rbabiak Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 Hi all. I am new to these forms so not sure if this is ok to post. I tossed these together last weekend. What do you think? Well reasoned criticism is welcome. Gut feelings are welcome also. Please take trolling to the nearest bridge and throw it over the side. Thanks - Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nico Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 Hi and welcome to the forums, I'm new here myself. A question, are you planning on self publishing the book? Br, Nico Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 Hi rbabiak. Looks terrific. Could be a series from the sound of it. Please let us know when you publish ("self" or otherwise). -Thoth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbabiak Posted December 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 thanks. I am planning to either self publish, if it ever gets to a point that I am not embarrassed by it or publish to family and friends. I am very realistic in my out look, I am not going to publish and be rolling in cash. Wasn't planned to be a series, it was planned to be a short story, and is now 100k words. I have read that I need between 90k and 100k for first time Urban fantasy authors. I am a little over at the moment . Any words of advice on what makes a good cover, I just guessed based on what I have seen in other covers that I like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbabiak Posted December 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 Nico, I love the Gruu icon you have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 ... Any words of advice on what makes a good cover, I just guessed based on what I have seen in other covers that I like. The best advice I can give you is something you already know: look at other covers. What attracts you? What repels you? But above all, what covers make you want to buy the book and read the story behind the picture? Another tidbit is: don't copy other covers. Putting Harry Potter on your cover may sell books but it will also get you sued. Also, it doesn't matter if your book cover is busy or plain just as long as it stands out. If a plain cover sits between busy covers it will stand out, and vice versa. A plain cover could be lost in a sea of plain covers as easily as a busy cover can be lost in a sea of busy covers. Like titles, covers are also marketing tools so consider your genre and scream it with your cover. One more thing: in the 90s there was a (thankfully) brief fad of using fonts that were deliberately difficult to read. (The first issue of Wired Magazine gave me a headache.) So, don't let publishers talk you into that (unless it's a deal breaker). If you self-publish all these decisions will be yours, so be kind to your readers. (Best advice ever!) Just my opinion. -T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nico Posted December 19, 2012 Report Share Posted December 19, 2012 Nico, I love the Gruu icon you have Thank you! :-) I forgot to add that I wanted to congratulate you on writing 100k plus words, and that I liked the cover. Please let us know if you get it published! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbabiak Posted December 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 maybe I should upload it here, for some free editing ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguerite Posted December 20, 2012 Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 Image, text, and title seem fine in terms of design (although the back cover text needs editing: the past tense of pay is paid, not payed, e.g.). But the cover has no spine. Whether you self-publish or hand the design off to someone else, a book cover needs a spine perfectly matched to the size of the book. Check the CreateSpace directions (free, http://www.createspace.com) for help on calculating one. At the moment, your front cover text and your back cover text would both be cut off when the book is bound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted December 20, 2012 Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 Image, text, and title seem fine in terms of design (although the back cover text needs editing: the past tense of pay is paid, not payed, e.g.). Dude! I didn't even notice this. Which only goes to show what a terrible editor I am. But the cover has no spine. Whether you self-publish or hand the design off to someone else, a book cover needs a spine perfectly matched to the size of the book. Check the CreateSpace directions (free, http://www.createspace.com) for help on calculating one. At the moment, your front cover text and your back cover text would both be cut off when the book is bound. Yes. Very true. Unless you're sticking to downloadable electronic publishing. Not having a dead-tree version is very green if somewhat unfulfilling. (I love the feel of a good solid book in my hands.) Still, e-books don't have spines, just front and back covers (if that). Which raises the question, If an author goes to all the trouble of creating a spine image, shouldn't that be published too? Just putting it out there. -T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbabiak Posted December 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 I am planning on just a Ebook. Maybe a single print on demand version for my self. But I have been wondering for along time about something. A lot of thime when I buy a bunch of e-books I have them all on my kindel. Then when I get around to reading them I don't recall what they are about. Most E-books lack the back cover description of the book once downloaded. I have been thinking of adding my back cover image as a second image at the start of the book. Or should I just have the text on a single page before the copyright info? anyone have any opinions on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted December 20, 2012 Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 I have been thinking of adding my back cover image as a second image at the start of the book. Or should I just have the text on a single page before the copyright info? anyone have any opinions on this? I don't see anything wrong, immoral or unethical about adding the back-cover image near the start of the book. It's just strange. More traditionally, the summary stuff is at the front in a forward or occasionally in a prolog. Stuff about the author goes at the back on the About The Author page. You can also include an Other Works page after. Just check out any paperback novel to see how it can be put together. Then again, if you're self-publishing you can make your own rules (within reason—you don't want to startle the herd). Are we all prepared for the Winter Solstice and Mayan Apocalypse tomorrow? -T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbabiak Posted December 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 yes. I plan to have a good long sleep and relax. Then for x-mass I will be out at the farm for 4 days, no internets.... first world problems... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguerite Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 The back cover text usually becomes the book description (blurb) in an e-book. You paste it into the book description field during setup for both print and Kindle/ePub. There is no intrinsic reason why you could not put the back cover text in the file itself. If I were doing that in Storyist, I would paste the text into a note, name the note with my title, and include it in my Preset for the book export, dragging it into position right behind the cover. It isn't a prologue or a foreword; it's a blurb for the book. But even though everyone calls it a blurb, you would not ever see it called that in an actual book, even an e-book. Hence the use of the title, instead. I would use plain text rather than the back cover image, though. You could include the image, but logically it would be the last thing in the file, which rather defeats your point. You can also upload the back cover as an additional image to Amazon.com and the iBookstore. The exact instructions differ for each site. But for print on demand, you definitely need both a spine and a properly typeset file. On the last, see my blog. Best, M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbabiak Posted December 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 blog not found.. bad link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguerite Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 Sorry about that. Safari was being weird. The address was correct, but when I clicked the link it didn't open. Even when I copied it from the page, the link didn't work. But it should be fixed now. It goes directly to the right post, as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbabiak Posted December 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 thanks, that is a good read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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