Welcome readers, writers, authors, and bloggers!
We’re glad you’re here! It's the First
Wednesday of the month; when we celebrate IWSG Day in the form of a blog hop featuring all of
the members of the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Founded
by author Alex Cavanaugh (Thank you, Captain!) and fostered by
like-minded associates, IWSG is a comfortable place to share views and literary
news from our perspective writing desks as we record our journeys. Check out
the February newsletter here
Our awesome
co-hosts this month are: Jacqui Murray, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Pat
Garcia, and Gwen Gardner! Feel free to hop around and say hello to everyone!
The optional question for this month is: February
1 question - If you are an Indie author, do you make your own covers or
purchase them? If you publish trad, how much input do you have about what goes
on your cover?
As an Indie author, you can
create your own cover or choose from any gallery you like. You can change your
mind as many times as it takes to look and feel just right. It’s not free or
as easy as it looks, but it is an enjoyable and rewarding experience. While Traditional
publishers alleviate many of the trepidations, they also have a say in the look and feel of your cover because they control the purse strings and the timeline and prefer to keep both at a minimum.
We’ve come a long way since the
first Dust Jackets. Did you know it was Lewis Carroll who first requested
(1876) his titles be printed on the spines of the plain “paper wrappers” that
encased his books? While that became a standard, any other printing that appeared on the
front, back, or flaps of dust jackets has always been determined by the publishers. By the
1920s, much more emphasis was being placed on the Dust Jacket than the ornate
binding it was created to protect as publishers began to hire commercial artists
to design attractive jackets in addition to including author bios and synopsis’
on the inside flaps.
Our library had a number of old
books without dust jackets. I’d run my finger over the title embossed on a
cover and try to imagine the storyline. Or what the author was like. There was
a certain excitement in simply wondering.
Happy writing, all!
That's an interesting tidbit about dustjackets!
ReplyDeleteRonel visiting for IWSG day Strategies to Be a Successful Author
Hi Ronel,
DeleteJacket designs were the only way to go back in the day...in many ways they still are. Thanks for coming by!
So true what you say about Indie authors having much more control over their covers.
ReplyDeleteHi Natalie!
DeleteNow if I just had more control over cover creativity - ha!
Now when one reads a hardcover book, you take the jacket off so it doesn't get damaged!
ReplyDeleteHaha! This is true.
DeleteMy father has a huge library of books, the shelves in his office bulged with so many. But his prize possession is a complete collection of leather-bound Louis L'Amour books, with gold-stamped lettering on the spines. That's still what I picture when I think of fancy or classy books.
ReplyDeleteI love the little troll library diorama! Is that yours? Did you make it?
My introduction to Louis L'Amour were beat-up old paperbacks!
DeleteSo do I, C.D. In fact, we had at least a couple Louis L'Amour books in our library too. The little bookshelf library was a Christmas gift to me. I decided to share it with my troll collection ;-)
DeleteInteresting about Lewis Carroll. Thanks for that factoid.
ReplyDeleteHi Jacqui,
DeleteI thought so too ;-) Thanks for coming by.
Very interesting, Deirdre. And you raise an important point about designing your own covers. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteHi there!
DeleteA bit like dressing for a night (or in the case of a cover) a lifetime on the town ;-)
Happy reading!
That's an interesting tidbit on C.S. Lewis! Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteHi Gwen!
DeleteYou're welcome ;-) Lewis was certainly a trail-blazer.
Howdy, dIEDRE ~
ReplyDeleteI'm not really a writer. Just a blogger. But I've written some blog bits that were so lengthy they were on their way to becoming booklets, at least.
You may remember the one I wrote years ago titled GOLDENSHADOW: “THE STAB, THE PANG, THE INCONSOLABLE LONGING”.
I definitely won't, but if I ever did try to expand on that and create a book or booklet from that idea, I know what my book / booklet cover would look like.
Last December 26th, in the late afternoon, I was sitting in the living room in a chair, just resting and staring out the front window of the house. When the Sun started to set and the light was streaming through a side window. It illuminated a metallic Christmas tree with gold ornaments on it, which had been gifts from a cousin, Mary Ann, way back in the 1980s and early '90s. Mary Ann is gone now, but every year I put her tree and ornaments out at Christmastime.
Well, the way the light was shining on the tree and ornaments really floored me! I realized that it *literally* represented my concept of "Goldenshadow". I was overwhelmed by that Goldenshadow feeling and even now, just looking at these two cell phone photos brings it all back to me in full force.
Other than my Brother, you are the first person to see these pictures. I'm curious if they affect you in any way even remotely like they do me. The second photo (2) - the slightly darker one - is almost emotionally painful for me to look at. It's just so-oooo Goldenshadow that, for me, it completely expresses that mood which I called "the stab, the pang, the inconsolable longing".
[Link> 'GOLDENSHADOW' - Photo 1 (full size)
[Link> 'GOLDENSHADOW' - Photo 1 (close-up)
[Link> 'GOLDENSHADOW' - Photo 2 (full size)
[Link> 'GOLDENSHADOW' - Photo 2 (close-up)
~ D-FensDogG
Hi ya, Stephen T.!
DeleteNot a writer? Coulda fooled me...
I do remember a bit about the origins of "Goldenshadow". I even recall something about Mary Ann's tree. But, leapin' lizards! It's lovely! Photo #2 is my favorite as well. Gads, I half expected to see it shimmer in its own glow within the shadowy ambiance. Awesome!
Now, about that manuscript... ;-)
One of the things I always appreciated about public libraries was that they kept the book jacket on the book. I've worked in academic libraries for, well, a very long time, and the tradition was always to toss the book jacket. That's changing in some places, thank goodness. And more academic books are being published in paperback so the art is part of the cover.
ReplyDeleteGasp! I'm glad that preserving the jacket is back in vogue ;-) Academic books in paperback? Now, that is interesting.
DeleteHi Diedre, thanks for the fun fact about Lewis Carroll, I didn't know that before.
ReplyDeleteI do like the control element of doing my own book covers but my skills in that area are very limited. I'll definitely need help when the time comes!
Hi, Heather!
DeleteI agree. I'm also really glad there are so many resources available these days.
Hello again. I accidentally posted the above comment as anonymous. Oops!
ReplyDeleteHeather
That's okay. I sneak around all the time ;-)
DeleteHi Diedre - I certainly didn't know there was so much change in dust jackets ... fascinating how now we just pick a book up with so many images and words ... letting us have an insight into its content. Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteHi Hilary!
DeleteNot to be outdone by the movie industry, books now have "paper trailers" that are valuable as the books themselves ;-)
Happy February!