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self-publishing

HEART OF WAR

May 6, 2014 By Starla Huchton Leave a Comment

Heart of War by CL Foster & ER Rada

Heart of War, by CL Foster & ER Rada

 

“The Hundred Years War rages around Adalira Mortimer’s life and country, but she is not what is expected of a Lady; instead of dresses and tea, she dreams about weapons and war.

Bastian Kyros is not typical royalty. Being a warrior is in his blood, not paperwork and peace-keeping. 

Tradition drives their families. She is expected to don her manners and win a worthy husband, and he is expected to drop his sword and do what’s right for the sake of his family’s name, land, and future.

Their chance meeting at the party of the season may offer them both the chance to find what they desire. Brought together by their longing for battle, their greatest fight may be in winning over their families and conquering their own pride.

A lull in battle does not mean there is peace. The greatest of wars are fought in the heart.” (via Goodreads)

[Read more…] about HEART OF WAR

Filed Under: All Posts, Portfolio Tagged With: book cover, book covers, CL Foster, design, ER Rada, historical romance, Portfolio, romance, self-publishing

Evolution: ANGEL

February 6, 2014 By Starla Huchton 1 Comment

Evolution: ANGEL

Evolution: ANGEL by S. A. Huchton

“Candace Bristol has always been obsessed with comic books, but in a world where the nightly news often mirrors these inked stories, her dreams of becoming a real superhero could actually come true. After being rescued by members of the government’s AdvaNced Genetic EvoLution (ANGEL) Project four years ago, getting recruited for this elite team is all she’s wanted.

Now 18, she’s finally reached her goal after years of study and physical training, but little could have prepared her for life as a genetic experiment. As though coming to terms with her new ability to manipulate water isn’t tough enough, she never expected to be swept off her feet by one of her fellow recruits. 

With genetic alteration, the threat of physical and mental instability hangs over every superhero like a shadow. When one of their own tumbles over the edge of madness, Candace will have to choose between protecting the world, and saving the one who holds her heart.” (via Goodreads)

I am really excited about this one. This is the cover for the first in the new series of Superhero Romance novels I’ll be releasing this year! March 6th is the release date for this one, and books 2 and 3 will follow on its heels at two-month intervals!

I sometimes struggle with concept ideas for my covers, and this was one of those times. While it is a Romance, the story has a much wider appeal than that audience only. I wanted to come up with a design that reflected that, something that gave it the softness of an emotional story without plastering it with half-naked people almost kissing. That’s not what kind of book this is. A design like that would do the story a disservice.

What I came to was what you see above. It’s a hint at the other-worldly nature of what the characters become, with a specific focus on the main character. This concept also easily carried over to a series concept, which was pretty crucial as I knew going in that there were three books to this.

The execution was much higher on the difficulty scale for me, so I went in search of tutorials and tips on how to get the watery look for this hand. If you’re curious, this is the photo that I altered for the Evolution: ANGEL cover:

female hand, stock via despositphotos.com

So how does the above hand turn into the one on this cover? Well, if you’re up for a challenge, and want to learn some new Photoshop skills, you can find a tutorial for this effect right here. Be warned, however, this one is time consuming and not for a first-time PS user. I did tweak that tutorial for my own purposes, so keep that in mind as well. Your results may vary.

I will say this about the other two books: they did not require nearly the work that book 1 did. But I think that’s generally the case with series books. Sometimes the hardest part is coming up with the idea. Once you’ve got that, the rest will usually fall into place.

You can read the prologue and view teasers and other extras for this book at starlahuchton.com.

Filed Under: All Posts, Portfolio Tagged With: book cover, book covers, design, new adult, Portfolio, romance, S. A. Huchton, science fiction, science fiction romance, self-publishing, sfr, superheroes

THE DREAMER’S THREAD (redux)

October 5, 2012 By Starla Huchton 1 Comment

New TDT ebook cover

The Dreamer’s Thread, by Starla Huchton

 

“Everyone Dreams.

But what would you do if you suddenly found out that you were one of the few who creates dreams for the whole world? Would you use your power to harness the light and weave it into beautiful tapestries of magic and wonder, or would you fall prey to the seductive siren song of darkness and nightmares?

For tattoo artist Aura Mayville, this becomes a reality as she is ripped from her life of art and music and thrust into a realm where good and evil struggle for control over the minds and hearts of men. With a sarcastic sorcerer, a mercenary, and her Spirit Guide as her only companions, Aura must journey through the dream realm to discover both her power and where her heart truly lies. In a place where anything is possible, can she find the strength to hold on to herself, or will she be lost to the shadows forever?” (via my other website) [Read more…] about THE DREAMER’S THREAD (redux)

Filed Under: All Posts, Portfolio, Self-Publishing Tagged With: album artwork, book cover, book covers, DIY design, podcast, Portfolio, self-publishing

The Back Cover: Designing for Print

March 5, 2012 By Starla Huchton Leave a Comment

The first thing a customer sees about your book is the cover. I’ve talked about that much already. But what’s the second?

For most people, when they see a book they think they might like, the next thing they do is flip it over. What do they expect to see? [Read more…] about The Back Cover: Designing for Print

Filed Under: All Posts, FAQs, Self-Publishing Tagged With: book covers, design, DIY design, faq, self-publishing

Successful Scaling

February 29, 2012 By Starla Huchton Leave a Comment

Perhaps this should have gone in to the post on image sizes and resolution, but I’ll talk about this separately since it seems to be something folks are curious about.

Image scaling.

It’s a tricky thing. Everyone knows that a book is a certain size, so you think that if it’s good enough for the cover, it should work everywhere else, right?

Wrong. Allow me to elaborate. [Read more…] about Successful Scaling

Filed Under: All Posts, FAQs Tagged With: design, self-publishing

Communication and an Open Mind

February 27, 2012 By Starla Huchton Leave a Comment

So, you want to hire someone to design a cover for your Great American Novel. Here is the first thing you, as the client, need to know:

Communication is key.

After all, that’s what a book cover is; it communicates to readers at a very basic level. The whole process of designing a winning image requires a solid base of communication. This goes two ways, for sure, so make sure that you find a designer that can listen to their client and respond effectively. [Read more…] about Communication and an Open Mind

Filed Under: All Posts, FAQs Tagged With: book covers, faq, self-publishing

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