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Judging a Book by its Cover

We all know the saying, which is quite wise when it comes to people, but there’s a reason this saying came to be.  Many a book has been put aside, passed over, or never read at all because of its cover and the instant impression someone had about what the story inside might be like.  So with my book about to be published soon, I needed to find a cover that would relay a part of what the story was about, so people will find it intriguing enough to at least read the description, and hopefully buy the book.

This seemed like a tall order as one my central characters was female, or at least a representation of that, and also a computer.  I did a lot of searching and had a few other possibilities, but this one seemed the best as the woman modeling for it looked the closest to how I envisioned Sofia to appear, and it included elements of both digital and fiber optics technology.  What would be an odd backdrop for other author’s books was the perfect one for mine.

I searched quite a few sites to find one that would both fit my needs and my budget.  There were more sources than I expected and found many that would allow you to work with the artists to customize your cover to meet your exact needs.  Needless to say, that came at a price.  For that kind of service and customization, it would seem worth it and a fair price to pay those artists for that work, but I needed something more economical.

I settled on a great source of many different book covers created by a plethora of graphic artists where the prices were quite reasonable.  On SelfPubBookCovers.com they had many different covers for a variety of genres, but to find the right cover, you have to put in the time to search.  I’d actually started this process a while back, so I had some time to keep looking for what would work best.  This helped as new covers get uploaded all the time.  You have the ability to save a cover, but it can still be bought by others, so no guarantees there unless you shell out the cash to make it yours.  Their site also allows for you to put in your own text, using different fonts and effects to make it look just right.  Even after purchasing, you can go back later and make edits and download the graphic again.

I’ve uploaded the cover in the Amazon Kindle Self Publishing site for my initial tests and it looked fine, so I hope that this was the right choice.  Only time will tell.

Progress Report:
“Inheriting S.O.F.I.A.” Novel Progress: DONE, publishing soon!
1st Draft Novel:  78,198 words
2nd Draft Novel Rewrite:  Completed 2/11/2018!

“Burt’s Bots” Novel Outline progress:
Outline:  1,216 words  (Added more notes to the outline)
Novel 1st Draft:  13,367 (Went back to outlining 1st though)

“Inheriting S.O.F.I.A.” Novel is Finished!

Done!Just a quick post to memorialize the day I finished editing the 2nd draft of my novel, “Inheriting S.O.F.I.A.”!  It’s been far too long from when I started this whole process to this day, but I’m finally finished.  Just a bit of polishing for e-book and print formats, as well as cover and publishing page design, but the re-write is done.

The final pages went amazingly fast.  A few changes here and there that made me feel better about the prose, but before I knew it, I was done.

Now comes the next phase of the process.  It will involve query letters to Literary agents, of course, but these days, it will also involve the very act of self-publishing as well.  The reality today is that aspiring novelists, like me, can publish an e-book themselves on Amazon, Nook, iBooks, etc.  My first novel coming soon.

Progress Report:
“Inheriting S.O.F.I.A.” Novel Progress: DONE!
1st Draft Novel:  78,198 words
2nd Draft Novel Rewrite:  Completed 2/11/2018!

“Burt’s Bots” Novel Outline progress:
Outline:  17.816 words  (Added more notes to the outline)
Novel 1st Draft:  13,367 (Went back to outlining 1st though)

3 Homes in 1 Year

Looking to thwart the progress on your new novel?  I would suggest that you live in 3 different places in the same year.  That was my unexpected experience in 2017.  My wife and I had intended to live in our newly rented apartment for at least a year before we started looking for a new home to buy, but a very noisy bar down the street and neighbors above us who must have had feet the size of the Flintstones changed our minds.  When we found the perfect little house, emphasis on the little, that we could actually afford, we made our move.

This was our second move in a year, and the third place we’d call home in that year, as well, but it was worth the effort.  The rehabbers who fixed up the place did a pretty good job in most parts of the home, but cut a few corners in other ways that weren’t too bad, but did require us to make some changes.  Being an older home, it had some things we just had to get fixed like the lack of ground wiring on our electrical sockets, and an oddly placed electrical panel that would have been blocked by the washer.  I left that to a professional, but took on other projects, like creating 13 window screens which were MIA when we bought the place.  Multiple other projects also ensued for a base level conversion to make it our little place.

On this last move I secured my first novel draft with much more dignity, having learned from my last mistake, and have recently found some time to continue the rewrite.  With all of our must do home projects done, I delved back into the “Inheriting S.O.F.I.A.” novel and found, to my surprise, that I’m very close to it being done.  I expect to have this completed by the end of next month.  A dangerous thing to say publicly, considering the amount of time this has taken me, but writing a novel is quite a lot of work.  I work hard in other areas of my life so this has been a bit of a balancing act.  Unfortunately, the novel has had to be prioritized down the list, at times, given it’s more of a dream of mine that isn’t producing any cash flow, as of yet.

After the final push this month, I’ll need to quickly immerse myself into the business of self-publishing and promotion.  I’d done some research before, but need to firm up my plan of action.  I’ll blog more on this as I get into the process as the information I’m finding is all over the place.  Amazon has good information on the technical process of bringing your book to life on their platform, but little on the other aspects of the journey.  Questions still abound as to how I structure the business aspect.  I found a good book on the promotion part and think I also found a good book cover, but there is still much to decide and act upon.  More to follow soon, as I’m determined to finish my first novel so I can start writing the next one I already have planned.

With no more home moves planned for at least the next ten years, I’ll have more time to work on this life goal of mine.

Progress Report:
“Burt’s Bots” Novel Outline progress:
Outline:  17.816 words  (Added more notes to the outline)
Novel 1st Draft:  13,367 (Went back to outlining 1st though)

“Inheriting S.O.F.I.A.” Novel Progress:
1st Draft Novel:  78,198 words
2nd Draft Novel Rewrite: Up to page #320 of 351