My Firstborn Graduates!

Congrats Steven Fabian!

Graduating May 31, 2012!  W000t!  New adventures await!

Nine Ways to Promote Your Book When Your Book Isn't Ready for Promotion

We get told to start promoting early--earlier the better!  But in the age of Internet, attention spans are as fast and fleeting as the click of a mouse.  When we're balancing work and home, family and writing, does it make time sense to put a lot of effort into promoting a book when you don't have the cover much less a purchase link?

Online, that pre-promotion is less important as well.  You are not competing for shelf space, so you don't have to make big sales in those critical first few weeks.  You also don't have the benefit of a bookstore reinforcing your promotion efforts or taking names of folks who want to buy your book before it comes out.  So, while you could lose impulse readers who see something about your book a month before it comes out, then forget to buy it when it comes out, you have the luxury of taking a longer term approach and promoting months or even years after it's out.

Personally, I don't push a book online until I have at least a pre-order link.  However, that doesn't mean I'm not promoting and marketing. Here's what you can do to be ready for the big day:

1.  Gather your stuff!  Prepare a promotional package with the following”

• Tag Lines
• 140 character summary
• short summary
• medium summary (200 words)
• Long summary (400 words)
• 140 character bio
• 30-word bio
• 75-word bio
• 300 word bio
• Short excerpt
• Medium excerpt
• Long excerpt (make this one that’s good for readings, too.  No more than 5 minutes.)
• Video Trailer Codes
• List of where folks can find you—include all social media as well as blogs, etc.
• Links for purchase.
• Keep this file where you can fill it in as you get the stuff.  Use it for book tours or whenever you need the information.

2. Build contact list.

3. Build relationships.

4. Sell yourself as a writer.

5. Sell your book in general terms:  short stories, blogging about your writing adventures with that book

6. Build your marketing plan.

7. Make some teaser videos.  I did that with Live and Let Fly.  Short, snappy and of the “coming soon” variety, they got folks interested.  Later, when I got the book cover and date, I redid them.

8.  Pull out quotes you can use as tweets and excerpts for the blog tour, etc.  This is a good thing to do in the editing process.  Pick your favorite one-liners, esp those of 140 characters or less. Then when it comes out, you have a ready-made list of tweets you can post easily.

9.  Get endorsements.  Start finding a famous author or celebrity who will read and comment on your book.  You might be able to make a blurb page in the book or back cover and if not, you’ll have them for the website.

And the Winner is... (Or "Good News and Bad News")

The winner of the drawing is Gloria Oren.  Gloria, congratulations.  I've made a note to send you a copy of Neeta Lyffe 2: I Left My Brains in San Francisco when it comes out in September.

Last week, I asked folks to vote and give opinions on the best blurb for Neeta Lyffe 2: I Left My Brains in San Francisco.  Thirty people voted on the three (and then a fourth slightly revised) blurb to go on the back cover, Amazon, etc.

What I found was that people were almost evenly split over them, and for different reasons.  I'm hoping the good news is that I pegged the blurb and either would do well, but the bad news is, none of them are stand-outs.

Based on feedback, I removed Blurb One.  Most of the reaction was that it was too confusing and there were too many names and not enough connection.  However, it only "lost" by a single vote over Blurb Two.

Zombie problem? Call Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator.

But not this weekend. She’s on vacation to an exterminator’s convention with her partner and boyfriend Ted, looking to relax, have fun, and have a little romance. Too bad the zombies at the Give Back Underwater Memorial Gardens and Fish Preserve have a different idea. When they rise from watery graves to take over the City by the Bay, it looks like a working vacation after all.

Blurbs Two and Three were only a vote apart for winners.

2. Zombie problem? Call Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator...but not this weekend.

On vacation at an exterminator’s convention, she's looking to relax, have fun, and enjoy a little romance. Too bad the zombies have a different idea. When they rise from their watery graves to take over the City by the Bay, it looks like it'll be a working vacation after all.

Enjoy the thrill of re-kill with Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator.

3. 2047. Zombies are pests, fuel is made from feces, and the rich and famous pay to become fish food.

