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I again want to thank the readers out there so much for all your patience as I finish the final 3 chapters of Eaglebreaker. A surprise cancer diagnosis on Nov 1 along with ensuing complications and chemo slowed down my progress a bit, but after a month of treatment I’m thrilled to say that my cancer is on the run and the prognosis is excellent. I’m back in the writer’s chair now, and it feels great.
Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 14 – Vethros, which finds the Eaglemasters in more dangerous territory than they realize, facing an enemy they can’t see Valeine and the Eaglemasters soared ten miles deep into the Wildland mountains, which extended about forty miles more to the southwestern coast. They had taken great care to never set down on even the safest-looking peak in the long weeks since they’d begun their assault on this teeming range. An electricity in the air grew more abrasive the farther they dared fly over the heart of their elusive enemy’s power, and they could not help but suspect it would leap out from the rock and wrap tightly around them like a paralyzing snake if they descended too close.
Messengers from the capital had recently brought word that Queen Elleth was expected to give birth in the immediate weeks, which bolstered the army’s spirit even as they spent every minute of daylight scouring heights that felt farther from the sun than the deepest valley. She wanted dearly for her brother to be present for the birth of his first child, and could often see that same sore yearning in his eyes behind a mask of bravado. No word had come of the twenty-five Eaglemasters deployed to the Mountains of the Lost, and the prospect of their returning report was the one glimmer of solace she clung to when thinking of Morlen’s condition and whereabouts. But if that crushing, legendary net of obscure hostiles could hold him for all this time, she had no illusions that even her most seasoned countrymen would escape any sooner. “To the Wildlands long ago he flew, Veleseus the Bold,” the Eaglemasters sang their battle song around her, waiting for their targets to emerge.
“The fiercest king we ever knew, for his wrath is widely told.” Captain Craed led one hundred men south of her position and dropped cascades of flaming oil pots to wall off nearly a thousand ferotaurs. He flooded every escape route with fire and smoke to herd them along widespread meandering channels, all of which flowed toward the canyon that she and her battalion flew ready to bombard. “Together with his eldest son the Bold King felt no fear, and side by side, many battles they won with the mighty Crystal Spear.” Like blood pumped through jagged veins, the ferotaurs had no choice but to follow the fatal course they imposed, pooling in the atrium from which they would never emerge. “Alas, one returned, a prince no more, who to his sorry people said, ‘My father could not win his war; your beloved king is dead.’” She launched her arrow, striking a creature through its left eye while the hundreds around her unleashed their clay projectiles with burning wicks to smash and explode on their trapped enemies below. The rancid sea of horns boiled and burst while molten waves crashed upon one another, finally flattening to a calm that baked beneath a charred, brittle crust.
“But in the Wildlands he still flies, Veleseus the bold. The king whose memory never dies while we stand in his stronghold!” The Eaglemasters proudly beat their chest plates with hardened fists, taunting the shattered rabble beneath them for their next adversaries to hear.
But they cut their cheers short when the surrounding mountains offered no echo, as if they were mere ghosts wailing over a land that had swallowed their dust in ages past. Craed circled back to boast, and to check that she wasn’t straining herself as he often annoyingly did.
“As mindless and easy to manipulate as they were on our very shores, and you expect me to fear some concealed power that guards them here!” “Despite all your bluster, I’ve yet to see you disembark and prove our caution foolish,” she replied. “I’d have wagered you would relish being renowned as the first Eaglemaster to set foot in this range.” Never one to back away from a challenge, Craed looked down with a playful expression that held clear regret for his bluff that she’d now called. Seeming about to follow through and demonstrate more than empty talk, he could not hide his relief when the king saved him from accepting the dare. “There will be no disembarking here until I give the order,” Verald called out from behind her.
“And rest assured that I will be the first of us to set foot here, but not because I crave the recognition. Let’s continue to maximize the effect of our projectiles, and delay that momentous occasion for as long as possible.” “Aye, Sire,” Craed answered with a grateful smile.
