It’s today! It’s our day! After over a year of planning, writing, editing, formatting, and all the other things that go with taking a book from concept to fruition, our collaborative sci fi anthology is out in the world. Fly, little book, fly!
Click here to read about DISTAFF on our website, and don’t forget to order your copy. Enjoy!
I’m so excited to finally share the cover for NIGHT BLADE, book 2 in the Blade Hunt Chronicles! This lovely bit of prettiness was designed by the talented Tom Edwards. Check out the cover below, as well as the book blurb and a sneak peek from chapter 1…
I have more goodies up my sleeve to share with you soon: adorable character art by Corinna Marie for a few character intros I’ll be doing on the blog in the upcoming weeks. You can find the ones Corinna made for HEART BLADE here.
NIGHT BLADE will be soon be up on Goodreads and Amazon – keep an eye on my social media for updates.
The vampire smiled at Raze. “How do you feel about a little undercover work?”
“Undercover work? What kind?”
“The dangerous kind. The sort of work that should suit Raze perfectly, since you’re so determined to leave Rose behind,” he said. “A challenge. You’re infiltrating a heist. I think you’ll make an excellent cat burglar.”
In the aftermath of the Heart Blade’s return, Del and Rose have different roads to follow. One leads forward, the other to the distant past. Rose is on a mission to infiltrate and double-cross the ultimate heist, and retrieve a game-changing prize. Meanwhile, as the Court of the Covenant prepares to meet, Del has a quest of her own. She must untangle her lost identity or risk her entire future.
With the Blade Hunt prophecy in motion, darkness threatens to rise, and a new sword emerges from the shadows.
The motorbike raced along the deserted road, the engine a defiant roar in the dark. Bleak empty fields whipped past, the bright sparkle of Christmas lights left behind along with the last of suburban Toronto.
Raze tucked her cold face closer to the leather-clad back that rubbed against her cheek, tightening her arms around the lean waist as she screwed her eyes shut. The wind and the wild sang in her veins, tempting her, whispering. Let go, they said, join us. She smiled to herself — a grin that was all teeth and fierce pleasure — and ran her tongue over her chapped bottom lip.
She tapped his shoulder as they drew near, and the bike slowed and pulled to a stop underneath a towering elm tree, bare branches stark against the cloudy night sky. Raze climbed down, boots crunching on fresh snow. The driver killed the engine and pulled off his helmet, watching her as she tugged off her black woolen hat and ran her fingers through tangled curls. His name was Dave, or Steve, or something. She hadn’t really paid attention.
“So,” he said, “this is where you go to school?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
He was cute, dark-eyed and dangerous-looking. She moved closer, right in his face. He had a small scar on his chin. She ran a gloved thumb over it, and then leaned in and kissed him, hard and fast. Then she drew back, already turning away as she jammed her hat back on her head.
“Raze, you going to give me your number?”
She gave him a wicked smile over her shoulder. “Oh, I don’t think so.” Then she was gone, running through the ankle-deep snow to leap at the high wall, fingers and toes finding purchase where most people would see nothing but sheer stone. She climbed higher and higher, until she threw a leg over the top and sat there, watching the boy on the bike speed away.
Raze moved her other leg over and dropped. For one instant she drank in the thrill of falling. Then she shifted, clothes and skin and shoes and self turning to fur and packed muscle. She landed lightly and scented the night, the wolf’s senses coloring in everything that her human portion was blind to. And then she smelled him and froze.
“Raze? Is that what you’re calling yourself these days?” The vampire stepped out of the trees, his aura a faint red glow in the dark. She knew her own blue werewolf aura would be clinging to her fur like a cloud. She shook herself and shifted back, body prickling with cold from the sudden change in skin temperature.
“Alex,” she replied, aiming for casual. “I was just out for a run.”
NIGHT BLADE, BLADE HUNT CHRONICLES #2, OUT NOVEMBER 2017.
Summer is here, bringing all the joys and challenges of kids on school vacation. It’s a lot harder to get writing-related things done when my not-so-little ones are around, but by mixing up the carrots (“we can go to the beach tomorrow if you let me work today”) and the sticks (“HALP! Leave me alone or I swear I’ll block your YouTube access”), I’m slowly getting to the end of my Night Blade revisions.
