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.)
Sci-Fi AAR: Starship Troopers
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Friend Neil and I finally managed to get together for a wargame: with Neil
bringing a 6mm *Starship Troopers* game to the party.
This was immense fun as ...
Farscape - 25 Years On.
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Not a wargaming post, but so what?
25 years ago the SF series Farscape started its run. Originally on a
satellite channel it came to the BBC2 on the 29...
6mm civilian vehicles
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Having recently returned to *Battletech *via the more streamlined *Alpha
Strike *rules, I find myself in need of some 1/285 scale terrain suitable
for th...
Contact: Sagan Addresses Fermi
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Enrico Fermi asked, why haven't we seen signs of alien civilizations at a
conference in the summer of 1950. This led to the so called, The Fermi
paradox...
Game Design #109: Cinematic Moments
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I bought the *Titanicus *rules out of interest (though I'll never afford
the minis!) and when experimenting with them I found myself thinking "this
is re...
More Tiny Steps
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Long COVID is a barrel of laughs. I think I am having a good day then LC
says forget that and pay attention to me. I did get some stuff done and
then the...
The Miller's Tale - Episode 10
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Episode 10: In which the podcast reaches double figures, and Mike has his
first ever guest, namely James Morris!
Links from the episode:
- James' we...
Back to War
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So after seven months away from the game table, last night I went
downstairs and refreshed my memory about the battle and units set up on my
table since ...
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 ...
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...
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.
ReplyDeleteThat looks cool!
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