to share with my personal story of something I have found this week to let go of.
I have known about my being a twinflame for about a year. This has led me to releasing many people, things and ideas that no longer serve me as I've plunged from one thing to another as I've gone forward making progress and healing myself as well as others around me. Now there is a lot of things written regarding the healing process that twin-flames go through during the time in which they are separated from their divine counterpart. Now during this time I did some deep digging into many aspects of myself, many core wounds and some things I would I would revisit until I was able to let go of them completely but the one thing that is most prominent is the letting go of old beliefs. I used to have very bad beliefs about myself, that I wasn't worthy of this, that I wasn't good enough for that and it extended to many areas of my life. Over the course of the past year I have shed many of those beliefs, bringing in new more positive beliefs which I now hold in myself to attract more abundance, happier relationships and more stable finances and despite shedding all these beliefs that I wasn't good enough or deserved love and I have shed those completely, I found another one came up. I wasn't good enough to receive money, and again this has nothing to do with book sales but I found this has been a belief that has held me back for literally YEARS. Funny how we think we have totally dealt with something and then the universe turns around and says, nope I am going to bring this back to your attention as you aren't over it yet. And that is exactly what I have experienced this week. The knowing that I am good enough to receive financial abundance (doesn't matter where from) and that I am worthy and deserving of those things and that brings me to a very interesting point.
There are so many people in this world wanting things, wanting to better their life but yet they believe they are unworthy of said thing they desire. So now spend a little time focusing on what it is you want to manifest into your life, it can be anything and now spend some time focusing on your belief surrounding that desire. Is it that you don't deem yourself worthy to have it? I'm actually going to close this post at that thought.
Blessings and love. Isra
The absolute week from hell. Word of warning to Authors: Do not use Fiverr!
Hey everyone, Isra here so I’ve had a really exhausting week. I really do want to call it the week from hell. I have recently been re-branding my book series whereby I am making subtle changes to four titles. Basically changed Blackened Series to Dark Spell Series as it suits my writing better and changing Blackened to Dark in the four titles where it appears. So it’s a very subtle change however it does require new book covers and new formatting to be done.
28th May 2021
I contacted a seller on Fiverr who said he was capable of handling my project. (I don’t use Fiverr and would not recommend it for book marketing but I’ve had good experiences with covers on there before) However he did an amazing job with the first cover and so I requested he designed the remaining four in the series. I also said I needed formatting at this time but had somebody in mind. He said he could do that for me also as I was “perfect buyer” however I didn’t agree with his price so we agreed on a better one. At this point all was well.
However we had just done “Her Dark Love” cover and was now moving forward to “Kissing Darkness” (my personal favourite in the entire series) I didn’t like how he was shouting and being abusive with me and failing to understand that when he messaged at 5am in the UK time zone, it was sleep time. He deliberately delayed fixing the issues and when I came back online to check progress, he had been abusive once more, asking me what my problem was. Here’s the thing, I asked for some very simple tweaks. Had he been professional perhaps he would have realized my concerns were genuine. Her hand on the cover had been badly photoshopped so that it looked like she wasn’t even holding the green orb. The lightning show was a mess and blurry. Those were two things I expected him to fix this was on Friday 4th June. Finally Friday evening, he had presented me with the cover and I was very pleased. Now I knew formatting was coming next…. I sent him the files already so I expected a prompt delivery as the covers had been. (My previous formatter who has retired usually did it on same day)
Saturday and Sunday, I heard nothing from the seller so presumed he had been getting on with the job at hand. Monday morning at 5am, he messages me insisting he cannot do the formattingunless the price was increased by three times what we had agreed so I made the suggestion for him to refund me. During this time. I’ve had feedback from a trusted author group on FB led by a very respectable NY Times Bestseller Author and they’ve pointed out on one of the covers her hand is badly photoshopped (eurgh again) and the titles are not standing out. So again, very simple tweaks as I had to admit I absolutely adored the art on them.
He was becoming increasingly angry at me when I suggested this and accused me of being a scammer. I said no, I’m simply asking you to make some tweaks to which he then came back at me, “I don’t want to work with you. I’ve been working with you all week and I am tired.” He was extremely rude in this response. I said okay but I have five covers that need fixing. He said, “That’s a you problem.” He then requested to cancel the order so I’d be refunded but I’d have to order again to pay for the covers. I said they need fixing first before we do anything of that nature. He insisted on cancelling. I cancelled his request. He blew up at me again and said what do you want? I tried to reason with him for around three hours but it was fruitless. I finally agreed to accepting the cancellation. He then spam messaged me saying will you order for the covers?
I said no as they haven’t been fixed. I also contacted Fiverr trust and safety team because of his behaviour. (Normally I wouldn’t bother as I am used to rudeness from other people but this was despicable. You don’t harass a customer who has paid you money and then insult them saying you are tired of them to add further insult to injury) It was at this point, I realized I was going to have re-hire somebody else to do the covers and yes also rehire to do formatting. This was exhausting for me and I have to say I became very frustrated and stressed.
Thankfully, the trust and safety team were fantastic. However this seller decided to hound me on Goodreads (he sent screenshots to prove it) Amazon, Facebook and Instagram which was where had messaged me insisting I was a scammer and fraudulent author (I had already contacted Amazon to change the covers back to old ones- but it takes around 24 hours to do so)
Honestly, this was a harrowing experience. I already avoid Fiverr for most things anyway but now I seriously recommend even book covers are a complete no, no, no on there. Don’t be fooled by the fancy colourful imagery on the gig listings. These people are unprofessional, speak to you like something off the back of their shoe the moment you ask for improvements.
