Book Covers Make the Author (and Publisher)

A few nights ago, while I was admiring the latest book covers on my web page, a voice issued from the Mylar balloons next to my office chair: “Bar-ba-ra! Bar-ba-ra!

The night before, a relative emailed me saying they wanted to buy a copy of Twilight Healer. That must have gotten the balloons’ attention. When they call me by their pet name for me, I know they’re up to something. The rustling from my balloons came next, and then the dialogue started.

Balloons: Look it this! You’re posting a book with an inferior cover and slipshod formatting. That book has enjoyed great reviews. How could you?”

Me: That was the first book I released through NTD and my first attempt at formatting. It looked pretty good to me.

Balloons: Oh, yeah? Go through that book and take a hard look at the cover. See if we’re not right.

Me, after glossing through TH’s pages and cover: You’re right. The formatting I use now looks better. So do the covers because of great artists like Teresa Tunaley, Marge Simon, and Sandy DeLuca.

Balloons: Dat’s wight, wabbit. A mediocre cover will reflect poorly on you and your company. People looking at the page might think you don’t care how your books look. Some of your authors have opted for new covers. How about following their lead?

Oh, dear, they’ve caught me, I thought, fetching a deep sigh. A book cover is the first thing people notice when they shop for books. Most people come in with limited funds, so what they get had better be worth the money. Of course, they’ll bypass a so-so looking cover. A poorly made cover and formatting might intimate that the writing needs work, too. It won’t matter if thousands of dollars went into editing the book. What’s more, if I were a publisher selling that book, people might think that all my books look bad. Appearances and first impressions count.

I thought of it this way. If I went on a job interview, I wouldn’t show up in dungarees and sneakers. I would wear a suit and good shoes. So what makes a professional book cover? The cover should communicate the book’s content to the reader. Look at other covers for books with a similar genre. What common element do the covers have? You want to use good images – at least 300 dpi (dots per inch) for good resolution. Best to hire an experienced designer. I know that now, but not when I did TH’s cover.

So I’ve begun reformatting Twilight Healer’s interior, and attempting to decide between two images what I’ll use for the new cover. Because I want what looks best. An appealing cover will reflect nicely on all the NTD books. The Mylar balloons would agree.

Hiring a Publicist Part II: After the Contract


In Hiring a Publicist…or Not, I described considerations to make before embarking on a publicity campaign. Things like finances, weather, health, timing, your tolerance for risk, and your personal preferences. JoAnna Senger is a warm, outgoing author who lives in a warm, dry climate. Her book, Reservation Ravaged, went live July 1st. Having contemplated her circumstances, Joanna Senger hired JKS Communications, a literary publicity firm.

JoAnna and JKS were a great match in that JKS places a heavy emphasis on face-to-face contact. The cost wasn’t as steep as what most publicists charge, but still in the four figures range. JKS formulated a beaut of a press kit, including a press release. This kit provided material that I used for a Facebook ad that revolved around JoAnna’s interview tour. JKS set up a concentrated interview tour by phone with about ten top AM/FM stations such as Dave Malarkey’s WISR-AM. They sent out 50 to 75 Advance Reader Copies to garner book reviews and publicity for media events. No one’s reported any book reviews yet, but they’re coming.

JoAnna took a 5-city tour that spanned across several states. Basically this included signings and meet-and-greets at libraries, bookstores, book clubs and meet up groups. I posted three of these events on Facebook.

So…if you bring a publicist like JKS to the party, let your publisher know straight away. Your publisher may have ideas for promotion which ties in with the campaign. Your publicist will need the ordering links for your book when they become available, and your publisher can make that happen. After each interview, the radio hosts and other interviewers deserve a big “thank you.” One caveat: the retainer fees only cover the setting up of interviews, press release, and other things your publicist agrees to do in the contract. This means that JoAnna had to pay her own traveling expenses, the purchase of books for her events, and the cost for mailing the ARCs ($8.00 per package). Any service that fell out of the scope of the contract would cost her, too.

