Category: Staff Articles

He awaited her in the sleep chamber. She was in the hygiene station, completing her nightly external maintenance rituals. His auditory senses told him that she had completed the cleaning phase, and was now applying oils to her body. His neural network was in a state of pre-excitement because it was Thursday – his favorite day of the week. It was the designated time for recreational coupling. Continue reading “Modern Romance – by Stephen Hise”

Insofar as I can tell, there are three types of book reviews. The first type is the reader review,wherein someone who has actually purchased and read an author’s book will post a comment about it in an online forum of some type. Since the reader represents an author’s customer base, these have the potential to be very valuable. Some are very thoughtful, analytical pieces, while others are more of the loved it or hated it variety with little specificity or guidance for an author open to feedback. Continue reading “Thoughts on the Three Types of Reviews”

The old adage tells us not to judge a book by its cover. While that may be good advice as a metaphor, people often do just that when it comes to browsing books. An eye-catching cover design can make the difference in whether a prospective reader even pauses long enough to read the book description. While a great cover may not sell a bad book, a bad cover could certainly sink a good book. I talked with two great cover designers who do a lot of work with indie authors.

Renee Barratt has  more than 20 years of experience in graphic design for print and web. Her exclusive focus on book covers started in December 2010. She  estimates she has completed 100 covers in that time. Most of Renee’s clients are indie authors, though she has a few small publishing companies she works with. She notes an increasing number of traditionally published authors are choosing the indie route.

Rebecca Treadway has been an artist for most of her life and started digital graphics ten years ago. She began officially offering book cover design services several months ago. She has two print covers and about eight e-book covers under her belt, with more on the way. Rebecca works exclusively with indie authors and says, “I intend to keep it that way.” Continue reading “Judging a Book by Its Cover”