“I’ve got plenty more heads of cattle to drive for the slaughter.” He and his carrier rode the wind past them toward his battalion, and they proceeded deeper through the barren slopes that relentlessly tempted them to descend for just a moment’s recuperation. Their southernmost city had faded to a tiny glimmer in the army’s wake, reflecting bright rays that seemed to evade this place entirely. Though Craed led his men only a stone’s throw out in front, it became increasingly difficult to see all of them, to the point that she had to squint even to make out his stout, muscular outline.
She considered calling out for him to slow his advance, but a growing density in the atmosphere felt like a feather pillow crushing against her face to stifle every sound. Then, suddenly, the sky began to stir in a broad confluence of colors, where blood red flowed through fiery orange, blue, and yellow, melding into a hypnotizing purple that intruded past her unblinking eyelids until it became all she could see. It enveloped and immobilized her completely, yet she felt no sinking feeling that would accompany a fatal plummet to the rocks. Totally vulnerable, held tightly in the grip of whatever sinister force lurked below, she could only brace for its wicked voice that had beckoned her here before. But just as no form or shape entered her blinding trance, no sound penetrated either, no urgent calls from the men around her, nor any touch from their overprotective hands.
Perhaps they too were bound helplessly by the arms that had patiently waited for them to stray close enough for a final embrace. There was no way to know what course they were held prisoner to now, whether they were being swiftly delivered to thousands of slobbering mouths that stretched agape at their unwitting descent, or thrown into the open sea. Her desperate urge to cry out in anguish began to course through the frigid numbness seizing her, slowly eroding the ice that choked her veins. One by one, she could feel her fingers wiggle feebly, and they became ten subtle points of light streaking across the dark canvas that saturated her vision. A furnace slowly boiled within her center, sending out a white-hot radiation that illuminated her hands, and as they clawed at the enchanted fabric they began to rip a thin sliver through which she could glimpse the outside world. Wedging both hands together into this narrow rift with palms pressed tightly against its sides, she tremored violently in an effort to push her arms apart and pry it wider.
Like opening lead curtains with dislocated shoulders, she moved them an inch, and then another, hearing her own frantic groans that seemed to reverberate in from the free air she tried to reach. The glowing heat pulsated at her fingertips, revealing her path forward, and with one last scream from the depths of her gut she poured it out copiously through the splintering gap until its walls finally cracked, collapsed, and melted away.
A bright wave rippled through the open sky before her, restoring its dull color, and she breathed a joyous gasp while folding upon Lielle’s back. “The darkness is potent here,” said Lielle under her weary head.
“I felt as though indiscernible strings drew me forth against my will, until they were burned away.” Soaked in sweat, and only beginning to grasp how taxed she was, she shivered in an effort to sit upright again, and noticed immediately that the sun had traversed a great distance in what had felt like a short time that the confounding spell was cast upon her. Evening had already fallen, though it was not yet noon when they’d carried out their latest attack. They would have to turn back immediately to reach their lightly-guarded camp before night.
But, soon, she realized a far graver peril, one from which they could not turn away. Captain Craed and his one hundred men were all gone, leaving no trace that could be seen for miles all around. And her brother, who had been behind her within the fold of his men, now flew alone far ahead. She knew it was him by the sight of the Crystal Spear, which barely gleamed in his hand. Turning to the Eaglemasters around her, she found the burning torches they’d held to light their combustibles were all extinguished and cold. Each man shared the same stunned and disoriented expression as though waking from a drunken slumber, and she rattled her weapon vigorously against her armor to rouse them.
“Protect the king!” she cried, ushering Lielle to dart forward while the men echoed her call and made haste. Verald flew dangerously low, well within shooting range of several ferotaur packs that gladly held their fire and let him pass into the center of their domain. She and the army bellowed together in a frightful chorus to make him rise and turn around, but their loudest pleas only fell on deaf ears. He merely led them farther from any safe haven while the sun dipped beneath the horizon, about to strand them in the most hostile terrain they’d ever faced. Chapter Five – To the Wildlands Valeine sat mounted on her eagle, Lielle, atop Veleseor’s walls as she peered northeast, where the Mountains of the Lost barely peaked over the horizon.
