The Art of Cover Art

Have you ever wondered why I post my covers all over all the time? Well, let me tell you why: because they're hard! I mean, not only the actual aspect of putting them together, but there's so much to think about. Does it fit the tone and genre of the book? Is it eye-catching/esthetically pleasing? Are the fonts nice and readable as a thumbnail (important for ebooks)? How's the blurb on the back cover? Did you manage to get the j and the t to both fit on the spine?* Now the fun part - getting it to upload properly to whatever publisher you're using and making sure it looks right.

I'm actually not here to complain, but rather to say that I'm proud of how hard I work on that stuff. And not only that, but there are about 5 or 6 people that I'm constantly pestering with questions and observations and to whom I send a million different copies of the same cover with minute differences in them. To those people I say a huge THANK YOU. I've said it before and I'll say it again: there's no such thing as self-publishing alone. 

Alright, here's another look at my covers, because why not? 

My Best Friend's Brother/The Summer I Turned into a Girl. This one is special to me because it was my very first one and my BFF designed it for me. She took such a load off my shoulders by putting it together for me. I still love it, but ended up redesigning it so I could make it match with its sequel.

MBFB take 2. This is the new cover I designed. It was both fun and frustrating to do because no matter what I tried, I couldn't please everyone. I started off with paler colours and it looks better like this. I started with too many fonts and without knowing what to do where, I fell back on the font that I've been using for my Knockout Girl Series. (More on that below). Finally, I came up with something good enough - though I'm still not sure it's perfect.

My Brother's Best Friend/Learning to Sing Like a Girl. This one I ended up liking a little bit better than the first, although maybe that's just because I was so tired of trying to design these covers that I was willing to sacrifice a lot for it. Still I like it and the tone it conveys and I like that they're now a matching set.

And of course, there's Knockout Girl. This was the first time I thought to myself, "Hey, maybe I should put a person on the cover of my book." I think it turned out well and it started a trend for the rest of the series. Those of you who have been following me will have noticed that I added a laurel to this book after I won a couple of awards for it. I like it because Elli really does deserve a laurel on the cover. Major props to my sister and bro-in-law for helping me with the full cover. The title font is called EDO and I love it.

Ah, Standup Guy. A coworker of mine suggested making a cover that matched Knockout Girl by finding a model in a similar pose but on the other side of the book so that when they're side-by-side, Elli and Julian are back-to-back. I think it works quite nicely actually. The problem with that is that this is a flipped image so all those numbers were backwards. Bro-in-law came through for me again and fixed them, but he also at one point hilariously superimposed his own face onto Julian's. Ha ha. This is what I get for free labour.

My next release, The B-Boy has been getting a lot of compliments for how stunning it is. But I have a secret for you. Lean in close. Pay attention... It's just a stock photo with a filter on it. But it does look really nice, doesn't it? In all honesty, I couldn't find a couple that really screamed "Red and Zara!" at me, but I love this couple. The pose is great and the tone is just right for a summer book.

I did a lot of searching around for the perfect cover for Rinkside. I actually was searching for a specific European city (huge spoiler, so I won't say which one if you don't know it from the picture). Low and behold, I found this model casually strolling in several poses through said city. She had a perfect Cherry look, so I grabbed at the chance. I also wasn't originally going to do a paperback version...but then I found a perfect picture for the back cover and that convinced me.

Congratulations on making it to the end of this post! (Unless you scrolled down just to enjoy the pictures. In which case, I applaud your laziness.) And since you're already here, I'm going to show you some full covers, because really. It's so. Much. Work.

Thanks you for going on this crazy adventure with me! You guys are awesome. Happy reading!

- Natasja

*You'll notice all caps on the spines for the Knockout Girl Series, because I can't with all that stuff hanging out the top and bottom.

Nanowrimo 2018

Those of you who follow me regularly on Facebook and Instagram know that I completed my 50,000 words for National Novel Writing Month on November 12. For me it was just like this blur and whirlwind of words that whipped past me in some more or less coherent way.

My stats

 I can't say too much about the book I just wrote because it's a sequel to a sequel so spoilers abound. But I will say there was a lot of dancing involved in it, which got me thinking back to my very first nanowrimo, which I've written about here. That was when I wrote My Best Friend's Brother/The Summer I Turned Into a Girl, a story about a dancer and a soccer player who switch bodies.

It was kind of fun revisiting a dancing character but it also reminded me how very little I know about dancing. I was very much out of my element the whole time (especially since I feel like I've been writing so much about boxing lately).

It also got me reflecting on my New Year's Resolutions, so I want to take a look back...

1. Three books to finish writing.
2. One book to write for nanowrimo.
3. An entire series, consisting of eight books to edit.

Well, I've written two books this year, but one of those was for nano. Honestly, I can't remember whether I meant for the nano book to be a part of the three books, but I'm going to go with yes. And I definitely think I can squeeze out another book this year if I try really hard. (Read: don't sleep at all). The series is still being edited - that one is taking me a little longer, but I'm working on it. One thing I didn't have in my resolutions was publishing a book, but I think that's a pretty big accomplishment. I will definitely add that to next year's resolutions though!

One other thing I wanted to do today was post a couple of interviews that I did this month in case you missed them on my social media. There are some interesting questions in there and I gave one of them the exclusive honour of posting the first look at my next book cover!
https://cynthiabrandel.com/2018/11/06/author-spotlight-natasja-eby/
https://journal.media/life-as-a-self-published-author

For anyone who's still working their way through nanowrimo, hit me up if you need some encouragement!


- Natasja

Let's hear it for the B team!

Just wanted to post a little update...

I know tons of people are always wondering "What's Natasja up to these days?" (Okay, I know that doesn't really happen, but when you're a creative fiction writer, you can imagine just about any old thing that pops into your head.)