As soon as the contract was finalized, JKS contacted me and JoAnna for a release date (July 1st). Like many publicists, JKS wanted to begin the campaign four months before the release, so they started April 1st, 2014. To their credit, JKS Communications were willing to work around JoAnna’s schedule (day job and a bout with pneumonia). Each month they sent a publicity update to me and JoAnna. Reservation Ravaged came with a great cover, so I’m hoping for the best. This should give you some idea on what to expect from a publicist.

So…have you given any thought to hiring a publicist for a publicity campaign? Why or why not? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Christopher Gray’s Character Creations

Christopher Gray posts his dark fiction, Dark Nights.The old writing tip, “write what you know,” is valid for character creation. I believe all writers put elements of themselves into at least one or two of the protagonists in their work. The personalities of other characters can come from people we know or have known in the past: an old romantic interest… a teacher from grade school… a friend or family member… the list goes on.

The key to making things interesting and believable is to have a different personality and dialog style for each character. Ideally, the reader should be able to identify the speaker of longer passages without being told who the character is. This can be a difficult goal to achieve, but it helps if you define the character’s personality early in the writing process.

One way to do this is to establish the character’s belief system. Are they passionate about a certain subject? Are they recognized as an expert in their field? Do their actions affect others around them? Do they have clout, i.e., are they able to persuade others to take action that will help them to achieve their own ends? Do other characters speak about them, even when the character in question is not in the scene?

Every good story has conflict. Most conflict comes from competing agendas between individuals or groups. In some cases the agenda is fought for the common good. In others, the motives are selfish. It is usually more interesting if there is a mixture of both. In other words, no character is completely evil or completely good.

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Dark Nights features compelling science fiction.BLURB:  

The machine believed it knew best how to save humanity… even if doing so meant destroying half the population.  Astrophysicist Doug Lockwood’s unusual discovery during his observation of the sun kicks off a chain of events that nobody could have foreseen. The powerful political and military influences that compete to deal with his discovery set Lockwood on a course which will carry him across worlds, and into the grasp of a formidable new intelligence bent on accomplishing its goal at any cost. With Earth itself at stake and time running out, Lockwood and his team must find a way to counter this unprecedented threat before the powerful new enemy completes its plan. Two civilizations are pitted against each other in a desperate struggle for survival.

Christopher Gray wrote science fiction Dark Nights.AUTHOR INFORMATION:

Christopher A. Gray is a professional freelance writer living in Toronto. He has been a sales agent, project manager, actor, filmmaker, comedy writer & performer and world traveler.

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Nights-Christopher-Gray-ebook/dp/B00GOH9CSE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403100145&sr=8-1&keywords=dark+nights+christopher+gray

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-nights-christopher-a-gray/1117683808?ean=9780986836497

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Excerpt:

“Increase buffer bandwidth to maximum,” Nick ordered his assistant, Anders.

“I already tried that, it makes no difference!” Anders replied, a trace of panic in his voice.

Nick turned to the astrophysicist that was monitoring the moon’s position.

“What will the orbit be if no action is taken?”

The astrophysicist looked at him, incredulous.

“I don’t need to tell you what the outcome will be.”

“Is there at least a chance it will settle into a stable orbit? The speed is right.”

“The angle is off by three degrees! If it isn’t corrected the moon will pass within seventy thousand kilometers of the Earth. That’s less than one-fifth of its normal distance!”

Nick stared blankly at his expert, not wishing to believe what he was being told. The astrophysicist shook his head.

“With the increased gravitational and tidal effect, there will be a massive world-wide earthquake, and that’s just the beginning. The orbit will be highly elliptical, and will degrade further. We’ll have bi-weekly earthquakes and tsunamis, much worse than we have ever experienced. There is an 80% chance that within four months the moon will collide with us!”

