If you want to read along with us and avoid the SPOILERS that will follow, you can pick up your copy of The Untold Tale from major online retailers.

About the book

Forsyth Turn is not a hero. Lordling of Turn Hall and Lysse Chipping, yes. Spymaster for the king, certainly. But hero? That’s his older brother’s job, and Kintyre Turn is nothing if not legendary. However, when a raid on the kingdom’s worst criminal results in the rescue of a bafflingly blunt woman, oddly named and even more oddly mannered, Forsyth finds his quaint, sedentary life is turned on its head.

Dragged reluctantly into a quest he never expected, and fighting villains that even his brother has never managed to best, Forsyth is forced to confront his own self-shame and the demons that come with always being second-best. And, more than that, when he finally realizes where Lucy came from and why she’s here, he’ll be forced to question not only his place in the world, but the very meaning of his own existence.

Smartly crafted, The Untold Tale gives agency to the unlikeliest of heroes: the silenced, the marginalized, and the overlooked. It asks what it really means to be a fan when the worlds you love don’t resemble the world you live in, celebrates the power of the written word, challenges tropes, and shows us what happens when someone stands up and refuses to remain a secondary character in their own life.

Part One: “I assume the body is a corpse.” Chapters 1 and 2

Part Two: “Information, at last!” Chapters 3, 4, and 5

Part Three: “Your brother is a slimeball.” Chapters 6 and 7

Part Four: “It’s not cheating to know your enemy.” Chapters 8, 9, and 10

Part Five: “I’m allowed to want it.” Chapters 11 and 12

Part Six: “I wasn’t any help.” Chapters 13 and 14

Part Seven: “That’s the magic of being a fan.” Chapters 15 and 16

Part Eight: “Scars are scars; they don’t just vanish.” Chapters 17 and 18

Part Nine: “Fill it with good.” Chapters 19 and 20

Part 10: Chapters 21 and 22

Pip and Forsyth have been back in the “real” world for several months when Pip surprises Forsyth with a trip…to a fantasy convention a la WorldCon, where Elgar Reed–Forsyth’s Writer–is the guest of honor. What’s more, she’s arranged for a private dinner for Forsyth to meet his creator.

For our final post on The Untold Tale, we’ve interviewed author J.M. Frey.

Q#1: You’ve said that The Untold Tale is about the power of imagination, of the written word, and all of that is closely tied with the experience of being a fan, particularly when you’re not, shall we say, the fan the author had in mind. In that way, could it be said that The Untold Tale exorcised a lot of particular emotions for you?

Oh, heck yes! The very first scene I wrote of The Untold Tale was the section (now chapters four and five) where Pip yells at Kintyre and Bevel for being brutes in the middle of the dinner and dance sequence.  (Though back then the POV was Pip’s and Forsyth didn’t exist yet as a character).

I did this specifically because I was writing to exorcise a frustration I had after a conversation with a male friend about fantasy novel tropes. We had argued in circles and circles, and realizing that I wouldn’t win this argument, I stomped into my office, shut the door, and wrote a scene where a female aca-fan shouts at a fantasy hero for being the reason she wasn’t taken seriously as a fantasy fan.

When I reread the scene again, I realized that I had accidentally invented a few characters that I might like to return to, and set about trying to figure out if there was a narrative here, instead of just a rant.  So it was meant at first to be an exorcising exercise, but it did bloom into something more, which incidentally allowed me to address more than one frustration, and to do so within the context of a plot and a character’s journey.

Have those frustrations with the genre been completely purged since I wrote the book? Well, no. I mean, there are two more books coming!

On a serious note: the thing is, me writing about how frustrating, and annoying, and scary being a female fan can be has not magically changed the way women in genre fiction, comics, conventions, and cosplay are treated. It has brought the issues into light for people who might not have already been aware of them, and it might have made some readers more aware that they exist, but it has not made them disappear. And until women are not objectified in fiction in ways that make others treat their real-life counterparts as commodities, groped and raped at conventions, trolled and stalked and doxed and told to kill themselves on social media for daring to work in SF/F, as long as disgruntled men shoot up campuses and blame the girls who wouldn’t date him for it, then no – my frustration, and anger, and sorrow, and hurt will not be exorcised.

The writing has helped articulate my horror, and hopefully in the reading of the books, others will learn to recognize the harmful trends and tropes and move beyond them.

Q#2: Reading The Forgotten Tale, I’d never have guessed that The Untold Tale was meant to be a standalone. They flow so well. What gave you the idea for Pip and Forsyth’s second adventure?

The Untold Tale was always really only meant to be an extended character-study with plot.  I felt, when I had reached the end of the book, that Forsyth had reached the end of his evolution as a character, that there was nothing left to say. The Untold Tale was pitched around as a stand-alone. A few publishers expressed a wish to see a series out of the world, but they wanted The Tales of Kintyre Turn, not a fantasy series from the POV of Forsyth.

As the whole point of The Untold Tale was explicitly to write something that wasn’t The Tales of Kintyre Turn, I wasn’t interested in discussing it with my agent. (Though, I don’t think any of those discussions were serious offers in and of themselves.)

REUTS Publications was the first publisher to ask what happened after Pip and Forsyth slip their pages. They were the first ones to really express an interest in turning Forsyth’s story into a series. While I had batted around ideas about what I could do as follow-up short stories and novellas (Ghosts was written nearly immediately following The Untold Tale), I hadn’t considered an actual trilogy of novels.

So, the first thing I did when my agent made it clear that yes, I really did have to entertain their offer for a three book deal, was freak out, panic, pour a glass of wine, and contact as many of my nerdy book friends as I could to ask what it was that they loved and hated about second-in-the-series books.

I had a conversation nearly a decade ago with Doctor Who writer Robert Shearman, about what it was like to be asked to bring back the iconic villains featured in his episode Dalek. He told me that he didn’t want to do Daleks. He’d always thought they were kind of stupid, as far as baddies went. They were defeated by stairs, they had plungers that did nothing, their whisk-guns weren’t terrifying, they sounded squeaky and wobbled when they moved.

But his wife challenged him, he said, to take everything he disliked about the Daleks, and to make it terrifying. What if stairs didn’t hinder the Daleks any more? What if the plunger did something? Something horrible? What if the creature’s voice was the very thing that horrified the Doctor more than anything else?

So I asked my friends, what do you love about second books? What do you hate? What annoys you? And I compiled this list and I recalled this conversation with Rob and I thought: “Okay. How can I make these weaknesses strengths? How can I be true to the tropes and stereotypes of second novels, but do it in a way where I flip them, the way I did with book one?”

It also helped that a television producer had been interested in the book as a series at the time and had pleaded with me not to write a “mushy middle book” that they would have to struggle to turn into a second season that wouldn’t get the show cancelled. With that playful threat looming over my head, I knew that the story had to be meaningful, had to flow organically from the first book, refer back to the first book, and build on what I had already started there.

