And the new back cover.
Gorgeous, huh?
They say you can't judge a book by its cover, yet many people do. Hopefully, this new cover will encourage people to not pass up the story inside.
Showing posts with label book cover. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book cover. Show all posts
Friday, August 12, 2011
The New Cover For The Tale of The Vampire Bride
I'm so excited to present the new cover for THE TALE OF THE VAMPIRE BRIDE. As I related in an earlier post, the original cover has received some pretty harsh criticism. Though I liked the original cover immensely, when I read comments that stated people were not buying the book because of the cover, I realized it was time for a change. Thanks to Philip Rogers, I have a beautiful new cover to show you.
And the new back cover.
Gorgeous, huh?
They say you can't judge a book by its cover, yet many people do. Hopefully, this new cover will encourage people to not pass up the story inside.
And the new back cover.
Gorgeous, huh?
They say you can't judge a book by its cover, yet many people do. Hopefully, this new cover will encourage people to not pass up the story inside.
Monday, July 25, 2011
The Cover for SIEGE Revealed!!
I'm very excited to share the cover for SIEGE.
Isn't it amazing? I really love it. I feel it goes perfectly with the previous two books.
Isn't it amazing? I really love it. I feel it goes perfectly with the previous two books.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
A Tale of Three Covers-The Covers for FIGHTING TO SURVIVE
After I initially self-published THE FIRST DAYS, the first book in the AS THE WORLD DIES TRILOGY, the excitement wore off and I realized it was time to do all the hard work again on the second book in the series.
FIGHTING TO SURVIVE was the slimmest tome of the three (at that time) and was the most disjointed in its original online form. It would take months to flesh out the plot to make it a more dynamic book (little did I know the Tor version would end up with even more material!). In the meantime, Detra sent me a painting of a broken down car on a lonely country road with dawn breaking over the trees and wondered if it would work as a cover.
I stared at the amazingly beautiful painting and told him that it would not. The first cover in the series had been very successful because the fans liked seeing Katie and Jenni. I asked that both of the women be armed with weapons. So, he added Jenni and Katie to the second cover and threw two menacing zombies on the back. I loved it!
So this was the first cover for FIGHTING TO SURVIVE.
Flash forward to 2011-I had just finished the massive revision on FIGHTING TO SURVIVE when my email dinged. It was the cover art for the new book. I was pleased with the cover for many reasons. I loved that the two women were on the cover again, I loved the menacing zombies, and I loved that the artist used the ballroom of one of the derelict luxury hotels in the Texas Hill Country. The colors really popped for me and I loved the fragility of Jenni's crossed arms.
Then it hit me. The two women were unarmed and merely gazing at the zombies.
Wait a sec!
I sat back in my chair, staring as I came to the realization that Jenni wouldn't be fragile in that moment and Katie wouldn't be standing with her hands on her hips.
Wasn't the strength of the women the one thing fans loved? The fact they didn't wait around to be rescued, but fought to survive?
Nervously, I emailed the editor with my impression. She thought it was a valid point, though she loved the first cover. A few days later a second cover pinged into my email.
I opened it up and was immediately conflicted.
I loved that Katie and Jenni now had weapons to defend themselves. I loved that we could see Jenni in "loca zombie killer mode." Yet, somehow, the Katie in the first cover felt more like the character. I stared at the covers side by side. I called my husband over to look at them. I emailed the covers to friends for their opinion.
At last, I went on the AS THE WORLD DIES and my personal facebook pages and asked:
The responses were pretty unanimous.
Though I have heard horror stories about authors hating their covers, I have to say so far I really love the Tor covers. They are truly beautiful and are good solid representations of the stories inside the cover. I have also been flattered that Tor has listened to my opinion on the covers.
I was hoping to share both covers with you, but wasn't sure if I should or not. Now that the Tor Fall catalog is online and features the first cover, I wanted to share with you the stories behind the three covers for FIGHTING TO SURVIVE.
Remember to pre-order THE FIRST DAYS today!
