The learning curve has been negotiated and the hard work has paid off. We recently purchased a program called BookCoverPro (deluxe edition) with the idea that husband Bruce was going to take over cover design for all my future forays into the world of book publishing and we can hopefully spread the cost over several covers. Like any good wife, I went into the process sounding enthusiastic while internally filled with doubts. Obviously, the guy is a skilled photographer and has a great deal of patience for tinkering with things but did that make him a book cover designer? I wasn’t sure.
My doubts have been shelved and I’m thrilled to reveal the ebook and softcover for The Light Never Lies and a bit about the process of creation. Keep in mind though, this is not a primer on how to use BookCoverPro – that is way beyond my powers to understand or explain. My part of the process was to look at innumerable drafts and say no, no, no, sometimes, maybe and ultimately, yes, yes, yes.
I knew from the beginning that I wanted the picture of the lake with the prominent image of the rainbow and I wanted something that wouldn’t clash with the cover of Disappearing in Plain Sight. After that everything was up for grabs. Bruce played around with various filters to get the right look. He then chose a dark burgundy for the print to compliment the greens and blues of the photo. The burgundy box around the entire cover came later to define and delineate. The bar code generator located in the program accepted my newly-obtained-from-the-Canadian-government-site ISBN number without a hitch. I’m particularly thrilled with the little Huckleberry Haven Publishing icon on the spine, designed for me by my son who is also involved in doing a specialized proof-read of the book and is my go-to person for any questions related to formatting. This is really becoming a family affair project!
And speaking of formatting – I am working at putting the book, bit by bit, into the CreateSpace Formatted Template that one can download from the CreateSpace site. I had considered purchasing one of the formatted templates that Joel Friedlander sells over on The Book Designer site and it still may come to that if I’m not happy with this free one.
But whether the template comes from Joel or CreateSpace, I’m here to tell you that working with a pre-formatted template is as close as I want to get to the lower regions of hell. Suffice to say – don’t attempt to move text around too much because the preformatting is bound to send up a howl of protest and simply not allow anything that violates impossible to understand and deeply hidden norms.
I’ve found a neat little text ornament (book design language) that I hope works for my chapter breaks. These are also known as glyphs or dingbats.
MMMM
So far, for the print edition, I’m looking at 8 pages (4 recto and verso – more book design language) of front matter and six of back matter. For the front, I have what is referred to as the half-title and on the back of this page – other books by Francis Guenette. Albeit a short list but still, nice to see. Next, the actual title page with the copyright on the reverse, then the dedication with a blank reverse and finally, the first section title page (Convergence) with a blank reverse. After all of that – yippee – Chapter One.
For the six pages of back matter, I plan – acknowledgment with reverse blank, about the author plus photo with reverse blank and then my Disappearing in Plain Sight book cover with a couple of reviews and reverse blank.
On other publishing fronts, I’m up to my ears trying to finalize the back of the book synopsis – another specialized form of hell for someone as long-winded as me.
So – there you have it. The publication of The Light Never Lies is moving forward and so far no more pain that I experienced when working with the assisted self-publisher for Disappearing in Plain Sight – though again it is early days.
disappearinginplainsight 
Wow, Francis, that is one of the most beautiful book covers I’ve ever seen and believe me, I’ve seen a lot…I’m a book hoarder! Kudos to Bruce…well done!
Thanks so much for the praise, Jill. We’ll try not to let it go to our collective heads but can’t make any promises. Being new to most everything we are currently turning our hands to, we are simply lapping up the kudos with big grins.
Your posts continue to inspire and also, I admit, intimidate me as a soon to have a book on the market gal. I want you to come to where I live, put your arm around me, and just make it happen, but I know that isn’t the way of the world. Since when did we, as writers, also have to be publishers, editors, book cover designers, and all of that! So be it, but as Annie Lamott says, I resent this. Then I say, well, if Francis can do it….
