Monthly Archives: November 2014

The Space Between, TPC, Uncategorized, Writing

Cover Crisis

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So we’ve hit a snag in the cover design process… and I need everyone’s help.

We’ve been working on the design for The Space Between cover for the past few months. This has been a really challenging process for me, because I’m not really visual, so I didn’t have a “concept” in mind for the cover.  At all.  So I wasn’t able to give my designer precise direction, and instead asked him to “throw something together.”

It took a while, and a lot of tweaking, but we finally settled on something I liked (see below). I was so relieved to be done with this, as it was a stressful process. After my editor finished reading the book, I sent her the sample cover to see what she thought.  Her response:

“Your book is a character driven, internal struggle and growth book that has a literary tone. This cover is commercial.  Covers set expectations. I’m afraid you’ll get hammered in reviews if  people are expecting one thing and get another.”

I respect this individual. She also has a long, successful career in the book business, and I consider her to be an industry professional who knows what she’s talking about. And while part of me genuinely loves this cover, another part of me isn’t fully convinced it’s the right cover for the book I’ve written.

So I thought I’d ask what you all think… What are your feelings/thoughts/impressions about this cover? Does it look like a “Stephanie Casher” novel? I know most of you haven’t read The Space Between (though you can if you want), but if you picked up or downloaded this book, what would some of your expectations be? As a reader in general, how do you feel if a cover misleads you about the content of a book? If the cover doesn’t sit right with you, why? How could it be improved?

TheSpaceBetweenCoverFinal

I’m really not sure how to proceed, and would really love to hear people’s thoughts to help me think through my little dilemma. Once we finalize some kind of cover, we’ll be that much closer to a release date!

Uncategorized

THE SPACE BETWEEN – Next Steps

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We’re getting close to release time folks and fans! I know many of you have been patiently waiting for news of the release date. Though the book has been completed (yay!), it still has to make its way through the publishing pipeline before it will be ready for public consumption. Here’s an overview of what’s next:

  • Content editing – This is where the manuscript is now. A content editor evaluates the manuscript for things like plot, pacing, character development and “showing vs. telling.” I should be getting the manuscript back in the second week of November. [UPDATE: Manuscript is back from the editor!]
  • Revisions – Based on the feedback from the editor (and test readers), I will need to revise and update the manuscript. I feel like it was in pretty good shape before I sent it to her, so hopefully there won’t be any major revisions required. Once I get the manuscript back, I will adjourn to my editing cave and try to get this piece done as quickly as possible.
  • Cover Design – The cover designer is currently at work on the cover for The Space Between. I’m having a hard time trying to get this cover just right, so we’ll likely be polling our fan base in the near future to get everyone’s thoughts. This strategy has worked well for TPC in the past. 🙂
  • Copy Editing – After I complete any revisions suggested by the content editor, the manuscript goes to my copyeditor, who will give the manuscript one last review for any typos or grammatical errors.
  • Typesetting – Once we have confirmed that the manuscript is error-free, we will typeset the book for printing, and produce the ebook version.
  • Announce a release date and celebrate!!!

As you can see, we still have a way to go, but we are very, very close! I’ll keep everyone posted as we move through the final stages. I can’t wait to share the final product with you all!