“We’ll all be dead long before the collision,” said Anders, his voice shaking. “We may not even survive when the moon makes its first pass, six days from now.”

Another assistant looked over at Nick.

“We’re getting the same report from our observatory in Arizona. They’ve noticed the angle and are asking questions. How do you want me to reply?”

Nick broke out into a cold sweat. He didn’t know what to do.

Christopher promotes his science fiction, Dark Nights.

Hiring a Publicist…or Not? (Part I)

If you’re hiring a book publicist, you might want to note the following Shakespearian quote, tape the words to your mirror, and memorize them as you contemplate interviews, signings, and other types of publicity.

“There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries.”

Shakespeare was a poet and playwright, so he must have understood the public’s temperament. The average publicist charges $1,000 to $5,000 a month for retainer fees, and that doesn’t include traveling expenses or monies for review copies. What’s more, there’s no guarantee of sales. A publicist can set up interviews with influential radio and TV stations, book signings, and blog tours; put together trailers and revamp your website. So you should realize some sales, but I wouldn’t bet your home mortgage on it. Can you afford to gamble $7,000 to $14,000? If the answer’s yes, most publicists recommend that you start your campaign about four months before the book goes live. If you have a beaut of a cover, superb editing, and a strong platform, you’ve taken the tide of publicity at the flood, and it’s on to fame and fortune. If not all that – you can’t win the lottery every time – the publicity will enhance your brand and provide a decent amount of sales. If you’re going in with an overpriced book, bad cover, and spotty editing, you might run into dismal reviews and other miseries.

Let’s say you’ve got the funds and everything’s squeaky clean with your cover and editing. You’ve consulted several publicists to compare prices versus services, and honed in on a choice. Before you sign the contract – yes, there’s one involved – questions need to be asked before you decide on and schedule services.

  • Is this your first book? What kind of platform will you offer?
  • Are you free to schedule a book tour or will family obligations, health problems, and/or work hours get in the way?
  • Are you media-shy? Could you benefit from coaching?
  • Is the weather where you live compatible with travel, or is your neighborhood prone to frequent snowstorms, hurricanes, etc.? How comfortable are you with traveling in adverse weather conditions?
  • Are you comfortable with guest blogging? I enjoyed my blog tour for Steel Rose as much as I do chasing balloons at the Giant, but I’ve seen people grimace at the prospect of writing a blog.
  • Is the SEO for your website up to par or do you need help in that area?

NTD author JoAnna Senger considered these questions before she hired JKS Communications for Reservation Ravaged. As her publisher, I got to see the process up close and personal. Mind you, everyone’s experience will be different, but in my next blog (Part II), I hope to give you an idea of what to expect when you hire a publicist.

 

Madhuri Blaylock’s The Boy

Blaylock writes compelling fiction.Where did you get your ideas for The Sanctum: The Boy? Is there a 3rd book coming?

Let’s start by answering the easy stuff first. Yes, there is a third and final book in The Sanctum Trilogy currently in the works. I published The Boy in mid May of this year and afterwards, took off a couple of weeks to read some other people’s work, blog and just kind of take a deep breath and exhale for a second. The Boy was emotionally taxing for me to write – so much of it makes me sad – so it was good to take a little time for myself and unwind a bit. But now I am back at it and hope to have the trilogy complete by the end of this year.

Now to tackle how I came up with the idea for The Sanctum Trilogy.

I started thinking about The Sanctum a few years ago.

I had been reading a lot of fantasy and paranormal fiction and although I loved every minute of it, I found myself oftentimes getting quite frustrated with the female characters. They possessed amazing powers and were many times expected to save the world, but consistently lacked self-awareness. Frustratingly, these same badass girls often had to learn of their capabilities from someone else, that someone else most often being a boy.

So I set about to create a girl who knew quite a lot about herself, at least when it came to her capabilities, and out came Dev.

Then Wyatt, and the rest is history.

