Maria Savva's Blog - Posts Tagged "aeternum-designs"
A Time To Edit...
I entered a contest recently and won an e-book cover design from Aeternum Designs, a wonderful new book cover design company!
As most of you know, I usually design my own covers, but this win has come at the perfect time for me because I've been having trouble finding a good cover for the second edition of my novel A Time to Tell. The cover for that book was designed by an in-house artist for the publishing company that originally helped me publish, and it's a very nice cover, but because I have terminated my contract with that company I want a completely new cover that will set the new edition apart from the first version.
I've decided to self-publish a new edition of "A Time to Tell" because back in 2006 when I originally published it there were no online resources to allow writers to easily publish their own books, and over the years I have been publishing all my other books through Lulu.com, so I wanted to have all my books in the same place. It just makes things easier.
Anyway, this book cover contest has really motivated me to get going with that second edition of the book. I'm looking forward to seeing what design Aeternum Designs comes up with!
I've started reading through "A Time to Tell", and as I suspected, my urge to edit has raised its head.
When I published the book back in 2006, I was just starting out in my writing career really, and there is quite a difference between how I used to write then and how I write now. I'm enjoying the story (I'd forgotten how much I love this book!), but am finding things that my 'editor's eye' is unhappy with.
The book was edited by an in-house editor at the small press where it was originally published, but they were just looking for things like grammatical errors and typos.
Having read the first few chapters, I can see it was well edited, but things like 'showing' and not 'telling' were not weeded out. Also, there are some repetitive words that I want to eliminate.
Once I am happy with the book, I will be publishing it with a fabulous new cover from Aeternum Designs!
As most of you know, I usually design my own covers, but this win has come at the perfect time for me because I've been having trouble finding a good cover for the second edition of my novel A Time to Tell. The cover for that book was designed by an in-house artist for the publishing company that originally helped me publish, and it's a very nice cover, but because I have terminated my contract with that company I want a completely new cover that will set the new edition apart from the first version.
I've decided to self-publish a new edition of "A Time to Tell" because back in 2006 when I originally published it there were no online resources to allow writers to easily publish their own books, and over the years I have been publishing all my other books through Lulu.com, so I wanted to have all my books in the same place. It just makes things easier.
Anyway, this book cover contest has really motivated me to get going with that second edition of the book. I'm looking forward to seeing what design Aeternum Designs comes up with!
I've started reading through "A Time to Tell", and as I suspected, my urge to edit has raised its head.
When I published the book back in 2006, I was just starting out in my writing career really, and there is quite a difference between how I used to write then and how I write now. I'm enjoying the story (I'd forgotten how much I love this book!), but am finding things that my 'editor's eye' is unhappy with.
The book was edited by an in-house editor at the small press where it was originally published, but they were just looking for things like grammatical errors and typos.
Having read the first few chapters, I can see it was well edited, but things like 'showing' and not 'telling' were not weeded out. Also, there are some repetitive words that I want to eliminate.
Once I am happy with the book, I will be publishing it with a fabulous new cover from Aeternum Designs!
Book & writing news, and an update on my own writing
I realise I haven't blogged much here recently, sorry... To make up for it I'm going to fill you in with lots of interesting stuff that's been going on in the book world. When I say 'the' book world, I mean 'my' book world of course. Not only my books, but books by my favourite authors.
It's been an exciting few months with lots of my favourite authors releasing new books. One I must mention straight away is a FREE Kindle book that came out today! It's Nine Lives
Beautiful cover, isn't it?
You can get a free copy for your Kindle for the next few days from Amazon.
I've read You Wish... and The Other Side, by Terry Tyler, and would not hesitate to recommend both of those to anyone who loves a good book.
Here's the link to Amazon.com, but it's available worldwide: http://www.amazon.com/Nine-Lives-Terr...
Other notable new releases this month are:
I'm looking forward to reading all of those.
Recent books I've read that I would recommend are:
Ooh... I've just realised there's kind of a cat theme going on here, what with Terry Tyler's book cover, Jason Mcintyre's new release, and 'Four Paws', alongside 'Kiwi in Cat City' :)
I'm currently reading, and enjoying, 13, by Julie Elizabeth Powell - a dark fiction/horror novel that really shows how great this author's imagination is (oddly enough, there's a cat in this book too!).
