The Kindle Scout programme provided me with publicity for my manuscripts and excitement that motivated me to write at a great rate. I never "won" Kindle Scout, but I always felt that I had got good value from my free participation. Sadly, however, Kindle Scout is no more (as is Kindle Worlds - which inspired me to start my vampire/shifter series although I went independent with them); and I need to find a new source of "buzz" for my writing.
In desperation, I turn to "Cover Wars" by Author Shout. Author Shout also create promotional posters for authors to use online and after viewing a few, I was inspired to create my own from some photographs taken especially by my friend Allan.
I made a poster for Silver Springtime: This features a background image taken by Allan Schultz as well as the cover image of a tree which features his photography. The cover image represents two lovers carving their name on a tree. The setting is tropical because the story is located in SE Queensland, Australia.
Mystic Evermore is competing in Author Shout Cover Wars for 1 week from 15/7/2018, US time. Please vote. http://authorshout.com/cover-wars/
My book Mystic Evermore is a vampire/shifter teen romance for which I was inspired to do a hand-drawn cover.
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I have also been doing a "Cover War" with Author Shout for Silver Springtime:
Please vote online before Sunday 1/7/2018! http://authorshout.com/cover-wars/
The design story of this cover.
I Wanted a tropical rain-forest scene for the cover of my novel to fit the setting of SE Queensland. At the time I was unable to travel, so this picture was taken at a nursery that specialises in tropical plants and ferns!I used the "cover creator" provided by Kindle Direct, which gave me the initial design. However, each cover creator I loaded the image into made a slightly different cover. The final cover ended up being designed in Create Space's cover maker. However, then I made a cover in Open Office, which could generate a PDF version suitable for Ingram Spark and some other publishers.
AUTHORSdb stands for "Authors Database". Membership is free and authors can self-list their own books. It appears to be a friendly site because I have received a number of spontaneous friend requests, which is something that has not happened at Goodreads or most other author sites.AUTHORSdb is also a site for reviewers, promotions and giveaways, so there could be a few reasons for the friend requests. However, the site appears friendly and interactive.
AUTHORSdb has several types of contests and I have checked them out because contests do represent good publicity opportunities.
The first lines contest sounds great - but my books start where they start - strangely enough! I used to get great first lines in my head once... but found those ideas rarely went past a hundred words or so. If I have a book which starts in such a poetic fashion, I will consider entering it.
Mystic Evermore is doing the "Cover Contest 2018". I entered this title because I am most proud of my hand drawing and computer compilation of this cover. (Several of my covers feature high quality photographs by my friend Allan, so I am actually proud of them all.)
Please visit to vote for my entry and feel free to browse through the fascinating entries and titles competing in 2018. http://authorsdb.com/2018-cover-contest-results/27325-cover-contest-2018-mystic-evermore
