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Judging A Book By Its Cover

I’ve been researching book cover design to learn more about what sells and what doesn’t. In that all-important first moment when potential buyers see your book either online or on a brick-and-mortar store shelf, does the cover grab them and shout “Buy me!” or does it say “Meh” and let them get away?Book_I_WhiteCover

I read that analyzing covers of recently published books is a great way to get ideas that will make your book an eye-catcher. Sometimes I found it difficult, though, to figure out why some covers worked better than others. For example, on The Book Designer Web site, Joel Friedlander critiques book covers submitted by writers/designers, awarding gold stars to the best ones and useful comments to others. I went through and studied the covers, then read his comments to see if we had similar thoughts. Sometimes we agreed and sometimes not. The crux of the matter is that it’s all subjective. One person’s beauty is another’s bleh.

The site did have some good basic design tips which I found helpful.
• Decide what your principal focus will be and work around that. Use only a few images and don’t clutter.
• Don’t use a white background. Use texture, color, or illustration instead.
• Make sure the text stands out and is easy to read.
• The title needs to be large enough to be read when shrunk to Amazon thumbnail size.
• Use images, colors, and fonts that convey the tone/mood of the book.

A few seconds’ glance is all you get when someone picks up your book. In those few moments, your cover should communicate the genre, the theme or basic subject of the book, and the tone. It should lead the person into your story and make them not want to leave. I know that sounds like common sense, but it’s a lot harder than it seems.

I had some general ideas of what I thought should be on the cover of my book, one of which was to focus on my main character, a swordswoman with silver-blonde hair. Both the book I’m currently reading and the one I’m going to read next have swordswomen prominently on the covers. But then I read where one person didn’t like putting characters on book covers because she preferred to leave the characters’ faces to the readers’ imaginations.

What do you think? Does it bother you to have an image of the main character on the book cover? I’d love to hear your opinions!

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Celebrate the Small Things

Celebrate The Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here. CelebrateSmallThings_Badge

I love the idea of focusing on the positive and taking time to think about the good things that have happened, so for this week I’m celebrating:

  1. Finished going through the proofreading edits for my book! Now on to cover design…
  2. Had great conversations and met several new blog friends from my first Insecure Writer’s Support Group post on Wednesday.
  3. Actually got caught up with some of my household chores.
  4. Celebrated National Donut Day today with a Boston Crème donut. Absolutely delicious!

What other celebrations are going on out there?

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IWSG / Paranoia

Today’s the day for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) where, on the first Wednesday of every month, writers get together to share their insecurities and offer encouragement. The IWSG was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and you can learn all about it and sign up for it here.

This will be my first IWSG post and as an aspiring author on the verge of self-publishing my first book, I’m finding myself in the insecure category more often than I’d like.

I write in the fantasy genre, and recently I’ve been reading some old fantasy novels I bought back in the 1980s and ’90s that I’d never gotten around to reading before. Every so often, I run across a name or a place or a plot circumstance that is similar to something in my book, and I get really paranoid that I’ll publish my book and then someone will read it and say one of my characters or a part of my story is just like some other novel published years ago (that I’ve never read) and accuse me of plagiarism or of being a copycat and ripping off other authors’ stories or… well you get the idea.

For example, in the book I’m currently reading, Aurian, by Maggie Furey, (published in 1994), I discovered that part of the backstory/history of the main character’s world includes a clash of magical beings referred to as the Cataclysm and Mage Wars. Now my story, that I’ve been working on in bits and pieces for almost thirty years, also has a clash of magics called the Cataclysm. Granted, the Cataclysm in my novel happens on a much smaller scale, but it does similarly involve an ancient race of magical beings whose magical battle also changes the very fiber of a part of my fictional world. And there are Wizard Wars in my novel’s history, as well.

I know Mage/Wizard Wars and magical clashes are not original by any means. But when I read something similar to events or characters in my book — like the use of the word Cataclysm — I get paranoid. Is it just me or does anyone else ever worry about this kind of thing?

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The Liebster Award!

Much to my surprise, my blog was nominated for a Liebster Award! This award allows fellow bloggers to spotlight blogs that haven’t yet built up a large following. Sue Archer of Doorway Between Worlds nominated me for this award. Sue blogs entertainingly about grammar and communication issues. Thank you very much, Sue!