Q#3: What’s your favorite chapter in TFT?

I like all the bits ones with the songs and poems that I had to make up. I love culture-building in books. I not-so-secretly hope that someone will one day compose melodies for them so I can sing my own songs.

—

The Forgotten Tale is out now! Pick it up from these retailers:

Smashwords | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Forsyth Turn has finally become a hero—however reluctantly. But now that Lucy Piper has married him and they’ve started a family in her world, his adventuring days are behind him. Yet not all is as it should be. Beloved novels are disappearing at an alarming rate, not just from the minds of readers like Pip, but from bookshelves as well. Almost as if they had never been. Almost like magic.

Forsyth fears that it is his fault—that Pip’s childhood tales are vanishing because he, a book character, has escaped his pages. But when he and Pip are sucked back into The Tales of Kintyre Turn against their will, they realize that something much more deadly and dire is happening. The stories are vanishing from Forsyth’s world too. So Forsyth sets out on a desperate journey across Hain to discover how, and why, the stories are disappearing… before their own world vanishes forever.

In this clever follow-up to The Untold Tale, The Forgotten Tale questions what it means to create a legacy, and what we owe to those who come after us.

The post “Welcome to the madhouse, Syth.” The Untold Read-Along Part 10 appeared first on REUTS | Boutique Book Publisher |.

If you want to read along with us and avoid the SPOILERS that will follow, you can pick up your copy of The Untold Tale from major online retailers.

About the book

Forsyth Turn is not a hero. Lordling of Turn Hall and Lysse Chipping, yes. Spymaster for the king, certainly. But hero? That’s his older brother’s job, and Kintyre Turn is nothing if not legendary. However, when a raid on the kingdom’s worst criminal results in the rescue of a bafflingly blunt woman, oddly named and even more oddly mannered, Forsyth finds his quaint, sedentary life is turned on its head.

Dragged reluctantly into a quest he never expected, and fighting villains that even his brother has never managed to best, Forsyth is forced to confront his own self-shame and the demons that come with always being second-best. And, more than that, when he finally realizes where Lucy came from and why she’s here, he’ll be forced to question not only his place in the world, but the very meaning of his own existence.

Smartly crafted, The Untold Tale gives agency to the unlikeliest of heroes: the silenced, the marginalized, and the overlooked. It asks what it really means to be a fan when the worlds you love don’t resemble the world you live in, celebrates the power of the written word, challenges tropes, and shows us what happens when someone stands up and refuses to remain a secondary character in their own life.

Part One: “I assume the body is a corpse.” Chapters 1 and 2

Part Two: “Information, at last!” Chapters 3, 4, and 5

Part Three: “Your brother is a slimeball.” Chapters 6 and 7

Part Four: “It’s not cheating to know your enemy.” Chapter 8, 9, and 10

Part 5: chapters 11 and 12

V. Walker, with Cal Spivey

High off their success in obtaining the Quill that Never Dulls, Pip and Forsyth return to the taverna to celebrate. But chapter eleven starts out with Pip nearly having a panic attack, then delving into a conversation with Forsyth about race and class in the world. That conversation is shortly followed by Pip being harassed and groped by a strange man on the staircase.

The chapter ends with Pip and Forsyth having sex for the first time.  It starts a little bit awkward and clumsy, as a first time between partners can be, but grows heated and passionate as Pip reveals that she’s not shy about her desire and what she needs.

But the fun doesn’t stop there.  Oh no, that’s just one chapter.

Chapter twelve is a short one that finds Pip and Forsyth continuing to the next part of their quest.  Pip once again confronts and dismantles a standard fantasy-genre favorite, this time by outsmarting a riddling raven.

They fall into a discussion about the relationship between Bevel and Kintyre, and the underlying homoerotic subtext between some of the greatest literary “bromances” – male friendships that are thisclose to being romantic or sexual but never quite get there, yet there’s “such strength of affection there that it reads with homosexual subtext” (p. 279).  I’m sure we could all think of a few ourselves…

There is so much to unpack in these next two chapters (eleven and twelve), I don’t even know where to start.  To reference a favorite, “Let me ‘splain.  No, there is too much, let me sum up.”

The Untold Tale not only confronts the racism and sexism that tends to be popular within the fantasy genre, but J.M. Frey does it with panache and in a way that makes the reader want to do a fist pump in the air. It’s a masterful perspective that calls out so much of the fantasy genre about the lack of realistic diversity.

Yes, a fantasy world is just that…a fantasy. But what happens when you discover the fantasy world you’ve loved for years and used as an escape from reality is filled with the exact same class and power structures? It says that the author/world-builder isn’t as ‘uncomfortable’ with reality as perhaps is implied by writing a fantasy novel. Science fiction and fantasy can do more, imagine more, but so often does not.

Or, perhaps, the author wants to put the characters through the same tests and situations as a reader might face? But, if all the heroes in a series (or a large portion of the genre) are virtual copies of each other (see: white, able-bodied, cis, hetero, male) then how can all the potential readers feel a connection to the characters?

Answer: they can’t. Unless that’s exactly the reader that the author has in mind while writing; it puts a limitation on the experience of readers. Readers never learn to empathize with other experiences.

I don’t know about everyone else, but I read to escape and to experience situations that I would otherwise never be in. If I were to go back and re-read some of my favorites and discover issues within the narrative, I’d like to think I would start a discussion with other readers about it. And then I would expand my reading horizons.

The Untold Tale is very explicit in its call-outs. Some have complained about the blatant intersectional feminism in the taverna scene. But, really, is there any way but blatant discussion to have an impact on the othering techniques Frey calls out? My answer to that question is a loud & resounding NO. Just in case you were wondering.

As Pip puts it, “Why are the only people who are non-white also non-human?” After Forsyth tries to explain that there are “humans with darker skin down south,” Pip responds with “…All exotic others, and never the hero, eh?” *mic drop*

The taverna scene also shows us an instance of sexual harassment that is all too familiar to women and AFAB readers, where Pip is groped as she walks past a group of men on her way up to her room. I will admit that this scene got my blood boiling and it was masterfully written; having found myself in situations similar to this, Pip’s reaction is everything I wish I could have wanted from the scene.

But as affirming as Pip’s challenge to the men is, as Cal Spivey put it during a discussion, the scene that followed – when Pip and Forsyth retreat to their room and barricade the door – was heartbreakingly relatable. Any woman who has been sexually harassed or assaulted knows that, while we are confident and strong people, there is a level of fear few of us can really escape.

The next morning, Pip and Forsyth make love for the first time, an experience instigated by Pip–per her earlier request that Forsyth give her time, as well as his own inexperience. My favorite line of the chapter is Pip’s declaration:  “I’m allowed to want it you know…I’m allowed to be a sexual person.”

In this section, Pip embodies one of the questions many people, especially women, deal with on a daily basis: how does the constant external sexualization, from harassers and society at large, interact with one’s own sexuality? How does it affect personal expressions of desire? Pip doesn’t want the attention of the men from the taverna and she makes her point quite clearly and eloquently; the next morning she makes it known to Forsyth that she does want his attention – and is not shy about owning her own pleasure.