Zombie exterminators, Neeta Lyffe and Ted Hacker, travel to San Francisco for a zombie convention, a little sightseeing and some romance. But when the fish-food celebrities rise from their watery graves to attack San Francisco, their “working vacation” takes on new meaning.

It’s chainsaws, undead, and romance in this second novel by satirist Karina Fabian.

Two seemed to be the least controversial, while Three was deemed most fun.  However, both those opinions hinged on the fact that I said the word "feces" or "crap" in regards to a new kind of fuel.  Part of me sees the point that using that in the blurb might put off readers who would just snort when they saw it in the book; part of me is thinking, "This is a zombie book: decapitations, decaying bodies losing parts in the street, all manner of grossness...is 'feces' such a big deal?"

More good news for me--and for you--is that I don't need to decide immediately, and think I might rewrite both of these blurbs and perhaps another one and do this vote-to-win deal again.  So if you didn't win this time, then stay tuned for another chance!

Top Ten Reasons to Write about Zombies

In honor of Zombie Awareness Month, I present...

Top Ten Reasons to Write about Zombies

(In no particular order, from the home office of Karina Fabian, author of Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator)

10.  They're the next big trend!  Forget your sparkly vampires--maggoty zombies are the hot literary trope in the fantasy horror world!

…okay, this is really a lame reason to write about them.  Write what you enjoy and what's in your heart--make the trend; don't follow it.  However, this is the first time I actually was part of the current, and it's a new experience for me.  Wonder if it will mean much sales-wise.

9.  Need to incorporate all five senses?  Zombie stench makes that easy!

8. There's so much uncharted territory.  Let's face it--if you have to add glitter to your vampires to make them new, the genre's been done.  Zombies are still wide open.  Really--see the guts?

7. No more pressure to put in that sex scene to bump ratings.

6.  You can abuse them freely.  They're dead.  You can whack off their heads without remorse.  Or, if you choose to go for the legs and leave them crawling and groaning "flesh wound!" it's funny. Bonus--the ASPCA doesn't care about them!

5.  Body humor!  No one can lend you a hand with that better than a zombie!  (From Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator:  " He moved in to cover her while she checked out some zombie spoor: dried skin, a rotting finger, what looked like part of a nose.  Must have been some sneeze. ")

4.  Easy to write dialogue for.

3.  What a literary device.  In Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, I use zombies as a foil to attack some of the finer aspects of society--conspiracy theorist, radical ecologists, activists, etc.  It was a lot of fun to point at these groups with a rotting finger.

2.  When you've explored all aspects of life, what's left?  Oh, wait!

1.  To prove you have the braaaiiiins for it!

Need your opinion: Which Blurb Makes You Most Want to Read Neeta Lyffe 2

One of the important things writers learn quickly is that it's not just about the manuscript.

Last Wednesday (after pre-loading a blog about the rotten week I'd had), I got the excellent news that Neeta Lyffe 2: I Left My Brains in San Francisco was accepted by Damnation Books. YAY!  *snoopydance*

I can't believe I found this. 

Well, that wonderful news took two days out of my Gapman writing, as I filled out forms for the cover artist, wrote the dedication and acknowledgements (with a few tears, since this is the last book my friend Walt Staples ever critted for me), cut excerpts down to size and wrote the back-cover blurbs.

Now, I seek your help.  I've got six blurbs from what I hope are four different angles.  I asked some trusted authors to narrow it down to three, and pass these on to you, dear readers for evaluation.

Please vote on the one that would most make you read the book.  I'll do a drawing from the comments and send the winner a copy of Neeta 2 when it's out in September.  To win, you must leave me a way to contact you--even a website with a contact page. (Last contest I did, several "winners" lost out because I had no way to find them.)

To make it more fun, you get one chance for your vote, one chance for your comment about why you'd chose it, and one chance for any critique you offer on your choice.

1. Zombie problem? Call Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator.

But not this weekend. She’s on vacation to an exterminator’s convention with her partner and boyfriend Ted, looking to relax, have fun, and have a little romance. Too bad the zombies at the Give Back Underwater Memorial Gardens and Fish Preserve have a different idea. When they rise from watery graves to take over the City by the Bay, it looks like a working vacation after all.