By next week, I’ll be ready to send my fight scenes to my sword instructor, Christopher Valli from Laurel City Sword. Chris revised all my sword and fight scenes for Heart Blade, and I’m hoping he’ll be pleased with the ones I’ve written for Night Blade. My climbing scenes also need a stern revision, since my only rock climbing experience was years ago, in my teens. I’m counting on my brother Simon, an enthusiastic climber, to look those over for me. The internet is a great resource for many things, but if you have access to someone who can revise sections that require a certain level of expertise, I thoroughly recommend it.
After incorporating any new suggestions from my experts, the next step will be a final reread of all the rewrites and edits I’ve made to Night Blade, before it goes back to my publisher for a last look. Once we’re all happy, the book will be ready for the copyeditor to get her teeth into.
Very soon, I’ll be able to share the gorgeous cover art for Night Blade. I’m lucky enough to have been given the chance to work with not just one, but two extremely talented cover artists. Merilliza Chan was in charge of the beautiful cover for Heart Blade. For Night Blade, my publisher changed direction slightly, and handed the cover over to Tom Edwards, who does some truly amazing SF/F book cover work. The result is very different from Heart Blade, but just as fabulous. I can’t wait to share it, and see what you all think.
A teeny tiny teaser… Cover reveal coming soon!
And speaking of art, Corinna Marie, who did the adorable character art for Heart Blade, is working on a brand new set of character pictures for Night Blade. There are a couple of familiar names among them, and a couple of new names, too – I hope you’ll enjoy meeting them as much as I enjoyed writing them! And yes, I’ll definitely be doing some character art postcard giveaways closer to launch date.
Don’t forget to sign up for my monthly newsletter for exclusive mini interviews – in July, my guest is fantasy author Kerry Buchanan, talking about horses in fiction.
Happy summer to those in the Northern Hemisphere! Here’s to beachside reading, lazy days in the shade, and a chance to recharge those batteries.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a blurb as, “a short publicity notice, as on a book jacket.” Wikipedia tells us that the term ‘blurb’ dates from the very early 1900s, and refers to “a short promotional piece accompanying a creative work.” Wikipedia goes on to say that a blurb can be written by the author or publisher, or it may quote praise received from others.
Now, I have to say, when I first had the idea for this blog post, I was a bit confused about the whole blurb thing. Writers get invited to ‘blurb’ other writers’ books. (I myself wrote one for Suzanne Jackson’s The Beguiler.) But you also see writers talking about how hard they’ve been working on their book blurbs, meaning the short summary that often goes on the back cover. So which one, exactly is this mysterious blurb?
After a bit of enthusiastic Googling, I realized the answer is, of course, both. So what can make up a back cover blurb? All or a fraction of the following:
In the name of research, I went on a (well-behaved, church-mouse-silent) rampage around my local Barnes & Noble, looking at some of the new releases for examples of back cover blurbs. I actually found quite a variety, although the most common choice seems to be a combination of synopsis and endorsements.
Let’s start with middle grade fiction. Here’s bestseller Rick Riordan’s latest novel, The Hidden Oracle, which basically has nothing on the back but a few select bits of praise. Riordan is such a huge name in kid lit that he really needs no introduction or pitch, and his work sells on name alone by now. Compare it to my own battered copy of The Lightning Thief, his first ever children’s book. It’s the paperback, so it had already been out long enough to garner some decent praise, but it uses the standard set up of synopsis plus endorsements.
Moving into YA fantasy. First off, here’s Cinda Williams Chima’s first Seven Realms book, The Demon King. As you can see, it has a pretty extensive synopsis on the back, with only a couple of endorsements. Her most recent book in the same universe, Shadowcaster, goes for more of a teaser than an actual summary, and dedicates a much larger portion of the space to endorsements.
The latest book by heavyweight Sarah J. Maas, Court of Wings and Ruin, is actually pretty different from most of the others I looked at. It has an extensive synopsis on the back, and that’s it. She’s a big name in YA fantasy, though, and the line ‘#1 New York Times Best Seller’ on the front cover is probably the only endorsement she needs.
Another big hitter’s recent release, Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare, also makes an interesting choice. Here, the publishers have opted for nothing except a list of other works by the author. Possibly to find new readers for past works?
