Both parts of JenEric Designs will be attending Prose in the Park this Saturday.
If you like reading, writing, or being around books… this is the place for you. A lot of awesome authors will be there go check out the Programme. I’m particularly excited for the Imagine (Fantasy Panel).
It looks like the weather will cooperate.
Hope to see you there!
Richard Comely (Wikipedia) is the creator of Captain Canuck (Twitter). Check out his work! He’s awesome! 😀
Hello,
A few changes have been happening in my life. I’ve started a new freelance position as a Layout Artist and my day job has just changed offices. This has made me introspective.
I’ll be honest that I’m a little behind on this one. I’ve had a bunch of issues that have slowed my writing down but I’m trying my best to get back into the writing habit. I’m at 40,000 words (or 40%) in Everdome and I’m hoping to be done by the end of August. So on track ish…
According to GoodReads I’m 6 books ahead on this resolution. YAY! Six of those are Graphic novels that are much shorter than the rest but I’m definitely on track.
Currently Parasomnia is with Beta-Reader 2, who’s being extremely thorough and giving me great praise. I look forward to seeing what he sends back. Once I get through his changes I’ll find a third beta-reader and hopefully have something to pitch at Can-Con. I’d say I’m on track but everything is slow in publishing.
Yeah… Sorry. This one has totally fallen by the wayside. I think I might have lapped it a few times…
I’m not sure what I’m going to do about this one. It’s been on my resolution list for two years now. I’ll get back to you. Maybe.
Although I haven’t signed up for Wattpad yet I have been writing and putting up a Serial story every month. I may break this one at some point and write 2 in a month.
If you haven’t had the chance to read last year’s, time traveling adventure check out The Ridiculous Adventures of Felix Felicis. It’s 10 parts and reads quickly.
This year’s story is a Supernatural Romance / College story, go read the first two parts of Only Human.
I’m going to keep all the previous resolutions and add a few.
I’m going to try and re-submit A Study in Aether to the publisher that has shown interest. It’s currently with a beta-reader and will hopefully be back soon. Then one more and it should be ready for a re-read from the Weditor.
I think the colour scheme for JenEric Designs is getting a little dated and I’d like to update it to something a little more modern.
I also want to add Buttons and Coffee to our products pages and allow people to order them online. I’ll also be adding a section on Fandom Travel.
I want to write the third story in the Hal universe, it’s called “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to my Funeral.” Find the first two are here: Hal the Sun Speaker and The Assassin.
I also have a few other short stories that I’d like to write hopefully I’ll get the chance.
Before the year is through, if I’ve managed to finish Everdome, I’d like to do an extensive plotting of a new novel.
I want to write a Disaster novel following several groups of characters trying to survive during a super villain attack on their city. I’d treat the heroes and villains more like forces of nature and concentrate on the poor normal people who have to try to survive the devastation of their conflict. I’d like to mix a glib tone that makes fun of super hero tropes and the terror/horror of a natural disaster.
How are your resolutions holding up? Did you add any along the way?
Éric
Billy Boyd told us that his favourite thing to do when not on set for LotR was surfing. I wish I had been able to come up with a more original question than that. I just got tongue tied!
You can follow his Twitter here.
Hello Everyone,
Today I want to talk to all you authors, publishers, and people who want to make books. Formatting a book, even something as simple as a novel, isn’t just knowing a few things in Microsoft Word. It’s also knowing industry standards, font combinations, typesetting, and the difference between a print and electronic book.
That’s not going into the little flourishes like separators or the difference between different genres. For example, a fantasy book is more likely to have a classic font, while a horror novel might have a more modern font.
A good layout artist will walk you through the process and help you choose the best options to make your book look as good as it deserves. The process should be painless and you should get unlocked copies of your document after you’re done.
I can hear you thinking, “I already have to pay a cover designer, editor, and printer for my book! I’ll just do it myself.” That’s a perfectly logical and understandable thought. However a layout artist is worth the cost if only in saving you time and frustration. What will take you weeks of research, and even more in applying the format, will take a layout artist days.
They can also help you avoid legal issues with fonts, since most layout artists collect them like they’re going out of style.
If you do a search, you’ll find people charging up to $2000, and you’ll find some that charge $50. What should you be paying? That depends on the size and complexity of your book, along with the experience and skill of the layout artist. I was told at a writer’s convention that you should be paying around $300 for a good sized novel.
If you take into account the time saved, (which you can use to write) the step by step guiding, and the fact that your book will look amazing; I think it’s certainly worth it. (I might be a little biased)
If you have a project you need a layout artist for, check out JenEric Designs’ prices for your Layout design.
I once noticed a book change from serif to sans serif fonts in the middle with no explanation. Have you seen any terrible layout mistakes in a book?
Éric
Could this man be any more charming? Follow him on Twitter here.
I asked him about being a guest director. He loves being behind the camera. Keep an eye out for his episodes in The Librarians! 😀
There’s something missing from most of the movies and books I’ve been reading lately. Optimism seems in short supply and often when people create something optimistic they are told they’re being naïve.
It is possible to be hopeful and optimistic and still know how screwed up our world is. Being optimistic isn’t ignoring the bad; it’s deciding to concentrate on the good and on finding solutions.
Maybe that’s why I like Star Trek, it shows us a future where we’ve gone beyond the major problems of our times.
It’s the reason that the new Supergirl trailer resonates with me. It has a fun optimistic point of view. She’s not a hero because of her tragic past but because she wants to help the world.
It feels like lately we, as a culture are obsessed with the Apocalypse and it would be easy to assume that we’re obsessed with the end of the world. The apocalypse isn’t normally about death but about rebirth. All genres and types of stories can be optimistic.
In the words of Hannah Hart, “Practice Reckless Optimism!”
Éric
Would this be Darth-Bat? Or Bat-Maul? Either way, he needed help holding the TARDIS. He was too adorable!