Her declaration that she’s “allowed to want it” highlights one of the main struggles surrounding sexuality, desire, and sexualization: the consistent need to defend one’s choices, and the danger that can be present at that moment. Pip’s assertion of what she did not want–to be groped by strangers–was trivialized by those strangers. In a still more familiar progression, Pip’s continuing rejections of the groper were met with sexual slurs and threats of physical violence.

As she and Forsyth talk through what happened immediately after, he asks, “Don’t you deserve the adoration? Don’t you enjoy it? Is it not your right, as a woman?” In an absolutely perfect response, Pip says, “forcing me to engage when I just want to walk by…feels like grime on my skin, you know? Instead of a real compliment, which feels like…silk.”

There’s a confidence in both elements of this section, her rejection of sexual contact and her request of it, mixed with the fear and uncertainty that those she turned down would come back and take their pleasure anyway.  It represents the fine line many of us are compelled to walk – one that Pip handles in a way that’s inspiring to readers.

J.M. Frey not only showcases the sexism of various popular fantasy worlds, but she created this meta-fantasy element of a Reader to confront them without hesitation, and then further deconstructs the issues during a conversation with a character of that world…the layers are astounding.  It’s brilliant.

Coming up

In the next section, Pip and Forsyth tackle two of the Seven Stations, and their roles in the quest begin to solidify in a way that’s surprisingly reminiscent of…Harry Potter? Check out part seven of the Untold Read-Along, next Tuesday on A Fantastical Librarian. Part seven will cover chapters thirteen and fourteen.

The post “I’m allowed to want it.”: The Untold Read-Along Part 5 appeared first on REUTS | Boutique Book Publisher |.

If you want to read along with us and avoid the SPOILERS that will follow, you can pick up your copy of The Untold Tale from major online retailers, or snag a free copy from StoryCartel.

About the book

Forsyth Turn is not a hero. Lordling of Turn Hall and Lysse Chipping, yes. Spymaster for the king, certainly. But hero? That’s his older brother’s job, and Kintyre Turn is nothing if not legendary. However, when a raid on the kingdom’s worst criminal results in the rescue of a bafflingly blunt woman, oddly named and even more oddly mannered, Forsyth finds his quaint, sedentary life is turned on its head.

Dragged reluctantly into a quest he never expected, and fighting villains that even his brother has never managed to best, Forsyth is forced to confront his own self-shame and the demons that come with always being second-best. And, more than that, when he finally realizes where Lucy came from and why she’s here, he’ll be forced to question not only his place in the world, but the very meaning of his own existence.

Smartly crafted, The Untold Tale gives agency to the unlikeliest of heroes: the silenced, the marginalized, and the overlooked. It asks what it really means to be a fan when the worlds you love don’t resemble the world you live in, celebrates the power of the written word, challenges tropes, and shows us what happens when someone stands up and refuses to remain a secondary character in their own life.

Part One: Chapters 1 and 2

In this section, we’re introduced to our narrator Forsyth Turn, lord of a rural fiefdom by day, King’s Shadow Hand by night, as he receives the unexpected delivery of a grievously injured person. That person turns out to be a victim of the evil Viceroy, the biggest bad in the kingdom of Hain, and his lackey Bootknife, whose preferred method of torture is carving designs into people’s backs.

But Lucy Piper, aka Pip, outlasted her captors, resisting their interrogation longer (and gaining a more elaborate scar) than anyone Forsyth has ever heard of. Between that and the fact that nothing about her points to any family or country he knows–and as the Shadow Hand, he knows just about everything–Forsyth finds himself engrossed by his impressive and mysterious guest.

Given the scant clues he is able to discern about Pip and the conditions of her imprisonment, Forsyth begins to consider that she may be more than human; that she is, in fact, a mythical Reader. Far from being an answer, this possibility only raises more questions.

“I am upstairs when I catch sight of the approaching cart.”

The opening line is in present tense, but it reminds me of a recollection anyway–someone remembering the moment everything in their life changed. And that’s exactly what this is for Forsyth Turn, the moment an unconscious Lucy Piper is brought to his manor.

The first pages of this book are excellent in so many ways, establishing expectations for the narrator (he assumes the body in the cart is a corpse–me too, man, me too) and for the story. Frey doesn’t give us the suspense of the raid during which Pip was rescued, she gives us the reflection that comes after, the care and the follow-through. She doesn’t give us the point of view of the guy who kicked down the Viceroy’s door and saw an unexpected prisoner; she gives us the man who quietly arranged and ordered simultaneous–and successful–sneak attacks on numerous enemy hideouts.

This first section of the book is primarily an introduction of Forsyth, our unusual narrator. He is intelligent, stable, composed; at least, when he’s going about his duties. As the master of his house, he efficiently handles the sudden appearance of a woman in great need of comfort and medical care. We can infer his similar competence as Shadow Hand by the fact that the men he trains and commands didn’t know they were going to find Pip on the raid and still managed to get her out alive, along with the books that were their target, without any loss of life or other catastrophe in the operation. And as a Lordling, it’s impossible to not be reminded of Mr. Darcy; we get the first hint of Forsyth’s goodness as a landlord in the discussion of the generous and improved usage of the Law Manor, both for his friend Sheriff Pointe specifically and the Chipping (the land under his protection) as a whole.

In all these instances, Forsyth seems sure of himself. But the moment the focus goes from his obligations, to his own self and happiness, he is uncomfortable at best and violently self-deprecating at worst. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen this in a male protagonist, if ever, and yet there are men in my own social circle and probably beyond who struggle with this same odd balance of competency and anxiety. His first instinct is to see the lack in himself, and he assumes that all but a select few see exactly what he sees: his uselessness and failings.

What seems to unify the areas in which Forsyth is confident is their distance from himself–the Shadow Hand is literally a “personality [he wears], a costume [he] conceived” (p 22), and the role of Lordling is one that he was obligated to take up due to the neglect of his elder brother Kintyre, the rightful lord.

Though Forsyth is a man who has seemingly resigned himself to loneliness, he is marvelously sensitive. The man has Feels; he’s crushing on Pip from the get go, clear to the reader long before Sheriff Pointe jokes about Forsyth courting her. He is sentimental and sincere in his tenderness and his obligations to protect her, though she is a stranger. The significance he attaches to Pip’s trust, the naivety with which he accepts it, is perhaps a tad over-the-top, but in that way it is an insight into Forsyth. It’s a sign of just how smitten he is that he’s not more suspicious of her.

Forsyth is a character who doesn’t know how great he is, and I have to admit, it’s nice to see that look on a male-identified character for once. I also enjoy the obviousness of the chemistry between him and Pip, as well as his total obliviousness to it–this is what great ships are made of, after all.

via Giphy

The Untold Tale has a slow start, action-wise, that’s true–chapters one and two, despite being more than fifty pages, are pretty much all about Pip’s early recovery and her and Forsyth getting to know each other a little. But the writing flows so well that the reading goes easily and quickly; it was almost hard to stop at page 53.