FIGHTING TO SURVIVE was the slimmest tome of the three (at that time) and was the most disjointed in its original online form. It would take months to flesh out the plot to make it a more dynamic book (little did I know the Tor version would end up with even more material!). In the meantime, Detra sent me a painting of a broken down car on a lonely country road with dawn breaking over the trees and wondered if it would work as a cover.
I stared at the amazingly beautiful painting and told him that it would not. The first cover in the series had been very successful because the fans liked seeing Katie and Jenni. I asked that both of the women be armed with weapons. So, he added Jenni and Katie to the second cover and threw two menacing zombies on the back. I loved it!
So this was the first cover for FIGHTING TO SURVIVE.
Flash forward to 2011-I had just finished the massive revision on FIGHTING TO SURVIVE when my email dinged. It was the cover art for the new book. I was pleased with the cover for many reasons. I loved that the two women were on the cover again, I loved the menacing zombies, and I loved that the artist used the ballroom of one of the derelict luxury hotels in the Texas Hill Country. The colors really popped for me and I loved the fragility of Jenni's crossed arms.
Then it hit me. The two women were unarmed and merely gazing at the zombies.
Wait a sec!
I sat back in my chair, staring as I came to the realization that Jenni wouldn't be fragile in that moment and Katie wouldn't be standing with her hands on her hips.
Wasn't the strength of the women the one thing fans loved? The fact they didn't wait around to be rescued, but fought to survive?
Nervously, I emailed the editor with my impression. She thought it was a valid point, though she loved the first cover. A few days later a second cover pinged into my email.
I opened it up and was immediately conflicted.
I loved that Katie and Jenni now had weapons to defend themselves. I loved that we could see Jenni in "loca zombie killer mode." Yet, somehow, the Katie in the first cover felt more like the character. I stared at the covers side by side. I called my husband over to look at them. I emailed the covers to friends for their opinion.At last, I went on the AS THE WORLD DIES and my personal facebook pages and asked:
The responses were pretty unanimous.
I'm all for seeing our bad a$$ chicks with guns. :)I even received a few emails voting for the weapons. I forwarded the information to Tor, but knew that in the end it would probably be marketing that made the choice on the cover. I still really like both covers, but I do believe the second one really captures the mood of the entire book. I think it's Jenni's face that really sells it.
Definitely guns!
Though I have heard horror stories about authors hating their covers, I have to say so far I really love the Tor covers. They are truly beautiful and are good solid representations of the stories inside the cover. I have also been flattered that Tor has listened to my opinion on the covers.
I was hoping to share both covers with you, but wasn't sure if I should or not. Now that the Tor Fall catalog is online and features the first cover, I wanted to share with you the stories behind the three covers for FIGHTING TO SURVIVE.
Remember to pre-order THE FIRST DAYS today!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
A Whole Lot of Good Stuff
Most of my good news with all things publishing has landed firmly on Mondays. In fact this has really taken my hatred of Mondays down quite a few notches. At some point I began to look forward to Mondays.
That's just scary!
Anyway, I suppose because of the extended Fourth of July weekend Tuesday had to substitute for Monday. Almost as soon as I sat down at my desk the good news started to pour in.
And it was long awaited good news, which is just delicious.
First off, FINALLY the contract is done. It took a very long time due to Macmillan changing its contract at the beginning of the year. My literary agency's contract manager had to acquaint herself with this new contract and go through it with a fine tooth comb. Then my entertainment lawyer needed to chime in on the contract as well as my literary agent before sending all the requested changes back to the lawyers at Macmillan. Then rinse and repeat as their lawyers responded. Rinse, repeat....you get my point. So after months of back and forth, the contract is ready! By Friday or Saturday I should have it in my little hands ready to sign and fire back off to my agent.
*huge sigh of relief*
I'm not very good at waiting to begin with. My patience meter is on the low end. I'm not sure which was worse: waiting during the submission round to see if the book landed a deal, or waiting for the contract on the done book deal. I actually did quite well waiting for the contract until about two weeks ago. I hate the feeling of being stagnant. If I'm not moving forward, I start to get frustrated. Luckily, I didn't really feel we were at a standstill until that point. I had a day of utter pissiness about the deal, but happily, that is when I heard the news that we were almost done.
