These posts are quickly becoming a dairy of how busy the life of a writer gets on occasion. I knew when I typed last week that there was nothing left to stand in my way of writing Spark of Defiance that I was asking for fate to throw me a curve ball. So I threw one for myself!
Over the weekend, I decided that I wanted to – needed to – update my covers for the Rise of the Fifth Order series.
You see, the publishing rights are coming back to me on May 12. That is less than a week now! I have the book formats ready for upload, at least the e-versions. Someday I really will open up my CreateSpace file and put them in print again. So I thought I was in good shape.
But then I read Joanna Penn’s article on new covers and new titles for her work. It made me remember that one of the reasons I’d signed with my small publisher last summer was because I’d hoped for cover help. I’d just had a conversation with a friend about the cover for Born of Water. It isn’t bad, but he insisted it didn’t do the book justice. And then along comes a publisher that offers editing and cover help!
Well, fast forward a little over half a year and I’m about to get my books back to do with as I please. And you know what, I still want those dang new covers! So… yeah, spent the weekend with my nose in Photoshop in between motorcycle riding (first ride of the year!!!! It was cold…) and building shelves. All the covers in the series got a little tweak. The Companion and Born of Water will have brand new covers next week. And OMG, Born of Water is awesome! Finally, I think, this one is the one I’ve been looking for.
With all of that, I did manage to start pushing Spark of Defiance ahead. It is a snail’s pace compared to my winter writing, but hey, it is spring here in Maine and I’ve got more hats to wear than writer-sitting-by-the-woodstove. And one of those is marketing. Which I’m still learning. For me, it involves free books.
The first five short stories to Stories from the War have been free on Smashwords, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo. Well, after a polite email and a bit of a wait, Amazon agreed to follow suit (KDP help desk – you are AWESOME!!!). Sure, getting paid for months of writing and editing and book cover design is nice, but I write because I love to write. And seeing people downloading my writing is a joy whether or not a few pennies are attached. So check out my author’s page on Amazon to find the links to the free short stories and wait for the re-release of my epic fantasy series next week – with NEW COVERS!!!
Take care,