Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Proof Copy of Black Earth: The Broken Daisy


I just received my proof copy of Black Earth: The Broken Daisy! Aside from a few formatting tweaks that need to be done, and the repositioning of the front cover title (it's too close to the edge), the book is looking pretty good. It is by far the thickest, longest book I have self-published to date, but I am also the most proud of this chunky gem. It's a powerful, emotionally charged adventure that I poured all of myself into, and I can't wait for everyone to get their hands on it when it's released!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Black Earth: The Broken Daisy - Cover Design

Here's a sneak peek at the cover design for Black Earth: The Broken Daisy...


My wife put the majority of this together. The sunset and the cityscape are actually photos that my wife took.

I kept the same fonts that I did for the original, aside from the back cover text which was originally done in Exotc350 DmBd BT and was changed this time to Times New Roman for easier readability since there's more text than the first book.

As with the last cover, (and with future covers), a daisy was included on the back near the website url. I just thought it would be kinda cool to have that appear on all the covers for the Black Earth series. Sort of like a tiny trademark or something similar. I'm trying to keep consistent with certain elements so the books will look good together on the shelf. The first book incorporated blue hues and a night sky and this one incorporates a sunrise and some orange and red shades.

We'll see how all of it really turned out once I receive my proof copy in the next few days.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Back Cover Copy - Final

After a few revisions, some advice from a couple other authors, and a good polishing by my editor, the back cover copy to my latest novel is good to go:

---------- Black Earth: The Broken Daisy - Back Cover Copy Final ----------

The stars have fallen, and the world is tilting into darkness…

“From dust you came, to ash you go.” – These terrifying words are found spray-painted on an office wall in Tucson. It is a message left by Legion, an otherworldly entity that traveled to Earth in the fallen stars. Now Legion is enveloping the world in darkness, disintegrating almost everything in its path, leaving nothing to stand in its way of the planet’s destruction.

Nathan Pierce is on the run for forging the president’s mandatory barcode tattoo. With a bounty on his head, Nathan finds an unexpected ally in Cynthia Ruin, who agrees to help him save his sister, Daisy, from being executed for treason. But Cynthia’s mother, Theresa, is the one who betrayed Nathan and Daisy. Surrounded by suspicion and doubt, Nathan struggles to stay one step ahead of the world that’s against him, and keep tabs on Cynthia, who may or may not end up selling him out in the end.

In the midst of the darkness, those still alive are forced to fight against Legion’s malevolence or lose their humanity beneath it.


A huge improvement from the original, if I do say so:

---------- Black Earth: The Broken Daisy - Back Cover Copy Rough----------

The stars have fallen, and the world is tilting into darkness…

With a bounty put on their heads by the President of the United States, and Theresa Ruin hot on their trail, Nathan Pierce and Sin Ruin venture through Tucson in an attempt to find Nathan’s sister, Daisy, who is about to be executed for treason.

At a secret underground facility owned by a group named Vector, Heather Rhodes and Griffin Smith are reunited with old friends they knew before the church camp shootings. Heather struggles to find out what has happened to her longtime crush, Nathan, while Griffin befriends a time-traveling stranger who may be able to give Griffin the answers he seeks about his past.

Paths will collide while a frightening entity known only as Legion begins to engulf the world in darkness, forcing those that are still alive to fight against it’s malevolence or lose their humanity to it.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Back Cover Copy

I've been working lately on the back cover copy for my upcoming novel, Black Earth: The Broken Daisy. Here's what I have so far. It still needs a brief grammatical editing. I want to make sure it's interesting enough to make someone want to pick up the book - for those that glance at the back cover first anyway. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks...

---------- Black Earth: The Broken Daisy - Back Cover Copy ----------

The stars have fallen, and the world is tilting into darkness…

With a bounty put on their heads by the President of the United States, and Theresa Ruin hot on their trail, Nathan Pierce and Sin Ruin venture through Tucson in an attempt to find Nathan’s sister, Daisy, who is about to be executed for treason.

At a secret underground facility owned by a group named Vector, Heather Rhodes and Griffin Smith are reunited with old friends they knew before the church camp shootings. Heather struggles to find out what has happened to her longtime crush, Nathan, while Griffin befriends a time-traveling stranger who may be able to give Griffin the answers he seeks about his past.

Paths will collide while a frightening entity known only as Legion begins to engulf the world in darkness, forcing those that are still alive to fight against it’s malevolence or lose their humanity to it.