Jumping into a very large pond (and trying not to drown).

playground · Jun 3, 2017

rwm4768 said:
Less than a month to go. Anxiously waiting on my cover art and praying that it doesn't have to go through a ton of revisions before I like it. My first draft of the cover art is scheduled for June 12th. That gives about two and a half weeks between that and my publication date. That's cutting it a bit closer than I'd like, but I had to push up my publication date so I could enter it into the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off.

In the meantime, I'm editing the second book in World in Chains and writing the third book of my Sunweaver trilogy. I'm hoping to get the second book of World in Chains and the first book of Sunweaver out before the end of the year. I'd like to get even more out, but I don't want to push myself too hard.

Interested to see the cover once its finalized.

rwm4768 · Jun 13, 2017

Got my cover art proposal today. It was a day late, but they kept me updated on that, so that's okay with me.

I loved it.

Daffyjkl · Jun 13, 2017

Are you going to share it with us? We can give feedback. I must admit I was pleased with my cover design when I saw the draft, but perhaps it was just seeing my name on the cover.

RaiscaraAvalon · Jun 13, 2017

Glad you loved your cover!

Norman D Gutter · Jun 13, 2017

rwm: Best of luck with your first published book, and with your self-publishing career. Sounds like you're off to a good, well-planned start.

NDG

CameronJohnston · Jun 14, 2017

All the best wishes to your self-publishing journey. A lot to learn but it sounds like you've put in the effort needed to publish a quality book

rwm4768 · Jun 14, 2017

Daffyjkl said:
Are you going to share it with us? We can give feedback. I must admit I was pleased with my cover design when I saw the draft, but perhaps it was just seeing my name on the cover.

I'll probably have it as my avatar once I actually own it. I haven't paid for it yet, so I feel like I'd be in tricky territory with showing it.

I don't think it was just seeing my name on the cover. I thought it looked like the kind of cover that would make me pick up an epic fantasy book, or at least read the blurb to see if I'd like it. It actually wasn't what I was expecting for the cover, so it was a bit surprising at first, but then I decided I really liked it.

In other news, I got my Createspace paperback file to the point that the automated check didn't find any formatting errors. I'm a bit worried about font size, but I've heard that it's okay to go down to 11. It shaves quite a few pages off the book, which means I can offer it at a more affordable price. I anticipate most of my sales being e-books, but I want to have a print book out there for those who prefer that format, and I don't want the cost to be prohibitive.

rwm4768 · Jun 21, 2017

Cover reveal time! (It's in my avatar.) And now I've added it to the post.

I'm really happy with it. I worked with the talented designers at Deranged Doctor Design.

Both cover images are here. They were too large for AW unfortunately.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/ryanwmuellerauthor/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1180134165424837

davidjgalloway · Jun 21, 2017

Ooh, I like it. Do you plan for it all to use the same color scheme, or for it to vary each book?

davidjgalloway · Jun 21, 2017

I thought it looked like the kind of cover that would make me pick up an epic fantasy book, or at least read the blurb to see if I'd like it.

And meant to add, YES. I think nearly every book I bought between ages of 15 and 18 was because of the covers--and certainly all the new authors I tried was initially because they had a great cover. I distinctly remember Larry Elmore's covers for Dragonlance catching my eye (back in 1987).

Can you post the back cover, too?

rwm4768 · Jun 21, 2017

davidjgalloway said:
Ooh, I like it. Do you plan for it all to use the same color scheme, or for it to vary each book?

It's probably going to vary a bit. The second book might be similar, but the third and fourth will be different. The third is going to be tricky for them to design because I introduce some science fiction elements.

rwm4768 · Jun 21, 2017

davidjgalloway said:
And meant to add, YES. I think nearly every book I bought between ages of 15 and 18 was because of the covers--and certainly all the new authors I tried was initially because they had a great cover. I distinctly remember Larry Elmore's covers for Dragonlance catching my eye (back in 1987).

Can you post the back cover, too?

Had to wrangle with it a bit. Had it in a PDF format for Createspace and had to get it into a photo format.

You can find both images here. They were too large for AW unfortunately. Sorry about that.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/ryanwmuellerauthor/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1180134165424837

There we go. I have it now. That white rectangle is where there will be a barcode.

davidjgalloway · Jun 21, 2017

Thanks. I really like that gold chain motif.

rwm4768 · Jun 21, 2017

davidjgalloway said:
Thanks. I really like that gold chain motif.

That was actually my idea. Not that exact motif, but something with chains to help with series branding. The designer did the rest of the work.

Ambrosia · Jun 21, 2017

rwm4768 said:
Cover reveal time! (It's in my avatar.) And now I've added it to the post.

I'm really happy with it. I worked with the talented designers at Deranged Doctor Design.

Beautiful cover, Ryan! I'm so excited for you. :greenie

RaiscaraAvalon · Jun 21, 2017

What a beautiful cover! I'd buy it.

Beanie5 · Jun 21, 2017

Ripper best cover I've seen for a while.

Old Hack · Jun 21, 2017

Sorry, rwm, but you're going to have to resize that big image and check the size of the smaller one, too. There's a maximum image size of 400 x 400 pixels on AW because larger images cause loading problems for some of our members. There's an FAQ about this in the FAQ room if you need more information.

Anna Iguana · Jun 22, 2017

Beautiful cover, Ryan! I especially like the chain detail. It seems like it could serve a series of covers well.

rwm4768 · Jun 22, 2017

Old Hack said:
Sorry, rwm, but you're going to have to resize that big image and check the size of the smaller one, too. There's a maximum image size of 400 x 400 pixels on AW because larger images cause loading problems for some of our members. There's an FAQ about this in the FAQ room if you need more information.

I couldn't figure out how to resize it, so I left it as a link if that's okay. Is my avatar within guidelines?

ecerberus · Jun 22, 2017

Nice cover! Wish there was a thread for just cover sample and critique

Old Hack · Jun 22, 2017

rwm4768 said:
I couldn't figure out how to resize it, so I left it as a link if that's okay. Is my avatar within guidelines?

FAQ: Everything you Always Wanted to Know About Avatars and User Titles

ecerberus said:
Nice cover! Wish there was a thread for just cover sample and critique

Designing Book Covers

God, I'm good.

ecerberus · Jun 22, 2017

Yes, you may be a Old Hack, but sure are darn good

Thank you!

Old Hack said:
FAQ: Everything you Always Wanted to Know About Avatars and User Titles

Designing Book Covers

God, I'm good.

Catherine · Jun 24, 2017

Great cover!

Catherine · Jun 24, 2017

Ooh! Love the banner on your Facebook page too. Did your designers compose it for you?

Jumping into a very large pond (and trying not to drown).

practical experience, FTW

Lost In The Realms

Engineer Sonneteer

Great Old One

practical experience, FTW

practical experience, FTW

Opus is my guy.

Opus is my guy.

practical experience, FTW

practical experience, FTW

Opus is my guy.

practical experience, FTW

Grand Duchess

Lost In The Realms

Live a poem...Or die a fool. \/

Such a nasty woman

reading all the things

practical experience, FTW

Such a nasty woman