2. Zombie problem? Call Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator...but not this weekend.

On vacation at an exterminator’s convention, she's looking to relax, have fun, and enjoy a little romance. Too bad the zombies have a different idea. When they rise from their watery graves to take over the City by the Bay, it looks like it'll be a working vacation after all.

Enjoy the thrill of re-kill with Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator.

3. 2047. Zombies are pests, fuel is made from feces, and the rich and famous pay to become fish food.

Zombie exterminators, Neeta Lyffe and Ted Hacker, travel to San Francisco for a zombie convention, a little sightseeing and some romance. But when the fish-food celebrities rise from their watery graves to attack San Francisco, their “working vacation” takes on new meaning.

It’s chainsaws, undead, and romance in this second novel by satirist Karina Fabian.

**Manure-based fuels are important to the plot, but based on feedback, I'm wondering if this helps overcome the repulsive gross factor.

4.  2047. Zombies are pests, cars will soon run on crap, and the rich and famous pay to become fish food.

Zombie exterminators, Neeta Lyffe and Ted Hacker, travel to San Francisco for a zombie convention, a little sightseeing and some romance. But when the fish-food celebrities rise from their watery graves to attack San Francisco, their “working vacation” takes on new meaning.

It’s chainsaws, undead, and romance in this second novel by satirist Karina Fabian.



I'll announce the winner next Thursday.  Thanks!

Promo Day May 19 - Learn About Marketing

(Jo Linsdell is a friend of mine-- a neat lady and a great marketer.  I know several of the presenters, too.  This is well worth your time.)

Promo day is an annual event for people in the writing industry dedicated to promoting, networking and learning. This years event will take place on Saturday 19th May 2012 at the brand new website www.PromoDay.info

The online event organized by Jo Linsdell has evolved since its humble begins on the writers personal website and grown into a world recognized event attracting thousands of visitors from around the globe.

The 2012 event promises to be the best yet with the launch of the new website and internationally renowned workshop presenters. The program is filled with fabulous and knowledgeable presenters and workshop topics are ones you can sink your teeth into. You'll be sure to come away with valuable connections via the networking areas and have opportunities to promote your own work and services throughout the day.

This unique event is completely free to attend and registration is now open via the website homepage. Once you're signed up you will be emailed the password to gain access to the forums where the conference takes place.

Since its inception in 2007, Promo Day has been incredibly successful and is a 'must-attend' for everyone in the writing industry.

 

The Workshops

The workshops all take place in the forums on the Promo Day website and are completely free to attend. In order to take part you just need to register via the website http://www.PromoDay.info.

The workshops for the 2012 event are:

• How to make LinkedIn work for you with Jo Linsdell
• Creating Your Own Online Newspaper with Terri Main
• Radio interviews with Denise Turney
• 365 days of promotion with Sandy Lender
• How to create online events that help generate a Marketing Domino Effect with Karl Staib
• Blogging with Jo-Anne Vandermeulen
• Book reviews with Dana Lynn Smith
• Time management with Anne Nordhaus-Bike
• Facebook with Dellani Oakes
• Powerful Pinterest: how to use it market your book with Penny Sansevieri
• SEO with Angela England
• Social media marketing with Jan Verhoeff
• How to sell more books with John Kremer
• Virtual Tours with Cheryl Malandrinos
• Self Publishing with Valerie J Lewis Coleman

###

Contact:

Jo Linsdell

Founder and Organizer of Promo Day

email: promoday@ymail.com

www.PromoDay.info

My Novel's Journey--on Hold. Bad week

Been a bad week, and I had a long blog about all the stuff, good as well as bad, that happened.  Then I erased it because really, with all the good things in my life, I should not be whining.  So, this is and isn't' a novel's journey, but here are the good things going on in my writing life:

1.  Twilight Times is going to re-release Infinite Space, Infinite God I with a new cover!  If you'd like to get one with the old cover--soon to be a collector item, I'm sure!--e-mail me instead of going to some Amazon third part who wants an outrageous sum.  I have 40 copies left that long to be read!


2.  30+ people were kind enough to tag Live and Let Fly this week, which jumped the Amazon rank by nearly 100,000 to 40,000 or wowmillion books.  (It's back down to somewhere past 100,000 now.)