LiebsterAward_05142014

The current rules for accepting this award are:

1: List 11 random facts about myself.
2: Answer 11 questions from the blogger who nominated me.
3: Nominate 11 more blogs who have less than 200 followers and let them know they’ve been nominated.
4: Post 11 new questions for those bloggers to answer (if they wish to accept the award — it’s completely optional).

Okay, 11 random facts: the good, the bad, and the strange:

1: I’ve flown a Cessna 152 single engine plane.
2. I’m arachnophobic.
3. I’m a morning person.
4: I’ve always wanted to live in a castle.
5: I’m not superstitious.
6: I like to build Legos.
7: I love swords and keys.
8: I can’t stand rap music.
9: My first car was a black Pontiac Trans Am.
10: I love flower gardens.
11: My favorite stuffed animals are dragons.

Moving on to the 11 questions asked by the person who nominated me:

1. What’s the weirdest job you’ve ever had?

Nothing too way-out-there weird. Maybe sweeping down cobwebs (with lots of spiders — ewww!) on the farm where I grew up.

2. What’s the best book you’ve read in the past year?

I really liked Kristen Britain’s Green Rider and First Rider’s Call. Fantasy adventure with a strong female lead, swordplay, and likeable characters.

3. What do you enjoy most about blogging?

The blogging community makes blogging fun. I’ve met so many friendly and fascinating people, mostly through the April A to Z Challenge.

4. What do you do when you’re having writers’ block?

Get up and walk away from the computer. Do anything else that will take my mind off it for a while, then go back later with a fresh perspective.

5. Why do you like the fantasy/science fiction genre?

I’ve always loved knights and castles and swordplay and magic. They appeal most to my imagination. Space travel through the universe can be fun, too. Anything can happen.

6. If you could meet anyone you wanted, who would it be?

Off the top of my head — J.R.R. Tolkien. Imagine talking to him about the folklore of Middle Earth…

7. Introvert or extrovert?

Introvert. Definitely.

8. Fill in the blank: “Writing is like _____________.”

Writing is like building with blocks. Each added word block builds the story from the foundation on up, and rearranging the blocks creates endless story possibilities.

9. Who or what inspires you?

Inspiration springs from many places. My parents, who have always encouraged me, inspire me to keep writing and pursuing my dream of being a published author. A random face in a crowd inspires a new character for one of my stories. An object I find or a snippet I read somewhere can set off a new chain of ideas for plot twists. Inspiration is everywhere.

10. Why should people read and follow your blog?

I started this blog to share my self-publishing journey. More and more writers are going the self-publishing route, and I’m hoping that my experiences may help others pursuing the same goal. I also hope to learn from the members of the writing community who’ve already been there.

11. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I like reading, being outdoors, and sharing adventures with my family.

And now to nominate some great blogs!

I’ve only been blogging for a couple of months, so my “Blogs I Follow” list is still growing. Some of these may have more than 200 followers, but I enjoyed them so much during the A to Z Challenge that I’d like to nominate them anyway. Here they are, in no particular order:

Intrinsic Musings — Suzanne writes intriguing short fiction, along with book reviews and posts about her life.

Atherton’s Magic Vapour — Melanie writes wickedly humorous posts about mystery and the macabre. I love her detailed illustrations.

Swords & Stilettos — Kristin is a busy mom and writer of romance who wrote a wonderful A to Z series about the things she is thankful for.

Anabel’s Travel Blog — I think Anabel has been most everywhere and she has gorgeous photos to prove it.

Stepheny Forgue Houghtlin — Stepheny is the author of Greening of a Heart and she has a passion for English gardens. Her garden blog is full of beautiful flower and garden photos.

Writer in Transit — Michelle is a fiction writer who had a unique interactive twist to her A to Z Challenge posts, asking readers to imagine what different types of books would say if they could speak.

Hungry Enough To Eat Six! — Nancy cooks up the most delicious recipes on her blog — check out her A to Z pies! — and also writes about her life and various other things.

In Media Res — Michelle fills her blog with book reviews and I really liked her Harry Potter themed A to Z posts.

Debi O’Neille, Writing Against the Wind — Debi wrote an A to Z Challenge series of writing prompts that I found truly inspiring. I came out of it with several new story ideas that have already taken on lives of their own.

Story Treasury — Sonia writes on bookish topics and creates thought-provoking short fiction.

Sara C. Snider — Sara is a fantasy writer and the author of The Thirteenth Tower. She also wrote a fascinating series of posts on Mythological Creatures for the A to Z Challenge.

