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Making Your Self-Published Book Look Good, Part Six: When DIY Isn’t An Option

12.28.2020 by Starla Huchton // Leave a Comment

Welcome to this post series! If you’re unsure what this is or where I’m going with it, I’ll refer you back to this post for all the intro stuff. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so let’s jump right in!

Does all this cover stuff seem like a lot of stuff to learn? Just because you could do it yourself, doesn’t mean you should. A lot of thought goes into successful cover creation, and an experienced artist brings skills and an eye for aesthetics to the table, not to mention a wealth of knowledge on best practices. A good designer is worth every penny, but is it possible to get that same goodness with half pennies?

[Read more…]

Categories // General News, Helpful Tips, Stuff Tags // business, design, GENERAL NEWS, helpful tips, indie authors, indie writer, Learn, marketing, self-publishing, so you want to be a writer, STUFF, UNCATEGORIZED TAGS // BALTICON, writing tips

Making Your Self-Published Book Look Good, Part Five: Building the Cover (Print)

06.11.2020 by Starla Huchton // Leave a Comment

Welcome to this post series! If you’re unsure what this is or where I’m going with it, I’ll refer you back to this post for all the intro stuff. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so let’s jump right in!

So your ebook cover is complete and ready to knock the socks off of readers. It’s possible you’ll decide to stop there, but… why? It doesn’t make a lot of sense to invest time and money in editing and cover design if you’re going to ignore the huge segment of the literarily-inclined population that EXCLUSIVELY read print books. If you want to see a return on your investment in this endeavor, you want to make your novel available in as many formats as possible. So how do you go from ebook cover to print spread?

[Read more…]

Categories // General News, Helpful Tips, Stuff, Uncategorized Tags // Balticon, business, design, helpful tips, indie authors, indie writer, Learn, marketing, self-publishing, so you want to be a writer, writing tips

Making Your Self-Published Book Look Good, Part Four: Building the Cover (eBook)

05.28.2020 by Starla Huchton // 1 Comment

Welcome to this post series! If you’re unsure what this is or where I’m going with it, I’ll refer you back to this post for all the intro stuff. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so let’s jump right in!

So you’ve decided to DIY your book cover. You’ve nailed down your visual genre markers and collected the elements you need to assemble the idea floating around in your head. Now what?

[Read more…]

Categories // General News, Helpful Tips, Stuff, Uncategorized Tags // Balticon, business, design, helpful tips, indie authors, indie writer, Learn, marketing, self-publishing, so you want to be a writer, writing tips

Making Your Self-Published Book Look Good, Part Three: Stock Imagery

05.27.2020 by Starla Huchton // Leave a Comment

Welcome to this post series! If you’re unsure what this is or where I’m going with it, I’ll refer you back to this post for all the intro stuff. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so let’s jump right in!

Now that you’ve figured out what you’re aiming for with your book cover, it’s time to put the plan in motion. Where do you start?

Unless you’re a highly skilled artist or photographer, it’s likely your next step will be locating stock imagery to match the vision in your mind’s eye.

[Read more…]

Categories // General News, Helpful Tips, Stuff, Uncategorized Tags // Balticon, business, design, helpful tips, indie authors, indie writer, Learn, marketing, self-publishing, so you want to be a writer, writing tips

Making Your Self-Published Book Look Good, Part Two: Beginning Steps for DIY Covers

05.26.2020 by Starla Huchton // Leave a Comment

Welcome to this post series! If you’re unsure what this is or where I’m going with it, I’ll refer you back to this post for all the intro stuff. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so let’s jump right in!

A good book cover will take a combination of money, time, consideration, and effort. Either be prepared to invest money in a knowledgeable designer, or time and effort (and maybe money, too) in developing a LOT of new skills. When it comes to design, you should know your limitations and your budget, and plan appropriately with them in mind.

[Read more…]

Categories // General News, Helpful Tips, Stuff, Uncategorized Tags // Balticon, business, design, helpful tips, indie authors, indie writer, Learn, marketing, self-publishing, so you want to be a writer, writing tips

Making Your Self-Published Book Look Good, Part One: Introduction

05.26.2020 by Starla Huchton // Leave a Comment

For events all around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced gatherings to be in one of two states: cancelled, or virtual. Balticon 54 was no exception to this. For the past decade, Memorial Day weekend has been spoken for on my calendar because of this convention, and this year was no different, thanks to a lot of hard work from a lot of volunteers. I was again an invited guest, and Zoomed my way through different online events, which will all, at some point, be available to view on YouTube.

However, one of them simply didn’t have enough allotted time for me to get out all of the information I’d prepared to present. It’s an enormous topic, but folks were really interested in what we offered, and so I decided to compile a blog post to share the notes I’d originally intended to deliver verbally. But what was planned to be done with that singular panel, I’ll be breaking up into a few different posts, because… well, it’s A LOT of stuff, and the whole goal was to offer good advice and resources for people seeking information from those who’ve been doing this for a while.

[Read more…]

Categories // General News, Helpful Tips, Stuff Tags // Balticon, business, design, helpful tips, indie authors, indie writer, Learn, marketing, self-publishing, so you want to be a writer, writing tips

Remember When…

04.16.2019 by Starla Huchton // Leave a Comment

SAH Contemporary logo

High school tends to be a mixed bag. Some of us look back on those years with fondness, others try to forget it as much as possible.

These days, I fall somewhere between the two. I’d never go back and relive that time, but I can glance over my shoulder now and pick out the best parts. And it’s those parts I hang onto, the memories that shine the brightest and bring a small sense of wistfulness the present often lacks.

[Read more…]

Categories // Contemporary, General News, Updates, Writing

For the Love of Christmas – Now Live!

11.02.2017 by Starla Huchton // 1 Comment

And here we are, November 2nd, and I totally didn’t post about this yesterday. Sorry about that! But anyway, a new book has been unleashed on the reading public!

Click to go to the buy links!
Click to go to the buy links!

[Read more…]

Categories // General News, Updates, Writing Tags // books, Christmas, Contemporary, contemporary romance, for the love of christmas, holiday, holiday romance, holidays, Learn, romance

Closing Out October…

10.31.2017 by Starla Huchton // Leave a Comment

It’s become apparent I’m really bad at keeping up with the blogging thing. How is it already Halloween???

There’s always new things popping up for me, so if you’re not already following me on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, that’s the best way to get the news as it happens. :)

Anyway, so what am I up to these days? Well, a few things. Fun things, of course!

[Read more…]

Categories // Contemporary, General News, Stuff, Updates, Writing Tags // Christmas, contemporary romance, Etsy, holiday romance, Learn, NaNoWriMo, romance, Santa, wandmaking, wands, Young Writers Program

Books, Podcasts, and Balticon! An Update.

05.19.2017 by Starla Huchton // Leave a Comment

Well, it’s certainly been a while since I last posted here. Whoops.

If you aren’t following me on social media, you could be wondering where I went and what I’m up to. Short answer: nowhere and stuff n things. I’m here today to update after months of nothing here on the blog. So let’s get down to the new stuff you can go seek out and explore!

[Read more…]

Categories // Flipped Fairy Tales, General News, Podcast, Updates, Writing Tags // Balticon, D&D, dungeons and dragons, evolution series, fantasy, flipped fairy tales, Learn, Listen, paranormal romance, PNR, podcast, Read, romance, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Romance, SciFi Romance, SFR, So Many Levels, superheroes, the evolution series, YA

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