4.  I wrote a couple of cool scenes that are getting axed, but I came up with some fun new characters:  Petal and Leaf are pixies who drive a cab.  Not sure where they'll fit in, but they feel like the need a role.

5.  I'm canceling my Housekeeping for Writers Class because of low registration, but I'm going to do something low key and free in its place.  I want to Spring Clean, and I'm betting there are some authors out there who feel the same.  More on this later.

6.  I got 100 more people liking the DragonEye, PI FB page.  Vern will be posting more regularly there, mostly cartoons, quips from the books and stories, and some snarky comments.  If you aren't on his page yet, head over to https://www.facebook.com/DragonEyePI and LIKE Vern & Grace.

As for all the bad stuff, let's just say that in the grand scheme of things, it's all inconsequential, but it is making me rethink some aspects of my writing.  I'll share more when I've come to some decisions.  right now, I'm going to do a little soul searching.

Housekeeping for Writers Boot Camp

When I was little, my mother used to make beautiful crafts.  This was the 70s and refrigerator peacocks were the thing and she'd spend hours gluing on sequins and feathers.  They looked something like this, only about 18 inches long.

Once in a while, she'd sell them to friends for the cost of materials, but whenever someone asked her why she didn't go into business, she'd say, "Oh, I like doing it, but they take too much time.  I'd never get paid enough for the all the work I put in, so I'd rather give them away at cost."  As a child, I didn't understand that.

Today, I think I do.

I had a class I wanted to teach, Housekeeping for Writers.  I'd planned to teach it through Savvy Authors and was charging $20/person for it.  After Savvy takes their cut, that's $10-$15 a person.  I taught this at CWCO and it was very well received.  However, I only had 5 people register; only 2 of which had paid.

This class is time-intensive for me:  two lessons a day posted on the forums, where I'd also take questions, and me spending all day from 8:30-4:30 in the chat room, doing lessons and challenges every hour as we all worked together on Spring Cleaning and developing new habits.  For a week.  It's just too much work for $50.

Yet, I have had people tell me how much they could use something like this, and to be frank, I was really looking forward to the chat room aspect of challenges and getting together to crow about something as silly as "cleared my desk!"

So here's the deal. 

May 14-18, I will be in the CWCO General Chat Room Form 8:30-4:30 Mountain Time.  I will not teach lessons, but I will issue a choice of three challenges for the hour, answer questions, offer advice (I'm good at advice!) and be there to crow about all your housekeeping victories with you. 

Come join me--for an hour, for a day, for a week.  Bring the following:

--A list of what you most need to accomplish.
--Three boxes, bags or baskets (LARGE).  We will be cutting clutter.
--Cleaning supplies.
--Something to write about.  Some hours will be a writing challenge.

Every bottom of the hour (8:30, 9:30, etc) I will issue a challenge.  The goal is PROGRESS not necessarily completion.  Each challenge will be about 20 minutes long.  I will take questions, etc for 15--be ready to bring your own tips and ideas, too.  Then we'll go do a challenge and come back and celebrate.

It won't be a full class, so no one is under any obligation, but it will be a chance to get together, work together, and have some fun. 

I think that's part of what my mom wanted, too--to keep what she was doing fun.  I hope I see some of you there.

My Novel's Journey: Gapman: Getting back on the horse

It seems oddly appropriate that with the Avengers movie coming out, I would finally be starting my own superhero novel, Gapman.  Like Live and Let Fly, Gapman is a spoof set in the DragonEye, PI universe.

Ronnie Engleson, a mild-mannered entertainment reporter, visits the set of a superhero play happening in Faerie, where he falls into a vat of magically created toxic waste, gets bitten by a radioactive pixie, and is struck by lightning while crossing the Interdimensional Gap.  The next day, he wakes up with superpowers.

Superpowers, of course, do not always mean super-effectiveness, and Ronnie wrecks a lot of havoc trying to do good for the city of Los Lagos.  The Chief of Police finally calls in Vern to catch the superpowered pain-in-the-behind, but Grace has a better idea.  Someone has put out a contract on Vern and she thinks a superhero could be the back-up he needs.  She convinces Vern to train him instead.  So Vern is stuck with a superpowered pain-in-the-tail for a padawan.