Frankly, I am so glad I have a literary agency and entertainment lawyer behind me. There is no way on God's green earth I would have been able to negotiate the contract. It terrifies me to think about writers signing contracts without a solid, knowledgeable team behind them and writers do it all the time.
The next big news to land yesterday was from my new editor at Tor, Melissa Singer. Tor is beginning to go full steam ahead getting ready to promote the hell out of the As The World Dies Trilogy. And, to my utter surprise, I'm going to get a say in the new covers! I'm thrilled to be included in the decision-making process, but honestly, I don't know what to tell them. The covers I wanted are on the self-pubbed versions. I do know for sure I want Katie and Jenni on the cover along with the zombies.
Believe it or not, there is MORE good news.
Tripod Entertainment has now optioned The Tale of the Vampire Bride for a possible TV cable show. I spoke at length with the producer and I'm very excited about some of his ideas about production. I am also very excited about being invited to help write the pilot episode. I am thrilled at the prospect of a TV show based on my favorite novel.
One more little thing, another production company contacted me about one of my short stories and possibly producing it as the second half of a one hour TV film. Nothing is set in stone and it might not work out, but just to be asked was really awesome!
So Tuesday was awesome.
If this keeps up, I may have to shift my hate of Mondays to Thursdays. It is such a tease sitting right before Friday.
That's just scary!
Anyway, I suppose because of the extended Fourth of July weekend Tuesday had to substitute for Monday. Almost as soon as I sat down at my desk the good news started to pour in.
And it was long awaited good news, which is just delicious.
First off, FINALLY the contract is done. It took a very long time due to Macmillan changing its contract at the beginning of the year. My literary agency's contract manager had to acquaint herself with this new contract and go through it with a fine tooth comb. Then my entertainment lawyer needed to chime in on the contract as well as my literary agent before sending all the requested changes back to the lawyers at Macmillan. Then rinse and repeat as their lawyers responded. Rinse, repeat....you get my point. So after months of back and forth, the contract is ready! By Friday or Saturday I should have it in my little hands ready to sign and fire back off to my agent.
*huge sigh of relief*
I'm not very good at waiting to begin with. My patience meter is on the low end. I'm not sure which was worse: waiting during the submission round to see if the book landed a deal, or waiting for the contract on the done book deal. I actually did quite well waiting for the contract until about two weeks ago. I hate the feeling of being stagnant. If I'm not moving forward, I start to get frustrated. Luckily, I didn't really feel we were at a standstill until that point. I had a day of utter pissiness about the deal, but happily, that is when I heard the news that we were almost done.
Frankly, I am so glad I have a literary agency and entertainment lawyer behind me. There is no way on God's green earth I would have been able to negotiate the contract. It terrifies me to think about writers signing contracts without a solid, knowledgeable team behind them and writers do it all the time.
The next big news to land yesterday was from my new editor at Tor, Melissa Singer. Tor is beginning to go full steam ahead getting ready to promote the hell out of the As The World Dies Trilogy. And, to my utter surprise, I'm going to get a say in the new covers! I'm thrilled to be included in the decision-making process, but honestly, I don't know what to tell them. The covers I wanted are on the self-pubbed versions. I do know for sure I want Katie and Jenni on the cover along with the zombies.
Believe it or not, there is MORE good news.
Tripod Entertainment has now optioned The Tale of the Vampire Bride for a possible TV cable show. I spoke at length with the producer and I'm very excited about some of his ideas about production. I am also very excited about being invited to help write the pilot episode. I am thrilled at the prospect of a TV show based on my favorite novel.
One more little thing, another production company contacted me about one of my short stories and possibly producing it as the second half of a one hour TV film. Nothing is set in stone and it might not work out, but just to be asked was really awesome!
So Tuesday was awesome.
If this keeps up, I may have to shift my hate of Mondays to Thursdays. It is such a tease sitting right before Friday.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
As The World Dies: Siege Cover Ordered and More
I spent a good chunk of Saturday and part of Sunday struggling to use GIMP to make a collage of what I imagined the cover looking like to send to the amazing artist known as Detra to use as a reference. I'm new to GIMP so it was very slow going. Plus, my computer felt the need to update itself throughout the weekend and not play nice. This resulted in my final jpg being corrupted and unable to open.