Anyway, lately I'm been doing a lot of beta reading for other unpublished authors, which is actually a very interesting and rewarding experience. Funny enough, it gives you a pretty good idea where you sit on the quality scale. There are some authors out there that I would say have some work to do before they get to my level, but there are certainly a lot that are way better than me. It's a learning experience and the more I do, the more aware I am of how I write and how to better myself.

By the same token, I've been having a few of my novels beta read as well which is... well also interesting and rewarding, but it's hard. I know, it doesn't sound like it's hard to just have someone read what you've written but trust me, it is. When you love something as much as I love my books, it's sometimes hard to hear any negative thing about them. On the other hand, it's also twice as rewarding to hear good things about them.

So between the beta reading, the editing, and trying desperately to finish writing a book, I haven't had a lot of time for my blog. But I'm still here and it's still here and I'll update it when I have time for it I guess.

Interested in all this beta reading jazz? Hit me up!

- Natasja

Nanowrimo News

It's been almost three months since my last post, but fret not! I have actually been writing a more than normal amount lately and I've decided to channel my rediscovered penchant for over-writing by joining Nanowrimo 2015! This will be my fourth time trying it and I'm very excited. Last year, I didn't do it. With a months-old baby and absolutely no motivation to speak of, it was just not happening. But this year, I've got a plan.

Those of you who know me know that I am a complete pantser. Normally, I let my characters run the story and I kind of just record whatever they do and say. But this year, my characters and I have planned the story ahead of time. I decided that I didn't want to get lost fumbling around looking for something else to write. Which is also why I'm going to do something I very rarely do - write out of order. I know that's how most books are written, but believe it or not, most of my books are written in order. 

Hopefully with the changes to my own personal process for writing, I will be able to complete my challenge. Feel free to:

- Go to my Nano page and keep track of how I'm doing starting November 1st

- Sign up and write alongside me

- Ask me for a detailed synopsis and then suggest book titles

- Donate

Cheers to a great Nanowrimo 2015!

- Natasja 

Here's to Making Up Words

I haven't posted in a while, mostly because of reasons,* but I do apologize. To make up for that, I would like to share about how I recently have been introduced to the concept of listicles. What is a listicle? It is an article made up of a list (or lists), solely for the purpose of posting something easy, light, and entertaining. Supposedly, I should write a listicle if I'm having trouble coming up with things to post. (Oops. Was I not supposed to mention that?) So, without further ado, here are some lists for you!

Things I have been reading lately:

1. Overqualified by Joey Comeau (A hilarious set of overly truthful cover letters)

2. Personal Days by Ed Park (A novel about a bunch of people who work in an office)

3. Call Me Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber (Yes, it's a Christmas book and I'm not even ashamed that I watched the movie afterwards)

4. City Love by Susane Colasanti (Yes, I do read a number of books at the same time)

5. The Cage by Megan Shepherd (Come on now, no one said I couldn't do that)

6. The Accidents of Style by Charles Harrington Elster (Everyone in every vocation should read this)

Things I have been writing lately:

1.

2.

3.

4. This list.

It's true. I've spent much more time reading than writing. I mean, that list would be at least twice, if not three times as long if I included all the books I read to my son on a daily basis. But I'm not discouraged. Sometimes I need to do a good clean sweep by reading a lot of outside writing and then I can get back into my own stuff with a fresh mind. Anyway, there we have it. A listicle!

- Natasja

*Reasons include: being a bookaholic mommy and librarian.

10 things I've done on my journey to becoming an author

1. I once Googled "anatomy of a book" because I couldn't remember what the spine of a book was called. This is particularly embarrassing considering I'm a librarian.

2. I also once Googled what it would be like to live on a planet with two moons. I came across a lot of interesting theories and suggestions, and finally settled on something I liked.

3. I started a book with just a list of characters, after which I complained to my sister that I didn't know what to do from there. Six weeks later, I had a finished book.

4. NaNoWriMo. Enough said.

5. This:

6. I've read my own works until I felt like clawing my eyes out. If you've ever recorded yourself talking or singing and then listened back, then you can imagine that's what it feels like to read your own writing. It's awful, but also very constructive.

7. I've looked up the meanings of every name I've used in my stories (save for the ones I made up myself, of course). There's not always a useful reason for this. I'm just really into etymology.

8. Also, this:

9. I've emailed every single chapter I've ever written, one at a time, to someone who doesn't even live in the same city as me but faithfully reads every word. I've also had all of my stories read by someone else who will write extensive, helpful comments on them. Folks, if you have someone like either one of these people in your lives, I advise you to never ever let them out of your sight.

10. I've read, and read, and read, and read, and read... to avoid having to write something when I just didn't know what to write.

- Natasja

LOTR and Self Publishing

Publishing a book myself makes me feel very much like Frodo taking the Ring into Mordor. You know, he's just a little guy with a huge quest and there's no way he could ever get it done. Imagine that scene in Rivendell where everyone's deciding what should be done with the Ring.

Then suddenly it's you standing up, saying, "I will do it. I will tell the story, and I will publish the book."

A hush falls over everyone as they all turn to look at you with a mixture of fear and admiration on their faces. Then someone says, "Then you have my cover art."

"And my type-setting."

"And you can't go anywhere without my editing."

"Or my marketing skills."

Then, of course, your best friends barge in telling you that there's no way you're going to leave them behind. And while the publishing world isn't quite the fiery depths of Mordor, it's still a very scary place to go to all by yourself. Therefore, don't leave home without your Samwise Gamgee. I am not kidding about this. "Self-publishing" is a team effort, and all of my close friends and family know it. It's a scary world out there. Don't leave without help... and maybe take Orlando Bloom with you, too.

In other words... Thanks for all your help. You know who you are.

- Natasja