It certainly is a different world for the writers of stories these days, isn’t it? We must wear many hats and I’ll tell you – I like some less than others. What I love about blogging and reading blogs is that so many others have been right where I am now (and where you are!) We get to share and cheer each other on. What fun.
looks like paradise!
can I judge the book
by it’s cover? 🙂
I’ve just realized that I need to have written a book that won’t let the cover down – eeekkk. You may certainly judge the beauty of this area by the cover.
certainly your words
will be inspired!
but if you put in
a few blank pages
it could also be
a beautiful journal 🙂
Exciting, Fran, though I’ve never been through the process, so a lot of the language is gobbledy-gook! The cover is lovely. Once you and Bruce get some experience at this, you ought to consider shopping your skills out to other authors. His photographs alone could be sold to produce wonderful covers. Love that you have so much help within the family.
Maybe a little retirement business? Who knows. You are certainly right about his photos and the back catalogue is staggering. And I’m so glad you think the cover is lovely.
Good luck with your book – the cover looks wonderful.
Thanks so much and thank you for stopping by and taking the time to comment.
Very nice. Personally I’d still rather forgo the aggravation curves on these products and just pay a little man to wave a magic wand, but it’s working for you.
If I had a bit more disposable income to fool around with, I suppose I might be calling for that guy with the magic wand. But as they say, necessity is the mother of invention and I’m determined to get these books out and so far the control is nice. When the real aggravation sets in, I don’t doubt I’ll be singing a new tune.
Lovely! I want to stand right there in that spot!
Now if that thought transfers into the desire to open the book and read, I’ll have it made. Here’s hoping!
Reblogged this on Ian Moore-Morrans, Scottish Canadian Author.
Thanks so much for the reblog.
Great cover! 🙂 Oh, and formatting … yes, hell is the word!
Nice to know others have been in the same boat. As it goes along and I learn more, I actually find I’m enjoying the formatting (now and then between bouts of hair pulling).
Reblogged this on through the luminary lens and commented:
Last week I created the cover for my wife Francis’ new novel, The Light Never Lies, a sequel to her highly acclaimed debut novel, Disappearing in Plain Sight. The picture is of the Vancouver Island lake we live on, and both novels are set on a fictional lake amazingly similar. To see an earlier version of this same photo, before it is immortalized in Book 2 of the “Crater Lake Series”, you could also check out the post from my May 2013 archives – http://throughtheluminarylens.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/to-know-or-to-feel-and-disappearing-in-plain-sight/ You will notice some substantial changes. The Light Never Lies is due for release in early spirng. Cheers to you all – Bruce
Thanks for the reblog 🙂 Nice to see some of your followers dropping over.
Glad they are liking it Fran. Thumbs up.
Lovely! And, very BC. ;0) You must be so proud. You’ve taken it beyond the joys of just having written a book…now you’ve had a hand in cover creation and, as you say, made it into something your family is working on together and bonding over. Wonderful all around. Congratulations, Francis.
Thanks, Hazy! It is nice to get family members involved because then they are forced to endure endless discussions related to my book – something I never tire of.
Congratulations, Francis. Keep Bruce busy taking photos for all your future books!
Now that he has revealed his talents as not only a photographer but a book cover designer, the sky is the limit. Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Emilio.
Would love to know more about BookCover Pro, cost, ease of use, etc. the only thing holding me back at this time for Create Space publishing is how to get the cover done. Would love to move forward with this aspect. Thanks for any help or suggestions.
BookCover Pro cost us about 227.00 Canadian – I wanted the pro version and an actual disk, not just the download. My husband Bruce did the cover for me. He has a lot of experience with working with photo programs and he caught on to the software fairly quickly. He is actually interested at trying his hand at a few other covers. Would you be in the market to contract this service out? We could throw the idea around via email – what kind of ideas you already have and whether you have your own photographic images or you’re looking for something in particular. As a photographer of many years now, Bruce has quite a stockpile of images up his sleeve. If your interested, drop me an email at guenettefrancis@gmail.com
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