Luckily my story has a happy ending. I managed to find a new source for covers. (I’ve had Her Dark Soul done today) and I was able to find a formatter and be refunded but it doesn’t take away from the fact that this was horrific experience whereby I felt desolate, low and depressed as well as being frustrated because of how unprofffesional it was. I was surrounded by good people who rallied around to help me resolve the problem. Others, may not be. Please whatever you do. Do not use Fiverr. The seller in question is Artstudio4_
He has finally left me alone now. But I am doing a courtesy in warning others as I do not want what happened to me to become someone else’s reality.
I will update you all when the new covers are done and when I’ll also have my paperbacks available again. I am sorry this isn’t the most cheery post but I have to be real and authentic with my audience, when I say, this really hit me hard. It took me to a place I haven’t been in for a very long time.
Until next time, Isra
28th May 2021
I contacted a seller on Fiverr who said he was capable of handling my project. (I don’t use Fiverr and would not recommend it for book marketing but I’ve had good experiences with covers on there before) However he did an amazing job with the first cover and so I requested he designed the remaining four in the series. I also said I needed formatting at this time but had somebody in mind. He said he could do that for me also as I was “perfect buyer” however I didn’t agree with his price so we agreed on a better one. At this point all was well.
However we had just done “Her Dark Love” cover and was now moving forward to “Kissing Darkness” (my personal favourite in the entire series) I didn’t like how he was shouting and being abusive with me and failing to understand that when he messaged at 5am in the UK time zone, it was sleep time. He deliberately delayed fixing the issues and when I came back online to check progress, he had been abusive once more, asking me what my problem was. Here’s the thing, I asked for some very simple tweaks. Had he been professional perhaps he would have realized my concerns were genuine. Her hand on the cover had been badly photoshopped so that it looked like she wasn’t even holding the green orb. The lightning show was a mess and blurry. Those were two things I expected him to fix this was on Friday 4th June. Finally Friday evening, he had presented me with the cover and I was very pleased. Now I knew formatting was coming next…. I sent him the files already so I expected a prompt delivery as the covers had been. (My previous formatter who has retired usually did it on same day)
Saturday and Sunday, I heard nothing from the seller so presumed he had been getting on with the job at hand. Monday morning at 5am, he messages me insisting he cannot do the formattingunless the price was increased by three times what we had agreed so I made the suggestion for him to refund me. During this time. I’ve had feedback from a trusted author group on FB led by a very respectable NY Times Bestseller Author and they’ve pointed out on one of the covers her hand is badly photoshopped (eurgh again) and the titles are not standing out. So again, very simple tweaks as I had to admit I absolutely adored the art on them.
He was becoming increasingly angry at me when I suggested this and accused me of being a scammer. I said no, I’m simply asking you to make some tweaks to which he then came back at me, “I don’t want to work with you. I’ve been working with you all week and I am tired.” He was extremely rude in this response. I said okay but I have five covers that need fixing. He said, “That’s a you problem.” He then requested to cancel the order so I’d be refunded but I’d have to order again to pay for the covers. I said they need fixing first before we do anything of that nature. He insisted on cancelling. I cancelled his request. He blew up at me again and said what do you want? I tried to reason with him for around three hours but it was fruitless. I finally agreed to accepting the cancellation. He then spam messaged me saying will you order for the covers?
I said no as they haven’t been fixed. I also contacted Fiverr trust and safety team because of his behaviour. (Normally I wouldn’t bother as I am used to rudeness from other people but this was despicable. You don’t harass a customer who has paid you money and then insult them saying you are tired of them to add further insult to injury) It was at this point, I realized I was going to have re-hire somebody else to do the covers and yes also rehire to do formatting. This was exhausting for me and I have to say I became very frustrated and stressed.
Thankfully, the trust and safety team were fantastic. However this seller decided to hound me on Goodreads (he sent screenshots to prove it) Amazon, Facebook and Instagram which was where had messaged me insisting I was a scammer and fraudulent author (I had already contacted Amazon to change the covers back to old ones- but it takes around 24 hours to do so)
Honestly, this was a harrowing experience. I already avoid Fiverr for most things anyway but now I seriously recommend even book covers are a complete no, no, no on there. Don’t be fooled by the fancy colourful imagery on the gig listings. These people are unprofessional, speak to you like something off the back of their shoe the moment you ask for improvements.
Luckily my story has a happy ending. I managed to find a new source for covers. (I’ve had Her Dark Soul done today) and I was able to find a formatter and be refunded but it doesn’t take away from the fact that this was horrific experience whereby I felt desolate, low and depressed as well as being frustrated because of how unprofffesional it was. I was surrounded by good people who rallied around to help me resolve the problem. Others, may not be. Please whatever you do. Do not use Fiverr. The seller in question is Artstudio4_
He has finally left me alone now. But I am doing a courtesy in warning others as I do not want what happened to me to become someone else’s reality.
I will update you all when the new covers are done and when I’ll also have my paperbacks available again. I am sorry this isn’t the most cheery post but I have to be real and authentic with my audience, when I say, this really hit me hard. It took me to a place I haven’t been in for a very long time.
Until next time, Isra
