IWSG: Book Covers as an Indie and Traditional Author

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IWSG: a place where writers and friends share woes or hugs.

February Question - If you are an Indie author, do you make your own covers or purchase them? If you publish trad, how much input do you have about what goes on your cover?


The February co-hosts are Jacqui Murray, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Pat Garcia, and Gwen Gardner! Thank you!

As an indie author, I've enjoyed creating my own book covers. It's not a simple process! There's searching for the right image with the right background along with fitting characters. Sometimes I cut and paste them and make them fit! But before I pick anything out, I weigh out in my mind what would make the best window to my book. Would it be the climax? The theme? Just the character?

Then there's the font! Font has personality and quietly reveals the feel of the story. Along with font, the title. Does the title portray your story accurately? Will you have a subtitle or a tagline? What sort of font will you choose for the author name? Will your name be on the same line or will you stack it?

Everything must harmonize! A lot of the times indie authors try not to cover the image, framing it with their name and title so that there's a lot of space in between. To me, that screams indie author! I say, don't be afraid to have font smack, dab in the middle. Do compare your cover to the genre you're writing in. How does the font compare? The images? What about the colors?

As for the traditional side of things, I've not really had a say in it if the publisher is on the bigger side. There are times where I've been impressed and other times where I wish I could hide under a rock! So, it depends on the publisher whether or not you get to share input or not.

As an illustrator for a publisher I'd worked for, I collaborated with the authors to create their cover and ran it by the publisher for approval. It wasn't always easy, because some of the authors couldn't make up their minds sometimes.

For those who've published either way, what experience do you have that you'd like to share?

IWSG: Can you Guess My 2023 One Word?

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IWSG: a place where writers and friends share woes or hugs.

Welcome to mine!

Thank you, co-hosts Jemima Pett, Debs Carey, Kim Lajevardi, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and T. Powell Coltrin!

I find January's question rather fascinating: Do you have a word of the year? Is there one word that sums up what you need to work on or change in the coming year? For instance, in 2021 my word of the year was Finish. I was determined to finished my first draft by the end of the year. In 2022, my word of the year is Ease. I want to get my process, systems, finances, and routines where life flows with ease and less chaos. What is your word for 2023? Why? 

I will sum up my single word with a smatter of *images that tell a story and it's your job to guess what the end product is. Ready? Go!

tookapic@pixabay

AdinaVoicu@Pixabay

Skitterphoto@Pixabay

PublicDomainPictures@Pixabay

0fjd125gk87@Pixabay

nui nui@unsplash

Žygimantas Dukauskasunsplash

Juan Pablo Serreno Arenas @Pexels

artbykleiton@pixabay

lechenie-narkomanii@Pixabay

mohamed_hassan@Pixabay

Avi Waxman@Pixabay

Kevin Fitzgerald@Unsplash

Denner Trindad@Pexels

Tim Mossholder@Unsplash

Have you guessed what word my journey is leading up to? What is your word for 2023? 

HaPpY nEw YeAr!

Here's a hint of my journey's reason:

I always gave

You always took,

Now stop!

I'm choking

In the sea of stormy hands about me.

Help me breathe again

With your reassuring faces.

My ship is going fast

From your hateful, doubtful worry.

I belong to me!

Give me room to stretch my feelings.

Let me learn.

Let me fall...

Let me fall!

Let me meet this new self I heard about.

"Hi, me. You're not at all

What they said you would be." 

~Karla Davis, Tyler, Texas

*please forgive the uneven formatting of the above photos! They refused to listen to me no matter how many times I tried to put them in place! Thank you for understanding!

IWSG: Holiday Writing?

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IWSG: a place where writers and friends share woes or hugs.

Welcome to mine!

Thank you, Joylene Nowell Butler, Chemist Ken, Natalie Aguirre, Nancy Gideon, and Cathrina Constantine, for co-hosting December 7th's IWSG!

This month's question is: Are the holidays a time to catch up or fall behind on writer goals?

Well, I'd say typically it's a time for family and writing, though a great love of mine, takes a step back for a time! We are in a race of one and there's no wrong or right answer to whether writing during the holidays is a thing. If you're inspired to write a cozy Christmas tale or just to beat that end-of-the-year goal to say neener neener, do what's write for you!

Have you signed up for my newsletter? It's rather painless--I won't inundate your e-box with junk but with occasional thoughtful reflections and newsworthy announcements. For now, writing has decided to take a ride on the sidelines until my game picks up. Will you please join me?

Just in time for the HoLiDaYs!

Christmas in New York for Cora is all about performing in The Nutcracker, but misfortune takes her back to Texas where she runs into an old flame in cowboy boots and a Stetson hat. Could he be the miracle that puts the pieces of her shattered life together?

A warming tale where love heals even the toughest of hearts!

Available on Amazon or FREE with my NEWSLETTER signup!

Oh, and one more for the road! I'm releasing 3 episodes every Sunday for Awaken: A Love Story! The first 3 episodes will always be free. I plan to publish the entire story as a book sometime after the last episode releases on February 26th, 2023! Buahahaha!


Merry Christmas, everyone!

IWSG and guest June Holder: Writing at a Different Angle

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IWSG: a place where writers and friends share woes or hugs.

Welcome to mine!

November 2 question - November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participated? If not, why not?

