Not ten minutes ago, the doorbell rang, the animals scarpered, and I took possession of a small cardboard box with my name on it. I knew what it must be, but…it was almost a week early!
And there they were, the print proofs of the Innerscape books. Real at last:
Sorry for the poor quality of the pics. I took them with my mobile phone so you can’t see the rich deep colour or the way the light reflects off the gloss covers. What you can see, however, is that the Godsend cover didn’t work. This is a close-up:
The bit inside the red rectangle is the background image that’s meant to represent the Innerscape containment units. Instead of being a subtle hint, the image is as good as invisible. π¦
I know I’m not a professional cover designer, so I have to learn from my mistakes, but I feel as if I should have expected this one. You see in the print preview of the Godsend cover, the image did appear much darker than the image I was working on. But…I assumed it was just something to do with the print preview function. Wrong.
The Godsend cover won’t be hard to fix, but I’ll have to ‘guess’ at the finished product because I won’t be able to request a second proof [not because CreateSpace won’t allow it, but because the postage is so ridiculously expensive].
Another thing I’m going to have to guess at is the width of the Miira spine. For some reason, the actual spine is wider that the dimension I was working with in Corel. But this is both an annoying thing and a very, very good thing because I was worried ‘Miira’ would end up being ridiculously ‘thin’. Instead, it looks and feels like a normal, albeit ‘slim’ book so I’m thrilled by that. I’m also thrilled by the back covers. They look great, they’re very readable and they are beautifully consistent throughout the three books. I’m giving myself a pat on the back for that. π
The Offspring and I are going to celebrate tonight with a tender Rack of Lamb, roast potatoes and a salad of homegrown lettuce, followed by a movie. I hope your weekend starts as well as mine. π
cheers
Meeks
August 22nd, 2017 at 3:02 am
Congrats! Love the distinctive covers!
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August 22nd, 2017 at 11:00 am
Thank you! I spend close to 6 months on them.
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August 19th, 2017 at 10:59 pm
How exciting!
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August 20th, 2017 at 9:37 am
Thank you, thank you. π
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August 18th, 2017 at 11:48 pm
Fabulous! Congrats, and here’s to many, many more books to come!!
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August 19th, 2017 at 9:51 am
-grin- Thank you! I’ll do my best but I’m slooooow. π
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August 18th, 2017 at 10:24 pm
Yaaaaaey! congrats π
Two rule-of-thumb stuff, always assume that the cover you see on the screen is going to be less bright on print, because the screen is producing its own light while a book has to reflect light and due to diffusion it’s losing some. (Hence, always do a test print using paper similar to the one that’s to be used for the print.)
The second point, is to always switch the design app to CMYK mode for any file that is going to end up on print. Sure, a jpg will still print, but it is possible that you’ll get a hue change sometimes, and colors will go duller. (JPG doesn’t support CMYK, which is why some printing houses prefer PDF files or the original one if possible)
Ask them if they have a color profile that you can use when making your covers. You can then tell the software to make a file that uses that. *Warning*:This may cause any test prints you make on your own printer to have a different hue than what will actually be printed by the printing house because your printer won’t be the same as theirs. Nor the inks or the paper.
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August 18th, 2017 at 10:34 pm
lol I’m definitely going to remember rule no. 1! I should have realised my screen wasn’t properly calibrated. With 2 though, I did use CMYK for the print so the actual colours are much better than what showed in my pics. It was just that one Godsend cover. I used a transparency over the background image and clearly it was too opaque. Live and learn, right?
Just as a matter of interest, what software do you use when you’re designing stuff? -cough- should have asked the professional first -cough-
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August 20th, 2017 at 9:00 am
Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, mostly because that’s what I came to learn first and feel most comfortable in.
And Maya/Unity both have support for Photoshop files.
It’s not that they don’t have their own set of issues though, most coming from a “legacy” point of view and a need to overhaul things in them. A.k.a. “It’s Adobe, Β―\_(γ)_/Β― ”
I’m thinking of evaluating some alternatives though because i really dislike the subscription thing. Like Affinity Photo. Of course, if that program only has photo retouch stuff, it won’t do.
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August 20th, 2017 at 9:30 am
I tried Photoshop once, a very long time ago, but I couldn’t make head nor tail of it. Never tried Illustrator but I do still have a very old copy of InDesign. Actually I think it may be the original CS.
Ah well, I think I’ll stick to what I know best. If you do find something new and good, please let me know and I may try it too.
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August 18th, 2017 at 10:22 pm
Congratulations! Honestly, I wouldn’t have noticed the cover.
And dinner sounds divine! Yum!
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August 18th, 2017 at 10:30 pm
-sigh- I’m anal, and these are the first covers I’ve ever designed so I’m hypercritical. But thanks. π
And dinner was lovely. We watched Logan afterward and I was blown away.
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August 18th, 2017 at 6:27 pm
In a partially related question… How do you organise/structure your writing? Do you use any special software? Do you just let it flow? How do you outline the whole thing. Voktah seemed very professionally planned.
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August 18th, 2017 at 10:28 pm
Wow…thank you! But no, I’m mostly a ‘pantster’ i.e. let it flow. That said, I’m also anal so in the middle I do a lot of who did what? who knew what? and a lot of rewriting. If it flows at the end then I’m delighted.
As for software, yes! I use a dedicated writing software called StoryBox novel writing software. It’s very similar to the better known Scrivener and both are a combination of word processor and project manager.
I’m having to use Word at the moment because the how-to I’m writing needs a lot of screenshots, and StoryBox isn’t really designed for a lot of graphics, but I’m hating it. So very clunky. In StoryBox I can organise my writing into chapters and scenes so easily. And when I need to move things around, that’s even easier. In Word?….-face palm-
Oh! Before I forget, if you do want to outline, StoryBox [and I think Scrivener too] has the ability to do that too.
Seriously, Pinky. It’s a small investment – maybe $40 US? but it will take a lot of the drudgery out of writing.
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August 18th, 2017 at 6:16 pm
CONGRATULATIONS Meeks π
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August 18th, 2017 at 10:28 pm
Thanks, Chris. It’s been a very good day. π
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August 18th, 2017 at 5:29 pm
I’m with David. Big congratulations and hugs. πΌ
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August 18th, 2017 at 10:29 pm
Thank you and big hugs back. π
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August 18th, 2017 at 3:01 pm
Congrats! *hugs*
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August 18th, 2017 at 4:22 pm
Thank you. π
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August 18th, 2017 at 1:05 pm
Congratulations darling Meeks, they look fantastic, even The Godsend. Remember we wouldn’t know how you imagined this cover so to us it looks good. It’s only the proof anyway.
So how does it feel to hold them in your hand, almost siblings for the Offspring? It is something to be very proud of.
xxx Sending you Super Weekend Hugs, enjoy the celebrations xxx
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August 18th, 2017 at 1:14 pm
-grin- Thank you! And yes, they do feel a bit like siblings to the Offspring. Heaven knows they gestated for long enough!
-huge hugs back-
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August 18th, 2017 at 12:45 pm
Congrats!!! Enjoy dinner, the weekend, and the “tangible” editions of your marvelous series!
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August 18th, 2017 at 1:16 pm
Thanks, Candy. I will enjoy the moment, but not for too long. I’m about 1/2 way through writing the CreateSpace guide, and I’ll need it for the workshops, so I can feel the whip cracking over my head already. π
-hugs-
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