Julie has one of her books on sale until Christmas, Knowing Jack is a wonderful adventure story, and only 99cents at the moment. Here's the link to the book on Amazon.com (it's also available at the reduced price in worldwide Amazon stores): http://www.amazon.com/Knowing-Jack-Ju...
Books that have been sitting on my Kindle for far too long (and which I hope to read very soon), include:
... and about 100 others ;)
Books that I've heard will be released soon and that I'm looking forward to, are:
The Christmas Spirit, by Susan Buchanan
Keep an eye on her blog for the release date: http://www.susancbuchanan.blogspot.co.uk
Fastian, by Jay Finn
Again, details of the release date should be on his blog soon: http://jayfinnauthor.wordpress.com
More news!
1. A writer I met at The Literary Consultancy's recent conference, Laxmi Hariharan, has started writing a series of short stories on UK Asia Online. You can read Bombay Shorts and follow the series, at the following link: http://www.ukasiaonline.com/features-dp1
2. I've just found out about this Kickstarter campaign by a new author, Charles H. Penn, that seems well worth backing. All you science fictions fans, take a look and help this young author realise his dream! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/c...
My writing
Now, a quick update on my own writing. I've been busy editing A Time to Tell, for a second edition. I have a brand new cover for it too, designed by Aeternum Designs http://aeternumdesigns.com/. I'm hoping to be revealing that soon.
I would imagine the book will be released in the early part of 2014.
I'm also working on a new short story collection, as yet untitled, but might be called 'Far Away in Time', which is the title of one of the stories.
Although I haven't yet finished the collection, I think there will be 10 short stories altogether. I have written 7 of those already, and have written the beginnings of the other 3 stories. I'm looking forward to sharing these stories with you all. They range from fantasy to dark fiction.
That's all for now.
If you'd like to keep up with my other blogs, I am currently the main blogger at Bestsellerbound Recommends, which brings you news of all the best indie books and authors: http://quietfurybooks.com/bestsellerb...
And, I blog on the UK Music Directory (and UK Arts Directory): ukmusicdirectory.com/category/blog/ma... - you can find interviews with lots of great bands, ranging from pop, to rock and heavy metal.
It's been an exciting few months with lots of my favourite authors releasing new books. One I must mention straight away is a FREE Kindle book that came out today! It's Nine Lives
Beautiful cover, isn't it?
You can get a free copy for your Kindle for the next few days from Amazon.
I've read You Wish... and The Other Side, by Terry Tyler, and would not hesitate to recommend both of those to anyone who loves a good book.
Here's the link to Amazon.com, but it's available worldwide: http://www.amazon.com/Nine-Lives-Terr...
Other notable new releases this month are:
I'm looking forward to reading all of those.
Recent books I've read that I would recommend are:
Ooh... I've just realised there's kind of a cat theme going on here, what with Terry Tyler's book cover, Jason Mcintyre's new release, and 'Four Paws', alongside 'Kiwi in Cat City' :)
I'm currently reading, and enjoying, 13, by Julie Elizabeth Powell - a dark fiction/horror novel that really shows how great this author's imagination is (oddly enough, there's a cat in this book too!).
Julie has one of her books on sale until Christmas, Knowing Jack is a wonderful adventure story, and only 99cents at the moment. Here's the link to the book on Amazon.com (it's also available at the reduced price in worldwide Amazon stores): http://www.amazon.com/Knowing-Jack-Ju...
Books that have been sitting on my Kindle for far too long (and which I hope to read very soon), include:
... and about 100 others ;)Books that I've heard will be released soon and that I'm looking forward to, are:
The Christmas Spirit, by Susan Buchanan
Keep an eye on her blog for the release date: http://www.susancbuchanan.blogspot.co.uk
Fastian, by Jay Finn
Again, details of the release date should be on his blog soon: http://jayfinnauthor.wordpress.com
More news!