Things are heating up in Los Lagos between the Mundane Purists and the Faerie.  When the secret leader of the Pure Humans comes to town just as the Faerie Pope makes his first historic visit, Vern and his new padawan discover a conspiracy to tear the city apart--and Faerie-Mundane relations with it.  Can Gapman hero-up in time to stop a raging tide of bigotry from destroying his beloved city?

This is an off-the-cuff summary, as you can tell, and reflects my pantster nature.  The characters have not fully revealed their intentions or the evil plot.  (No supervillain this time; Gapman needs time to train up.)

My first challenge this time is simply getting started again after a long break of not writing fiction.  In February, I finished Old Man and the Void, and then had to stop to prepare for the Catholic Writers Conference online and the Live and Let Fly book tour; then I edited Neeta Lyffe 2: I Left My Brains in San Francisco, and polished Old Man for crits.  So it was nearly three months before I started Gapman.  I had about 9000 words from a previous start, plus scenes I'd played with in workshops.

First, I read the scenes and start to familiarize myself with the characters.  Then I got some cards and brainstormed more scenes.  I thought it might push me into knowing the book, but after adding a few, I felt like I was shooting blindly, so I stopped.  I finally reverted back to the old standby: BICHOK.  (Butt in Chair, Hands on Keyboard.)  I had to make myself just write and trust the characters to lead me.

So far, that's working.  Ronnie led me to his first super-hero adventure (in which he gives a guy a concussion, messes up evidence, and gets Vern and Grace in trouble) and gave me a new angle on the evil plan.

Here's a snippet from that scene.  Ronnie doesn't have a superhero costume yet, and is using a tarp as a cape. (It was raining.)  Vern and Grace are at the police station getting grilled by Detective Vialpando after the adventure:

I wondered briefly if that's why the guy I saw was hanging around.  There was something weird about that bum, but I couldn't put my claw on it.  As a result, I didn't mention him to Vialpando.  Thorough detective he was, he'd probably go find the guy and rough him up for answers he didn't have.  Vialpando stayed just enough on the side of lawfulness and good that he stayed in Captain Santry's good graces, but he was a bully at heart, and lately, he'd been pushing it.

"And that's what I don't get," he voice, though level rang with accusation.  "You say they kidnap the retarded redcap kid--some kind of gang thing, you said--"

"That's what Jose thought, and the boys are Real Humans," Grace replied with insufferable calm.

Vialpando exploded out of the chair and slammed his hands in front of her.  "Then why the hell are the only injured people some John Doe, the three Real Humans on the floor and another kid up on the balcony?"

Grace didn't even blink at his outburst, although her tone took on just a bit of scolding.  She'd battled demigods and demons--and more to the point, had taught Catholic school.  "Perhaps asking them would produce some answers?"

"Maybe when the kid from the balcony wakes up, I will.  What'd you do to him, Grace?  I've got a specialist that says he was knocked back twenty feet and slammed into a concrete wall."

Catholic Family Fun By Sarah A. Reinhard

Icon by Amber Fabian, http://amberfabian.deviantart.com/gallery/

Today, I'm pleased to host my friend, Sarah Reinhard, on her Catholic Family Fun book tour.  Sarah absolutely embraces every word in her title.  My favorite memory of her is from the Catholic Writers Conference Live/Catholic Marketing network Tradeshow.  She was running all around the trade show, having a complete squee-fest over meeting all the well known Catholic writers, speakers, and priests.  We're talking "screaming fangirl-please hold my baby so I can get a picture of you and him for posterity" excitement.  So if anyone is suited to write a book about making the Catholic faith fun for kids, it's definitely Sarah!


First, I asked her to write a little something about what she hopes her children will remember the most about growing up Catholic:

Jesus is there, every week, in the Eucharist.

The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith (CCC 1324), but it's also been a real source of conversion for me personally.

I don't know how to explain it, but those years of sitting in Eucharistic Adoration for an hour a week, those years of attending Mass, those years of trying to find Jesus in my life...somehow, they are all summarized in that small host that is Body and Life.

God is love and he gave us his Son. It's so basic, so often said, so easy to forget and ignore.

I want my kids to grow up certain of it, and I want them to find their strength in Jesus, who is there for them, every single week, in the Eucharist.