I knew I wanted The Sanctum to be a trilogy as it seemed an ideal way to develop and explore the world I created. Book I would tell Dev’s story, Book II would tell Wyatt’s story and Book III would tell their story together.

The Girl introduced readers to the world of The Sanctum and Dev and I was hopeful it would transition smoothly into The Boy, which focuses more on Wyatt’s journey. At the time, I did not know all the details of his journey, but I knew the key aspect around which his life would evolve: The Ramyan.

The Ramyan are a mysterious sect of Magicals who traverse the worlds of both the living and the dead, remaining aloof and beholden to nothing but their own will and desire. They were briefly mentioned in Book I but knew they would play a significant role in Book II and Wyatt’s journey.

I tend to write from a very loose outline, and when I say loose, I mean loose. For book II, I basically noted how the book would begin, end, a few key points I wanted to cover in the story, and then just started writing. It’s not very organized but offers my imagination much freedom to run wild and create characters like Jedda and Pius, neither who were planned, but who play major roles in the plot line.

So I guess this is all a very long way of saying that my ideas for Book II: The Boy initially arose from a desire to create a very self-aware, badass girl and have blossomed, and exploded, from there.

Dev is the inspiration for it all and honestly, I find her to be so very worthy of the honor.

The Boy is a blend of dark science fiction.BLURB:

“Every now and again an excellent novel will come forth dealing with fantasy and magic that will just grab and hold my attention from beginning to end. That is exactly what THE GIRL did.” — OOSA Online Book Club

In THE GIRL, Madhuri Blaylock introduced readers to the world of The Sanctum, one corrupted by greed and savagery and hellbent on achieving a single goal: destroying the prophesied hybrid. When one of its most celebrated warriors questioned his allegiances, age-old secrets were unveiled and violence erupted. The journey becomes more perilous and intense as the trilogy surges forward with

THE BOY

Can you cross the plains of death, collect every piece of your soul and make it back to the land of the living?

And if you complete the journey, will your loved ones welcome your return?

The Ramyan have been answering such questions since the creation of The Sanctum. A mysterious sect of Magicals, haunting the blank spaces of time and memory, they serve no one but themselves and their higher purpose. They exist on a plane removed from earthly matters, shifting easily between the living and the dead, moving in time to the beat of their own drummer.

At least they did. Dev and Wyatt change all of that when the prophesied hybrid lands on the steps of Rinshun Palace, seeking help for the wounded Class A Warrior. That decision alters lives and sets old agendas back on course. But at what cost to Dev and Wyatt? And does that really even matter?

“The characters in Madhuri Blaylock’s novel…are well written and unique, and the story is just fantastic…I just loved every page of the story!” – Readers’ Favorite

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Blaylock is the author of compelling science fiction.AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Madhuri is a Jersey City Heights girl via Snellville, Georgia, who writes paranormal fiction and is slightly infatuated with tattoos, four-inch heels, ice cream, Matt Damon, scotch, Doc Martens, Laini Taylor, photo booths and dancing like a fool.

She’s working on The Sanctum trilogy and hopes one day soon, everyone is walking around with copies of The Girl and The Boy in their pocket or on their Kindle.

She wants to get a goat and a burro, but since she lives in the city, will settle for some chickens.

To learn more about her, you can follow her blog at madhuriblaylock.wordpress.com, follow her on Twitter at @madhuriblaylock or like her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/thesanctumtr.

She’s totally chatty so drop her a line any time.

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Excerpt:

The clearing in the park still hummed with magic. Her magic. And her scent. It was why he kept coming back to the same spot every night, just for a whiff. Then he could go about his business, whatever that might be.

Darvin Lucius Jefferson was one hundred and ten, going on seventeen. He was a wealthy, bored teenager who became a wealthy, somewhat bored vampire. There were a few things in this life that brought him joy, piqued his interest: from the very first day he saw her, Jools Clayworth, and as of nine days ago, that stunning thing her brother was running around with before he died.

