Writing Ideas - Why the Title Aegypt?

1 July 2013, Writing Ideas - Why the Title Aegypt?

Announcement: My novels Sister of Light and Sister of Darkness are about to be published. I write this blog about 2 months prior to its publication. I just heard that the proofs will be here soon--likely before the end of the week. My publisher also wants to put the entire set of novels based on Aegypt on contract--that's 5 more novels for 8 total. They also want to put my other novels on contract. The release schedule should be one novel every 2 months. I'll keep you updated.

Introduction: I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon. This was my 21st novel and through this blog, I gave you the entire novel in installments that included commentary on the writing. In the commentary, in addition to other general information on writing, I explained, how the novel was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes. You can look back through this blog and read the entire novel beginning with http://www.pilotlion.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-novel-part-3-girl-and-demon.html.

I'm using this novel as an example of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published. I'll keep you informed along the way.

Today's Blog: To see the steps in the publication process, visit my writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select "production schedule," you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

Here are my rules of writing:

1. Entertain your readers.
2. Don't confuse your readers.
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don't show (or tell) everything.

After thinking about my post on titles, I thought it might be a good idea to explain why I named Aegypt, Aegypt http://www.aegyptnovel.com/. It is an esoteric title that to many readers might not appear to describe the work. As I mentioned before, my mentor Roz Young recommended I call the work "In the Tomb of the Goddess of Darkness and Light." In that context, I thought to name it "In the Tomb of Darkness and Light." The problem with both these titles is that they are descriptive and perhaps too descriptive. One of the mysteries in the book is the tombs themselves. The original reason I settled on Aegypt was that the book was about broader Egypt in a physical, historical, and spiritual sense. That is, the work was historically about an ancient accidental colony of the Egyptians. Although Aegypt occurs physically in modern Tunisia, the title, and the theme refers to the extension of Egypt out of the area that Egypt physically resides in the ancient and modern world. I decided on the Greek and ancient spelling of the name for Egypt, Aegypt to refer to the ancient and archaic. The work is about the world of the ancient Egyptians projected into the modern world. So the title refers to this physical, historical, and spiritual projection of ancient Egypt into the modern world. It stands as a metaphor for everything that is Egyptian.

Now about the series http://www.ldalford.com/ see new novels. I have written eight total novels in the theme of Aegypt. These are very exciting, mysterious, and adventurous novels. Because the work became a series of novels, my publisher asked me to think up a name to describe the entire set of works. With the help of my prepublication readers, I settled on the name "Ancient Light." The motif of the series is light and darkness, so the name is Ancient Light. The next novel is called Sister of Light. It is on contract and should be out this Summer or Fall. Likewise Sister of Darkness is on contract and should be out in the same time frame.

See more writing secrets at www.ldalford.com

For more information, you can visit my author site www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites: http://www.aegyptnovel, http://www.centurionnovel.com, www.thesecondmission.com/, http://www.theendofhonor.com/, thefoxshonor, aseasonofhonor.

Writing Ideas - Book Covers

29 June 2013, Writing Ideas - Book Covers

Announcement: My novels Sister of Light and Sister of Darkness are about to be published. I write this blog about 2 months prior to its publication. I just heard that the proofs will be here soon--likely before the end of the week. My publisher also wants to put the entire set of novels based on Aegypt on contract--that's 5 more novels for 8 total. They also want to put my other novels on contract. The release schedule should be one novel every 2 months. I'll keep you updated.

Introduction: I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon. This was my 21st novel and through this blog, I gave you the entire novel in installments that included commentary on the writing. In the commentary, in addition to other general information on writing, I explained, how the novel was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes. You can look back through this blog and read the entire novel beginning with http://www.pilotlion.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-novel-part-3-girl-and-demon.html.

I'm using this novel as an example of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published. I'll keep you informed along the way.

Today's Blog: To see the steps in the publication process, visit my writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select "production schedule," you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

Here are my rules of writing:

1. Entertain your readers.
2. Don't confuse your readers.
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don't show (or tell) everything.

Book covers are like titles and marketing. They are necessary to the finished product and necessary for the writer to develop. First, no one is going to read your book and make the perfect cover for you. You are the most knowledgeable source for your work, and only you will be able to put together an idea that will capture it in a single picture--usually with help. When you finish your work: fix on a title (as described below), work up your marketing materials, and then put together a rough idea for a cover. You can see the process at www.ldalford.com look in unpublished novels. You can check the secrets pages for each published novel to see the process the covers went through.

