How Should My Cover Look?

If you are having your book professional published, some art director will figure this out for you and you might have little choice on how it looks, (but good on you for snagging a publisher!).  But if you are on your own and self publishing, it is up to you.  There are several steps to look at before deciding on what you want.

The first, what or who should be on the front?  Do you want a stylistic cover?   A map of your world? A main character?  A mixture of everything?  This seems like such a small step, but this is what going to catch a reader's eye.  Depending on your genre, you can do a myriad of things.  For science fiction, space battles are always eye catching.  Ideally, I'd love an Elmore painting for mine, but since I can't, I will rely on my awesome daughter.

For example, I'm thinking the map of my world faded in the background with my group of ragtag heroes in the front, in a not so perfect group "photo".  (Think rabbit ears.)

The next, how do I get the picture done?  Do I hire an artist?  Do I use stock art on KDP or what ever platform I'm using?  Do I try my hand at art?  (And you might be good, so don't discredit this idea!)  As I've mentioned, my daughter is pretty darn good at art. She's self taught, not completely polished, but where else can you get a cover drawn for the promise of more paint and a batch of chocolate chip cookies? (Well, the cookies worked when she was younger...).  I know not everyone is so lucky, so why not reach out to local High School art programs?  The kiddos there are always looking for a few extra bucks and art teachers love for them to be focused.  Also contact local artist guilds, if your area has one.  Or network with fellow writers who might have an idea where to find a good, and reasonably priced, cover artist.

Lastly, make sure it fits in the cover space of your publishing platform.  I'm in the process of using KDP and they do not make it easy to use your own pictures.  Just know what you are getting into before you start the whole process of finding a picture.  I'm not giving up, but it definitely is going to take some time.

Happy Writing!

Humans of Martapa, Part I

So lets begin with the most numerous of the races on Martapa, Humans. Humans are the most diverse and adaptable of all the races on Martapa. They are independent thinkers, strong users of magic, and worship all of the Gods. They also differ greatly from region to region.

Martapa has two major continents, Tiana and Ariella. The northern continent, Tiana, would be you equivalent of say Ireland, northwest America, and the plains of North America all wrapped around by your typical northern hemisphere coasts. The southern continent, Ariella, is a mixture of Africa and Australia (just depending on where you are). Ariella is by far the biggest, but Tiana is where I spend most of my story time, thus it is by far more flushed out. And thus, so are the races.

The humans of Tiana vary by region. Tiana is separated by a large mountain range in the middle, Pacific northwest/Ireland region on the west, plains on the east side. On the west and to the north would be your more Ireland region. Here is the home of light skinned, red and brown haired (and lack of a better term) barbarians. They aren't really uncivilized, but they are the most hand to hand trained, hulking humans of the Kingdom of Tridon. To the south lays your Pacific Northwest type people. They are lithe, blond and brown haired, blue eyes are common and these people would bring to mind your knights in shining armor type of people. On the east side of the mountains you have a lot of Native American looking people (though in the time of my book there is a lot of western looking humans over on the east side) and a small pocket of Japanese looking people.

To the south is the Empire of Ariella and free pockets of humanity. The Empire covers nearly two-thirds of the continent, starting in the east, and the people here are black skinned (though of varying hues) and black haired. To the west are free pockets of humanity who live in free cities amongst the other races of Martapa. These people appear Indian, with olive skin and dark hair.

I think I have covered all the basic humans, tomorrow I shall delve into the barbarians of the north!

Roleplaying Tip of the Day: Dice. Always important and can always be a trip up when it comes to making it through a gaming session. Ask before hand if a person has particular dice for a particular die roll. My hang up was I had a specific die for initiative (it rolled lower), but my GM knew that and would tell me to roll again on my "Initiative die" if I didn't. This way if you know which one a player uses, they can't say, "Hey, that was my damage die, not my initiative die," and try to get a lower roll. It will speed up play and no body gets to cheat on their rolls.
Tomorrow: Humans of the far north