Of course, Darvin had no idea whether or not Wyatt perished subsequent to his ministrations, nor did he care. He simply assumed the too-good looking, sanctimonious warrior was dead, for his wound was hideous and he seemed to be breathing on borrowed time. Darvin had told the pretty thing as much that night, then he’d returned to his perch atop the Dakota and watched her strap the warrior to her back and escape into nothingness.

What a feat that had been.

One moment she was there, in all her stunning beauty and tortured agony, the next she was gone.

As if she’d never been there at all.

Darvin went to the spot that night, less to follow her than simply explore. It was glamoured to avoid human detection but he found it easily, having watched the warrior and his beautiful best friend, Ryker Morrison, comb the area many a time over the past year. But try as he might, Darvin could spot nothing to hint at an escape hatch or portal. Whatever the pretty thing had used to vanish into thin air, it was long gone, hidden from prying eyes. All that lingered was her scent, that hypnotizing, intoxicating essence of her that Darvin wished he could bottle and keep hidden in his pocket. Away from Darby.

Darby Winthrop.

The one and only.

The dark queen of New York.

The southern belle from hell.

His maker.

The Boy is a blend of dark science fiction.

 

A Balloon Lady’s Look at 2014 PWC Conference

Barbara Custer improves her writing at Philadelphia Writers' Conference.During the Philadelphia Writers’ Conference, I stayed at the Wyndham Hotel and brought balloons along to help me sleep. As everyone knows, I’m a balloon lady and my balloons follow me wherever I go. Therefore, I showed up at the conference alert and ready to learn.

Friday brought two delightful surprises: the lunchtime “Open Mike” and, along with the fiction and poetry raps, the “Apples to Writers.” So during lunch, I got an opportunity to read an excerpt from my book, and during the raps, participated in a contest involving writing after getting a prompt. Everyone who read got a prize, but the winner was nominated Queen of the Apples to Writers.

Many of my “aha” moments came with my “book promotion” classes – Dave Girgio’s Book Trailers and Audio Books, Cecily Kellogg’s Using Search and Social, and Suzanne Kuhn’s Reaching your Audience through Social Media. For starters, I learned just how much a good trailer costs – $3500, according to Dave, because a decent trailer involves hiring actors. If you can’t afford to pay that kind of money, it’s best to not use a trailer at all because the quality of the cheaper ones won’t do anything for you book. So…with my next book, I plan to promote it in different ways, but the book trailer will not be one of them unless I can pony up at least $2500.

Be aware of timing when posting an event or blog, advised Suzanne. You don’t want to announce an event during a Sandy storm or other national tragedy. Midday may not be the best time if people are just straggling home from work. She stressed the importance of platform. In Cecily’s class, I got tidbits about SEO – where to get free images for the website and some HTML to dress up my post.

Alma Katsu’s Upping the Ante gave me useful information on the types of conflict. It made me want to go back to my WIP with new eyes. She stressed the importance of writing “in scene” instead loading my beginning with thoughts and back story. I’ve struggled with beginnings, but I understand better how to fix them.

I also took two classes pertaining to characterization: Judith Schachner’s Strength of Character and Austin Camacho’s Creating Characters That Keeps Fans Reading. Judith gave us a new way of creating characters – pictures. Everyone created a character based on a photo she gave each of us. I have my photos and plan to use them for characters in my books. I was glad to get them as I’m a visual learner.

Okay, I know full well that “show, don’t tell” trumps all, but Austin spelled out just how to do that with characters. It’s not enough to describe what your character’s wearing, for example. How do other people react to his clothes? The ways people react can tell you who to watch and who to ignore.

I enjoyed listening to the keynote speakers, William Lashner and Lu Ann Cahn. All up, the camaraderie was great. This balloon lady would like to thank the Board of Directors for putting together a great conference.

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