Don't expect artwork unless you are willing to pay a lot for it or you are a best selling author. You can do it yourself, but unless you are really good (I mean a professional who sells or has sold or been trained or won real awards) don't even think about it. Many people who think they are great artists can only produce junk. As a matter of a fact the number of rotten writers is directly proportional to the number of rotten artists. Most of the time, you aren't both, but there are rare exceptions. The artist who did some of my artwork is also a writer, and she is an awesome artist.

Expect the publisher's cover department to put together photos, writing (fonts), and backgrounds to make your cover. This is a very cost effective means to make a cover and is the most common today. You can do it as easily as they can. The trick is that they have much better equipment, photos, fonts, software, etc. at their disposal. All you have to do is search the web or clip art to find the approximate photos that match your ideas. You put them together and send the idea to your publisher.

Generally, your publisher's art department will use your ideas to come up with a great cover or a couple of covers for you to choose from. If you look on my site at www.aegyptnovel.com under secrets, you will see the cover proposal I sent, their proposed covers, and the final design. You can find these for each of my published novels. You can also look at my new novels to see my rough cover proposals.

Sandi Andrews of the Book Club Network www.bookfun.org wrote this about a couple of my covers:

Because I have both Centurion and Aegypt in front of me, I’ll address your question first. Perhaps it would help to understand the progression that led from not being familiar with your work to actually buying two of your books.The shortest answer is this site. The longer explanation starts with your friendship with Bruce. Because he posted in the discussions here, I became aware of him and his work. I checked out his website and online retailers to discover more about his background, books, and what others were saying about his work. Garnering enough information to justify a purchase, I ordered two of his books. By the time I was not very far into the second book, I determined not only did I enjoy his descriptive style and well researched content, but the man definitely had something to say that was worth my time to read and ponder. I then purchased the third book in his series and continued some exchanges with Bruce. In one of them he mentioned your friendship, suggesting that I might be interested in your book, Centurion, so I repeated the research process focusing this time on you and your work.What Bruce did not know was that if my father had not insisted that my undergraduate degree be in Finance, I would have pursued a course of study that would have led to a career in Biblical archaeology. The fact that I spent the greater part of my London vacation this past February at the British Museum underscores my interest in the subject matter of your books. I ordered both Aegypt and Centurion.So after that long winded aside, the answer to your primary question is that I think the covers of your books are both appealing and appropriate. The photo of the centurion on the book with the same title is riveting. My eyes immediately locked on the statue’s eyes which appear to be focusing on something or someone that is causing inner turmoil. The cover poses unspoken questions compelling a potential readers to seek the answers inside. Once the cover had my attention, I reread the back blurb which I had previously read online and then flipped through the pages to read a writing sample. Satisfied that I would enjoy the book, it was placed on my “to be read soon” stack. BTW, thank you for the Lexicon at the back of the book…it will help my understanding and limit interruptions to research terms online.The cover of Aegypt needed the blurb information on the back to clarify the time period of the novel but it is still compelling enough that I would have picked the book up in a B & M. Because I purchased online, the other pertinent information was visible with the cover for the purchase decision.
You have not only caught my interest because of the archaeology aspect of your writing but I think my husband will also be reading your work especially the sci-fi. He may already have read some of your air and space related articles in some of the aviation magazines he receives. Early in his career, Pete worked at both Carswell AFB in Fort Worth (where he first learned to fly) and at McClellan AFB in Sacramento where he worked on software for the FB-111A.So… is our inclination to explore your work based upon your covers alone? Probably not, but I do believe the covers would not repel anyone except those with no imagination or little interest in historical novels.As an experiment, I might present a sampling of some books for the club members to indicate their first reactions to the various covers.

See more writing secrets at www.ldalford.com

For more information, you can visit my author site www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites: http://www.aegyptnovel, http://www.centurionnovel.com, www.thesecondmission.com/, http://www.theendofhonor.com/, thefoxshonor, aseasonofhonor.

Publication - more Information, Cover Back and Spine

3 November 2011, Publication - more Information, Cover Back and Spine

Introduction: I realized that I need to introduce this blog a little.  I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.  The working title was Daemon, and this was my 21st novel.  Over the last year, I gave you the entire novel in installments that included commentary on the writing.  In the commentary, in addition to other general information on writing, I explained, how the novel was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes.  You can look back through this blog and read the entire novel.

I'm using this novel as an example of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published.  I'll keep you informed along the way.  At this moment, I'm showing you the marketing material I put together for a novel.

Today's Blog:  To see the steps in the publication process, go to my writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select "production schedule," you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/. 