A month had now passed since Morlen set out alone, and despite all the frightening stories her brothers had told her of that place when she was a child, and the more reliable accounts she’d heard as a Lady, she knew he was still alive. Perhaps malnourished, cold, and one hundred miles from Roftome, but alive. And any enemy foolish enough to attack him alone would fare poorly. She had no illusions that they would soon be reunited, nor did she take for granted that he would escape at all.
But hope was the brightest star that guided him now, and she would let her own burn just as fully every day. Then maybe, when their memories of shared happiness were buried under ones of battle and death after years apart, their paths might meet again. Her gaze turned toward the capital and the thousands of Eaglemasters flying southward from it, and she only now began to wonder how prudent it was to leave all five cities of the realm with merely a few dozen defenders. True, their greatest and most present threat had always sprung from the territory they would soon invade, and eliminating it could forever bring security and prosperity.
But if their war with the Tyrant Prince had taught them anything, it was that new and devastating foes could always strike unexpectedly. The king eventually descended to the north walls beside her with the Crystal Spear in his grip and his banner men flying the red and silver flags of Veldere. Throngs of the city’s people celebrated his arrival from below, and he sat on his perched eagle to address them while the full army of Eaglemasters landed outside the city’s perimeter. “My people,” Verald called out while their applause subsided, “I bring you many good tidings. The first, and most joyous for me to share not only with you, but also with my sister and loyal battalions, is that” He paused to let their suspense grow, and waited until the city became utterly silent before finally announcing, “Your queen is with child!” A burst of cheers rose from the enthralled crowd, and Valeine smiled broadly at her brother on hearing the news for the first time. Such fortunate events had been scarce indeed, lately. But still her misgivings about their impending departure grew when she pictured his first child learning to walk in the castle halls while he was off fighting battles in a distant land.
“How I wish my father and brothers had lived to see this day,” he continued. “They were the strongest champions of our realm, and would rejoice at the new light that shines upon us now after such a long darkness. By their sacrifices, and those of so many heroes whose valor may never be equaled, we have defeated the shriekers in the East and freed all lands from the scourge of the Tyrant Prince. Yet our war, which has raged since the birth of our kingdom, is far from over. But never have our enemies across the river felt the full force of the Eaglemasters deep within their own wretched lands, until today. And so, I have come to you to say farewell.” Many dispirited voices rang out in response to this declaration, and he held up a hand to ease their sadness. “But it is not goodbye.
Queen Elleth will rule in my stead while she carries your new prince or princess, with my trusted counselors to guide her forward and contingents of Eaglemasters to look after each of our five cities. My army will launch from this seat of strength founded by King Veleseus the Bold to finish the conquest for which he gave his life generations ago. The Eaglemasters will shroud the Wildlands and destroy every ferotaur from the river to their cavernous mountains, and the plague that they have brought to this border for so many centuries will be eradicated! And our future will be brighter for ages to come!” All gathered citizens made a thunderous clamor, and Verald looked to Valeine in respect. “It’s your city; you lead the way, Sister.” She took one final look at the many families that she had protected with her life and the lives of her men for the last year, and could only resolve to fight so fiercely in this new campaign that they would be safer upon her return than they were now. Lielle took her skyward with a powerful lunge as she had her bow in hand and her spear strapped over her shoulder, and the king joined her with his banner men and trumpeters on either side.
As the entire army ascended, the people of Veleseor honored them by singing the victory song of their city, and the Eaglemasters too began to sing each verse as they passed over the Silver River that divided their realm from the Ferotaur Wildlands. I spent half my life writing one book. Got the idea for it at thirteen, published it at twenty-six. Sure, a couple distractions got in the way during that time: puberty, high school, a bit of college, a day job doing manual labor that put hair on my chest, an obsessive routine of HIGHLY amateur dumbbell curling, booze, 2 years spent querying literary agents, booze.
