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I Wrote Stephen King

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I wrote Stephen King today. I wanted to thank him for what he did for my small town in Northern Maine. For those who didn’t read my post on it, Mr. King donated 50k to my town to open up their own library. That was instrumental in getting it off the ground. . Also many libraries have received funding from him from what I am reading. After sharing this news with a few people it turns out Mr. King also donates money for people to pay for heating oil in the winter. If anyone is familiar with the coldness of Maine you understand why this is a touching gesture

Everyone in Maine knows how to reach Mr. King. His address is simple and direct in Bangor. But I wanted to make sure he got it. So finding his publisher I wrote a letter. But typing it up did not seem sincere so I went out and got some pretty stationary. I had to do this right. I wanted him to know how much it meant to me and my small town. Whether he writes me back or not is not the point of the letter. Though if he did it be AWESOME! But I wanted him to know the donation was received gratefully not just by the people involved in getting the library off the ground but from someone who was raised in this town and still calls it home.

I guess I talk about King a lot for a friend of mine has dubbed me Mrs. King and that amuses me. It is nice to have a local boy do so well and give so much back. We are proud of him.  While I’m not able to donate 50k to the library what I will do is give a copy of my book once it comes out in August. It will be my small way of helping out.

 

My town now has a library. It may only be one room now but this is only the beginning.

 

 

Amazon Parrot, Book Cover, Contract

The Final Say: Book Cover

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I am fortunate that I have the final say when it comes to my book. It means the buck stops with me. AWESOME!

However that doesn’t mean I know what I’m doing. It just means I get the last word whether that be right or wrong. Case in point my book cover for “Jasper, Amazon Parrot: A Rainforest Adventure”. Last Friday the illustrator sent me four images for me to choose from. I knew which one I liked but yet I took the time to have people look at the pictures to give me their ideas. This was a good thing. For with some slight changes to the images the illustrator was able to come up with two images for me to decide from.

I knew immediately which one I wanted and loved. Granted both were amazing. Did I go with my gut? Nope. I asked people to see what they thought. Heck when I was making copies at Staples I asked the man who made the copies and the lady next to me. I was covering all angles just to make sure I was picking the right one.

It is not always easy having the last say. If I mess up it could determine if my book stays on the shelves and collect dust or is picked up to be looked over. I have to be frustrating the publisher and her illustrator. I know if I was in that situation I might be as well. I just need to make sure I do it right. The book comes out in August which is within viewing distance

Sunday I wrote the illustrator with my decision. It is time to move on. What I am waiting for is to view illustrations inside the book. While this is all fun and exciting it is a big stressful. But I do have a case of Pepsi to ingest, my version of alcohol.

This is an amazing ride.

Book Covers, Illustration, Jasper Amazon Parrot

My Book and Images

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This past Friday, the illustrator sent me four images for my book Jasper, Amazon Parrot: A Rainforest Adventure. They were primarily to see if she was on the right track in conveying the image I wanted for him. Opening up the email I was blown away. I knew immediately which one was my favorite. Granted I am going to ask her to make some changes here and there but she is in the direction I had anticipated. Like most anything I asked for people’s advice on which one they liked and didn’t like and why. Just because I have final say on the covers doesn’t mean I know what I am doing here.

So a variety of people looked at them. I had other writers, my family, people at the store where I was making copies of the images to kids who had read the actual book. What I was hearing was that I seemed to be the only one who liked the one image that had stood out to me.

Crap.

This is an important decision, the book cover for your book. It has to be amazing for people to even want to pick up just to read the back cover. If it is not appealing it will gather dust on the shelves. I must have emailed my poor editor at least 20 times, if not more, as we went over each one carefully.

Among the various suggestions a light bulb finally lit over my head. The reason people were not liking the image I liked was due to positioning of Jasper. They loved the side profile he had in the other three images. So I tried this out. I started asking people if image 1 would work if it was a side profile. People liked, they really liked that idea.

I mailed Kim, the illustrator, and asked her if she could make some slight changes to two of the images to see which one really pop. She is awesome and is so willing to work with me in creating something that even Jasper would be proud off. I don’t have the image here for it is going to be work on but when it is ready I will release it. This was a little stressful these last few days as I tried to figure out what worked. We shouldn’t always ignore our gut feelings, it may know something that we don’t already know. Even if that means it has to be tweaked a little bit.

The Musings of A New Englander