Covers are not just about the front.  You usually don't get to this point until the book is almost completely ready for publication, but the spine and back of the cover also require design.  This is where the teasers you developed for the long and short forms come into play.  You already have some ready teasers and informative sentences to begin to write the back cover.

The spine is a label and size point, but your publisher will usually ask you.  You will get to see the completed cover at some point.  At that time, you can review the front, spine, and back. 

By the way, you know things are cooking on your book when you see a cover.
 
Tomorrow, the manuscript.

I'll repeat my published novel websites so you can see more examples:   http://www.ldalford.com/, and the individual novel websites:  http://www.aegyptnovel.com/, http://www.centurionnovel.com/, http://www.thesecondmission.com/, http://www.theendofhonor.com/, http://www.thefoxshonor.com/, and http://www.aseasonofhonor.com/.

Publication - more Information, covers

1 November 2011, Publication - more Information

Introduction: I realized that I need to introduce this blog a little.  I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.  The working title was Daemon, and this was my 21st novel.  Over the last year, I gave you the entire novel in installments that included commentary on the writing.  In the commentary, in addition to other general information on writing, I explained, how the novel was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes.  You can look back through this blog and read the entire novel.

I'm using this novel as an example of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published.  I'll keep you informed along the way.  At this moment, I'm showing you the marketing material I put together for a novel.

Today's Blog:  To see the steps in the publication process, go to my writing website www.ldalford.com and select "production schedule," you will be sent to www.SisterofLight.com. 

I gave you the list yesterday.  This is a good list because I took it right from one of my publisher's emails.  Do you remember the post where I told you about covers?  Well, I'm going to give some more about covers to you.  Here is the recommendation from my publisher:  "It is also helpful for me to know, as I kick off the cover design process on your book with our design team, what you are thinking re: characters, mood/tone, setting of your book. If I have not already done so (either with istock or shutterstock), please go to www.shutterstock.com (it’s free to look), and email me the photo numbers of 5-6 photos that say, to you, “These are the characters, setting, and mood of my book.” The photos may or may not work for a book cover, but they give our design team an inside peek at what you are thinking, and speed along the cover process."

I recommended that you design your own cover--look back a few weeks and see that post.    As I mentioned, your publisher will want some cover ideas from you.  Even if you give them a "great" cover idea, you need to be ready to accept their advice and recommendations.  They know the market better than you do, and they have expert cover designers who can put together something very eye catching and marketable.

If you look at the secret pages of my book sites, you can see my proposed covers and my publisher's recommended covers.  In some cases, I put two together.  All you need to do is give your publisher's cover designers a good start--they'll figure out the rest.
 Tomorrow, I'll tell you what to expect about the cover.

I'll repeat my published novel websites so you can see more examples:   http://www.ldalford.com/, and the individual novel websites:  http://www.aegyptnovel.com/, http://www.centurionnovel.com/, http://www.thesecondmission.com/, http://www.theendofhonor.com/, http://www.thefoxshonor.com/, and http://www.aseasonofhonor.com/.

Marketing Materials - Using Your Designed Cover

16 September 2011, Marketing Materials - Using Your Designed Cover

Introduction: I realized that I need to introduce this blog a little.  I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.  The working title was Daemon, and this was my 21st novel.  Over the last year, I gave you the entire novel in installments that included commentary on the writing.  In the commentary, in addition to other general information on writing, I explained, how the novel was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes.  You can look back through this blog and read the entire novel.

I'm using this novel as an example of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published.  I'll keep you informed along the way.  At this moment, I'm showing you the marketing material I put together for a novel.

Today's Blog:  I already told you one great use for a cover proposal--the moment your publisher asks for it, you have it to send.

More importantly, you have a picture of your novel for your marketing website.  That's the real point.  I thought about this one for a while before I jumped, but it became very obvious to me, that a picture is indeed worth very much in marketing.  It doesn't do much good if you don't have some illustration or picture to represent your novel.  And what better picture or illustration than a cover proposal. 

It can't hurt--it's only a proposal.  What will hurt is nothing at all.  So go ahead and make a cover proposal and use it immediately to populate your novel's website.

I inserted my proposed cover for Aksinya.  You also can see it at http://www.aksinyanovel.com/.  The cover proposal is a part of the marketing website.  I'll repeat this, you can see many of my proposed covers at http://www.ldalford.com/ under the unpublished novels.  You can also see the cover proposals I sent to my publishers under the secrets pages for each published novel.

I'll write about making a marketing website tomorrow.