Thank you, co-hosts, Diedre Knight, Douglas Thomas Greening, Nick Wilford, and Diane Burton!

Once upon a time, I did participate in NaNoWriMo. I dreaded the competition because, as an artist, I've never appreciated putting a deadline on creativity. You're either feeling inspired or not! Needless to say, I was able to write that entire novel in a single week at 10k words a day.

It was so fun! I'd spent the week with Karen Hoover at her timeshare condo, doing nothing but writing and forcing ourselves to eat once in a while. Haha!

Today, I have a special guest writer. She doesn't write fiction, but something else entirely extraordinary--welcome, June Holder!

 When Elizabeth asked me to share some thoughts on writing for executives, I immediately thought of the story below, which I posted on LinkedIn a while back. Elizabeth was curious to know more about the “how,” specific to the writing component.

When writing for fictional characters, you fully create them and there are no boundaries. When writing for real people, there’s an inherent responsibility to both the person and the audience. I spend some time getting to know the person, listening to recordings of their previous speaking engagements if they are available, tuning into their pacing, phrases and expressions they embrace. I learn as much as I can about who they are, what they are passionate about, what they represent for the audience. My goal is not to recreate them. My goal is to offer them a way to bring their authentic and beautiful true self into words that will help them share their thoughts and ideas with others. As I write, I try to envision them speaking the remarks so I can stay tuned into their energy. While I’m weaving in the key messages that form the structure of their remarks, I’m building in places for them to connect with their audience, always aware that each person listening should feel a connection with the speaker that is personal and, ideally, profound. My writing often feels symphonic, as I build a bassline of foundational ideas and add intrigue, emotion and movement. 

I find it critical to spend some time researching the topic to gain a reasonable level of understanding of what the speaker will be discussing. That means I am on a constant learning curve, always expanding my perspective and gathering insights from some of the most lovely and brilliant people. 

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to write speeches for the leaders of a Fortune 50 company?

Behind the scenes there’s a highly coordinated effort involving not just the speaker and his/her staff, but also the event organizers and the people who will support production and promotions before, during and after the event.

There’s also plenty of research taking place to assess the event, the audience, the topic and the moment in time. 

All of those connections and conversations are developed into a “roadmap” that contains the remarks that will be delivered and an event brief that provides the speaker with the details needed.

For me, the most exciting part is when the words I’ve provided become a runway… when the speaker fully steps into that timeless space with the audience where you can feel the room lifting and the resonant energy brings everyone together as one.

Once you’ve felt that you understand the incredible power of having someone breathe life into your words.

June Holder is an accomplished communications leader and trusted advisor to senior executives on corporate and personal brand positioning and messaging. Her passion for puzzle solving has taken her on a journey spanning external, employee, executive and sustainability communications, public relations, brand, co-branding and rebranding strategies, program management and as managing editor of websites and newsletters.

IWSG: My Thoughts on Characters

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IWSG: a place where writers and friends share woes or hugs.

Welcome to mine!

Thanks for co-hosting the October 5 posting, Tonja Drecker, Victoria Marie Lees, Mary Aalgaard, and Sandra Cox!


The question of the month is - What do you consider the best characteristics of your favorite genre?

Hansuen_Fabregas@Pixabay

I understand that the question is about genre but I'll fly with the word "character": I like a strong female lead with real weaknesses that she overcomes to become a better, stronger person. She isn't afraid to love...if she is afraid to love, she learns to let go and realizes that it takes the right person to heal her heart. Now that is strength.

N'reena is such a character. She's independent, brave, inquisitive, and inventive. Daemos is her love interest. He's unlike anything she's ever seen--he manages to escape the Nursery where all sorts of horrible experiments happen. She's not the kind of person who will destroy something because it's different, but she will protect it and keep it alive at the cost of her own.

Book Announcements:

Awaken: A Love story was crowned earlier this week. It's like spotting a falling star--quick!--before it goes away! A crowned book over at KindleVella means that it has been "thumbs-up" and "favorited", which increases reader visibility.

Here is the snapshot I captured so I have proof of its existence:

I'm thinking that, if you're a regular ole person like me, spotting the crown isn't a common occurrence. I was lucky to see it because it was gone when I refreshed the page! Amazon Kindle Vella is not for the faint of heart, that's for sure!

Something about Vella, if you're interested, is that you write the story and upload it--one episode at a time. Each episode is anywhere from 500 words to 6,000 words, and you are only allowed to have 5,000 free words floating around on the internet whether it's for marketing or at a place like Wattpad.

I'm planning on touching a genre that I'd never dreamed I'd write about. Ever. It's a horror romance, inspired by Stephen King's Room 1408: An author decides to stay the night at a haunted hotel for inspiration when he runs into a woman who's also just as daring. Together, they fight off the evil spirits who were murdered in life by a serial killer who hasn't been caught. The author strikes a bargain to be set free if he brings the killer to them--but he must be found first, but will the ghosts honor his request?

darksouls1@pixabay

With too many completed books and with so little time to get to them all while I'm balancing life with current projects, I need some help to get my sitting books out there. So, I've also decided to find a literary agent--after 10 years! This is a scary exciting adventure. Wish me luck!

What projects do you have going? How do you balance multiple projects with life? Do you have an agent? What do you think of horror romance?