Moving into adult fiction, well-loved and established author Robin Hobb has nothing but an elegant collection of endorsements on the back of her newest novel, Assassin’s Fate. But then, when you start off your back cover blurb with a quote from George R.R. Martin, you don’t really need much more!
It was interesting comparing the first and second book in John Gwynne’s series, Malice and Valor (unfortunately, the bookstore didn’t have the subsequent titles for comparison). While most of Malice is taken up by a synopsis, the sequel devotes its real estate to praise for the first book, as well as a photo of its cover. Writer and editor Christy Yaros points out that part of the reason for this approach is to make sure that new readers understand this is a second book in a series, which is a really good point.
Another ‘before and after’ comparison: Mark Lawrence’s Red Sister, first in a new trilogy, devotes its back copy to praise for the author’s first two series. This plays a double role; it shows endorsement of Lawrence’s work, and also points new readers to his previous two trilogies. A clever example of making your back cover blurb work at multiple levels. Now, if you take a look at the paperback of Lawrence’s first published novel, Prince of Thorns, you’ll notice it dedicates a fair bit of cover space to a synopsis of the story. Back then, Lawrence was still a new name in the game. Now, he has a devoted following.
The next one I’m including for creative use of space. Julia Knight’s Swords and Scoundrels manages to include back cover copy, a cool little hook paragraph that makes it clear it’s the first in a trilogy, an endorsement, character art, and the covers for the three books in the series. And yet, even with all of this, it isn’t cluttered – in fact, it looks rather sleek, and as appealing as the front cover.
It was interesting seeing the difference between the back cover of a multi-published author’s first book, when they were still a new name, and their most recent one. That made me wonder, what do the truly huge names do? I dragged myself away from the SF/F shelves of the bookstore, and went in search of the latest bestsellers by some of the publishing industry’s giants. So, what’s on the back of work by Danielle Steel, James Patterson, and Clive Cussler?
Voilá. Now that’s a back cover blub… 😉
August tiptoed in yesterday all ninja-like and sneaky. July went by so fast it was a blink-and-miss it month. Probably because I spent most of it buried in my laptop. So, what’s new on the writing front? Plenty!
I received my edit notes for Heart Blade and I’m deep into rewrites. Revisions are hard work, and mean digging a lot deeper into scenes and characters than you’d ever imagined you possibly could. But I’m confident that the story will be all the better for it. And to tell the truth, I’m actually really enjoying the chance to polish up Heart Blade under the expert hand of my editor, Teresa Edgerton. I can’t wait to share the results next year.
The big Heart Blade news, however is that I now have a cover artist! Woodbridge Press will be working with the very talented and lovely Merilliza Chan. I’ve had a sneak peek at some of her sketches and am so excited. I just know that Meril will produce something amazing for Del and Ash’s story. Keep an eye out for more cover news!
Check out Meril’s art on Instagram and Deviant Art.
*WARNING! PICTURE-HEAVY BLOG POST!*
This week I got an urge to browse my local Barnes and Noble, and what better than use a blog post as an excuse?
As I wandered up and down the science fiction and fantasy aisle, it struck me that we – writers and readers – tend to focus a lot on the cover itself. However, since bookstore space is limited, only a few lucky books get displayed cover out. Most have to jostle for space with other tempting titles.
So what are the strategies for book spine design? Here are a few thoughts on the subject; please take with a huge grain of salt since I am not an cover artist, graphic designer, or marketing professional. And please feel free to add your own comments, too!
First of all, here’s a general view of one of the store’s shelving sections.
Disregarding size differences in mass market, trade paperback, and hardback, I still found that my eye was immediately drawn to the solid blocks of color in this edition of Pierce Brown’s sci fi trilogy:
Now, these may not be the prettiest book spines around, but wow are they ever effective. However, they give us nothing else to go on, once they’ve drawn the eye. If you hadn’t heard of Pierce Brown, maybe you’d pick one up. Or maybe your eye would then slide to the books next to them. Having a purely graphic spine with no artwork (besides the cryptic symbol in the middle) is always a gamble.
Also eye-catching are the fonts used for the titles on these Miles Cameron novels. But different from the Pierce Brown books, these spines give us a clue as to the content. We have swords, and knights. We know what sort of story to expect.