1. A writer I met at The Literary Consultancy's recent conference, Laxmi Hariharan, has started writing a series of short stories on UK Asia Online. You can read Bombay Shorts and follow the series, at the following link: http://www.ukasiaonline.com/features-dp1
2. I've just found out about this Kickstarter campaign by a new author, Charles H. Penn, that seems well worth backing. All you science fictions fans, take a look and help this young author realise his dream! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/c...
My writing
Now, a quick update on my own writing. I've been busy editing A Time to Tell, for a second edition. I have a brand new cover for it too, designed by Aeternum Designs http://aeternumdesigns.com/. I'm hoping to be revealing that soon.
I would imagine the book will be released in the early part of 2014.
I'm also working on a new short story collection, as yet untitled, but might be called 'Far Away in Time', which is the title of one of the stories.
Although I haven't yet finished the collection, I think there will be 10 short stories altogether. I have written 7 of those already, and have written the beginnings of the other 3 stories. I'm looking forward to sharing these stories with you all. They range from fantasy to dark fiction.
That's all for now.
If you'd like to keep up with my other blogs, I am currently the main blogger at Bestsellerbound Recommends, which brings you news of all the best indie books and authors: http://quietfurybooks.com/bestsellerb...
And, I blog on the UK Music Directory (and UK Arts Directory): ukmusicdirectory.com/category/blog/ma... - you can find interviews with lots of great bands, ranging from pop, to rock and heavy metal.
End of year round-up
2013 has been a very busy year for me.
Writing:
At the beginning of the year, one of my my plans was to work on my 6th Novel, which I started writing at the end of 2012. However, I haven't written any more of that novel since! I do intend to get back to it soon because I was enjoying writing it.
My main project at the moment is my next collection of short stories. It's mixed-genre. It contains a fantasy story, a mystery, and the rest are all quite dark fiction. It's titled "Far Away in Time". That is, of course, a line from the song 'Echo Beach' (which has always been one of my favourite songs), so being a music fan I couldn't let that pass me by. I have deliberately added some links to that song throughout the book. For example, some of the characters are named after the people who wrote or sang the song; there is a beach that plays an important part in one of the stories; one of the characters bakes some muffins in one of the stories :) (Martha and the Muffins).
The cover of the book will be a photograph by the same photographer who took the photo that is now the cover for my novel "Second Chances". A total coincidence, because I was looking through the website where I usually find royalty-free photos and came across his photo. It's gorgeous and I plan to do a cover reveal shortly.
This year, I've also been editing the second edition of "A Time to Tell". I have a lovely new cover for that, designed by Kat at Aeternum Designs. I'll be revealing that cover soon too.
I'm hoping that both new books will be published in the first half of 2014.
Blogging:
This year, I started blogging for the UK Arts Directory. They then branched off into the UK Music Directory and I now blog there. I interview bands. Mainly new and independent bands. If you're a music fan you might want to check it out.
My other blog (which I share with Darcia Helle and J. Michael Radcliffe) BestsellerBounds Recommends, has also been keeping me busy as it grows in popularity. We help to promote the best in new independent publishing.
Giveaways:
This month there are a couple of giveaways running where you can win some of my books, so in case you missed those announcements here are the links:
Books Direct: http://quietfurybooks.com/bestsellerb...
You can win an e-book of Coincidences (Lots of other great prizes there too!)
Quiet Fury Books:http://quietfurybooks.com/contests.html
You could win a paperback copy of "3", or e-books of "3", Delusion and Dreams, or Haunted (lots of other great prizes up for grabs there too!)
Finally...
I hope you all have a wonderful festive season and look forward to chatting with you all again in the New Year.
I'll be back in the New Year with a blog about my plans for 2014. Last year, I blogged about my plans for 2013. Out of the things listed, the only one I accomplished was publishing Delusion and Dreams! However, at the time, my book 3 wasn't even planned. I'm really happy with both those short story collections.
Merry Christmas!
Writing:
At the beginning of the year, one of my my plans was to work on my 6th Novel, which I started writing at the end of 2012. However, I haven't written any more of that novel since! I do intend to get back to it soon because I was enjoying writing it.
