I recently completed a fabulous class on Cover Design with Dean Wesley Smith and Allyson Longueira. (Dean is an amazing writer and knowledgeable publisher, and Allyson is a professional book designer with a masters degree in design.)
I really never thought I’d be able to publish my own work, mainly because the cover art terrified me. Dean helped me over that hurdle in July 2011 when I took his “Be Your Own Publisher” workshop, a face-to-face class on the Oregon coast. Learning to create simple but functional covers using PowerPoint (or in my case Keynote) enabled me to put my first ebooks up for sale.
Dean’s “Promotions” class in February 2012 pulled my work up a notch. I learned so much about fonts and the placement of tag lines in that one. My redesigned covers improved a LOT. I even managed to brand one series of novels.
But THIS class *faints* OMG! What an eye-opening experience. Let me share a before and after example. I think you’ll see the difference…
Currently published paperback cover:
New design after class:
Needless to say, I’ll be upgrading all of my cover art in the near future–ebooks and print. BUT since I just signed up for Dean and Allyson’s “Interiors” class, I think I’ll wait until I’m ready to upgrade my total POD packages 😀
I’m thankful for all the mentors who have impacted my writing craft (Dean, Allyson, Scott William Carter, Holly Lisle, and many more), but I’m especially grateful to Dean for giving me the courage and the confidence to create WDM Publishing …. and for leading me step-by-step into this new world of publishing.
What an AWESOME time to be a writer!