Coming Up

There’s a lot to look forward to in the next installment. Pip is an utter mystery, we’ve only just gotten teases of magic and mythology in this world, and big hero-man Kintyre Turn has been heavily talked up before the appearance we can expect soon.

Part two of the read-along will go live next Tuesday on C.M. Spivey’s blog, and cover pages 54-140 (chapters 3, 4, and 5).

The post “I assume the body is a corpse.”: The Untold Read-Along Part One appeared first on REUTS | Boutique Book Publisher |.

As Editorial Director for REUTS Publications, I’ve been privy to first-hand knowledge of publishing’s “mysterious” acquisitions process.  And over the past two years, I’ve witnessed innumerable querying blunders that hurt the author’s chances, rather than helping them. I’m not the first to offer up this kind of advice-oriented post, but armed with personal insight and pet-peeves, I thought I’d add my own thoughts into the mix.

So, with only a modicum of tongue-in-cheek snark (okay, make that a lot of snark), I give you:

What Not to Do When Querying

(aka How to Piss Off an Acquisitions Editor)
by Kisa Whipkey

There are plenty of posts out there that explain what you’re supposed to do when querying, the steps that are supposed to lead to that coveted moment where someone offers you representation. There are also posts that tell you what to avoid. But I don’t know that I’ve seen anyone really say the following, in all its blunt glory. Because the truth of the matter is this: there are definitely things you can do as a writer to increase your chances of a book deal, but there are also plenty of ways to blow it. (Also, it should be noted that this information applies to agents as well, not just acquisitions editors.)

So let’s break down some of the worst publishing faux pas you can make, yes?

DO:

Submit to publishing houses and agencies that interest you.

DON’T:

Submit to them blindly, and then ask a bunch of questions about how they operate. That’s something that needs to come first and is a dangerous game to play. Vet the places you’re planning to query before you hand them your work. Not after. That wastes everyone’s time, and there’s nothing agents and editors hate more than wasting time. We have precious little of it as it is. Be courteous and ask your questions up front, please. Most of us are more than willing to answer.

DO:

Query agents and small presses.

DON’T:

Query them both simultaneously, and definitely, definitely don’t use a small press as leverage for attaining an agent’s interest.

This one’s two-fold, so let’s start with the first half: don’t query agents and editors simultaneously. Small presses are fantastic. So are agents. But they lead to two completely different publication paths. And there’s nothing we despise more than falling in love with something, only to discover that the author wasn’t serious about working with us after all. It breaks our literary-loving hearts. So please, know where each publication path leads and which one is right for both you and your project.

Which brings us to the second half. This is a serious faux pas, and one I hope none of you ever commit. Never ever use a small press for the sole intent of gaining interest from an agent. Leveraging an offer of publication from a small press to get an agent’s representation (or even a bigger publisher) is like dangling a wedding proposal from someone you pretended to like in front of the mate you really want. It’s mean, and cruel, and makes you a horrible person. It’s also a sure-fire way to end up on a publishing house’s Black List. Yes, we have those. And publishing is a small world; we talk. So be careful which bridges you burn. Treat all parties involved with respect and professionalism. If you want an agent, don’t query small press editors. If you receive an offer from somewhere else, tell us. There’s a perceived divide in publishing, the us vs them mentality, but we’re all just people. And we all just want a little consideration. Is that too much to ask?

DO:

Research the various agents and editors you’re querying. Find out what they like, personalize your query, follow their submission guidelines, and all that other stuff you’ve seen touted a million times. It’s good advice. We appreciate that.

DON’T:

Spam your submission to everyone at the agency/publishing house. And definitely don’t resubmit the same query, after receiving a rejection, to someone else within the company. Publishing houses are like families. We all know everyone else, and we know what they like. So if we see a submission cross our desk that isn’t a fit for us, but would be for one of our colleagues, we’ll tell you. Better yet, we’ll tell them. (Or, alternatively, acquisitions can be a team effort, as it is at REUTS, and everyone who has a say has already read your work prior to the decision being issued.) Talking about books is one of the reasons we got into publishing, so you can bet our water cooler conversations revolve around that too. If you receive a rejection, accept it gracefully and move on.

DO:

Keep track of your submissions and the response times associated with each.

DON’T:

Incessantly hound an agent or editor for a decision. Wait until the listed response time has passed and then politely — key word there: politely — nudge for a response. Submission in-boxes are the first to brim over with a plethora of time-consuming tasks. And as I said above, editors and agents are incredibly busy people. Reading actually falls low on our priority scale, as our days are usually spent dealing with the various tasks associated with producing the projects we’ve already signed. So reading the new queries that rain down like, well, rain, is a luxury we don’t have on a daily basis.

We know you’re excited for your work, and that you can’t wait for that glorious day when someone from our side of the fence is equally excited for it, but constantly yapping at our heels like a chihuahua does nothing but annoy us. We don’t appreciate being backed into corners, and if you push too hard, guess what the answer is: NO. That’s not the relationship you want to have with your potential publishing allies, is it? You want someone to appreciate those words you slaved over, to savor the story you carefully crafted, and to join you in screaming its brilliance from the rooftops. Rushing a decision allows for none of those things. The most you’ll get is a half-assed read-through and a reluctant yes. Patience really is a virtue here, people. As much as it sucks, it will benefit you in the long run.

DO:

Follow agents, editors, and publishing houses on social media and interact with them. Forming networking connections is a fabulous way to form relationships that further your career. But be careful. There’s a fine line between creating useful contacts and this . . .

DON’T:

Abuse the accessibility social media gives you. We’re there because we genuinely want to meet the authors behind our next favorite read. We want to support the writing community and foster a kinship that bridges the gap between publisher and author. And we want friends who like what we like. We’re human. It happens.

We’re not there so you can harass our every waking moment with status requests, update requirements, or attempts to pressure us into taking your work by leveraging the opinions of others who have read it. That’s not the best impression to make, so just don’t do it, okay? There are a lot of factors that go into an acquisitions decision, but endorsements from random Twitter buddies isn’t one of them. Now, maybe if your random Twitter buddy is Stephen King or JK Rowling, that might be different. But still, save that for the query letter, or better yet, get them to blurb your book after it’s signed.

DO:

Create an online persona, platform, and all that good stuff.

DON’T:

Parade things you don’t want the world to see. One of the biggest factors in an acquisitions decision is actually whether or not the team involved would want to work with the author. So, in that sense, submitting a query is on par with a job interview. And guess what? We do our research. We may love your talent, falling all over your manuscript with gushing adoration, but if we discover that you’re the world’s biggest Prima Donna on social media, guess what? Your appeal just went down. Don’t get me wrong, opinions are great. Everyone has them, along with a certain piece of anatomy that usually accompanies that phrase. But think about how your opinions may be perceived by someone on the outside.

