Everyone likes getting reviews, especially when they’re nice ones. I tell people they’re the life blood of new authors, but even old pros wait anxiously to see how people react to their latest work.  I’m very grateful to everyone who has taken the time to not only read my book, but to post on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Thank you!

So where does Beverly Franklin come in? Well yesterday I happened to notice the review count had gone up one on my book. I anxiously scrolled down to see what the reviewer thought. Let’s just say I was at a loss for words. I’ll let you read the review yourself:

Well I just spent a whole Thanksgiving day with a bunch of elves. It was awesome but glad I was eating leftover pasta salad instead of turkey while reading the very descriptive battle scenes. Now if you think elves only go around baking cookies and whipping arrows at butt ugly ogres in cheap jewelry you are in for a big surprise. These elves have powers. They can mess around inside your head psi something and teleport without paying outrageous gasoline prices and actually heal themselves without a budget busting insurance policy that most doctors won’t take anyway. Now I thought there were no worse demons than my two little great nieces but like the book says if you think things can’t get any worse you lack imagination. I’m now naming my house the Abyss Auxillary. And the sound effects were amazing. Oh wait that was my niece’s cat in heat while I was trying to read. But no problem, she sneaked out the door when I took out the garbage. The sound effects got more intense but then stopped as I continued reading. I couldn’t put the book down except for snacks and bathroom breaks. And I don’t even mind the elf smoking cigarettes as he doesn’t stink up my car with them. But until they take their first bath after years in the abyss you sure don’t want to give that elf a ride unless you’ve been eating chili and can give him some stiff competition. I had a fun day. Of course tomorrow won’t be since I neglected the laundry, the dishes and the cat litter box so I could read the book.

I don’t think I’ve ever been more entertained reading a review. Fortunately, I was able to gain permission from Ms. Franklin to post her review here so a few more folks might get to enjoy her wonderful flair for expressing herself. Thank you, Beverly Franklin, you brightened my day.

It occurred to me that my first book, Exile’s Redemption owed a good 50,000 words to my participation in a NaNoWriMo a couple of years back. Granted, those rough scrawls had to go through several rewrites in order to make them presentable, but the story and characters didn’t morph into something entirely different – the spirit of that first draft remains.

So, in light of that, I have decided to do a mini celebration by putting my book up for sale via Amazon’s Countdown feature. For the next few days (4 days and 14 hours as I write this) the Kindle edition is on sale for $2.99. I realize that just about anyone visiting this site has probably already picked up and read my book (thank you!), but if you happen to know someone who might wish to take advantage of a 41% off sale, please point them in the right direction: Exile’s Redemption Countdown Sale

Wow, I thought I’d covered just about everything in my two-part blog on running cover contests. I was wrong. Since then two more items have come to my attention – very important items: copyright and 1-on-1’s.

Copyright: When you buy the rights to use someone’s design for your book cover, that is all you are entitled to do: use that specific image for your cover and promotions. It does not give you the right to distribute the title/logo that artist created for you to other artists for the purpose of designing new covers for the series. Seriously, this is a huge no-no. If you think the title/logo they created for you is distinctive enough that you wish to use it as-is, then set up a 1-on-1 with that artist and arrange to purchase the logo as a separate element.

Which brings us to …

1-on-1s: A 1-on-1 is when you set up negotiations with an individual artist for a design. After a successful cover competition, 99Designs will even notify you that you should consider working with the same author in the future using their 1-on-1 option. I won a contest recently, and the author said up front he was interested in working with me in the future so that his three-book series would have a cohesive look to it. He also said he might be interested in having me redo some older covers of his from a previous series. Awesome! Also, very smart on his part. Why? Let us explore the benefits.

• As already stated, you gain a consistent look to your series. For example, pop over to Amazon and take a look at the cover for Susan Kaye Quinn’s Third Daughter It’s the first in a series and sports an eye-catching cover promising steampunk and a setting in India. There are additional books in the series and they all utilize the same artist, using the same style. You see one of those books and you will not mistake it for anything else.
• You’ve worked with this artist before so you know they’re reliable and you know what to expect out of them. You’ve developed (hopefully) a friendly working relationship. Maybe you’ve even connected on Facebook or other social media. It just makes setting up a business arrangement easier if you deal with the same people.
• Since there isn’t a competition going on, you can communicate directly with the artist and shoot ideas off of one another. You even have the option of sending excerpts or even a full manuscript to the artist to help them along. When it comes down to it, it’s all about good communication.
• Saves you time. The contests go on for a certain period of time and even if you’ve spied the cover of your dreams, your obligated to let the entire thing play out. If you’re working directly with one artist, the minute the both of you agree on a design, you’re good.
• Saves you money. If you start a contest with a $200 prize, you’ll pay 99Designs $100 on top of that. If you do a 1-on-1 with an artist, they take a much smaller fee. A $200 payment to the author will cost you only $15 in handling fees through 99Designs, saving you $85 – woot!

Okay, I think that covers it—again. At least until next time. P