My Reason for Having Vanished...

I know it’s been a long while since I’ve posted here. Life has been a pretty huge journey the last 6 years, and I’d lost my drive for most anything creative (particularly writing). I was trapped in a 30 year narcissistic marriage that had sapped everything creative out of me. My healing journey after having gotten out has been tough, but I am getting there.

Awaken, as you might remember, was on Amazon’s Kindle Vella program but they shut their platform down a while ago. I didn’t keep up with it and allowed it to go out of the market.

I’m reviving it from the dead and have been hard at work editing it along with creating interior illustrations. I plan to post teasers on my social platforms.

A little something… I am also healing on the softer side of things and am determined to make a double of most of my books with spice. I am telling myself that it’s healthy to explore this side of myself. So, there’ll be a clean version and a spicy version of Awaken. I will release the clean version first.

Enjoy Awaken's book trailer (I need to update the cover and platform)! 

What changes have you experienced since covid? Has it impacted your creative streak? What projects do you have brewing?

 

IWSG: Book Covers as an Indie and Traditional Author

click on image to join other IWSG writers!

IWSG: a place where writers and friends share woes or hugs.

February Question - If you are an Indie author, do you make your own covers or purchase them? If you publish trad, how much input do you have about what goes on your cover?


The February co-hosts are Jacqui Murray, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Pat Garcia, and Gwen Gardner! Thank you!

As an indie author, I've enjoyed creating my own book covers. It's not a simple process! There's searching for the right image with the right background along with fitting characters. Sometimes I cut and paste them and make them fit! But before I pick anything out, I weigh out in my mind what would make the best window to my book. Would it be the climax? The theme? Just the character?

Then there's the font! Font has personality and quietly reveals the feel of the story. Along with font, the title. Does the title portray your story accurately? Will you have a subtitle or a tagline? What sort of font will you choose for the author name? Will your name be on the same line or will you stack it?

Everything must harmonize! A lot of the times indie authors try not to cover the image, framing it with their name and title so that there's a lot of space in between. To me, that screams indie author! I say, don't be afraid to have font smack, dab in the middle. Do compare your cover to the genre you're writing in. How does the font compare? The images? What about the colors?

As for the traditional side of things, I've not really had a say in it if the publisher is on the bigger side. There are times where I've been impressed and other times where I wish I could hide under a rock! So, it depends on the publisher whether or not you get to share input or not.

As an illustrator for a publisher I'd worked for, I collaborated with the authors to create their cover and ran it by the publisher for approval. It wasn't always easy, because some of the authors couldn't make up their minds sometimes.

For those who've published either way, what experience do you have that you'd like to share?