And now after finally unleashing my debut Fantasy on the world, with the release of its sequel a few months out, I’m so glad that I broke my way into indie publishing and have seen data-based potential for the sustainable career I’ve always wanted. Here are some little nuggets of wisdom and experience I’ve gathered on my journey so far. Invest in a high quality editor and cover designer to make the best possible first impression No matter how long you spent finishing that first draft or how many dozens of times you’ve polished it on your own, front to back, IT’S NOT READY!
Most of those rejections I accumulated occurred when my manuscript was 40,000 words heavier than the final product that I published. After doing a Writer’s Digest workshop with one literary agent, I realized I could substantially trim the book down and still keep it all intact. I went line by line to chisel the substance out of the murk, and after a few months had it down from 130,000 words to around 89,000, and still it was far from done. Beta readers are an invaluable resource to help you make your work consumable, but that’s still not enough. After all those brave souls have sunk their teeth into your under-cooked work, hire a professional editor and a cover designer who can help you publish the best version of your work right from the start; don’t try to sell a salad of grammatical awkwardness wrapped in a middle school collage project. Even if you plan to publish a majorly improved 2nd Edition later on when you have more funds, you will have fed a sour apple to so many prospective fans that you’ll lose credibility and appeal. I found my editor, through some very well-respected indie authors on Google Plus writing communities.
It turns out that she edits for a couple other authors who signed with the award-winning audiobook publisher that picked up my series, too. And the book designers at have produced beautiful covers for my series that have been worth every penny.
If you only have one book out, KDP Select is probably the way to go Selling exclusively through Amazon has been much more profitable than my brief stint with wider distribution, because in addition to sales, subscribers to Kindle Unlimited have read more than half a million pages of my book over the last 6 months. What Amazon pays you for that varies a bit each month, but it usually appears close to half a cent per page. Join online communities and enter your book in a few contests It’s common for newbie authors to bombard every social media community they find with daily pleas to GET MY BOOK NOW. Free advertising is tempting for sure, but that kind of shameless self-promotion usually disgruntles A LOT more people than it attracts. I was certainly guilty of it for the first several months that my book was live, and sometimes I’ll do a scaled-down version of it if my book is free or highly discounted for a few days.
There’s a lot more value in building a friendly relationship with the readers in those communities, and giving as much as you hope to get in return. If you’re an Indie Fantasy author, check out Mark Lawrence’s annual. This year’s contest is near its end, and the link will take you to the 10 finalists that have gotten a lot of well-deserved publicity.
Being involved in that contest was a great experience for me, and I got a nice review plus some badass author friends out of it. Important Note: About 1 month since beginning this experiment with expanding my advertising portfolio, I’ve still spent about 2 1/2 times what I’ve generated in sales. My book has climbed up 14 Amazon Bestseller lists, and paid sales can lead to organic sales by word of mouth, but always be careful not to create so many ads that you exceed your budget. Let me start this end-of-week followup with the postscript to last Friday’s report that some may have missed: As of 10/12, my Amazon ads have been directly responsible for at least 95% of all sales. My trial run with Facebook ads just happened to coincide with the unprecedented surge on 10/28, and it’s important not to assume correlation equals causation. I’ve ended all Facebook ads and am creating more in Amazon. As the above graph shows, 10/20 was the first time my “Paid Units” cracked 5 in one day over the last 3 months, except during a cute little 99c promo I ran at the end of August.
So, when I saw that my one and only book’s full-price sales had more than quadrupled from the norm last Friday (10/28), I naturally hoped it was due to clear actions that I could analyze and perpetually maintain with consistent results. The following day (10/29) showed great promise of that with a record 21 sales, and 1,000 more Kindle Unlimited pages read than on 10/28. The 2 days leading into Halloween showed an understandable drop, since a large portion of my target audience was likely engrossed in the hedonistic festivities, but still they surpassed what I’d seen in the 3 months prior. Kindle Unlimited pages also shot to higher levels than ever on those 2 days, amounting to more than 20 copies read. Then, what the hell happened on Tuesday and Wednesday?