They don't have to search high and low. They don't have to go on an adventure, embark on a journey, leave the comfort of their pew.

Jesus is there, every week, in the Eucharist.

And neither do I. It's an ongoing lesson for me as much as it is one that I want them to embrace.

Book Description

This inspirational guidebook offers activities with strategies and suggestions for fun family engagement—with one another and with faith— strengthening faith formation in young to grade-school age children.  Author Sarah Reinhard, busy mother of three, tested these activities in her own family. Taking into account the modern-day realities of parenting, she offers a reassuring, ‘you-can-do-it’ approach.  Modification of her ideas are encouraged to suit individual family interests, schedules, and budgets, so that each family can build a “domestic church” of their very own.

Activities Include
Silly Activities
Storytelling
Craft Projects
Meal Sharing
Outdoor Adventures
Places to Go
Saints to Celebrate
Ways to Serve
Ways to Pray

Mini-Review:

This is written to be a fast read, or an easy resource, ala 101 Things to Do on a Rainy Day, a book I loved as a child.  As I read through it, I was struck with how many of these things our family did spontaneously--and how many I'd thought about doing and never have because I wasn't sure where to start or how to do it easy.  The beauty of this is book is two-fold:  First, the activities are FUN.  how many times has your child has come with a "Family Fun" idea that is heavy on faith, but no one really thinks would be fun?  Second, Sarah has offered ways to mix in the faith, sometimes subtly; sometimes, with more focus.  She's put the RE in recess!


If you're a Catholic parent, especially with younger kids, this is a great book to have for rainy days or sunshine Sundays.


About Sarah:




Sarah Reinhard writes about marriage, motherhood, the Catholic faith, books, and life on a farm at her blog: www.snoringscholar.com. She is also a frequent contributor to other blogs, podcasts, and websites such as: Catholic Mom, Faith & Family Live, Catholic Foodie, and Catholic Writers Guild. Sarah lives in central Ohio with her husband and their three children.




Purchase from Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Catholic-Family-Fun-Sarah-Reinhard/dp/0819816043/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334762982&sr=8-1

Purchase from Publisher:  http://store.pauline.org/English/Books/tabid/126/List/0/ProductID/3778/Default.aspx?txtSearch=catholic+family+fun&SortField=ProductName%2cProductName

My Novel's Journey: Neeta Lyffe 2 is Done!

Today, I sent Neeta Lyffe 2: I Left My Brains in San Francisco to my publisher at Damnation Books.  This book had some challenges, as you know if you've been reading, but as I read it for the final time (backward, no less), I found I really enjoyed it with the changes.  So, while I don't have a lot to say this post, I do want to share the lesson I learned about getting critiquers/beta readers:

1.  Get a wide range of your audience.  It was interesting that the women who read the story liked the romance element and saw Neeta as sensitive and strong, while the guys saw her as weak and whiny.  If I'd only had women crit this, I would not have seen the flaw that would have turned off a big part of my audience.

2.  If doing a series, get readers who have read the previous book, and some who have not.  This was vital for knowing not only that my characters stayed within expectations for those who knew them, but that I explained the world well enough that those who are picking up this book first can understand it well enough to enjoy the story.

3.  If the book isn't right, don't rush it.  Rework and send it out again.

The Inside Scoop from a Cover Artist, Lex Valentine

Today, I have a guest blog from the cover artist of Live and Let Fly--Lex Valentine.  Lex did a terrific cover and was very receptive to my feedback.  She was great to work with and I've gotten a lot of comments on the results.  She's going to give you the inside scoop on cover art from the artist's POV.

I’m Lex Valentine and I’m an author. I’m also a cover artist for MuseItUp, Pink Petal Books, Passion in Print and MLR Press as well as for authors who self-publish. Karina asked me to guest blog here today because I created the cover for her new release, Live and Let Fly. I thought it would be a good opportunity to show readers and authors alike what goes into the creation of a cover.

The creation of a cover starts with the information the author provides to the artist. The artist uses the information to either draw an image or find an image or images that fit. They create the cover based on their interpretation of the information. When the author looks at it, they let the artist know what works and what doesn’t work. The artist then goes back and makes changes to bring the cover more in line with what the author envisions.

