Cover power

Hey people!

I know it's kinda late in the month for my first post, but I've been laboring away at trying to find a job. I'm now waiting to get called back, if I do get called, and biting my nails in the process.

The good part with all this free time is that I've started writing again -> well, not so much, but I did write the beginning of a new project. A Hunters style novel, only much darker - I might just change my allegiance and join the Paranormal Romance writers. Though my pet project is still YA, I can't figure out how to epically start that one so it's on the back burner while I fool around with much easier things to write.

So, in the meantime, I've been cooking up more covers. That is, because I'm more and more drawn by the prospect of self-publishing my baby. It's not that I got rejections (I didn't even try sending it out yet, honestly), but I just feel like it. I don't know why, but I find that book to be so easy and... um, not exactly literary brilliance that I think it might sell easy on its own. I mean, I got a lot of good responses for it from my crit partners (and I had over 20 people reading it - I know, wow - and I thank all of them).

Anyway, to celebrate that, here are the 3 covers I've cooked up for it. Some are better, some are worse, some are different concepts. I'd really like to know which one you like most.

You already know this one

  So, this is what I have been working on. You already know the first one. It was my first attempt after fooling around in photoshop. Good parts of it - the valley with the village actually appears in the book, the moon plays some role, and I made the chick with green eyes. Plus, it's mysterious and my friends liked it.

The second is similar only with a city background - since half of the book goes on in the city and half on some dang hills, the first two covers both have aspects of the book on them. Plus, I made the city chick redheaded (I learned how to do that :D)
Also, I made her eyes the green I had in mind for Rachel. And there's blood around her mouth, which I found awesome. The bad part, it might hint that it's a book about vampires as the MCs. Honestly, I don't mind that. The book description will serve to clarify that.

Second possible version

 The third one is a bit more symbolic. There's the moon, some castle window, books (which are incidentally Bibles) and a redheaded chick which looks pretty cute. I made her hair red (believe it or not, it was pink) and planted her there. This cover is more likely focusing on the searching and unusualness of the whole thing - plus, it has a moon there.

Now, another thing, each potential cover has a different writing style and placement of title and author. I'm not sure which one I like best either.

Latest version

After these three versions, I'm out of women. Yes, yes, it's not so easy to find stock photos of women out there (well,not one that could potentially be Rachel). So, my next attempts can combine any background (I have more I haven't used) with any of the three ladies and writing styles. I also have more backgrounds and more eyes and moons to try to make an alternative version of these.

So, my question for you this time would be - which one do you like? Cover plus writing style or mix between the elements and writing on different covers. Even cover style - the mysti (first), the city (second) or the pure symbolism (third). Also, what other elements if any would you like to see on the cover? (For people who want Daniel on that cover too, eh, I can't find any photo that remotely even looks like him, so I'd rather leave him to the reader imagination - acceptable guys photos are even harder to find.)

Would you buy a book with any of these covers?

Hope to be back soon with good news, more covers and possible info on my new project :D Since NaNo is coming closer and closer.

Birthday v 2.3

After many fixes and a couple of add-ons to my personality, I've finally released the latest version of myself. This is Steph version 2.3 In case all of this is confusing, what I meant to say is... today is my BIRTHDAY!! (blow trumpet, throw confetti).

Weird, but I'm still one of those people who are glad for a birthday. As a kid, I never celebrated them in style, and as a teenager, I was mostly away from home on this blessed day of August 13th. I mean, what can be cooler than being born on the 13th? : p

This is my first birthday as a blogger and my second as a serious writer (as in my second since I started contributing heavily to CritiqueCircle.)

I'm turning 23. I'm not afraid to share my age (yet) because I'm still fairly a kid. Mind you, I think I'm mentally stuck at 19, so there's no reason to worry much. Especially since my maturity level has remained somewhere on this level:

No, I didn't buy the hat

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, this year has been a busy one for me - what with finishing college, winning my first NaNoWriMo, learning a lot more about the craft of writing and made some new friends (which I'm probably most thankful for). I've also lost some friends, but that's not a biggie. It's better to find out how people are before you invest too much in a relationship.

Unfortunately, I don't have a published book (YET!) or anything else to give away, though I'd love to. So instead of giving stuff away, I will give info away. As a present to all the people out there, I will answer any question and curiosity you might have regarding me, my work and everything related.
So, if you want to know what's my favorite food, or how I plan to end a pesky piece of writing work, this is when I'm going to answer O:) I know it's not better than a free book, but I hope that next year I'll be able to do that.

Here are my plans for this new year: Get into judge training, and if not, at least get a paid job, get published (I'm trying to pull that off by the end of this year), get engaged (that's more up to my boyfriend than me :p), write another very fast and readable book in November (have an idea cooking).

I hope I'll be able to tell you next year that all that stuff has come true. Fingers crossed!

So, this is it! Happy Birthday to me. And I hope that this year will be at least as good as the last one and maybe a little easier (being 22 was really hard!)

I'll just leave you with a few of my mishaps around the years. So you can laugh at me mostly.

Trying to kill my cousin - needless to say, I failed

Yup, I like to climb on stuff - maturity level questionable

Fortunately, I didn't get mauled by that bear

Apparently, I have a thing for trying hats on

No comment - I had just turned 18 here

And this is me - balance challenged

 See you guys around!

Steph

PS: don't ask things that are too embarrassing O :)