Marketing Materials - more on Designing Covers

15 September 2011, Marketing Materials - more on Designing Covers

Introduction: I realized that I need to introduce this blog a little.  I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.  The working title was Daemon, and this was my 21st novel.  Over the last year, I gave you the entire novel in installments that included commentary on the writing.  In the commentary, in addition to other general information on writing, I explained, how the novel was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes.  You can look back through this blog and read the entire novel.

I'm using this novel as an example of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published.  I'll keep you informed along the way.  At this moment, I'm showing you the marketing material I put together for a novel.

Today's Blog:  I wrote about the basics of designing a cover yesterday.  I'll go into more details today. 

The way modern book publishers do covers is they use clip art, designs, and pictures to make the covers.  They usually don't contract out artwork.  Some writers are artists.  My daughter did the dragon and fox symbols for my Chronicles of the Dragon and the Fox science fiction.  She is a writer and a great artist.  Most writers are not and many times really cheesy drawings and artwork gets into indi works.

If you want to appear to be a professional, alway use high quality professional artwork in and for the covers of your novels.  That usually means clip art and professional pictures.  If you want high qulaity illustrations, you will pay for it.  Most artist won't do it for free--they have better use for their time.

So, to develop a cover proposal, imagine the major theme or plot of your novel and pick some pictures or clip art from the Internet that match your ideas, then put them together as I described yesterday.  You won't be too far off from what your publisher will do, but your publisher will have a professional cover designer take your ideas and provide one of more cover proposals.

That's my point.  You want to be ready when your publisher asks, so make your initial cover proposal right away.  This way the proposal also can become part of your marketing materials.  You can see at http://www.aksinyanovel.com/, the cover proposal is a part of the marketing website.

You can see many of my proposed covers at http://www.ldalford.com/ under the unpublished novels.  You can also see the cover proposals I sent to my publishers under the secrets pages for each published novel.

I'll tell you more about covers tomorrow.

Marketing Materials - Designing Covers

14 September 2011, Marketing Materials - Designing Covers

Introduction: I realized that I need to introduce this blog a little.  I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.  The working title was Daemon, and this was my 21st novel.  Over the last year, I gave you the entire novel in installments that included commentary on the writing.  In the commentary, in addition to other general information on writing, I explained, how the novel was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes.  You can look back through this blog and read the entire novel.

I'm using this novel as an example of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published.  I'll keep you informed along the way.  At this moment, I'm showing you the marketing material I put together for a novel.

Today's Blog:  Designing a cover is an undertaking.  The easiest way to do it is to use software, but you can also draw one.  I use Microsoft Publisher--just because I have the program, and it is easy to use.  Word will do it for you too. 

Step one:  measure a book.  That's the size you want to make your cover.  Set the size of your software word processor or drawing program to the cover size.

Step two:  chose a color scheme.  You want to choose a background and the font color that are contrasting and easy to read.

Step three:  chose a font style that matches the theme or plot of your book.

Step four:  chose one or more pictures that match your theme or plot.  This is what a professional cover designer will do anyway.  Unless you are a best selling author, no company will pay to have artwork made for your cover.  Unless you are a professional artist or have contracted a professional artist, do not use your own art.  Even if you think you are a great artist--unless you've sold your art (and not to your parents) you aren't a professional and you aren't that great.

Step five:  put the pictures, fonts, colors, background, etc. together so it looks like the cover you want.  It doesn't have to be that great.  It just has to convey your idea of your cover for that book.

Take a look at my proposed book covers.  You can see the proposed cover for Aksinya at www.AksinyaNovel.com. 

I'll tell you more about covers tomorrow.

Marketing Materials - Covers

13 September 2011, Marketing Materials - Covers

Introduction: I realized that I need to introduce this blog a little.  I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.  The working title was Daemon, and this was my 21st novel.  Over the last year, I gave you the entire novel in installments that included commentary on the writing.  In the commentary, in addition to other general information on writing, I explained, how the novel was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes.  You can look back through this blog and read the entire novel.

I'm using this novel as an example of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published.  I'll keep you informed along the way.  At this moment, I'm showing you the marketing material I put together for a novel.

Today's Blog:  I want to write about one more idea before we get to populating a marketing website.  That idea is the cover.  When I first began writing novels, my impression was that the publisher would read my novel and have someone design a cover for it.  My imagination couldn't be farther from the truth.  Just as I showed you how to write marketing material to produce teasers, inner, and back cover material, you need to realise that most material for your novel comes from you and not the publisher.  And even the information that comes from your publisher can be enhanced by your professional attention early in the process.