If the author has a larger body of work, with plenty of titles displayed on the same shelf, their book spines can be a little more discreet. After all, what counts here are sheer numbers. From the same section (see first image), here are Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden novels:
Don’t they look nice all together? It’s eye-catching simply by means of bulk. Would one of these on its own work as effectively? I doubt it. This strategy is definitely one for prolific authors. Here are a couple of other examples, from Seanan McGuire and Charlaine Harris (oh, the pretty colors!).
Okay, so maybe Charlaine’s aren’t that subtle. But they follow the same style: you’re supposed to collect the set. Now, don’t you want to see them all together on your shelf? I know I do!
Robin Hobb’s books are even more discreet. Here, the author’s name is the key attraction. But when you’re a well-loved writer like Hobb, with a tremendously loyal following, you can do precisely that. Your name is the key sales pitch, after all.
Here are a couple of books by Joe Abercrombie that have gone for the ‘author name as banner’ approach:
Now, these happen to have gorgeous covers, but the spine is minimalist almost to a fault. Your eye is drawn to the stark white author name. These really are all about Joe. Compare them to the two titles by Abercrombie in the next photo. Here, despite the enormous lettering, our attention is caught by the images behind. To be honest, I’m not sure why the font needs to be so big here, since all I want to do is look at the picture.
I like the second ones a lot more than the first; I love the use of images on book spines. It’s a great intro to an author you may not be familiar with and I think that, particularly in cases where you might purchase only a couple of the author’s books (as opposed to a ‘collectible series’ like the Dresden Files), it works very well indeed. Take a look at these Steven Erikson titles, compared to the ones next to them. Aren’t they catchy? However interesting that font on the Jennifer Estep novels, the pictures on Erikson’s novels really jump out at you.
Here are a few more Erikson titles. Yummy, right?
This edition of Brent Weeks’ Night Angel trilogy goes for a cleaner, more minimalist use of images, using a graphic style and an emphasis on title over author name that is often seen in YA books:
Compare Brent’s novels to some popular YA fantasy titles, and you’ll see what I mean. Here are Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles, and the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas.
As I mentioned before, the author’s name is extremely discreet, with book title being the main draw along with the image. Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle takes this to an extreme:
Of course, in Paolini’s case, he’s got the color going for him in terms of eye-popping catchiness. But hey, why stick to plain red, blue, and green when you can go all the way and adopt Gail Carriger’s style for Prudence? Yes, I’ll take some hot pink with my tea and crumpets. That’ll do nicely.
When I set out for my little bookstore jaunt, I was sure I would find plenty of common threads; widespread strategies applied across the shelves. The truth is, book spines seem to come in an even more bewildering array than book covers. Every publisher wants their books to be the ones that jump out at you, and each one seems to have a different idea about how to do that. After all, a book spine is the author’s business card, the first impression upon a prospective reader. And I’m sure that if I were to browse other genres outside SF/F I’d find new strategies, new conventions.
I know one thing for sure; I’m going to be paying a lot more attention to spine design from now on. And now excuse me, I’m off to play with my bookshelves. I have some spines to reorganize.
With the growing popularity of the self-publishing platform, one question I see asked repeatedly on Internet forums and Facebook groups is: “What do I do about cover art?” A professional book cover is undisputedly one way of getting your story to stand out, and when you’ve spent as much time as I’m sure you have over writing, editing, proofing, and formatting, it seems silly not to pay just as much attention to a sleek and polished presentation. I’ve invited two talented artists to give us an idea of what it takes to produce a great book cover.
Gary Compton from Tickety Boo Press is back on the blog, but this time he’s wearing his art director and graphic designer’s hat. Gary, himself a speculative fiction writer, is deeply involved with his authors’ covers. He has found he enjoys cover design so much that he has opened a sideline business, Tickety Boo Covers, catering to the small press and self-publishing market. Some of his cover art includes Uncommon Purpose and Sunset Over Abendau (both upcoming books by Tickety Boo Press) and Prince of Demons (Tickety Boo Press, 2015).
Iranian writer and artist Aty S. Behsam has been doing cover art, character design, and storyboard for years, working in digital and traditional media with publishers and self-published authors in Iran and other countries. Some of her book cover work includes The Color of Your Lie (Naame Publishing, 2012), Adam Roberts (self-published, 2013), Ancient Technologies (Kraxon, 2013), Malevolence, Tales from beyond the veil (Tickety Boo Press, 2014), Magic, Metal and Steam (Tickety Boo Press, 2014), Space (Tickety Boo Press, 2014), and Sara of Somewhere (self-published, 2015).