So Detra ended up with stick figures with arrows and text saying things like "Jenni with an ax" and "zombie head." I hope he can make sense of it! I may post the new cover and my terrible stick figure cover in the near future.
Meanwhile, I am still working on ATWD:Siege. I am taking Thursday and Friday off this week to dedicate to the novel. My goal is to be done with the rewrite by Sunday afternoon. Then I'll dive into the edits for the first part of the book as I hand off the second half to the editor the following Monday.
My goal is to have As The World Dies: Siege out by August.
So Detra ended up with stick figures with arrows and text saying things like "Jenni with an ax" and "zombie head." I hope he can make sense of it! I may post the new cover and my terrible stick figure cover in the near future.
Meanwhile, I am still working on ATWD:Siege. I am taking Thursday and Friday off this week to dedicate to the novel. My goal is to be done with the rewrite by Sunday afternoon. Then I'll dive into the edits for the first part of the book as I hand off the second half to the editor the following Monday.
My goal is to have As The World Dies: Siege out by August.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
One Step Closer To Publication
My husband finished the cover formatting for As the World Dies: Fighting to Survive and I put the final changes on the interior. All the files have now been uploaded to the publisher and they should respond in around 24 hours. Once they give the all clear that the files fit their criteria, we will be ordering the proof copy of the novel!
Yay!
Then it goes through the final two editors.
Any revisions will be made.
And then it will go on sale.
Our hopes for an early March publication date are looking good right now.
I'm so relieved.
Yay!
Then it goes through the final two editors.
Any revisions will be made.
And then it will go on sale.
Our hopes for an early March publication date are looking good right now.
I'm so relieved.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
As The World Dies: Fighting to Survive Cover sneak peak!
Detra posted the cover for As The World Dies: Fighting to Survive on his deviantart page. You can hop over to see his remarks on it and leave a comment.
So...what do you think?
I'm still in total shock over how well he captured Jenni and Katie's personalities. And those zombies RAWK.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Artwork For As The World Dies: Fighting To Survive is "Under Construction"
Just so you know, Detra is working on the second cover of The As The World Dies Trilogy. I'm so excited!! He is such an amazing artist and I love how he perfectly captured my girls on the cover of the first book.
He's going to take his first version of the cover and modify it so Jenni and Katie will be on the cover along with zombies!! YAY!!
One major reason I did not sign with the publishing house that made an offer on the trilogy is because I would have lost creative control and not having Detra's amazing artwork on the covers just does not sit well with me. He is freaking awesome and I just could not imagine his artwork not being on the covers.
Even if one day I were to sign with a publishing house and they would release new editions of the trilogy, I would cherish the ones with Detra's artwork. They reflect my vision for the books perfectly.
Please check out his artwork here.
Monday, June 30, 2008
The Offical Cover Of As The World Dies Revealed
I absolutely love this. LOVE IT! My husband did such a great job.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Jenni's Got A Gun...And the As The World Dies Book Release Date
The As The World Dies cover is just rawkin' it for me. I have to admit it surpasses my hopes and dreams. Sean Detra did a masterful job of bringing the characters to life. Since this is my first time ordering a book cover and trying to convey my vision to the artist, I wasn't too clear on a few aspects.
The original piece had Jenni's hands empty and that seemed wrong. Sure, in the beginning of the book she is almost catatonic, but soon she evolved into a young woman with a serious bloodlust for the undead. George, a co-worker and diehard fan of Jenni, took a look at the original and said, "Necklace is too long. Needs a shotgun." He was right. The artist added a handgun (that perfectly matches her dangerous expression) and revised her long necklace into a few short ones. When I saw the new version, I was like "YES!"
As for Katie, she's perfection. Just perfection. Her outfit, her hair, her expression, everything...perfectly Katie.
It's exciting to see my girls fleshed out.
Since I now have the cover artwork, that means my husband and I can work on the cover's final design this weekend. The website has actually been ready, but my husband wanted to wait until we had the final book cover before we posted it. Hopefully, it will be up in a few days. Yes, I know I have said this before, but sometimes I am naive about the length of time that goes into a project like this.