Most publishers that allow author input (some houses do not allow input unless the cover really misrepresents the book) up to a point, one or two passes of changes and that’s all. The reason they can’t allow more is because it’s cost prohibitive (time is money!) and it can build ill will between artist and author and publisher. The fastest way for a publisher to see an author as a Diva who may not be worth their time in the future is for the author to keep asking for more and more changes to the cover art. And believe me, if an author is Diva-ish when it comes to their cover and their book doesn’t sell well, the publisher may pass on future manuscripts from that author. Trust me. I’ve seen it happen.

The best thing an author can do when it comes to cover art is to realize there are limitations to everything. First, there are limitations when it comes to communication. If the author doesn’t articulate their vision very well, the artist is more likely to return a mockup that doesn’t match that vision. Artists don’t have crystal balls! They can’t read author minds! You need to be very concise about your descriptions and you also need to articulate what you are willing to bend on.

Second, there are limitations based on the artist. Some artists can actually draw. Others use photo manipulation. Those that can draw rely totally on the descriptions provided by the author. Those that use photo manipulation are limited by the images that are available to use. The more wild and diverse the characters and setting the less likely a photo manipulation artist is to find images that will work for the cover.

Third, there are almost always limitations based on cost. If a photo manipulation artist finds only one image that correctly portrays a character, the author may insist on that image. If the publisher pays the cost of the images and the image is expensive they may say no. If the artist pays the cost of the image and it comes out of their commission, they may say no. There are a lot of images that are cost prohibitive out there. And for artists who receive their fee based on the sales of the book, paying out of their pocket for images means they are fronting the cost of that cover in the hope that they will recoup what they have spent. They are in a sense, paying the author for the right to do their cover…at least until the sales start rolling in. No sales means the artist has given away that cover for free and the money spent on it becomes a loss.

Fourth, there are limitations based on time. If the cover art is needed quickly because a release date is very close, there may be very little time to make changes to the first draft of a cover. Also, when the artist is paid a flat fee for a cover, the longer it takes to create a cover, the less money an artist makes on it. At some point continuing to make changes becomes cost prohibitive. If an artist’s flat fee is $100 based on $25 an hour, that’s 4 hours the artist has to find images, create the cover and make the changes. If the work goes beyond 4 hours, the artist is no longer making any money on that cover.

Luckily for me, Karina’s cover required only two passes of changes. She wanted a very James Bond looking cover which immediately brought the gun barrel image to mind. Finding the inside of a gun barrel at the stock agencies turned out to be a piece of cake. I then decided to use the Mobsters font because it turned some of the letters into guns. Some of you may remember the font as the one used on the Sopranos TV show.

Next, I needed a red dragon. Since I write dragonshifters myself I did have a few dragons in my light box and they led me to the dragon I eventually chose for Vern. Finding a human Vern turned out to be fairly easy too. The man with the glasses seemed very James Bond-ish while still giving the reader the ability to see him as Vern’s human form.

I had a feeling that finding a Grace would be trouble. And she was. I looked at a lot of nun photos before I found one that might work. Lucky for me, Karina liked the one I chose.

We had some tweaking to do in terms of colorizing but all in all, this wasn’t a difficult cover to make and Karina’s requests didn’t outdo or match the Diva authors I’ve worked with. It ended up being a fun cover I think readers will be drawn to. The James Bond ties are obvious as is the fact that the book is humorous.

As an author myself, I always strive to give authors a cover that fits their vision. Sometimes I can’t do that. When that happens, I try to at least give them something representative of the book, something beautiful that catches the reader’s eye and makes them want to know more about what’s inside. I know that when I, as an author, have no input on a cover and the cover isn’t pleasing to me, I find myself trying extra hard to sell the book to people. And I’ve sometimes found myself trying to justify the cover even though I don’t like it either. As an artist, it can be really uncomfortable to sit in the author chair and not be given any say over my cover. And believe me, I have been in that position several times.

So there you have it, thoughts from a cover artist on what it takes to create covers. If you’re interested in my work, my portfolio can be seen at http://winterheart.com. Many thanks to Karina for having me today and I wish her many sales with Vern and Grace!

Lex Valentine

Winterheart Design