Thanks guys, bringing my book to market is proving to be a bit of a learning curve,but the challenge it presents is an opportunity to be a writer. Something I've always wanted to be.
Currently I'm working on the cover typography, up to version three so far. Lots to think about and, the choices between flashy crowd pleasing typography versus a solid sense of craft that makes each book look like part of a series.
You've probably come across arguments for both. There are some readers who think "oh, this is book 2 of a series, I won't buy it, book 1 isn't here on the shelf, I'll buy something else instead". There are others who like the covers to look uniform or spot the new one in the series because it looks like the last one.
But I don't know any of these people. I don't know people who buy new books in shops, or based on the cover, at all any more. I don't know how many of them are left, or how they think.
I'm guessing one of the cover design tasks is to make the thing look reasonable at 100 pixels wide…
Looking at the books I've read recently, the last one that wasn't a personal recommendation, a continuation of a series, or part of the Hugo-Nebula Reread, was David Hambling's The Elder Ice - and I think that was an algorithmic recommendation on Goodreads.
(The usual warning applies: people who market to appeal to me are not marketing for bulk sales, to the point that "doesn't appeal to Roger" may actually be correlated with higher sales to everyone else.)
Two portions of Turkish Delight
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A WD friend, Tim G, popped by for a visit today, so I entertained him with
a look at my early attempts at rules for the Hapsburgs v the Ottomans in
the ...
Dark Places
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Okay, I have an old scenario of mine, Body & Soul, featured in Dark Places
published by John Curry.
You can get your copy from Amazon.
What can I say, ...
The Canadian Wargamer Podcast Is Back
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James and I catch up after a few months off, in a conversation that
includes the recent Hot Lead event, Henry Hyde's new horse and musket rules
Shot, Ste...
Sharp Practice: Silencing Singh the Sniper
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Despite the successful defence of the Mission House at Pershawarinan, the
rebellion continues and large numbers of Europeans seek shelter within the
garr...
Adieu AHPC Season XIV
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Another year and another great Dad & Lad hobby event! Naturally, we lost
some productivity by playing games against one another, but its a great
problem ...
Operation Martlet: German counterattack at Fontenay
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The German counterattack at St Nicholas Farm in the previous game was both
short and brutal. More significantly for the campaign it was successful,
pushing...
Not Quite Back Yet
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My work crazyness finally ended mid week, though it could pick up for four
weeks at any moment. Things had been busy since last October and stepped
up a...
The Miller's Tale - Episode 9
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Episode 9: in which Mike once again attempts to remember how the heck the
Heath Robinson-esque collection of RSS feed generator, local webspace and
heave...
Williamsburg Muster
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I ran the Speeder Bike game again with a few minor adjustments to the
track and the rules. I put a gate on the other side of the Hutt palace, to
create ...
Reasons to Avoid Games/When to Abandon a Project
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This blog originally started as a place to stick rules reviews as I was
"the guy with all the rules" and I got tired of repeating myself explaining
what ...
Happy New Year
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Hi everyone, normally I would be posting my "review of the year" today and
my plan for 2024 tomorrow.
But as some of you may know I'm poorly in hospital...
A different kind of convention (for me anyway)
-
Earlier this month, my wife and I went to our first ever science fiction
convention: ArmadilloCon here in the Austin area.
My wife did confess that at f...
More Freakin Hexes
-
About ten years ago I had this idea for terrain hexes. About five years ago
I started making some when i got my first laser cut. Then I had a thirty
five...
BIG Chain of Command Free to Download
-
Recording the latest Oddcast, I suddenly realised that I couldn’t find the
free to download BIG Chain of Command file on the web site. So, here it is.
It’s...
More Cleaning
-
If I ever pick coding back up, I should:
- rebuild my "History of BattleTech" chart to be dynamic and interactive;
- make a widget which scrapes my b...
The Sumos 2021*
-
You know what the asterisk means. Again. I have played more games this year
than 2020, but am still well down on my usual 200+. However, I am back to
twent...
Review: Oathmark Goblin Wolf Riders
-
The Goblin Wolf Riders are the first Oathmark models I have bought and I
purchased them specifically to add hobgoblin light cavalry to my Chaos
Dwarf a...
The Genie is Out of the Bottle.
-
More minis from the box of shame.
This time a trader with his camel train and somen beastmen to waylay him.
I also made some table funishings and a table...
Kerensky Fried Chicken
-
3D printing is a lot of fun, especially when applied to BattleTech. This is
the first of many models I will probably be printing this year and shows
just a...
I'm renaming my French Pan European Federation 7th Demi Brigade Légion Etrangère to 7e Brigade Blindée , "Force et Audace"...
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Looks good.
ReplyDeleteThat looks great. Makes me look forward to the book even more.
ReplyDeleteVery cool!
ReplyDeleteNice !!!
ReplyDeleteCertainly piques my curiosity.
Thanks guys, bringing my book to market is proving to be a bit of a learning curve,but the challenge it presents is an opportunity to be a writer. Something I've always wanted to be.
ReplyDeleteCurrently I'm working on the cover typography, up to version three so far. Lots to think about and, the choices between flashy crowd pleasing typography versus a solid sense of craft that makes each book look like part of a series.
ReplyDeleteYou've probably come across arguments for both. There are some readers who think "oh, this is book 2 of a series, I won't buy it, book 1 isn't here on the shelf, I'll buy something else instead". There are others who like the covers to look uniform or spot the new one in the series because it looks like the last one.
DeleteBut I don't know any of these people. I don't know people who buy new books in shops, or based on the cover, at all any more. I don't know how many of them are left, or how they think.
I'm guessing one of the cover design tasks is to make the thing look reasonable at 100 pixels wide…
You know me, and I still buy books in shops, and often a book cover will attract me to read the blurb.
DeleteFair enough!
DeleteLooking at the books I've read recently, the last one that wasn't a personal recommendation, a continuation of a series, or part of the Hugo-Nebula Reread, was David Hambling's The Elder Ice - and I think that was an algorithmic recommendation on Goodreads.
(The usual warning applies: people who market to appeal to me are not marketing for bulk sales, to the point that "doesn't appeal to Roger" may actually be correlated with higher sales to everyone else.)
I bought and read The Elder Ice after reading your review, and I suspect it's not the sort of book one would find in Forbidden Planet.
Delete