Last month, I elaborated on cover design, and how to go about finding someone who can help you out when it comes to making cover art for your book. But what about interior design? What happens when you write a book, but feel it could use a little extra something on the inside to grabContinue reading “Illustrating Your Book”
Author Archives: J. S. Allen
Redacted: When Editors Go Too Far
I recently had an article published in a magazine. Wonderful news, of course. It is always nice to know that others deem your work worthy of publication. However, on seeing the article in question, I was rather disappointed to find that some of my main arguments (this was an opinion piece) appeared to have vanished!Continue reading “Redacted: When Editors Go Too Far”
Plans for February
January started out rough, but by the end things cleared up a bit, and I was able to accomplish most of my goals. Minor progress was made on a rough draft, a couple loose ends from 2021 were tied up, and some major changes to another project were laid out. This February, I will beContinue reading “Plans for February”
‘The Mistmantle Chronicles’ (Or the Perfect Fantasy Series)
The Mistmantle Chronicles by M. I. McAllister is quite simply the perfect fantasy series, in my opinion. It has all the classic elements–good vs. evil, a fantastical setting, memorable characters, etc.–but it manages to put them together in just the right order. This is not a review, though at some point I may well reviewContinue reading “‘The Mistmantle Chronicles’ (Or the Perfect Fantasy Series)”
How to Find the Right Cover Artist
Some authors are blessed with talents in both written and visual arts. For such individuals, coming up with suitable cover art for their work can be easier than writing the book itself. However, for most authors, illustrating is at best a secondary endeavor, and so there is a need to find someone else who canContinue reading “How to Find the Right Cover Artist”
DIY: Designing Your Own Cover
Greetings, and welcome to my first proper post of 2022! This is going to be the first of several posts on Do-It-Yourself aspects of book design for self-publishing authors. All authors write their own books and do a bit of editing themselves, obviously. However, there are certain aspects that most either let their publishers takeContinue reading “DIY: Designing Your Own Cover”
Happy New Year!
Greetings all, and happy new year! May 2022 prove tenfold better than 2021…or at least no worse. I don’t know about you all, but December was pretty awful for me. Between dealing with an annoying bug of some sort for the last couple weeks and just general chaos created by the holidays, I was ableContinue reading “Happy New Year!”
Merry Christmas!
Don’t waste your time browsing the web today: Have a lovely warm holiday with friends and relatives! (And be sure to check back here on January 8, 2021!)
Review: ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ & ‘Through the Looking Glass’
These books by Lewis Carroll are classified in the genre of “nonsense literature”, and rightfully so. The author must have considered children to have very short attention spans indeed, as the scene changes every time you think you’ve got a fix on what is going on. The characters are irritably irritable, and the use ofContinue reading “Review: ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ & ‘Through the Looking Glass’”
Plans for December
November was, as expected, a mild month. I partly revised a novella for next year, continued my current rough draft, and completed yet another rough drawing. This month I hope to wrap up this year’s projects. I will make one final drawing, review an anthology I started last year (as well as a couple booksContinue reading “Plans for December”