8 sales, and then 4? Going back to those familiarly mediocre levels felt comparable to returning to a dietary routine of microwaved TV dinners after a brief, luxurious getaway. The same ads were up and running, minus a few disappointing ones that I’d paused, and I’d even created duplicates to test new genre targets (which I’ll get to shortly). I think one contributing factor may be that my audiobook became available for Pre-Order on 10/31. Because of that recent development, customers who go to now have the option to pay $ for the Kindle book and paperback, or get the audiobook in exchange for a monthly credit that Audible allots its members. So it’s possible that some thrifty buyers opted to forgo shelling out cash and instead traded in a “use it or lose it” credit for the audiobook, which is officially out on Nov 22 (and is beautifully done, I might add, thanks to Podium and James Foster).
I’ve also suspected the audiobook will boost Kindle sales, since experienced customers might anticipate being able to get the audible narration for a substantial discount after purchasing the e-book (assuming Audible enables the Whispersync feature, which is up to them, not me). Because of this theory, and to promote the audiobook itself, I ran 2 versions of the same ad that reads: Epic Fantasy Adventure Audiobook now for Pre-Order from Podium Publishing (King’s Dark Tidings, Dawn of Wonder, Cycle of Arawn) Narrator: James Foster. One is a Sponsored Ad that uses Podium’s other Fantasy titles and authors as search engine keywords, as well as “audio book,” and the 4 main keywords that have led to sales in my other Sponsored Ads: “fantasy, fantasy fiction, fantasy books, fantasy fiction books.” The other is a Display Ad that I targeted by specific products instead of genres, using the same Fantasy titles that Podium has published. The problem with this is that because customers can order the audiobook without a cash transaction, my ad data can’t show me whether any clicks on these ads are leading to sales. When someone clicks one of my ads and then pays for the Kindle book or paperback, I see their respective prices in the “Total Sales” column for that specific ad.
The only way this would happen for the audiobook ad is if someone clicks on it and buys the Kindle or paperback version, or pays the full audible price instead of exchanging a credit. Anyway, it’s too soon to halt that campaign, and some unknown individual(s) have already Pre-Ordered the audiobook, so I’ll keep the ad running a bit longer. Back to my moneymaking ads, limited to 150 characters each.
A few authors asked me for specifics about the unique pitches I’ve been using, so I’ll list them in order of greatest sales to least:. “Superb Fantasy Tale! Writing that soars & inspires” Hero’s Sword & Sorcery quest with epic battles, one-on-one duels, & friendship with a giant eagle. A hero’s adventure leads him to the sky with eagle-riding knights, into the scorching breath of a dragon, and side-by-side with a fierce lady warrior. A hero gains the loyalty of a giant eagle that would not carry any other man, and flies in an epic showdown against swords, fangs, and his worst fear.
An eagle-riding hero holds the Goldshard which makes invincibility just a whisper away. But it soon becomes a worse enemy than the monsters he battles In last week’s post I listed the 5 genre subsets that I targeted with each of these, creating an experimental pool of 20. Here are those targets in order of greatest sales to least:.
Teen & YA Sci/Fi & Fantasy. Sci/Fi & Fantasy Adventure. Sci/Fi & Fantasy Superheroes. Sci/Fi & Fantasy Sword & Sorcery.
Sci/Fi & Fantasy Fantasy It’s important to note that my KU Pages read have also skyrocketed with these ads, and unlike sales, you can’t be sure which ad leads a KU subscriber to start reading, so that makes it a bit difficult to decide which ads to scrap. That’s why I always pause the ones that look weak, so if my figures start to dip I can immediately switch them back on and see if there’s a noticeable improvement. This week I’m also having success with 3 additional genre targets that I’m testing with Pitches 1-3 and an improved version of #4. That’s 12 new ads divided into 3 groups, each of which has already produced 4 sales. The new genre targets, which may prove to be more lucrative than the aforementioned 5, are:.