Shaming other authors, railing against other publishers, responding horribly to a rejection, and whining like an attention-starved kitten are not appealing things in a potential partner. Would you date someone who checked those boxes? Probably not. So can you blame us if we don’t want to work with that person either? Publishing is a long-term relationship, taking months or years to come to fruition, and you can be darn sure we’re not going to want to work with someone who will make that time an ulcer-inducing, grey-hair creating pain-fest. You could have the most brilliant masterpiece, but if you yourself are a piece of work online, I’m pretty sure you can guess what the verdict will be. So the moral here is this: think about your online persona. Craft one that will be appealing to both your audience and your potential publisher. And generally try to avoid things that would fall under the heading “authors behaving badly.”

The take-away from this candid look at the publishing process is simple, really. It all comes down to common courtesy. Editors and agents are people. As in human. As in we have lives and obligations and families too. And just like you want us to shower you with glowing praise and go to the ends of the earth to champion your project, we want you to understand that your manuscript is not God’s gift to publishing. We may think it’s brilliant, it may be among our favorite reads of all time, but it’s definitely not the only one we’re working on. Show respect of that fact, handle your interactions with poise and professionalism, and you’ll manage to avoid every single one of the querying faux pas I just listed. Sound like a plan?

Kisa is full of fantastic knowledge spanning from editorial to martial arts routines (and how to write fight scenes as realistic as possible). Her blog is chock-full of awesome, and you can follow her on Twitter (@KisaWhipkey) for instant gratification.

The post What Not to do When Querying appeared first on REUTS | Boutique Book Publisher |.

With every rejection we send, we like to leave the relationship open ended, allowing authors to reach out and ask the all-important question: why was my submission not accepted? Every author runs into this question, likely multiple times throughout the course of their publishing career. Of course we can’t divulge all the specifics, but we can give a broad explanation specific to your manuscript. We want to try and help our fellow author in any way possible, even if REUTS wasn’t the best fit for their particular story. On the heels of what’s quickly becoming the REUTS Full Transparency Series, which includes, “Hey, what’s taking so long?” The Delays of Publishing and What Not to do When Querying, I’d like to dive into a bit of the factors—or, in this case facets—of why a manuscript might be rejected.

[Side note: Also applicable is our Why Rejection Sucks, From Both Sides blog post]

Below you’ll find the five major facets that play a part in deciding whether to request a full-manuscript/offer a contract or reject a submission.

The Multiple Facets of Rejection

Writing Quality

Let’s face it: there are a lot of people out there pursuing their dreams of becoming a published author. A lot. Statistically speaking, that means we see both fantastic, amazing, I’m-so-jealous-of-this-writing writing, and then we see underdeveloped, needs-a-bit-more-experience writing. And, in the big, wide world of authors and publishing, most of the time the writing isn’t as spectacular as we’d like it to be when considering a submission. Since we’re immediately given some insight into your writing style via the query letter (and then samples, if they’re requested), your writing quality is almost like the first hurdle to overcome. It’s the first impression, just like a book cover in a bookstore. It’s something that can instantly determine our decision.

Now, speaking from a REUTS’s perspective, Editing Quality is different than Writing Quality. As we state on our website, we’re always looking for the diamonds in the rough (rough . . . rough . . . rough . . . Aladdin, anyone?) and try our best to read in between the lines, for the story beneath the words. That means if your weak points are spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc . . . we won’t immediately write-off your story (pun definitely intended). That’s exactly why we have an editing team—to edit (and trust me, they get hungry when you don’t have any editorial work to feed them). So the difference really is in the quality of the writing, the way you structure words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, and this then leads me into my next point . . .

Story Building

Continuing from my point above, Story Building is something we try to determine from a synopsis and the sample pages we request. Sometimes the writing can be picture perfect, beautiful, the words flowing like velvet across the screen, but if the story doesn’t manage to suck us in right at the start, or continue to hold our interest, then we have a problem. Sure, with only a ten page (as requested by REUTS) manuscript sample, we’re not always able to determine if the story building matches up to the standards we’re looking for, which is why we’re more lenient on this point and will likely request a full-manuscript. But if you’re unsuccessful in, at the very least, grabbing our attention at the start of your manuscript, there is a slim chance we’ll request to read more. Just like your writing quality, the first few paragraphs of your story are meant to take an iron-gripped hold of us and never let go. It’s the ZING—BANG—POW of your story, and instead if I’m worked into a yawn, that doesn’t bode well for response.

Submission Formatting/Errors

This happens every so often, when an author (for whatever reason) doesn’t follow our submission guidelines. Either we get something addressed to another publication or agent, something outside of the genres we publish or completely negating the required fields of our form, any submission formatting/errors are cause for an almost immediate rejection. This just comes down to time (or lack thereof) of our acquisitions team members. We get so many submission that do follow our guidelines, we don’t have time to check up on the ones that don’t. Most submission guidelines are there for a reason, and to not follow them is not only disrespectful to the people you’re querying, but gives us a very bad first impression–of your attention to detail, of your interest in our company, of you. And we hate to say that because we want to be the cheering section for all authors pursing their dreams, but sometimes we have to draw a line in the sand.

Conflict of Interest

This one is simple and easy to determine from a query alone; if we currently have a title in our collection (either published or in production) too similar to something you’re pitching, we’re almost always going to send a rejection. Exception: if a submission can be coupled together with a title in a similar genre, with a similar feel (but not too similar, there is a difference) we may consider it. For example, if we have a meta-fantasy book in our collection about how story characters come to life (a la Off Book, by Jessica Dall), we’ll be more attracted to stories where book characters are aware of their existence, or a story where the line between a book world and the real world blur (a la Inkheart by Cornelia Funke or The Never Ending Story by Michael Ende).

Author Personality/Online Representation

We hate to say it but it wouldn’t be full transparency without addressing how authors maintain their online persona. At a boutique pub like REUTS, our team is 110% hands-on during the production of a book–that means dealing with the author on a daily basis. Since we have such a tight-knit team, and we consider ourselves (team members and authors) a family, that means searching for the right personalities to seamlessly fold into the bunch. Unfortunately, if via your submission or your social media accounts (e.g. Twitter) we see behavior that’s concerning, difficult to work with, or just downright offensive, it does weigh into our decision. And yes, this means we do check you out when you submit (otherwise known as online stalking). Authors should consider their submission to any publication or literary agency as if it’s a job interview, and there are quite a few things you don’t do when applying for a job:

• Bad mouth any connection to the individual or the company in plain view.
• Post questionable/offensive/any word that ends in -ist messages.
• Brag and or harass (either other authors or the people you’re submitting to)

It’s a bit of selfishness and a bit of a preemptive strike; we want to work with authors with good personalities, a positive outlook and who will make the long . . . tedious . . . and always stressful journey toward publication just a little more enjoyable. Our team tries to go beyond the publisher-author relationship, and many times we develop deep friendships with our authors. Trust me, the way you present yourself in any situation makes a huge impact on us publishing folk.

