Judging a Book by its Cover - Your Chance to Win a Free Design

DEMON HUNTER: SAGA Available 1/31

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My fantasy novel DEMON HUNTER: SAGA comes out next week. To say it has been a labor of love would be an understatement to the testament I've dedicated to this piece of work. I wrote it, formatted it, and designed the cover. In this day of online publishing at its peak you have alot to compete with. I like to be hands on with my project from start to finish and cut out the middle man wherever I can. But I've studied graphic design and I know how to do certain things to make a cover stand out. Alot of authors don't. And I think it is unfortunate that you have companies or freelancers out there who are charging obscene amounts to format or edit a book and its even more unfortunate to see these cookie cutter book covers, which are little more than templates punched up with some fancy fonts, being sold to unsuspecting authors for hundreds of dollars. It is hard enough to bust your ass writing the book and putting in hours of promotion only to be bilked out of your hard earned dollars for a piece of work that can, and HAS, been sold to about ten other authors to use as their covers. How does that help you stand out from the pack when every romance cover has the same heartthrob on the front? What I'm saying is that a cover should represent what the book is about on a title by title basis. They should each be individually their own because the story inside is individual to the author who wrote it. For DEMON HUNTER: SAGA I chose a very clean look with only my lead character on the front with his weapon high in the air. I decided to give it a bit of a "graphic novel" appeal due to the gritty content inside. For my other novel, THEATER OF PAIN I went a different route. This novel is a thriller set in the world of professional wrestling therefore it needed a ring on the front to depict that. But again clean and to the point. Now I'm not the best in the world when it comes to design, far from it, but I know how to put things together and I know what catches the eye. I suppose these "professionals" believe they deserve to put an astronomical price tag on their covers due to the clients they have worked with in the past, and that's fine if they are customized to the novel. But again what bothers me is the templates, the cookie cutter designs, the unoriginal, that are being sold with "Your Title Here" and "Your Name Here" on them with nothing but stock photos that have been used 100 times. That's an insult to the author. Why would you buy an overused template when you can get something customized for the same price...actually, my design services are about half the price. And that's not because I don't value my work, it is because I'm an author too and I know how difficult it is to compete out there. And you can agree with me or not, I don't care. But I believe an author's novel deserves better. So here is what I am going to do. If you are self publishing a novel and you need a cover designed for it please write me the premise and what you would like to see as your cover in the comments below. I will choose one winner for a FREE cover design and I will even feature it at my website www.OriginalCynAdvertising.com with a link back to your book page or website. Give me your best pitch and tell me why you are deserving of a free cover. Ready? Go!

*Contest ends March 1, 2012. Any entries after that date will not be accepted. Winner will receive ONE free cover design created for them completed before said novel goes to press. Any revisions requested by the author will be an extra charge. Cover will be displayed on creators website with link to author's novel at no additional fee.

The Evolution of Angelina Jolie and more on breaking the archetype

I'm going to take some time to chat about Angelina Jolie...those of you who hate her for one reason or another should probably leave now.

I was watching SALT this afternoon and I recalled that this role had originally been intended for Tom Cruise and they rewrote it just for Angelina Jolie. Now I'm sure Tom would've done a nice job but Angie just shines in that type of environment.
It was then that I reflected on how she had started as a hardcore dramatic actress. Her roles like Gia and Lisa in Girl Interrupted were alot like Angie herself in those days, dark and brooding.
After she took on the role of Lara Croft in Tomb Raider things started to change. She became a bona fide action star. Movies like Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Wanted, and The Tourist showcased her tough, physical side. She'd transformed as a person and an actress.
She continued to push the envelope by taking on roles that challenged her range such as Mariane Pearl in A Mighty Heart, The Changling, and now as writer and director with the debut of her on screen debut of The Land of Sun and Honey.
Say what you will but Angelina Jolie is a renaissance woman and one the best damn actresses to come down the path in long time.
The multitude of characters she's portrayed over her career is a great reflection of how many choices can be made when writing a female heroine.
The courage to defend, protect, or even extract revenge can come from any one in any field. It doesn't always have to be a homicide detective running into the scene with her gun drawn. Look around at real life. The possibilities are endless. I grew up with an appreciation of strong women as role models. Valeria from Conan; Scarlett from GI Joe; Cheetara from Thundercats; Rogue from Xmen and of course Xena were some of my favorites. But it doesn't always have to be an ass kicker taking charge. Sometimes using your mind is just as useful if not more...yeah, I sound like Mr. Miyagi but go with me for a minute.

A novel I'm reading right now has taken a different perspective. It isn't a female lead but Rick Mofina's Vengeance Road is following a newspaper reporter as he gets entangled in a very shady murder investigation. I am anxiously awaiting the outcome to see how the hero pieces everything together and maybe saves the day.
I like to draw from real life and sprinkle in imagination to develop some characters that readers can relate to. Character development is fun to me. I like to see how the characters change throughout the story, and that's true for reading as well as writing.
Point is they say every story has been told before. It is up to you to put your own spin on it to make it interesting. Creating new and interesting characters is one way to make that happen.
Happy writing!
Hey, who are some of your favorite characters that you've written, read, or seen on the screen?

