Cover power 2! (as in two, not too)

Yes, well, to solve my pending NaNo problem, I started writing the second option, too, and kinda lost my liking for it. It's not that it's bad, it only starts off slow. There are 2-3 chapters of introducing all the characters and the real live fantasy stuff kicks off in chapter 3/4. So...eh, still thinking about it. 

Instead, I got a new idea and motivation for the villain in my paranormal romance, and that makes me happy :)

I didn't write squat today. But I've been doing something fun and pretty useful. Oh, yeah, you probably guessed it, since the title is not exactly subtle (and I've used it before here). I've been working on more covers and tweaking the ones I had a little. And... here it is:

Cover 1 - y'all know it

 

So, Cover 1 is the first cover I've ever pestered everyone with. I was pretty darn proud of it. And now I am again since I made a few changes that I happen to like a lot. I made the girl a lot less transparent, hoisted her a little higher and changed the fonts. The text placement remains the same, but I think it reads better. I'm satisfied with this version of it.

Cvoer 2 - Y'all know this one too

The second cover, you also know. The only change I actually made to it was making the chick less transparent. I think it makes the city background less distracting. For a long time, this one turned out to be my favorite. I kept the fonts and the title placement since everyone seemed to like it.

cover 3 - know it

 Cover 3 stayed exactly the same because people either loved or hated it. It does scream fantasy, but I think it's pretty striking all the same. Now let's move on to the good part.

Cover 4 - First new one

Cover 4 was me getting annoyed with not making another cover. I tried to use this castle as a cover so many times, since my book actually has a castle in it. But it didn't work with any of my women, so I got pissed and threw in the eyes. The fonts are also pretty fun, and they're new, so I was aching to use them. What I like about it - the eyes are awesome. They have the kind of beauty and innocence that speak volumes about Rachel. So I'm really happy with them. I tend to think that this screams fantasy a tad too much. If I change the title it could work as a cover for the damn fantasy-romance I'm trying to write. Right, moving on.

cover 5a 

cover 5b

Right, cover 5 has two versions:  version a and b (in case you hadn't figured that out yourself). The difference between them is the sky. In version a, I use awesome lady eyes which are supposed to be Rachel's. In version B, I use creepy vampire eyes (which aren't half as creepy as I would have liked them, but whatever, I work with whatever free stuff I can get. Who am I to complain?)

What this cover holds new are the fonts and display of the text. While in most covers I either place the title up or down, here, it's in the freaking middle of the page, and I personally love that. I also refrained from using the normal white title, like I did in all the others and stomped it red, just for the heck of it.

Also, this is Daniel's cover debut. I still can't find someone who remotely looks the way I've pictured him in my head, but blurry shadows seem to do the trick. I think that's the major advantage with this cover. Plus, both of them seem to be holding weapons.

Right... moving on the last one. 

cover 6b

cover 6a

This cover also has an a and a b, the only difference between them being the title font. I made the first version first (duh!), but then wondered if it would look better with the other font, so I made the second version just for the heck of it.

Now, you can see that the title is once again not white. I was going for a bloody red here. I just thought it looked better. Also, Daniel's in this one, too.

 Honestly, this was a lot of fun. I enjoyed making the covers I've done today very much. I'm starting to get the hang of this photshop crap. And maybe it's just me and the euphoria, but I think they're actually starting to look like book covers.

Now, of course, I'd like to know which one you like best and why, or if you see some possible combinations between them. Any thought is welcome.

And, honestly, if you were in a bookshop or on Amazon, which cover would make you pick up/click on the book?

Lol, I hope I'm not pestering everyone, but I personally LOVE book covers. :p

Mortal Kombat!

You know, the video game. It was all the hype when I was growing up, so let's just say I played a lot of it. Not that that's happening now. I've progressed to more evolved games. Such as writing. So, here's the problem:

I know I've been bragging in previous posts about my trying NaNo again this year. I also mentioned that I had the story idea for another paranormal romance that involved epic battles, smothering romances and unbelievable twists. Well, the problem is that, while I was planning this masterpiece, some other idea knocked me over the head.

For a couple of years, I've drawn up a spin-off after my YA series which was a sort of a fantasy-romance. I started writing it ON A NOTEBOOK with a PENCIL, but it never saw the light of my computer. Also, it sucks badly, since I wrote it before I actually learned how to write, and I only made it to like chapter 3, but now it hit me and it doesn't want to go away.

So I have no idea which project to tackle this November. Should I go with my original thought of good versus evil versus third party, or sink into the slushy romance of a time-traveling, very confused person who tires to find the meaning of life? Argh! I can't make up my damn mind.

So, I'm not sure what to do, if I should step out of my comfort zone. Anyone else ever had this problem?

NaNo Trials

Hey peeps!

Still jobless, still schoolless (that's not half bad, actually) and with nothing better to do than... well, I actually always find something to do, which still keeps me reasonably busy, so that's great.

Yey! We're one month away from NaNoWriMo. I like it - I finally get some writing done! I have a project in mind for this year, but I'm not sure exactly how and when I'm going to pull it off. For the curious ones, I'm going to try another paranormal romance, and no, it will not be a sequel to Hunters or include any vampires.

I won't give much about the subject away. Only that I'm going to try something a bit deeper than last time. I'm going to try to include a hidden message to stick with the reader. Mind you, I've never done this before, so it will be a first for me. I'm going to stick to a small number of characters as well, just like last time, but the plot will be a lot more complex (at least for my hurting brain.) In case you were wondering/doubting it, I still have no clue what happens in this book or how it will end. But it's going to be fun, nonetheless.

In other news, I've totally reworked the beginning of Ruby, the first in my Jewel series, but I think I'll go back to it properly after NaNo. And, of course, I'm once again planning to edit Hunters using the crits I got in my private queue. That's going a bit slow - as in I've just done chapter 1 so far, but I promise to do chapter 2 today.

So, yeey for brainless writing in November. I'll be keeping everyone in touch with how I do, so I'll probably have more blog posts in November (it was about time, too :) I've been really lazy lately).

Are you going to try NaNo? And what is your project?

Nope, still not dead

This is going to be a quick one.

Here's why I'm MIA from everywhere on this planet. I'm actively searching for a job - and I kinda went to stage 3/4 for one. I'm now giddy, waiting to be called back for the final interview and then I'll be giddy to see if they hire me.

Meanwhile, I've studied and had my Master's exam, and managed to score a beautiful 96 points and get in. Don't know if I'll pursue it if I get the job, since I won't really have the time - so I'm having a bit of trouble with that, too.

Plus, I've been to my best friends wedding last weekend, which is why I critted nothing O : ) It was fun. (and I can't believe she got married, since she's younger than me : P)

Anyway. Imma try to catch up on some crits soon. I'm really behind and feel terrible toward everyone, but I still need to rest for a bit and maybe do something about actually publishing that darn book I wrote. Cover or no cover (I decided to submit it to a small press, see if they take it, and if not, I'm gonna self-publish it in December - just in time for Christmas :D)

So... yeah... I hope I'll get back to blogging soon and to saying more interesting and creative writing things :)

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.