If you have any questions about this article, or have a question/topic for another article that might fit nicely with our REUTS Full Transparency Series (there, I dubbed it as such. It is so), let us know in the comments! Any member of the REUTS team is accessible, so don’t hesitate to let us know what you’re thinking.

And if you want to follow my spastic, usually incoherent ramblings, check me out on Twitter @amRuggs! I tweet a lot about gifs, memes, and booze, sometimes all in one.

The post The Multiple Facets of Rejection appeared first on REUTS | Boutique Book Publisher |.

Picking up from last week:

And again, the basic design elements

• The bench background. (Unlimited usage on DeviantArt.com; Permission needed off-site)
• Floral filigree. (Free to use if credit provided)
• Necklace inspiration. (Used only for inspiration, as the final necklace was drawn in)
• Stripe generator. (Generate the stripe texture)
• Proxima Nova font. (Feel free to sub with Collaborate – Thin, font)
• Gotham font. (Feel free to sub with Century Gothic font, standard on most operating systems)

Part III: Step-By-Step Tutorial for the Unmoving Book Cover

Open the Necklace inspiration image in a new browser tab to use as shape inspiration. You don’t need to pull it into photoshop, just have it easily accessible to reference. In a new layer, above all the background/bench style layers, zoom in and draw with the brush tool (“B” on your keyboard to bring it up). It doesn’t matter what color you use to start, but remember to keep the brush sharp:

Before I show how it looks on my screen, we’ll have to add some layer FX to the necklace base. Remember the button? Make sure you have the text layer selected, and from the layer toolbar at the bottom of your layer window, click the FX icon and select “Drop Shadow”:

We’ll start with Drop Down, but we’ll be adding a couple different effects in one swoop. This’ll open the effects window, where you can change the Distance to “3″, Spread to “0″, Size to “38″ and Angle to “150″:

Then, from the left-hand column, click “Outer Glow” (as you see from the above screen shot). You’ll change these options to Blend Mode of “Hard Light”, Opacity of “100%”, Spread to “29%”, Size to “90px”, Range to “50%” and Color to “#c0c9cc” :

Then hit OK. And, while still selecting that layer, set it to Multiply, Opacity “48%” and Fill “0%”:

It should look something like this (zoomed in):

Duplicate the layer by either clicking CTRL/command + J or right-clicking the layer and selecting Duplicate Layer:

With your new layer, open up the FX window again from the Drop Down option. You’ll notice the previous FXs have been already applied to this duplicate layer:

Drop Shadow and Outer Glow but we’ll be adding a Gradient Overlay, so select that option from the left side bar. Set Blend Mode to “Mulitply”, Opacity to “100%”, Style to “Linear”, and Angle to “90”:

The gradient colors themselves look like this:

From left to right the color are “#262626”, “#575757”, “#8a8a8a” and “#262626”. Hit OK and OK, then look back at your layer. Make sure you change your layer Opacity to “87%” and you should see something like this:

In a new layer below the necklace, using a soft edged brush, with a black color (#000000), add a slight drop shadow to the bottom edge of the necklace:

I want to apologize for this next step, which I forgot to document from the get go: the gem  image and coloring. For this step, you can either play around and come up with your own gem, or use the following image (taken directly from my design file) and add it as a new layer below your necklace, but above the drop shadow layer:

With the gem in place, you should have something that looks like this:

Zooming back out, the last thing we need to add is the chain. Zooming out allows you to better see how it’ll fall off of the bench in relation to the design. This step was as simple as using the brush tool with a hard brush to draw out a chain:

To add a little bit of realism, we’ll add a Gradient Overlay to the layer, so open the FX and select Gradient Overlay:

Set your options to Blend Mode at “Normal”, Opacity at “100%”, Style to “Linear” and Angle to “90%”:

With the gradient colors from left to right at “#262626”, “#575757”, “#000000” and “#262626”.

Hit OK and OK for one final time, and you’re done! Bask in your new cover, and the new techniques, tips and tricks you’ve learned! There you have it (again) the final cover!

Thank you for participating and following our Book Cover Art Series!  REUTS would love to showcase the work you come up with based on our series, so email them to , and we’ll display them right here, on our blog! Happy designing, reading and writing!

Stay tuned for the next design-based series, by yours truly

The post Book Cover Art Chapter 7: UNMOVING Tutorial Finale appeared first on REUTS | Boutique Book Publisher |.

And again, the basic design elements

• The bench background. (Unlimited usage on DeviantArt.com; Permission needed off-site)
• Floral filigree. (Free to use if credit provided)
• Necklace inspiration. (Used only for inspiration, as the final necklace was drawn in)
• Stripe generator. (Generate the stripe texture)
• Proxima Nova font. (Feel free to sub with Collaborate – Thin, font)
• Gotham font. (Feel free to sub with Century Gothic font, standard on most operating systems)

Part II: Step-By-Step Tutorial for the Unmoving Book Cover

Bring in the filigree

To start, we’re going to jump right in to the floral filigree steps, which is– by far– the more difficult part. Bring the floral filigree in to your photoshop document by your preferred method (c+p, drag/drop, etc…), into a new layer above the work we’ve already done. You’ll want to Transform (CTRL/Command +T) and rotate the image -5.77 degrees to the left, to get it in a similar location as the final for unmoving. Of course, you can omit this step.

Set the layer to Lighten and you’ll see a very gray silhouette of the filigree:

To get that gold color, we need to mess with the image Hue & Saturation by going to Image > Adjustment > Hue and Saturation: 

Click the Colorize option, and then then this is where a lot of playing around, and guess/check comes into play. If you select Preview you can see your progress before committing to anything. I set Hue to “45”, Saturation to “24” and Lightness to “+15”.

It’ll give you that gold color on only the filigree element.

But the filigree in the sky too light for our liking, so duplicate the layer by either clicking CTRL/command + J or right-clicking the layer and selecting Duplicate Layer:

Set this layer to “49%” Opacity:

There, that’s a little better! But now we have all that crap over the fence that we definitely don’t need. Here’s another section that’s guess-and-check worthy as well. Take those two filigree layers and put them in a group of their own by highlighting them both and hitting CNTRL/Command + G or right-clicking and clicking the folder icon at the bottom of your layer window:

Your two filigree layers should now be in their own group, easy to edit at the same time, which is what we’re about to do! Using that same icon bar above, when selecting the group folder as a whole, hit the icon with the circle in the square to create a mask.