Sci/Fi & Fantasy Myths & Legends. Literature & Fiction Action & Adventure. Literature & FictionGenre Fiction I’m still gradually eliminating ads that are bringing in too little return on investment, while increasing the budgets of the proven “winners.” I was relieved when yesterday (11/3) turned out to be more profitable than last Friday, the day when everything changed for the better, and today’s sales are so far consistent with the best my book has performed so far.
I’d say I’m satisfactorily on my way to having a shortened system of highly efficient ad pitches and targets that I can leave alone to maximize my income from Book 1, while I continue to plug away at Book 2. I’m really looking forward to Nov 22 when the becomes available, and am very confident that listeners will be almost as moved by it as I was. I’m sure that seasoned veterans of book publishing and marketing will laugh hard when they read that I invested approximately 2 1/2 times what I generated in sales (before royalty) during my advertising experiment over these past 2 weeks. So I’ll take that ridicule with humility and concede that it may be warranted IF I don’t see a better return on investment around a month from now. After deciding to take several months off from my day job to write the sequel to my well-received debut fantasy, my goal has been to establish an automated system that maximizes my daily income from Book One as I dive into Book Two.
I dreamed of the day when 4 paid sales in 24 hrs would be cause for concern, not celebration, and after much trial and error since the middle of this month, I’m finally there (for now). I laugh when I look at my initial attempts at Amazon Ad campaigns, all of which have been enabled by my book’s enrollment in KDP Select. Unlike a print ad, for which you pay just to publish and hope it sparks interest, Amazon ads are free to publish, and you only pay when customers click on them. The captivating Audiobook edition of A Facet for the Gem went live about 4 months after I signed with Podium! Find it Last week I was intrigued to receive an e-mail through my homepage from, expressing interest in talking with me about the audiobook edition of.
I hadn’t heard of that particular house before, and when they claimed in their message, “ We’ve had lots of audiobook award nominations, and wins, as well we’ve created massive bestsellers for debut authors with Top 10 Bestsellers across ALL titles on Audible including Andy Weir’s The Martian,” I scheduled a phone conference and did as much research as I could. In the back of my mind I knew it made sense to eventually produce my book in audio format, as audiobooks are rapidly growing in popularity and demand, but realistically I don’t think I would have taken action to achieve that on my own until years from now. My biggest priority has been to finish writing Book 2 and turn it in to my editor by February; I’ve already paid her to reserve that month. I invested $3,000 just in the production of my ebook and paperback, and plan to do the same for Book 2, so investing thousands more in creating an audiobook when I have no experience in that area was never a plan.
But when a legitimate publishing house that’s won the Audie (the most prestigious audiobook award) stepped forward and showed enough confidence in my work to invest their own resources, I read everything Google could provide about them and found only good things in author testimonials, message boards, and press releases. The first author testimonial that popped up on Google was from, and his reasoning stuck with me as far as the benefit of starting to earn money and publicity now if an award-winning house is willing to foot the bill, as opposed to waiting until years from now to start earning a bigger cut. Is the service analogous to in the realm of self-published audio. It provides channels for authors to contract with narrators and produce their own audiobooks, and the author gets a 40% royalty of all sales for exclusive distribution. But as I mentioned above, the commitment of my own resources this would entail precluded me from considering it any time soon. And after everything I read about Podium’s pedigree, accolades and reputation, I felt comfortable forgoing the profits (if any) I might gain from handling the audio production myself and instead entrusting the responsibility to experts who were asking nothing from me except just that: trust. Plus, after investing at least $1,200 in marketing Facet over the five months since its debut, I hoped that the promotional aspect of its audio edition appearing on Podium’s list of high-quality works could pay major dividends in future sales across all formats.
With all of these considerations in mind, I went into the phone call hopeful that I could strike a deal with Podium’s acquisitions department, and the Author Liaison Victoria helped to make that an exciting reality. I signed over the audiobook rights for the entire Tale of Eaglefriend series just a couple hours later. She did explain that the audio length of Facet, based on its word count, would be a few hours shy of the norm for a standalone Epic Fantasy, and that Podium might want to wait for the completion of Book 2 and produce an omnibus audiobook. I asked them to give A Facet for the Gem a chance as a standalone, especially since its release would capitalize on the popularity it’s enjoyed right out of the gate, not to mention coincide with all the buzz generated by #SPFBO (more on that contest soon).