My main project at the moment is my next collection of short stories. It's mixed-genre. It contains a fantasy story, a mystery, and the rest are all quite dark fiction. It's titled "Far Away in Time". That is, of course, a line from the song 'Echo Beach' (which has always been one of my favourite songs), so being a music fan I couldn't let that pass me by. I have deliberately added some links to that song throughout the book. For example, some of the characters are named after the people who wrote or sang the song; there is a beach that plays an important part in one of the stories; one of the characters bakes some muffins in one of the stories :) (Martha and the Muffins).
The cover of the book will be a photograph by the same photographer who took the photo that is now the cover for my novel "Second Chances". A total coincidence, because I was looking through the website where I usually find royalty-free photos and came across his photo. It's gorgeous and I plan to do a cover reveal shortly.
This year, I've also been editing the second edition of "A Time to Tell". I have a lovely new cover for that, designed by Kat at Aeternum Designs. I'll be revealing that cover soon too.
I'm hoping that both new books will be published in the first half of 2014.
Blogging:
This year, I started blogging for the UK Arts Directory. They then branched off into the UK Music Directory and I now blog there. I interview bands. Mainly new and independent bands. If you're a music fan you might want to check it out.
My other blog (which I share with Darcia Helle and J. Michael Radcliffe) BestsellerBounds Recommends, has also been keeping me busy as it grows in popularity. We help to promote the best in new independent publishing.
Giveaways:
This month there are a couple of giveaways running where you can win some of my books, so in case you missed those announcements here are the links:
Books Direct: http://quietfurybooks.com/bestsellerb...
You can win an e-book of Coincidences (Lots of other great prizes there too!)
Quiet Fury Books:http://quietfurybooks.com/contests.html
You could win a paperback copy of "3", or e-books of "3", Delusion and Dreams, or Haunted (lots of other great prizes up for grabs there too!)
Finally...
I hope you all have a wonderful festive season and look forward to chatting with you all again in the New Year.
I'll be back in the New Year with a blog about my plans for 2014. Last year, I blogged about my plans for 2013. Out of the things listed, the only one I accomplished was publishing Delusion and Dreams! However, at the time, my book 3 wasn't even planned. I'm really happy with both those short story collections.
Merry Christmas!
A new cover for a new edition!
I'm going to be releasing a second edition of my novel 'A Time to Tell' soon (date to be announced).
The brand new cover has been designed by Kat at Aeternum Designs
Here it is:
Book description:
A family saga spanning fifty years and three generations...
Cara fell for the tall, dark, handsome stranger, fifty years before. Now Frederick is about to return to her life. Can true love stand the test of time?
When Cara’s granddaughter, Penelope, flees her home to escape a violent husband, Cara’s world is turned upside down. She returns to Huddlesea, the town she grew up in. Her estranged sister Gloria is less than happy to see her again. Can they rebuild their relationship after the tragic circumstances that tore them apart?
Benjamin, Cara’s eldest son, has been missing for sixteen years. She longs to see him again. Will their reunion be everything she had hoped for?
In this romantic drama, history repeats itself for a family lost in secrets.
After the lies, the TIME has come to TELL their deepest secrets.
******************************
(Kat also helped me with this blurb! Thanks, Kat.) I'd highly recommend Aeternum Designs if you're looking for a talented and professional cover designer.
Look out for more posts about the release in the coming weeks. It's in the final editing stages.
"A Time to Tell (second edition)" will be available in eBook and paperback.
Books and Chocolate - the perfect combination
Today is release day for the 4th book in The Mind's Eye Series.
"Tales From The Cacao Tree" is a collection of short stories and poetry inspired by photographs. For this anthology, we set our photographers the task of taking interesting photographs of chocolate.
The gorgeous book cover was designed by Kat at Aeternum Designs (http://aeternumdesigns.com/) from a photograph taken by Helle Gade.
Interestingly, the Science Daily reported an important discovery about cacao trees last week. Their story says,
Cacao trees evolved around 10 million years ago, earlier than previously believed, new research shows. Considerable genetic variation might remain to be discovered among wild cacao populations, which could be crossbred with cultivated cacao for greater resistance to disease and climate change, and possibly new flavors.
Read the full story here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/...
That is great news for chocolate lovers.
Even better news is that you can purchase a copy of Tales From The Cacao Tree on Kindle today! :)
There are 3 new short stories from me in the anthology.