This adds a white box next to your group, which – in essence – allows us to erase any element within the group, without truly editing the image itself. That way, if we ever need to go back and make changes, we don’t lose the authenticity of the image:

(Disregard that mine says “Group 9”, yours likely will say “Group 1”)

Now, name sure you’re selecting the mask (it should have a the frame around the corners when selected as seen above), you can select the Eraser tool. You can hit “E” on your keyboard to pull it up, or find the eraser icon in your left toolbar:

From the color selection at the bottom of your toolbar, make sure the foreground color is set to white:

We’re moving all around your screen now. Looking at the top toolbar, you can select the brush size and shape to use. Make sure it’s set to a fuzzy circle, at any given size (mine is 300px):

Working back on your artboard, begin to “erase” the filigree overlapping the bench and surrounding area. You’ll notice your mask on the group layer begin to turn black where you’ve erased:

I can’t say exactly how I erased, but you can see my mask on the guide layer as a general idea. The lighter grays were created by changing the opacity of my eraser while erasing, so I wasn’t deleting as much. And there you have it! The filigree has been added to your design.

Typesetting title, author name, and tagline

We’re now jumping to the easiest part of the design. You’ll see that’s italicized, because although I consider it now the easiest part of the design, Kisa and I still went through multiple different combinations and options before settling on the final. Let’s start with the tagline…

The fonts used were “Gotham – Light” and “Gotham – Bold”, for the unbolded and bolded words, respectively, at a font size of 9pt. Here’s where you can sub for Century Gothic (a common computer font). All you really have to do here is type out

“Everyone has a limited supply of good karma. What happens when it’s gone?”

And break the line between the sentences. Center this nicely in the sky, and you’re all set with the tagline:

Next, the title. The title is “Proxima Nova Alt Condensed – Light” at font size “64pt”. Here’s where you can sub “Collaborate – Thin“. Type out “Unmoving” in all UPPERCASE. The font color doesn’t matter at this point. Set it evenly between the tagline and the top of the bench:

Back in your layers window, change the fill to “0%”

You’ll notice the font has disappeared, but that’s okay! That’s what we want. Make sure you have the text layer selected, and from the layer toolbar at the bottom of your layer window, click the FX icon and select “Drop Shadow”:

This’ll open the effects window, where you can change the Distance to “5”, Spread to “89”, Size to “1” and Angle to “150”:

 You’ll see back on your artboard a really cool shadowed text:

And, boom. The title The last piece of text, Kisa’s name. Her name is in the “Proxima Nova Alt Condensed – Light” font at size size “14pt”. Here’s another place where you can sub “Collaborate – Thin“. Type out “Kisa Whipkey” in all UPPERCASE, and place it right below the title, centered on the artboard.

Similar to the title, we’ll open the Drop Shadow Effects window, and set the Blend Mode to “Normal”, Opacity to “75”, Angle at “150”, Distance to “1”, Spread to “0” and Size to “1”:

After hitting “OK”, all the text in the design is complete!

Last, but certainly not least, next week we’ll address the necklace sitting on the bench, and finish off the Book Cover Art Series! I hope you’ve enjoyed (and found useful) this step-by-step tutorial. As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. That’s what I’m here for!

The post Book Cover Art Chapter 6: UNMOVING tutorial continued appeared first on REUTS | Boutique Book Publisher |.

There it is! This final cover has a nice mix of both original mock-up elements. The black and white simplicity from the first version, and the filigree/zoomed out bench from the second version.

Let us know what you think in the comments, or on Twitter @REUTSpub.

Requesting Usage Permission

Depending on where you collect your stock, you may or may not need to request permission to use the images. If your stock comes from a stock website library (e.g. IStockPhoto or Veer), you simply have to purchase the image for usage rights– just make sure you purchase the image large enough, with a high enough resolution depending on your needs.

If you prefer to go the route REUTS takes, which prefers to support smaller photographers, and interact with them directly, you always have to request permission, unless otherwise stated. When reaching out to an artist regarding permission to use their image, you should give a little background on you, and how the image is going to be used:

“I’m the Creative Director for an indie publishing company, (LINK), and interested in using your image (LINK) in one of our new publication’s cover art. We are planning on using it electronically and in print, with credit given inside the book pages.”

This is a good jump-off point because you’ve introduced yourself, and explain exactly what your intentions are with their image. Since REUTS always provides credit to the artist (whether they require it or not), I make sure to include it in my initial message. Next, we typically move into what their request for compensation might be:

“If you’d be willing/interested, please let me know what form of compensation you’d need.”

This allows the artist to set their rates/requests, and opens up the conversation to negotiate. Always remember to show your appreciation within an email, not only for their hard work in creating stock, but for taking the time to answer your questions. Give the artist an opportunity to respond with questions of their own, and make sure you’re easily accessible if they need to contact you offsite (I always like to provide my email address).

You’ve now begun the conversation, and potential negotiations, and since each situation is different, we can’t provide a thorough walk-through passed the initial point of communication.

And, like I said, just to be safe, REUTS always includes credit within the printed or digital book with:

“Cover Art © YEAR ARTIST-NAME”

The Basic Design Elements

• The bench background. (Unlimited usage on DeviantArt.com; Permission needed off-site)
• Floral filigree. (Free to use if credit provided)
• Necklace inspiration. (Used only for inspiration, as the final necklace was drawn in)
• Stripe generator. (Generate the stripe texture)
• Proxima Nova font. (Feel free to sub with Collaborate – Thin, font)
• Gotham font. (Feel free to sub with Century Gothic font, standard on most operating systems)

Step-By-Step Tutorial for the Unmoving Book Cover

Create a new Photoshop document with the dimensions 5.5″ x 8.5″ with a resolution of 200:

^{You’ll notice this art board size does not have a built-in bleed. Because Kisa needed this cover primarily for online purposes, I figured when the time comes for this to be used as a print cover, I’d be able to easily adjust the image to fit the additional bleed. Given the nature of the background image, it won’t be hard to extend off the edge.}

Import Your Main Image

Drag and drop, or CTRL+C/CTRL+P the bench background image into your art board:

You’ve probably noticed by now that this raw image looks much different than the one in the final. That means we have some work to do…

Create a New Layer Adjustment – Hue/Saturation

From the top menu bar, navigate to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation…

From the window that opens (mine does so in the right sidebar above my “Layers” tab), set the “Saturation” option all the way to “-100,” which essentially turns your canvas black and white:

Then, in your “Layers” tab, set this new adjustment layer to “Soft Light”:

Your art board should now look like:

There isn’t much of a difference, but colors are more accentuated, and have almost a shine to them.

Create a New Layer Adjustment – Curves

Again, from the top menu bar, navigate to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves…

From the window that opens, create a new point, and set the Output as “128” and the Input as “153”:

Your art board should now just look a little bit darker:

Generate Some Stripes

Head over to the aforementioned Stripe Generator to create a free stripe texture. You have quite a few options here, feel free to play around with them for any future projects. This is intended for web design use (it’ll actually generate a seamless, tile-able image that you can assign to a website elements), but I’ve found it as a good resource for print design, too.