I’m currently awaiting their decision on the matter, and am happy to defer to Podium’s expertise in audiobook production. And now that the ink on our contract is dry, I’m truly thrilled at the opportunity to work with them over the coming months. It’s natural to judge a book by its cover. A cut-and-pasted image salad that screams “middle school collage project” delivers an immediately unpleasant visceral impact, and casts a shadow on the content itself before prospective readers even open it.
Many of them probably won’t. But a tasteful, elegant window into the literary wonders you have in store for the reading public can be an invitation too compelling to refuse. Below you’ll see the detailed progression of my own novel’s cover from two contrasting first drafts to a stellar final product, designed by the experts at Certainly many indie authors are on a tight budget and search for the most economical options to make their books marketable. I personally opted for what I judged to be in the top tier of book design, as well as editing (my editor is —highly recommended) and now that my debut novel has been on the market for just over three months, I am very satisfied with that investment. I entrusted the essential task of creating an arresting cover for my epic fantasy novel, to the book design professionals at Damonza. Not only does their extensive portfolio showcase striking covers in the fantasy genre and beyond it, but I was also persuaded by other customers’ high praise of their courtesy and professionalism, which I came to experience firsthand. I initially envisioned the book’s cover depicting a very defining scene from the narrative, but they advise specifically against that on their webpage, as it can attempt to convey too much information in the imagery without context.
So instead I provided them a highly detailed synopsis of the whole story, indicated what I thought would capture its essence on the cover, and deferred to their artistic talent. This paragraph from my submission highlights the elements I gave them to work with: “The heart of this story, and the entire 4-part series, is Morlen’s friendship with the giant eagle, Roftome. I would really like to see them both on the cover.
Morlen goes from 16 to 17 years old in this book—he’s tall with shoulder length brown hair, and wears a brown cloak. I would love to see him holding the Crystal Blade in his right hand, and the Goldshard in his left, as this symbolizes his internal struggle between realizing his potential, and his dependency on the Goldshard.” They advertise a 14 day turnaround, but Alisha the designer got back to me just one week later with 2 drafts for the e-book. This is the first one that I saw: She gave me exactly what I asked for with this one, and I think that’s why I favored it initially after considering them both.
It captures Morlen’s internal struggle between trusting in his own abilities, symbolized by the sword he arduously earned in his right hand, and the security and power offered by the Goldshard in his left. But, referring to the pitfall I mentioned a few paragraphs back, that’s a lot of information to convey in an image without any context. Prospective readers don’t know this protagonist or his dilemma yet; this image is supposed to entice them to experience it, not define it straight away. And I wonder, Alisha being the pro that she is, if this was her way of saying, “Here’s what you envisioned, but I can do better.” This is the second one that I looked at: First of all, the eagle is much more present and attractive here, and comes across much more clearly as being giant and otherworldly.
The detail in the sword’s winged hilt is beautiful and went beyond what I’d described. But also the entire picture has a more open and kinetic feel, immediately beckoning the reader to embark with these characters on an adventure. After soaking them both in, and asking for input from a few people close to me, I of course chose the second for my cover. I revealed it to friends on social media, and got additional helpful input as a result. The only revisions I went on to request were: To lighten Morlen’s cloak a bit, as I felt the “Kylo Ren” look depicted a brooding antihero that doesn’t fit his character. Make the Crystal Blade look more solid and defined. And to make the Goldshard in his left hand like a flat, jagged piece of metal and less orb-like.
She got back to me the very next day with this final product: I have no doubt that this stunning cover has contributed greatly to the book’s sales, as it frequently garners praise on social media while I promote it. The full paperback cover is at the head of this post, and it blew me away as well. I went on to enlist Damonza’s formatting service for the book’s interior, and was very pleased with the professional, elegant result.
I fully intend to hire them for Book 2 in “The Tale of Eaglefriend,” which I plan to release in Spring of 2017.