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Showing posts from June, 2014

Ebook Cover: Stock Images vs. Custom Illustration

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I'm so excited to finally share the book cover for Intertwined! Three and a half months ago, this was little more than a vague idea inside my mind. I was debating on whether to use stock images (a more affordable option) or to have the cover custom illustrated. I was torn because, although, stock images can be modified to fit the tone of your book, I couldn't stand the idea that it could end up on someone else's cover--especially, if the cover happened to portray two people who represent your lead characters. In fact, this ALMOST happened! I was browsing for stock images on Shutterstock and found one that resembled the two main characters in my story. In the end, I decided not to use it because I prefer to leave the characters to the readers imagination, and I've always been drawn to simpler, more symbolic covers like Twlight, Divergent, Hunger Games...etc. A couple months later, I saw the exact same stock image used on two other book covers. By that poi...

Edit! Edit! Edit! And When You Think You're Finally Done, Guess Again And Edit Some More!

Okay, so lately, it seems like whenever anyone asks me about my book, I respond with the automatic, "It's in the editing phase." Well, needless to say, it's been in the editing phase for, let's see, HALF my life now. Or, at least, it feels that way. But I think I need to define what editing really means - because, to most people, it means trimming out the fat and polishing the writing to the point of absolute perfection.  This is true, but, it's also very vague.  Editing is a long and tiring process. When I first finished my book and read through the material from start to finish, I was like, "Damn, that's good!" And then I read through it again. And again. And again. And, guess what? It was good, but not damn good.  The book started out at 150K words, and, at that time, I was convinced that every single word was necessary and beautiful and totally brilliant. I'd think, why on earth would I hack this beautifully crafted paragraph...