2012..the end or the beginning?

"Cheers to the freakin' weekend! I'll drink to that, yeah yeah." - Rhianna

Well 2011 is on its way out the door as I write this. What a helluva year it has been for Original Cyn. Ups and downs, highs and lows, but I'm sure you all have that same type of story.
Stories are my business as a writer and I am happy to say that thanks to a meeting with my writing hero Dean Koontz I was able to recapture my love and passion for story telling. Because when it comes down to it through the e-book conversions, the creation of cover images; the marketing; and the mayhem it is all about the story you tell...and that's true of any field you're in.

"The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering." - Brandon Lee

I hope that when it is my time to go that I can look back and say I touched a few lives whether in person or by my written word. I've met alot of new faces this year, engaged in alot of memorable experiences. Earlier this summer I acquired the rights back to one of my favorite pieces of work, the fantasy series Demon Hunter. As they say this was a "labor of love." The reviews were quite favorable when it lived under the umbrella of another publishing house. I was compared to Robert E Howard; Stephen King; The Odyssey; and Gulliver's Travels. I was awarded Most Artistic Trailer for Demon Hunter: Seek and Destroy and a nomination for Best in Series...WOW! You like me, you really like me!
I can die happy with those types of reviews but I'm not ready to go yet. I'm ready for a rebirth of sorts! Demon Hunter will be returning early next year as an epic saga. All three installments in the Demon Hunter series have been combined to bring you the tale of Costa and his companions in its entirety. The novel will be available as both a print and e-book version.
I am proud to say that this work is now coming about exactly how I had always envisioned it to be when I first sat down to pen it. I'm looking forward to bringing this to the readers of fantasy and adventure alike. For those of you who read the first two in the series this will be the opportunity to get your hands on the conclusion in the series. For those of you who haven't read Demon Hunter I invite you to strap on a seatbelt and go for the ride of your lives. It is a fun-filled romp!
And for the new year I am pulling out all the stops. No one should die with a story inside of them and I have a vault full. So if it is truly our last year, if the world will truly cease to exist at the close of 2012, then I am going to go down in a blaze of glory!

Happy New Year!

A Thank you for Thanksgiving....Special NEVER RELEASED excerpt

SPECIAL NEVER BEFORE RELEASED EXCERPT FROM THE UPCOMING DEMON HUNTER: HEROES CALL

We hurried through the streets like school kids. I could hardly wait to sweep Talisa up in my arms. She was my light, the best thing that ever happened to me. I'd been foolish to think that I needed high adventure to feed my soul. That restlessness had been sated and now I knew that with my wife and child, our family, I would never want for more.

My father had left me when I'd been just a boy. Even though I walked in his footsteps to carry on the demon hunter legacy I would be a better father. I'd never leave my family again.

When we reached the Calabrese home my happiness soured. From the outside everything looked picturesque but I'd learned long ago never to judge on looks alone. Multiple run-ins with shapeshifters will do that to you.

I trusted my intuition and my inner alarm system was going ballistic. Something felt cold, odd, out of place, and we hadn't even crossed the threshold yet.

Paralay tied up the Pegasus and bounded past me.

“What're we waiting for?”

He hurried inside calling out after Talisa. I was tempted to hold him back but instead I followed him inside. The house was just as I'd left it. No altercation had taken place, nothing was out of the ordinary. But still I felt uneasy. Trouble weighed down on me like a heavy cloak.

After going through each room of the house and even through the backyard the reason for my discontent surfaced. Talisa was gone.

“Where'd she go?” Paralay asked.

I tried to piece together an agreeable answer. I had none.

“I don't know.”

“Maybe she came to her senses and left you,” he joked.

I shook my head. “It's not funny. Something isn't right.”

“Relax Costa, she probably just went to the market or something.”

A thousand possibilities ran through my mind. I tried to persuade myself that he was right. Talisa would come back and everything would be as it was before. Deep in my heart I knew the truth.

And then I saw it, the marking on the wall just as in my visions. It read: “I am sent here by the chosen one. So shall it be written. So shall it be done.  Child of light, be it daughter or son, is to be destroyed.”

She was gone just like that. Vanished without a trace or an explanation. The only thing that made any sense to me were the visions. Something dark and sinister had invaded our home and swept Talisa off into the night.

How could I have let this happen? I speak all the time of not having regret and now I had to live with another. I would never, ever forgive myself for leaving her that that day.

I had tried to make peace within myself, saying it would only be for a little while and then I'd return to her and we'd live out our lives together until we were old and gray. But suddenly my perfect world  had been turned upside down and I'd somehow lost the love of my life.

I fell to my knees shattered with despair. Paralay tried to comfort me to no avail. Nothing he could say would make me feel any better. The only person I wanted to talk to was the one person I couldn't find.

My breath caught in my chest and I started to shudder. I couldn't speak. Pain hollowed out my insides like a searing hot knife and I felt as though my heart might literally shatter. I couldn't catch my breath and when I did I only managed to utter one word.

“Destroyer.”