The Art of Reading

Cover Art is one of the most important aspects of a book. It’s the first thing that captures the attention of a reader—willing them to pick it up—and intrigue them enough to buy it.

This week I’ve been working on the contents of my design and figuring out the cover art. I have put my hands into every aspect of my book, author website and trailer to name a few, to have a better appreciation about what it takes to publish and promote a book. This doesn’t mean I’ll be using these cover art ideas, but I thought I’d get your input.

Since I rely on my blog for many things, decisions, discussions and thoughts, I figured why not get your thoughts and reactions. It doesn’t mean the best choice is going to be our (me and my publisher’s) choice, but it will let us know if the cover art is appealing and if we’re headed in the right direction.

If we decide to use one of these pictures for the cover art, and you picked it, you’ll automatically be entered to win a free autographed copy of my book. I know…very exciting.  I’ll have a future contest, which will be posted at a later date.  

The pictures don’t have the title of my book or my name. I’ll post pictures and number them. Let me know which picture(s) you like, why or why not. What do you think when you look at the picture, scared, eerie, beautiful? Please leave all comments on my blog. If you don’t have a Gmail account, you can always post as “anonymous”.

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I’m looking forward to your thoughts.

From A Distance

I thought I’d post my last Chicago post before things get a bit crazy. On Saturday, I’ll be flying to my Germany home…well…technically I’ll be flying into Amsterdam and then heading to our home in Germany. My family will take care of my Chicago home while I'm gone. The above picture is the old part of town where I will be living—about a ten minute walk from our flat.

The below picture is the church where my Love and I confessed our love for each other in June of 2009. I have a feeling it will be a place we’ll visit often. I'm hoping to make a lot of progress with my novel, win some writing contests and publish some articles.

This post is not a good-bye, just a note to let you know that the next time I post, I will be in Germany. I thank you all for following along with my blog, and hope you will continue while I explore the wonders of Europe.

Be Safe and I’ll talk to you next week.

What's Up with Writing?

It’s time for a little writing update. I entered a few poetry contests and I’m looking at entering a short story contest. The one thing I definitely need to start doing is revising and editing my NaNo WIP from last year. A friend of mine read it and thinks it’s a great story. Yes, yes, he’s my biggest fan, but I believe everything he says. *smiles* With some additions and omissions, I’m hoping it will turn out better than it is now. At least that’s our opinion.

I’ll admit that revising is usually something I try to stay away from for as long as I can. Could be why my story is still waiting to come alive. All I can say right now is that my story is a Thriller, and not in the sexual thriller kind of way. *winks*

To sum up my recent writings, I should hear about one of the poetry contests no later than November 1, and the other one around September 15. The short story I wrote needs cleaning up, and then I’ll submit it.

If you happen to have a lucky penny you just don’t know what to do with please make a wish on it for me. Or you can post your wish for me here. Thanks all.

P.S. if all else fails I could always win the lottery.