Time Travel: Where and When Would You Go?

Today's post is in honour of PK Hrezo's grand cover reveal for her nifty time travel novel, Butterman (Time) Travel Inc, due for release 12th November 2013.

Welcome to Butterman Travel, Incorporated

We are a full service agency designed to meet all your exclusive time travel needs. Family-owned and operated, we offer clients one hundred years of time travel experience. A place where you can rest assured, safety and reliability always come first. 

Anxious to attend a special event from the past? Or for a glimpse of what the future holds?

You’ve come to the right place. We’re a fully accredited operation, offering an array of services; including, but not limited to: customized travel plans, professionally piloted operations, and personal trip guides. *Terms and conditions do apply

Conference us directly from our Website. Our frontline reservation specialist, Bianca Butterman, will handle all your inquiries in a professional and efficient manner, offering a tentative itinerary and free fare quote, so you can make the most of your time trip.

We look forward to serving you at Butterman Travel, Inc., where time is always in your hands.

Find PK Hrezo: Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Website
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If you could walk into a time travel agency and book a time trip, where and when would you go, and why?

I used to travel a lot. I had a particular love for Britain and Europe because of their ancient sites. If the place had a castle, fort or other kind of ruins, then I had to visit. The ancient sites always made me wonder, what was life like back then, what happened to the people there? This question never rang so loudly than it did at Skara Brae, a Neolithic settlement, located at the Bay of Skaill on the largest island in the Orkney archipelago in northern Scotland.

It was a village with eight clustered stone buildings, which housed no more than fifty people at any given time and was occupied from roughly 3180 BC–2500 BC. Those dates make my mind boggle.

For 600 years or so, the village flourished, then one day the people who lived there abandoned it. Evidence from artefacts found at the site suggested the inhabitants fled in haste. There are many theories floating around as to why the people left. The most popular one is climate change, with a storm forcing them out. My tour guide, with his heavy Scottish accent, suggested an invasion or the encroaching sea.

So, if I had the power to travel anywhere and anytime, I guess I'd go to that tiny village just to find out what happened.

Where and when would you go and why?

To see the other participants in this bloghop, check out the list HERE

Cover Reveal: Sacrifice Her

The day has finally come. Time to reveal the cover of Sacrifice HER. Be amazed.

Title: Sacrifice HER by Sheena-kay Graham

Goodreads: Sacrifice HER

Release Date: December 2013

Summary: When a city is at stake is the life of one sixteen-year old girl worth risking thousands? Deidra Moore goes on the run after escaping from a group of human sacrifices for Bane: God of Gore. She doesn't believe he exists and sees uncertainty in the scorching desert as a better alternative. But Faux City isn't finished with her and their leader Lord Brinn is ordered by Bane - through one of his maiden worshipers- to bring her back or face dire consequences. In the desert Deidra meets a wanderer named Kane and as feelings spark can they find a safe place to lead a new life before Lord Brinn and his soldiers catch up with them? Yet the question remains. Does Bane really exist and if he does what will happen if either side succeeds or fails? Told in alternating perspectives of both the runaway servant girl and the blonde strong willed leader.

Author Bio:

Sheena-kay Graham was never meant for a traditional job behind a desk. Her childhood career plans included becoming a ballerina, actress or someone who helped people. So naturally she decided to be a writer who writes from her bed. Yes, no desk for this Jamaican book lover. No matter if it’s reading, writing or using the computer....you get the gist. The love of the written word has always been with her leading to stories, novels, poetry and way too much fan fiction. This Christian woman can be found trolling Amazon online, in local book bookstores, watching movies on the big screen, or in her bed, or reading/writing/on the laptop...again in her bed. Mainly writes YA fiction and is ready to unleash her creativity to wow the masses.

Links

Website: http://queendsheena.blogspot.com/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5448863.Sheena_kay_Graham

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SheenakayGrahamAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/queendsheena

Cover Design: 

Image of woman with flowing hair (purchased): © Transfuchsian | Dreamstime.com

Cover Designer:  Langao @ http://fiverr.com/langao

And for a final bit of wow factor. Look at what Sheena got for free without asking.

16 Tips to Fake a Professional Book Cover

With the heightened popularity of self-publishing, it's become both clear and painful, that more and more authors are making the decision to design their own book covers. In 99.9% of the cases, this is a huge mistake. Sure, it might save them some money up front, but I'll guarantee you they'll lose money in sales in the long run.

Unless you have a known name, readers WILL judge your book by its cover before they buy.

You know how us writers shake our heads in pity when someone suggests that writing is so easy that anyone can do it? That little misconception has caused the downfall of many a wannabe. Don't fall into the same trap when it comes to art. There's so much more to design than drawing pretty pictures. Just because you were good at art in high school, or you own a snazzy drawing program, doesn't mean you'll be able to create a professional book cover.

With my nine years of graphic design experience, I thought I'd share a few tips to recognise and create a professional book cover which will give potential readers confidence your story will be just as good as the cover promises.

The Basics

1. In the very least, the cover needs to communicate the book's genre. An example of good design is Alex J Cavanaugh's CassaStar, CassaFire, and the soon to be released, CassaStorm. They so obviously belong to the Science Fiction genre. The covers promise an exciting read with lots of action, and the stories deliver exactly that.

2. Keep it simple. You might have grand ideas for your cover, but unless you're a professional designer, it's unlikely you'll be able to match what's in your head with what you can create. Simple is far more eye-catching than a fussy design anyway. Fussy will all too often turn to mud.