Juliana: Welcome Aty and Gary. Could you start by describing your process for creating a book cover? What steps do you follow from beginning to end?
Aty: Thank you!
I look at a cover art from three perspectives: first a writer’s, then an artist’s, and in the end, a reader’s. The idea I get from the book becomes a color theme and a primary sketch which I share with the client and get some feedback. I finish the work and send it back, and apply the final changes if necessary. While making changes, if I’m sure about something, I fight for it. It applies to the artistic view on the work—colors, media, style, etc.—rather than the design. I refuse to tell a writer how their character looks like, but if, for example, the client wants a drastic change in color theme while I’m sure the colors already do a good job attracting readers, I try my best to convince the author/publisher to reconsider making changes, or that we ask a few people for their opinion.
Gary: I usually ask the author to pick a scene from the book and start from there.
Juliana: When working on a book cover, how much involvement do you find you need with the story itself? Do you read the novel (or short stories, for anthologies) first, or is an overview of the subject matter enough?
Aty: Before I start working on a cover art, I prefer to know a bit about the book, or at least the mood and theme of the content. For nonfiction it’s usually easier, but fiction requires more creativity so I need to feel something about the book to get that primary idea.
Usually a summary or definition of the book or characters works fine.
Gary: I think it is important the cover reflect the story, you can tweak it a little to add drama.
Juliana: What is your preferred artistic medium? (Paper and ink, paint, digital art, photography-based art…)
Gary: I do digital so I will take parts from pictures we buy rights to and knit them together. After talking to the author, if its Space Opera I will start with the stars, add planets, ships, battle scenes, etc and I do like messing about with colours, hues and opacity. Some of my favorites have been done by just playing with these elements!
Aty: The media and the style I prefer for a cover art depends on each book itself. Mostly I love digital painting, and when doing traditional art for books I love ink, markers, watercolor, and acrylic.
Juliana: What, for you, is the most challenging aspect of creating book cover art?
Gary: Making the author like the work and stop them criticizing so I can have a lie down. 🙂
Aty: The first sketch. It’s hard trying to show others a simple sketch of a finished work you have in mind. So it’s artistically challenging.
Juliana: Leading on from the last question, what’s your favorite part of the process?
Aty: Coloring and shading in any media always make me happy, because that’s when the artwork slowly comes to life. It’s fascinating and unbelievably fun.
Gary: Finishing them knowing I have created an individual piece of art that is unique.
Juliana: What are some of the book or graphic novel covers that made a lingering impression on you as you were growing up?
Gary: I can’t say any I am afraid, as this is a new thing for me that I just started 15 months ago and if I am honest I have no influences.
Aty: My absolute favorite is S. Neil Fujita’s iconic cover art for Mario Puzo’s The Godfather. Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange and George Orwell’s 1984 are my favorites too. A few others are Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Road, Looking for Alaska, The Hunger Games trilogy, The Catcher in the Rye, and Harry Potter with its character design.
Juliana: Could you share some of the artists that inspire you in your own work?
Aty: I have a long list, but my current faves are Mahmoud Farshchian (traditonal), Iman Maleki (traditional), Sui Ishida (traditional and digital), Alice X. Zhang (digital), and Nicolien Beerens (traditional).
Gary: Jim Burns who did Tickety Boo Press’ Biblia Longcrofta. It is amazing!
Juliana: Thank you very much for joining us here and sharing some insights on what it takes to create an amazing cover. Looking forward to seeing a lot more original artwork from both of you.
Check out Aty S. Behsam’s website, www.asbehsam.com, and Twitter, @asbehsam, as well as her gallery on Deviant Art, http://aty-s-behsam.deviantart.com.
You can find more information on Gary Compton’s cover designs at Ticketyboopress.co.uk, as well as on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ticketyboocovers).
Spotlight is a monthly blog feature. Check out September’s Spotlight on Imagining the Future with Ralph Kern and Stephen Palmer. Next up in November: Spotlight on Editing.
Juliana Spink Mills 