And last but not least: the 11 questions for the nominees to answer (should they choose to accept):

1: What is the best place you’ve visited?
2: What’s the most unusual thing you’ve done?
3: What’s your favorite movie?
4: What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?
5: What fictional character do you like best?
6: What’s the best book you’ve read this year?
7: Why should people read and follow your blog?
8: Morning person or night owl?
9: What’s at the top of your bucket list?
10: What do you consider your most important personality trait?
11: Have you ever performed or been the recipient of a random act of kindness and what was it?

And that’s it! Thanks to everyone for reading this far!

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A to Z Challenge: Fictional Favorites, Day 6

F is for — Fflewddur Fflam from Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain.

I love humorous characters, and Fflewddur Fflam definitely fits the bill. He is actually king of a very small kingdom, though in his heart, he is a bard and often wanders with his magical harp, noting that his kingdom seems to carry on just fine without him.

In The Book of Three, the first book of the Chronicles, Fflewddur is mistakenly rescued from a dungeon cell by Princess Eilonwy, another VERY humorous character. He joins the princess and Taran, the Assistant Pig-Keeper, on their dangerous journey to Caer Dathyl to warn of an imminent attack by the evil Horned King. Along the way, Fflewddur regales his companions with the brave and mighty deeds he’s done in battle, but whenever he lies or exaggerates, the strings on his magical harp snap resoundingly, causing him to hastily revise his stories in mid-breath.

Despite his many exaggerations, Fflewddur proves his mettle in countless battles throughout the five-book series, his courage and loyalty unquestionable. I’d welcome him on my team any day.

Fflewddur Fflam from Disney's Black Cauldron, 1985

Fflewddur Fflam from Disney’s Black Cauldron, 1985
Photo Credit: Disney Wikia

Chronicles of Prydain: The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron

Chronicles of Prydain: The Book of Three,
The Black Cauldron

Chronicles of Prydain: The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, The High King

Chronicles of Prydain: The Castle of Llyr,
Taran Wanderer,
The High King

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A to Z Challenge: Fictional Favorites, Day 3

C is for — Sidney Carton — from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities.

I first read this story many years ago. Amidst the horror of the French Revolution, the characters sprang to life for me, their struggles so vivid they still haunt me. Lucie Manette, the loving innocent; her husband Charles Darnay, the French aristocrat who denies his birthright and tries to make good on his own; Madame Defarge, the Revolution personified; and Sydney Carton, the drunken lawyer who feels himself worthless. Carton falls in love with Lucie, and his noble feelings for her allow him to transcend what he considers a wasted life and give the ultimate sacrifice. The triumph and sorrow of the Tale’s ending stayed with me for days.

At the time, my own novel was still in its early stages, and I had no idea where my characters’ adventures would take them. There were a few characters I didn’t know very well, yet — one important character, in particular. But after reading A Tale of Two Cities, I had a sudden epiphany. I could see quite clearly in my mind the path this character was meant to follow. And as my story progressed through Book I : Lady, Thy Name Is Trouble, and later, Book II: Trouble By Any Other Name, he grew to be one of my favorites, and he did indeed follow the foreseen path to a hopeful and tragic and fitting end.

Ronald Colman as Sydney Carton A Tale of Two Cities, 1935

Ronald Colman as Sydney Carton
A Tale of Two Cities, 1935
Photo Credit: imdb.com

C_2_ATaleOfTwoCitiesBookCover

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The Turning of a Page

At the end of March, the proofreading will be done on my fantasy novel, Lady, Thy Name Is Trouble, and all that will be left to do in the writing phase will be one final going over to correct any mistakes the proofreader noted on the manuscript. Then the novel will be finished… complete… ready to move on to the next phase of the publishing journey. Once the formatting begins, there’s no going back. The words must stand as they are.

Strangely enough, I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about that. Excited — definitely. Hopeful, of course. Nervous — very. And a little sad — or maybe nostalgic would be a better word. This story has been building and growing for almost thirty years. I don’t think I’ve ever reread it without changing something — replacing a word, tweaking a sentence, or sometimes, in the earlier stages, rewriting whole passages. Soon, I won’t be able to do that anymore. The story will go beyond me, into the world. I’ve often read that to authors, the publishing of their books is akin to giving birth, and I would have to agree it’s an apt comparison. In the not-too-distant future, my book will leave the nurturing home of my imagination and take its place on solid and cyber bookshelves everywhere, out there for the masses to read and hopefully enjoy.