Change the options to:

Stripe size: 1
Spacing: 10
Stripe Color (s): Black (or #000000)

There’s a window to the left of these options that will refresh to show your new stripe based on these selected options:

Click the “Open Fullscreen Preview” link at the top, to fill your browser window with this striped texture, which you’ll screen grab and pull into your Photoshop art board:

(Of course make sure you scroll down so that “Click to Close” is not longer visible before you take your screen shot. The above is meant as to show what you’ll see)

When you pull it into your Photoshop file, feel free to scale and resize to fit the entire window, then set it to “Overlay” and Opacity “38”:

And you should see:

Create a New Layer Adjustment – Color Balance

Again, from the top menu bar, navigate to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance…

From the window that opens, create a new point, in the “Midtones” option set Cyan/Red to “+12” and Yellow/Blue to “+9”:

Change “Midtones” to “Shadows” and then set Cyan/Red to “-21” and Yellow/Blue to “-5”:

What Color Balance changes is the strength of certain colors within the image. You should now be seeing:

And, there you have it! The base to the Unmoving cover, and a good stopping point until next week’s post. Next week we’ll be adding the fonts and filigree. Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions regarding this process. Photoshop isn’t an over-night program to learn, and has a steep learning curve, but that’s why I’m here. Let me help you!

The post Book Cover Art Chapter 5: Cover Reveal & Tutorial appeared first on REUTS | Boutique Book Publisher |.

Mock-Up #1

Feedback points from Kisa:

• Can the necklace be more prevalent, maybe with a chain interacting with the text?
• Add the filigree from mock-up #2 to mock-up #1, faintly in the corners
• Increase the title, and move it up more.

Overall, Kisa’s feedback was very positive regarding mock-up number one. I think there was even an “I love this!!!” somewhere in the email, which is great! But, it also makes it more difficult with the second mock-up. I made somewhat of a mistake sending Kisa this mock-up first, while working on the second. It allowed her to only focus on the design in front of her, develop a love (or hate) relationship with it, and then hold the second to a higher standard. I would recommend in the future sending all mock-ups at the same time, to give a fair comparison of both, and against one another. Fortunately for me, Kisa has an artistic background, and didn’t let the appeal of mock-up #1 get too much in the way of discussing mock-up #2

Back to the covers…

The contemporary, faint feel of this cover would stand on its own on a bookshelf, and captured many of the main elements of Unmoving, so overall she was pleased with the direction. I took her feedback and requests, and got to work. To the left is the original, to the right is the updated mock-up #1 (let’s call it mock-up #1.2):

 ^{Note: I began to play with the font, but didn’t complete this round of revisions. The same with the chain– since these are just rough mock-ups I didn’t take the time to shade/accentuate a 3D effect on the chain.}

Mock-Up #2

Feedback points from Kisa:

• Portland is very lush (constant rain) so the dirt below the bench feels out of place.
• Try something more along the lines of a gray pallet similar to the first mock-up.
• Apply the same styles but with an image we’ve referenced before, in Chapter 2.

As I expected after sending mock-up #1 first, mock-up #2 wasn’t received with as much excitement with the first already so loved to begin with. Kisa had a little more of a clear direction to take this design, which as always is helpful on my end. Overall, Kisa liked the styles of Mock-Up #2, but with Mock-Up #2.2 she wanted to try a new, lighter image.

Quite a different change, isn’t it? But you can still see how these two designs fall within the same vein: a more prominent bench, a fantastical overlay texture, movement bringing your eye around the design, etc… I’m actually much more pleased with round two of this mock-up, than the first– proof that a design continues to get better and better with collaboration, edits and multiple rounds of reviewing.

We’ll unveil between Mock-Up #1.2 and Mock-Up #2.2 what direction Kisa picks (and together we finalize) in next week’s post. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments below, or Tweet at us @REUTSpub. I have a favorite, and I have a feeling I know which one Kisa favors, but let us know what you would do, and which you’d pick if you were in her shoes. Maybe you can sway her opinion

Remember, next week we’ll get into the cover creation, meaning over the course of two or three posts I’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of recreating this cover. You can practice and practice the techniques I’ve used, and maybe apply them to your own cover in the future. It’ll all begin with the Stock Permission Request mentioned way back when, and how to deal with copyrighted stock.

Have a fantastic rest of the week, everyone!

The post Book Cover Art Chapter 4: More Mocking appeared first on REUTS | Boutique Book Publisher |.

Thankfully, I was able to request a little bit of Kisa’s aid before I restarted my designs. Browsing GoodReads.com, Kisa wrangled together a handful (or two) of already published cover art she felt (in one way or another) captured the Unmoving vibe. I don’t think these mock-ups would have come to be in time had it not been for her hasty help.

Last week I mentioned discussing how to go about acquiring permission to use stock from artists/photographers, however I’m going to hold off on that blog post until a Kisa has finalized a direction, and I know officially what images will be in use. Without any further ado, this week’s blog post:

Mock-Up #1

In addition to using Kisa’s cover inspiration, I happened to stumble upon my own which triggered a (small) bout of inspiration.

Teeth, by Hannah Moskowitz

The grayscale, the slight use of color, the simplicity. Given the stock photo collection Kisa and I gathered, maybe this is a direction I can attempt to pursue, I thought. I think a lot to myself. Sometimes I think it keeps me sane. This helped with my direction. I coupled the Teeth book cover with two Kisa provided as additional inspiration, below.

When the World was Flat, by Ingrid Jonach

 Thin Space, by Jody Casella

I knew upon seeing these two already published covers in addition to Teeth, I knew I could come up with something. And thus began mock-up number one–

A simple, grayscale park bench blurred in the background, with Karma’s necklace dangling off the page to the right (I’m a huge fan of making things extend off the page). Clean, crisp, and at this point I’m hoping Kisa likes something about it. As with any critique, honesty is the best policy. Never feel as if you’re hurting your designers feelings if your honest about not liking something.

^{(Please Note: Kisa’s feedback will be incorporated into next week’s post, as we  continue to refine a direction, or completely scrap both options. So each new iteration will be coupled with the feedback)}

Mock-Up #2

Hunger, by Jackie Morse Kessler

Shadows, by Robin McKinley

Which led me to the second mock-up:

More fantasy, more colors, more movement. More of a full bench is the focal point, along with the light orb texture to tie in the fantasy elements of Kisa’s story. The floral element (the only way I can describe the other overlaid texture) is meant to look blurred/in motion to add to the suspense/distress in the story.

^{(Please Note: Kisa’s feedback will be incorporated into next week’s post, as we  continue to refine a direction, or completely scrap both options. So each new iteration will be coupled with the feedback)}

So, there you have it: the two first initial mock-ups. They’ve been sent to Kisa, and will be modified based on her feedback. Who knows, if she hates them both, we’ll have to evolve one of the other ideas, now backstroking in my mind, into a cover design.

And keep in mind that once a direction is determined by Kisa, I’ll go through the step-by-step process I actually took to create the final cover.

What do you think? How did I translate Kisa’s info-dump from last week in these two designs? Let us know in the comments!

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