The book also contains stories from Darcia Helle, J. Michael Radcliffe, and Julie Elizabeth Powell. There are poems from Ben Ditmars, Helle Gade, and Richard Weatherly.
The photographs were contributed by Martin David Porter, Helle Gade, and Kim Stapf.
Considering chocolate is so sweet and all the writers love it, surprisingly there are lots of murder stories in this collection. This may have been caused by the frustration of staring at photos of chocolate but not being able to eat it... :)
I've read all the stories and poems and absolutely love them. Just like a box of chocolates, there's something for everyone in this collection: murder, mystery, love, romance, loss, revenge, fantasy, magic, and dragons.
I'd suggest you eat chocolate whilst reading it :)
The book is available free on Kindle Unlimited, or $3.99/£3.99
Here are the links:
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Cacao-T...
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Cacao-Tre...
Also available at Amazon stores worldwide.
Now I need to go and eat some chocolate :)
"Tales From The Cacao Tree" is a collection of short stories and poetry inspired by photographs. For this anthology, we set our photographers the task of taking interesting photographs of chocolate.
The gorgeous book cover was designed by Kat at Aeternum Designs (http://aeternumdesigns.com/) from a photograph taken by Helle Gade.
Interestingly, the Science Daily reported an important discovery about cacao trees last week. Their story says,
Cacao trees evolved around 10 million years ago, earlier than previously believed, new research shows. Considerable genetic variation might remain to be discovered among wild cacao populations, which could be crossbred with cultivated cacao for greater resistance to disease and climate change, and possibly new flavors.
Read the full story here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/...
That is great news for chocolate lovers.
Even better news is that you can purchase a copy of Tales From The Cacao Tree on Kindle today! :)
There are 3 new short stories from me in the anthology.
The book also contains stories from Darcia Helle, J. Michael Radcliffe, and Julie Elizabeth Powell. There are poems from Ben Ditmars, Helle Gade, and Richard Weatherly.
The photographs were contributed by Martin David Porter, Helle Gade, and Kim Stapf.
Considering chocolate is so sweet and all the writers love it, surprisingly there are lots of murder stories in this collection. This may have been caused by the frustration of staring at photos of chocolate but not being able to eat it... :)
I've read all the stories and poems and absolutely love them. Just like a box of chocolates, there's something for everyone in this collection: murder, mystery, love, romance, loss, revenge, fantasy, magic, and dragons.
I'd suggest you eat chocolate whilst reading it :)
The book is available free on Kindle Unlimited, or $3.99/£3.99
Here are the links:
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Cacao-T...
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Cacao-Tre...
Also available at Amazon stores worldwide.
Now I need to go and eat some chocolate :)
Cover reveal: The Spider
My new novel, "The Spider", is almost ready for release!
I've been working on this one for a couple of years and am very excited to share it with you.
Here's the blurb:
‘No one’s ever come out of that house alive...’
What lurks behind the door of 8 Goldfern Road?
Are you brave enough to step inside?
By entering the sinister house, George and Glen become entangled in a dangerous battle of wills.
“The Spider” is a story of obsession, infidelity, and broken dreams.
This darkly humorous mystery will appeal to fantasy and romance readers as well as those who love to hate spiders!
And here's the wonderful cover, designed by Kat at Aeternum Designs. Kat also designed the covers for the second edition of my novel A Time to Tell and my short story collection, Lost and Found.
The book is currently being formatted for e-book, by EbookBuilders. I'll have news of the release date soon!
I've been working on this one for a couple of years and am very excited to share it with you.
Here's the blurb:
‘No one’s ever come out of that house alive...’
What lurks behind the door of 8 Goldfern Road?
Are you brave enough to step inside?
By entering the sinister house, George and Glen become entangled in a dangerous battle of wills.
“The Spider” is a story of obsession, infidelity, and broken dreams.
This darkly humorous mystery will appeal to fantasy and romance readers as well as those who love to hate spiders!
And here's the wonderful cover, designed by Kat at Aeternum Designs. Kat also designed the covers for the second edition of my novel A Time to Tell and my short story collection, Lost and Found.
The book is currently being formatted for e-book, by EbookBuilders. I'll have news of the release date soon!