For example, when developing the marketing material for my novels, my publisher sent some ideas for the back cover and their press release.  I shot back the teasers from the short form and the reviewer's quotes from the long form.  My publisher loved them.  She smooshed them together a little and wrote her copy from them.  I realized then the importance of this kind of material.

When my publisher needed a cover idea, they didn't come up with one by themselves.  They asked me for a design idea, and I provided them one.  Since then, every time I write a novel, I put together a proposed cover.  Your question is likely, how do you go about making a cover proposal.

I'll tell you tomorrow.

About Book Covers

Book covers are like titles and marketing. They are necessary to the finished product and necessary for the writer to develop. First, no one is going to read your book and make the perfect cover for you. You are the most knowledgeable source for your work and only you will be able to put together an idea that will capture it in a single picture--usually with help. When you finish your work: fix on a title (as described below), work up your marketing materials, and then put together a rough idea for a cover. You can see the process at www.ldalford.com look in unpublished novels. You can check the secrets pages for each published novel to see the process the covers went through.

Don't expect artwork unless you are willing to pay a lot for it or you are a best selling author. You can do it yourself, but unless you are really good (I mean a professional who sells or has sold or been trained or won real awards) don't even think about it. Many people who think they are great artists can only produce junk. As a matter of a fact the number of rotten writers is directly proportional to the number of rotten artists. Most of the time, you aren't both, but there are rare exceptions. The artist who did some of my artwork is also a writer, and she is an awesome artist.

Expect the publisher's cover department to put together photos, writing (fonts), and backgrounds to make your cover. This is a very cost effective means to make a cover and is the most common today. You can do it as easily as they can. The trick is that they have much better equipment, photos, fonts, software, etc. at their disposal. All you have to do is search the web or clip art to find the approximate photos that match your ideas. You put them together and send the idea to your publisher.

Generally, your publisher's art department will use your ideas to come up with a great cover or a couple of covers for you to choose from. If you look on my site at www.aegyptnovel.com under secrets, you will see the cover proposal I sent, their proposed covers, and the final design. You can find these for each of my published novels. You can also look at my new novels to see my rough cover proposals.

Sandi Andrews of the Book Club Network www.bookfun.org wrote this about a couple of my covers:
Because I have both Centurion and Aegypt in front of me, I’ll address your question first. Perhaps it would help to understand the progression that led from not being familiar with your work to actually buying two of your books.The shortest answer is this site. The longer explanation starts with your friendship with Bruce. Because he posted in the discussions here, I became aware of him and his work. I checked out his website and online retailers to discover more about his background, books, and what others were saying about his work. Garnering enough information to justify a purchase, I ordered two of his books. By the time I was not very far into the second book, I determined not only did I enjoy his descriptive style and well researched content, but the man definitely had something to say that was worth my time to read and ponder. I then purchased the third book in his series and continued some exchanges with Bruce. In one of them he mentioned your friendship, suggesting that I might be interested in your book, Centurion, so I repeated the research process focusing this time on you and your work.What Bruce did not know was that if my father had not insisted that my undergraduate degree be in Finance, I would have pursued a course of study that would have led to a career in Biblical archaeology. The fact that I spent the greater part of my London vacation this past February at the British Museum underscores my interest in the subject matter of your books. I ordered both Aegypt and Centurion.So after that long winded aside, the answer to your primary question is that I think the covers of your books are both appealing and appropriate. The photo of the centurion on the book with the same title is riveting. My eyes immediately locked on the statue’s eyes which appear to be focusing on something or someone that is causing inner turmoil. The cover poses unspoken questions compelling a potential readers to seek the answers inside. Once the cover had my attention, I reread the back blurb which I had previously read online and then flipped through the pages to read a writing sample. Satisfied that I would enjoy the book, it was placed on my “to be read soon” stack. BTW, thank you for the Lexicon at the back of the book…it will help my understanding and limit interruptions to research terms online.The cover of Aegypt needed the blurb information on the back to clarify the time period of the novel but it is still compelling enough that I would have picked the book up in a B & M. Because I purchased online, the other pertinent information was visible with the cover for the purchase decision.
You have not only caught my interest because of the archaeology aspect of your writing but I think my husband will also be reading your work especially the sci-fi. He may already have read some of your air and space related articles in some of the aviation magazines he receives. Early in his career, Pete worked at both Carswell AFB in Fort Worth (where he first learned to fly) and at McClellan AFB in Sacramento where he worked on software for the FB-111A.So… is our inclination to explore your work based upon your covers alone? Probably not, but I do believe the covers would not repel anyone except those with no imagination or little interest in historical novels.As an experiment, I might present a sampling of some books for the club members to indicate their first reactions to the various covers.