Bookmark These Books
My book, Mistress of the Stone isn't out until August 28th, but if you pre-order, you can get it for cheap! Only $3.85. I don't know how long Samhain will leave it at this price, but if you buy from Samhain regularly, you know this is a great price for a novel this length.
If you do buy it, I hope you'll leave a review somewhere. Thanks!
Pre-order here.
I've only seen one review so far, but it sounds like I did pretty good. Keeping my fingers crossed.
My friends have books too. Check out these new releases.
RESCUED LOVE, by Angelina Rain
Can the doctor, who made a life out of helping animals, heal a human?
One by one, household dogs disappear only to come back after senseless
abuse. Veterinarian Jordan Powell will stop at nothing to ensure her
patients' safety. Even if that means seeking help from ex-boyfriend,
police officer Nate Thrillson, the man whose heart she once broke.
(Novella) Buy it now at Breathless Press.
DEATH IS A BITCH, by Cate Masters
Eternity can suck when it’s all work, work, work. Death harvests souls
even when they stack up faster than pancakes in an
all-you-can-eat-buffet.
(Novella) From Decadent Press. Buy it here.
ULTIMATE SACRIFICE by Madeleine Sara
When Lyndsay hears the terrible news about her soldier boyfriend, Ben,
she knows she must be strong; but just how strong, she is yet to
discover…
DANCE ON FIRE, by James Garcia Jr.
Nathaniel
is a vampire. He wandered into town, bothering no one; feeding upon
stray cats and other vermin, wanting nothing more than to have a place
to rest his head. Vincent is a second vampire, and the one responsible
for making Nathaniel. He has been searching for his long lost
“son” for well over two centuries. Vincent’s goal is to take Nathaniel
home or kill him.
Buy it at Amazon now.
LIGHTING CANDLES IN THE SNOW by Karen Jones Gowen.
This book isn't out until September 18, but you can still pre-order at WiDo Publishing.
Newly divorced Karoline London needs to heal and find her normal again,
as older sister Suzie keeps reminding her. But what does Suzie know
about divorce? She has the perfect husband and seven gorgeous children,
while Karoline had six years married to a man tormented by addictions.
If I missed you, forgive me. I only jotted down whatever books came up on my radar last week. If you have something that released recently, let me know in the comments and don't forget to leave your "buy links".
***
Interesting observation about covers
It's no secret that none of us have dibs on cover art (unless we hire a photographer and model ourselves) so occasionally I will see the same cover model used on other books.
Recently, I spied two covers using the models I used for Chain of Souls and The Devil to Pay. I could tell by looking at the other covers that the artists didn't do anything more than slap the art on the page--which is kind of sad because it's an opportunity to make it unique.
For The Devil to Pay, I did a lot of photo retouching, including giving the model more hair (she had mousy hair) and giving her an ethereal glow.
For the Chain of Souls cover, the original model was bone-china white. In the story, this particular character's skin color was supposed to be caramel brown. So I gave her a tan and added the ruby chain (also integral to the story).
If you use stock art, consider modifying it when possible. That way it'll always carry a little bit of you.
Authors: Do you customize your art for your indie books?
Comments
Cover design is like watching someone parachute. I know I never could, but I'm fascinated. So I read your posts with interest, Maria.
***
Jenny: I saw those posts. He was spot-on with many of his points.
I especially like that an indie cover has to be just as good or better than a traditional cover. If you want to compete with the big boys, you have to pull out all the stops.
I'm late replying because I spent all day working on edits for that second book that you mentioned. :)
Thanks again.
-Jimmy
I see EC has used my cover models on another cover coming out in almost the same week. It will be interesting to see if people notice.
I noticed that a lot of covers use the same pictures. I found this great stock image site with really cheap pictures but half of them have already graced the covers of epublished books.
I agree about playing around with the photo to make it look unique. I recently had to make a cover for a friend and her request was that I use a dark haired woman, dressed in black, wearing a black mask. I found the perfect picture, except the dress and mask were purple, so I played around with the layering until the woman herself had a much darker skin tone, and she wore all black. The author loved the cover, and that picture looked unique, even if there are other covers with this same model.
A big trend I noticed recently is that many self-publishing authors are now doing their own edits and covers to save themselves some money. And, often times they miss their own mistakes and their covers are crappy. Only a few authors, those who actually know what they are doing (like you) can get away with it. You know how to use photoshop and play with the pics to make them work. It seems that many authors don't. They just take the picture and add the title to it and call it a day.
Completely off topic, I have a blogger who wants me to send her my cover art no larger than 72 dpi. Currently, it's 300 dpi. When I want to make it smaller on my blog, I just set the parameters to "smaller". How do I change the actual size before I give it to her?
***
Shelley: I tend to notice. I kind of wish the artists' names were more available. It's a good way to know who does good work--and who doesn't.
***
Angelina: It's not as easy as people think which is why they probably attempt it themselves. The trick is knowing your limitations and asking for help.
Or send it to me and I'll resize it for you. :)
***
Mike: We're such a visual society that it would be shooting yourself in the foot if you put out cheesy covers. It's hard enough now to get attention.
Thanks so much for the mention for Death!
***
Linda: Yeah. People need to be nicer to me. I might be useful someday. LOL.
Thanks so much for the Ultimate Sacrifice shout out.
I love your post about book covers, Your The Devil To Pay has a great ethereal atmosphere
I happened upon a novel that used the same Jimmy Thomas image that I have for Her Dark Baron. The great thing is, the covers look entirely different! It was funny to see it, though. Ha.
Chain of Souls is my favorite cover of yours...I really liked the image. It was different.
I do use a cover designer. I have no knowledge of cover design - and I feel it best left in the hand of a professional in my case...lol. I admire anyone who can create such beautiful designs.