Paperback cover reveal: Danny Dirks and the Heir of Pendragon

August 22, 2014August 21, 2014 / samulraney / 8 Comments

Two weeks ago, I revealed the cover for Danny Dirks and the Heir of Pendragon. Today, I get to show off the paperback version. I really can’t wait to see how this turns out from Createspace. I’m going with cream paper for the interior and trying out the matte finish on the cover for the first time. I’m really hoping that the details don’t wash out on the matte. I don’t think a glossy cover would do this justice.

Hope you like it. I think Jason (jasongurley.com) did a phenomenal job.

Danny Dirks and the Heir of Pendragon is currently available for pre-order on Amazon. It launches September 1st. The ebook is just $2.99. The paperback will list for $10.49, which isn’t too bad. It was honestly the lowest I could go without having to pay them every time someone bought a copy! 😉

I’ve got a new paperback coming out

July 24, 2014August 20, 2014 / samulraney / 1 Comment

It’s been a bit slow in coming, but the paperback version of my suspense/thriller, Divisible by Six (by Andy Rane) will be available in paperback shortly. Created by my good friend, James Cornette, I’ve very excited about finally seeing this book in print. While James isn’t a regular cover designer, he’s an amazing artist and a fan to boot! Major props to him for crafting this awesome cover for me. You should check out his website, especially his sketch work from this year. Awesome stuff. 🙂

My Book Cover Designer is Retiring! :(

July 17, 2014August 20, 2014 / samulraney / Leave a comment

I was pretty thrilled to get a chance to work with Jason Gurley for my Danny Dirks series, but that sentiment is magnified by the fact that he’s now retiring from making covers! If you’ve read any of Hugh Howey’s ebooks, you’ve probably seen his cover designs. They are immediately recognizable. Anyway, he still has some premade covers available in his backstock. Highly recommended. Get them while you can! Also, be sure to check out his writing, as he recently released a wonderfully received book, call Eleanor.

Cover reveal: Liquid Blue – Book 1, Part I

June 22, 2014August 20, 2014 / samulraney / 1 Comment

While I’ve been waiting for the next round of revisions to Danny Dirks from my editor, I’ve knocked the dust off an older sci-fi project that I’m going to release in smaller parts. Above, you’ll find the cover for the first part, I’ll be releasing shortly. I’ll have part II ready by August and part III will wrap up book 1 in the fall.

Below is a brief description:

The year is 2074. It’s been 60 years since first contact. Sixty years since the creature entered Dr. Nigel Llewellyn’s office and handed him the device that would spark man’s venture into interstellar travel. His great-great grandson, Caeden Llewellyn lives in a mining colony on Jupiter’s moon, Callisto. It is on the giant gas planet that man mines the mysterious element that makes instantaneous travel and their technological advances possible; Llewellium, better known as Liquid Blue.

Part I finds Caeden on a school field trip that goes terribly wrong.

The first part is now available on Amazon and Smashwords.

The book cover was created at Canva.com. I purchased the rights to use the artwork for all 3 parts for $3. While it’s not exclusive, I think it’s pretty nice for pretty cheap.

Want to make a cover for your ebook?

June 13, 2014August 20, 2014 / samulraney / Leave a comment

But maybe don’t have the skill set to work in InDesign or Illustrator? And don’t have the funds to have a pro do it for you? Check out Canva. This handy online tool lets you build covers (and other visuals such as social media headers and infographics) using clipart that may be free. While the better looking images aren’t free, the $1 surcharge to use them is what I would call very reasonable. This may be especially useful if you’re planning on doing a series of shorts, where the cost for multiple covers, that may be very similar in nature, would exceed returns. Mind you, there are limitations on republishing stock photos, so be sure to read the fine print. This is standard with any book cover designers who use stock footage. Essentially, they can only have the rights for up to a certain number of reproductions. In this case, if I’m not mistaken, the one-time use clause only allows for 2000 print versions, but if you’re only planning on making an ebook, then you might be ok; that number is a bit higher (480,000). Below you can see a watermarked example of something I created. Shhh… it’s for my super secret alter ego. That’s a joke. It’s the worst-kept secret ever. Anyway, this took me about an hour to slap together and the majority of that time was spent looking for the background image (the watermark would be gone if I purchased this image. Seems like a handy little tool. Let me know if you check it out and feel free to post a link to your results in the comments below.