All the typical insecurities gnaw at me. What if no one buys it? What if people buy it, but then don’t like it? Or what if they buy it and do like it and it becomes a best-seller and someone makes a movie out of it and things get crazy and… Okay, okay, I know only a few ever get to that point, but hey, I can dream. Whatever the result, I will be happy — and proud of myself — for having reached way out of my comfort zone and accomplished what had always seemed an unattainable goal. I’m almost there.

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To Kill A Character

In a recent interview, J.K. Rowling dropped two bombshells on the millions of fans of her Harry Potter series: one — that Hermione really should have ended up with Harry rather than Ron, and two — that the author had seriously considered killing off the character of Ron Weasley. I have to say I was shocked on both counts. I, for one, enjoyed the unlikely pairing of Ron and Hermione and laughed and cried along with them as their relationship progressed. The final scene in the last book where the two are sending their daughter off to Hogwarts I found immensely satisfying.

But it was the second of Rowling’s bombshells that surprised me the most. Killing off Ron would have been like killing off one of the three musketeers. Quite frankly, it would have ruined the story for me.

I’ve always been a proponent of happy endings. I read and write for pleasure, and if I’m going to go through a gut-wrenching wringer with characters I care about, I darn well want to be smiling at the end. Life is filled with enough heartbreak. I don’t want to spend my limited amount of free time bawling my eyes out over the painful ending of a story. Because character deaths are painful. Very painful. I’ve cried over the deaths of my own characters. I realize that sometimes they don’t make it to the end. They must go where the story takes them, and that can be very hard to deal with. But I could never deliberately plan to kill a character off, particularly one of the heroes. That would be like consciously pronouncing a death sentence on a friend.

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What I Love

I write fantasy adventure. That’s what I love best — stories with lots of action, strong female characters, a bit of levity, and sighs of romance. Not the jump-into-bed-every-five-minutes type of romance, but the kind where the attraction builds into a true, caring relationship that, if given the chance, can transcend all the challenges the heroine and hero must face.

But love is not what the heroine of the story wants. Tara Triannon and her sister Laraina are swords for hire whose exploits across the Westlands are legendary. The one time Tara let her heart be touched, love burned her badly, and she has no intention of getting caught again by love’s fickle ways. However, when things go terribly wrong, the one man whose help she needs is the one man who can threaten her resolve. Jovan Trevillion, though, is a man of many secrets and accepting his help may be even more dangerous than keeping to the perilous path she and her sister already follow. But with the Butcher on their trail, their choices are limited.

Captain Natiere, the Butcher, an assassin with a tortured soul and the heart of a wolf, pursues them relentlessly. Harboring secrets of his own, the Butcher wants only to kill Tara and her companions to discharge a debt, and then he will be free to return to the wilds and perhaps find some way to fill his empty existence. Much to his surprise, his fate becomes more and more entangled with Tara’s with every passing step.

I never think of Tara and Laraina, Jovan, or Captain Natiere — or any of the other people in my book — as characters. They are as real to me as if they were made of flesh and blood. I love sharing in their lives and adventures, and it will be fun bringing them to a larger audience. Hopefully, they will be as inspiring to others as they are to me.

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It’s Time

Writing has always been a part of my life.  It began with creating stories in my head for fun when I was young.  Or rather, creating characters who wrote their own stories.  I never told them what to do.  My characters took care of that themselves.  They lived their adventures, fought, loved, and sometimes died, in my mind.  It was like watching a movie in my head, seeing and hearing the characters as if I stood beside them, holding my breath, along for the ride.

As I grew older, my mother suggested I write my stories down.  Such euphoria ensued, sparking a dream of one day being a published author.  To hold in my hand a book of my own making would be the greatest nirvana.  But life being what it is, with the necessities of having a steady income to pay the bills, and later the beloved obligations of family, the dream stayed just that — a dream.  Writing remained a hobby, though in my head my characters’ stories still clamored for release.

Until now.  Now, circumstances are such that my dream might actually be within reach.  I am going to self-publish my novel.  There… I said it.  I’m going to self-publish my novel and set my characters free.  Wow.  Just writing the words and putting them out there is enough to make me laugh and cry at the same time.

I know this will be a huge learning experience, and there will be bumps along the road, but I will persevere until I hold my book in my hand.  It may not be the best book ever written, but that’s okay.  It will still be nirvana to me.

This is my journey.  I invite anyone who wishes to share it with me.