Friday, April 13, 2012

Art and Goal Reporting for April Week 2

Thank you for all your notes of congratulations. The last few days have been a wonderful high. I feel like I'm walking around with this expression on my face.
Yesterday I spent a couple of hours with my artist friend Chris to talk about scenes he could draw up for a book trailer. Chris is amazing! I've only seen black and white pencil drawings, but I'm always impressed with his detail and the emotion he manages to get in the eyes.

We also talked cover art.

Now, you might be asking, Why would you do that? I learned that I could submit art for possible covers. It doesn't mean it will be used. But who knows?

Chris read an earlier version of Sendek (about a year and a half ago, maybe two) and I wanted to know what he had in mind. The coolest part was we both had the same idea for what the cover should look like. 

He has the next two days off of work and is going to work on the cover art. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about that. Even if its not used for the cover, I can probably use it on posters, post cards, bookmarks, etc.

*squee!*

Okay, here's my report for the week. I'm going to do this more often to keep me on track for my goals. Reporting = More done.

On Monday I posted the following:

Planning:

There's a lot that I need to get done this week. To make sure I do what is the most important, I'm only posting on Tuesday and Friday this week. Yeah, today doesn't count.

  • Tomorrow is the 3rd Annual LDS Writer Blogfest, and I don't know what I'm going to write about.
  • I need to finish the last 150 pages of the edit I'm doing on Sendek.
  • I need to do a first chapter critique that I should have done last week. I got started.
  • Work more on the wip I'm critiquing. I'm on page 239/361
  • Finish Faerie Wings. No, really. Sendek has reclaimed my brain.
  • Finish the edit of the short story I plan to submit this month for W1S1. TODAY. This is my goal for today.
  • Come up with a short story to write for April. Maybe next week?
  • Laundry, taxi driving kids, cooking, maybe some cleaning, running (I'm getting fat!), and my early morning class. I'm going to miss those three and a half extra hours of sleep.
How did you do with your goals this week? What are your goals for next week?

7 comments:

  1. That's great you have an artist friend who will help you! Can't wait to see the trailer.

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  2. Cover art and book trailer talk. So much excitement.

    This month has been a lazy month for me. Mainly focused on reading and the A to Z blogging challenge and not being too nervous for feedback on my WiP. Keep up with the goal setting and reporting. I have to agree that reporting = more done.

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    1. Participating in the A to Z challenge is not lazy!

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  3. Cover art is so much fun. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

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  4. That is really cool that you have an artist who is going to make your book all that you want it to be. But I just want to point out, Charity, that the reason for seeking a traditional publisher is really to give up some control. I mean seriously. I think that at this time, you need to start letting go of Sendek. Let the publisher take it from here...do your trailer (I opted for not doing one since my publisher wouldn't help at all and said they were a waste of money and time), but let the publisher do the cover art. Let the publisher do the editing. LET GO. Release. And enjoy the fruits of your labor.

    I know where you are. I was terrified about my cover art. Terrified that it wouldn't do my book justice. But I squashed those feelings and waited for the final product which I'm very happy with.

    So is there a chance that your publisher will do a cover and then run it by you first and give you the option that, if you hate it, you could do one yourself? If so, I would explore that option.

    BTW: I'm doing some marketing things including buying an ad on goodreads. I will let you know at the end if I thought it was worth the money. I spent $150 on a book ad so it'll be a month before I know if it was any good or not. Whatever I learn from it...I shall pass it on to you so you can better judge options out there.

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    1. Thanks for the great advice Michael! I promise to work on "letting go" this week. :)

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  5. I tend to do my coverart on my PC using photoshop.

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