3. Make sure the design looks just as recognisable and eye-catching in a thumbnail size as it does full size.

4. Design the cover in a high resolution—300dpi is preferable for a sharp image in print. It's then easy to scale back for web images (72dpi).

The Images
5. Check cover trends. Does the trend lean toward photos or illustration for your market? Does it lean toward images of people or objects?

6. Only use recognisable images. There's no point using an image that's not immediately recognisable. Carol Kilgore's Solomon's Compass is a great example of the use of recognisable images.

7. Do NOT use clipart. I don't care if it's free. Do NOT use it.

8. Be aware of rights to images. You can't use anything you happen to come across. Also, free rarely means free for commercial use. If you plan to make money from the use of images or fonts through the sale of books, then that is a commercial venture and no longer falls under the rights of most freeware.

The Fonts

9. Use an easy-to-read font.

10. Do NOT use comic sans. It's a common font that comes with everything and it screams amateur.

11. Keep it simple and readable. Christine Rain's The 13th Floor series is another great example of a clean, easy to read covers.

12. Check what other professionally published covers use for title fonts in your chosen market. Not every market is the same.

13. Make sure there's a strong contrast between the font colour and the background it's on. Remember, the text needs to be readable.

14. Don't use special effects on the fonts. Just because your graphics program has these funky filters, doesn't mean you should use them. Leave that to the professionals.

15. Don't be afraid to break up a long title onto a couple of lines. One long title across the book's width just looks silly. Look for balance in the design.

16. Unless you've built a huge fan base over a number of books, make sure the title is bigger than your name.

There are a bunch of other tips I could share, for example colour psychology, but perhaps I'll save that for another time.

Which are your favourite book cover designs? What are your thoughts on do-it-yourself covers?

Darkest Day Cover Reveal

Darkest Day, Book three of the 19th Year by Emi Gayle.

Mac Thorne’s time as a Changeling is coming to an end.

It may have taken eighteen years, but Mac did finally manage to do what the Council wanted: she chose a teacher and renounced the in-between.

There’s just one last step. She must say goodbye to her human. Forever.

After being challenged in every way possible, Mac leaves what she thought would be the easiest task for the last possible moment. As midnight on July fourth draws near, though, she hasn’t found a way to give up Winn Thomas.

Nor does she want to.

With time running out, Mac stands at a literal crossroads.

Choose Winn, and she’ll be stripped of the only family she’s ever known—vampires, dragons, and her favorite demon. Even her own mother. Accept her position on the Council and rule as an equal to her twelve peers, and she’ll forget Winn ever existed.

Independence and freedom have never before been so limiting.

In this final chapter of the 19th Year Trilogy, it’s time for Mac to decide.

Responsibility? Or Love
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Book 1: After Dark
Book 2: Day After--Newish Release
Book 3: Darkest Day--to be released 6th January 2014
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Well, I'm back after a few weeks of being sick. Last week was particularly unfun in the flu department. I'm still not 100% but I'm getting there. Much rejoicing! At least now I'm fit enough to be writing and visiting everyone again.

How have you been lately? Read any top notch books you want to share? Achieved any goals you want to celebrate?

Cover Reveal: Solomon's Compass

January seems to be the month for cover reveals and new releases. I have another exciting cover reveal for you today. This time it's from the lovely Carol Kilgore, author of In Name Only, with her second novel, Solomon's Compass due out soon. I love this cover!

The death of her beloved uncle, Randy Rankin, brings US Coast Guard Commander Taylor Campbell back to Texas to take care of his estate and find out if he really did bury his treasure. Jake Solomon’s job is to make sure Rankin’s killer doesn’t set his sights on CDR Campbell. Set along the Texas Gulf Coast, SOLOMON’S COMPASS is a story of love, loyalty, and the value of keeping a promise.

Carol Kilgore is an award-winning author of several published short stories and many essays and articles. Solomon’s Compass is her second novel, a blend of mystery, suspense, and romance she calls Crime Fiction with a Kiss – always at least one crime; always a love story. Carol and her Coast Guard husband live in San Antonio, Texas, with two herding dogs that like nothing better than pack time on the patio.

You can find Carol here:
website . blog . facebook . twitter . goodreads . amazon

Cover Reveal: From The Ashes

I'm not sure how it all went wrong.

The concept was simple.

The Trials were made to test us. They were made to challenge our strengths; our bravery.

We were supposed to come out better.

Winning the Trials would make us Superior citizens.

It would bring us honor and demonstrate our loyalty to the Imperial Alliance. I knew exactly what I wanted.

Until I met him.

There was something about him. Something dark. If only I had known the danger it would put us in.

I thought I knew the risks.

But I never imagined the price we'd pay.

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An insightful look at the good and bad that exist within us, McKendry's debut is a high-octane adventure that pushes the imagination to the limit as it lays bare the nature of self-reliance, self-confidence, and teamwork. Playing with the concepts of dark and light and how they affect our lives in multiple forms, her novel is a complex coming of age story that encapsulates the heroine's journey from student to leader. A dark tale of love and revenge, From the Ashes is a powerful reminder to think for yourself instead of blindly following what you've been taught to believe.

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FROM THE ASHES, coming to Amazon in February, 2013.

Congratulations, Jess!!

 

What books are you dying to read in 2013?

 

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Make Believe 

 

There is another giveaway being hosted over at Known To Read as part of the Make Believe anthology blog tour.