Cover Reveal Celebration!
✨Behind-the-scenes cover design journey✨
THE NEW HARDBACK IS HERE!!! I got my rights back on Feb 13, put myself back together and reassembled this book with the help of faith, friends, and fantastic readers like you, and then I hired a cover designer to make the new hardback edition. There were a few reasons for this, I’ll explain below. I’m so happy with the result! What do you think of the dust jacket and case laminate? ⬇️
“WORTHY DOESN’T MEAN PERFECT.”
~ Saints and Monsters
HARDBACK EDITION comes with a new map, bonus chapter , and the case laminate with a hidden quote on the back “Worthy doesn’t mean perfect.”
NEW EBOOK version also has a sneak peek of the bonus chapter :)
COVER DESIGN JOURNEY
I love the original cover for Saints and Monsters designed by Emily Haney of EAH Creative! However, when I got my rights back and asked about purchasing the old cover, the publisher said they would charge me separately for each cover format (not an industry standard practice). It seemed like an outrageous amount, altogether about 4x what the designer charged for a single cover!
Part of me screamed forget it, WALK AWAY!, but at the time I was concerned about losing my reviews. There are horror stories about authors losing all their reviews (social proof for readers) and starting over if the covers or metadata don’t match. I also really love that cover.
So, I grit my teeth and purchased the ebook and paperback to get them back up and running ASAP! Then I asked around for recommendations for a new cover designer and found Maria Spada who designed this beauty!!! She worked quickly, created something in tune with the original, but with a bit more romantasy flair. I highly recommend her as a cover designer!
DIFFICULTIES IN THE PROCESS
I still haven’t received the author proof copy. One of the challenges of writing English books in Japan where distributors like Ingram Sparks don’t print. If I could change one thing, I would add more cushion time for things like snail mail and mistakes.
Figuring out how to affordably sell my books: Draft2Digital, Ingram Sparks, KDP, Barnes & Noble, so many options. Most authors barely make $1-3 per print book if we price them affordably after retailer discounts. I thought about KICKSTARTER, but the learning curve was steep for an immediate project.
I wanted to do sprayed edged and a few more custom features, but ran out of time. Living in Japan adds an extra layer of difficulty as places like 48Hour Books and BookVault don’t print here. But i’m still looking into this for the future (some of these integrate with Kickstarter).
What’s Next?
Finish writing the next book. The first chapter of the next book is in the hardback version of Saints and Monsters! It’s a project I love, and I’m excited to just write.
Finish edits for THE LAST WAYFINDER
REST (maybe this should be #1 lol)
➡️ Have you already read Saints and Monsters? Please consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads It means the world to indie authors!
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SONS OF OSIVIRUS by Cathryn DeVries is a YA SciFi looking for ARC Readers! Advanced Reader Copies available (see link). Cathryn is a big supporter of indie authors and both she and her daughter write. Check out the book here.
Yay! Happy cover reveal day!!!
So gorgeous!! Congratulations!!