At this point, our tenative publication date for As The World Dies: A Zombie Trilogy-The First Days is....
August 15, 2008
Stay tuned for more details...
The original piece had Jenni's hands empty and that seemed wrong. Sure, in the beginning of the book she is almost catatonic, but soon she evolved into a young woman with a serious bloodlust for the undead. George, a co-worker and diehard fan of Jenni, took a look at the original and said, "Necklace is too long. Needs a shotgun." He was right. The artist added a handgun (that perfectly matches her dangerous expression) and revised her long necklace into a few short ones. When I saw the new version, I was like "YES!"
As for Katie, she's perfection. Just perfection. Her outfit, her hair, her expression, everything...perfectly Katie.
It's exciting to see my girls fleshed out.
Since I now have the cover artwork, that means my husband and I can work on the cover's final design this weekend. The website has actually been ready, but my husband wanted to wait until we had the final book cover before we posted it. Hopefully, it will be up in a few days. Yes, I know I have said this before, but sometimes I am naive about the length of time that goes into a project like this.
At this point, our tenative publication date for As The World Dies: A Zombie Trilogy-The First Days is....
August 15, 2008
Stay tuned for more details...
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Jenni and Katie Revealed!!! The As The World Dies Cover is almost done
It's almost done. The cover of As The World Dies is almost done. The cover artwork is finished, but we need to add the title, bar code, ISBN, author photo, and summary to get the whole thing done.
Want to see a snippet of the amazing work of Sean Detra, the artist?
Then here you go...
He did such an amazing job. Please check out his website here where you can see the first version of the cover (which will probably be used for one of the other two books in the trilogy or the anthology) and the original version of this cover. There have been some small tweaks since then. If you love his art, please buy something and support his artistic endeavors. He is such a great artist and he brought my girls to life with utter perfection.
I'm so stoked. So excited. So amazed.
He's fabulous.
And so is his artwork.
Want to see a snippet of the amazing work of Sean Detra, the artist?
Then here you go...
He did such an amazing job. Please check out his website here where you can see the first version of the cover (which will probably be used for one of the other two books in the trilogy or the anthology) and the original version of this cover. There have been some small tweaks since then. If you love his art, please buy something and support his artistic endeavors. He is such a great artist and he brought my girls to life with utter perfection.
I'm so stoked. So excited. So amazed.
He's fabulous.
And so is his artwork.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Progress...at last!!!
Two bits of good news:
1. The artwork for the cover is done and will soon be in may anxious lil' hands.
2. The new version of my website is now done.
Yay!
The website was supposed to be up sometime ago, but because we decided to support open source programs, my husband had to train himself to use those programs. The first version was good, but we weren't totally happy with it. So he redid it and its looking nice. It should be up sometime this week.
We'll definitely be premiering the cover soon as well. I'm so excited!!! I'm nearly bouncing off the walls with joy.
The manuscript is still being edited and we're moving along toward our August publication date.
As for my strange apathy, eh...I have no excuse and no explanation.
The reality is that though I want to write something new, I need to revise the second book in the Zombie trilogy and I just gotta get cracking on it. The new stuff can wait until we're done with the trilogy. Making that decision has been a good one for me and I plan to hunker down on the second book this week.
1. The artwork for the cover is done and will soon be in may anxious lil' hands.
2. The new version of my website is now done.
Yay!
The website was supposed to be up sometime ago, but because we decided to support open source programs, my husband had to train himself to use those programs. The first version was good, but we weren't totally happy with it. So he redid it and its looking nice. It should be up sometime this week.
We'll definitely be premiering the cover soon as well. I'm so excited!!! I'm nearly bouncing off the walls with joy.
The manuscript is still being edited and we're moving along toward our August publication date.
As for my strange apathy, eh...I have no excuse and no explanation.
The reality is that though I want to write something new, I need to revise the second book in the Zombie trilogy and I just gotta get cracking on it. The new stuff can wait until we're done with the trilogy. Making that decision has been a good one for me and I plan to hunker down on the second book this week.
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