Of plots, and characters, and book cover design. That's what I'm thinking about. Dorothy Grant and I were working on the cover for her latest, and she suggested I use our conversation as a springboard for a MGC post. I'm always excited when Dorothy comes to me for a cover - this is the third... Continue Reading →
What happens when you are avoiding NaNoWriMo
Okay, I'll admit it. I started November off with the best of intentions. I wasn't going to officially do NaNoWriMo. But that didn't mean I wasn't going to write. I needed to finish the next book in the Honor & Duty series. Then there was the next Eerie Side of the Tracks series to work... Continue Reading →
More things to consider when it comes to covers
Last week, I described my first foray into Fiverr in search of a cover. I admitted the process was both easier and more difficult than I expected. Easier because the process of finding someone and staying in contact with them during the creation process is seamless and, at least for me, quickly done. More difficult... Continue Reading →
Finicky Fonts and how to Find Them
So last week we talked about book cover rules, and I briefly touched on fonts, among other things. I didn't want to dive into any of the rules, since that post could easily have become a book (a short book, but still) and that's not the point. Today, I'm going to dig into fonts, at... Continue Reading →
7 Rules for Cover Design
I feel like I harp on this topic. Covers, cover art, cover design... if it’s ever too much, tell me. Here’s the thing, though. It’s not just that I’m an artist and designer and I enjoy the process of book creation. It’s that even though people will say they don’t care about a book cover,... Continue Reading →
Continuity of Design
Have you ever been driving along, not really paying attention, until that one house caught your attention? You know what I mean - the faux asbestos tile stones siding... or maybe that's just an Ohio thing. It's the most hideous stuff I've ever seen on a house, and I've been a lot of places. Or... Continue Reading →
Covering the Myths
I've written about this many times here at Mad Genius Club, but it's a topic that gets asked about over and over. And it's an important topic. The book cover is the first thing your readers see, and no matter how often they might insist that they don't judge a book by it's cover, they... Continue Reading →
Comprehensive Cover Art and Design
Cover Art & Design: Again We keep coming back to this, I know. But simply put, it’s one of the most-asked questions I get, and I find myself repeating the same advice roughly once a week. So this time I’m going to compile all the links, and have one link to rule them all… First... Continue Reading →
Getting Graphic with your Work
And I'm not talking about describing the gory bits in gruesome detail. No, I had planned to do a walk-through tutorial today about creating a logo for your writing business. I hadn't anticipated two things. One, to do a proper logo you need to create a vector file rather than image or illustration. I'll get... Continue Reading →
Reading Out Loud
What follows is the text of a speech I wrote and delivered as the final assignment in my Public Expression class. It's written to a specific and highly formalized structure called Monroe's motivated sequence, and was intended to be a call-to-action speech. I don't know how it worked on that audience, but it amuses me... Continue Reading →