As a female creative who has had a long and successful career behind the curtain, fame adjacent, I was famous to those in the know. Similar to ghost writing, I suppose I was a creative ghost.
Note; it was so safe there with a front man, the forward facing page, taking all the blame. (and the praise) (and the big salaries)
I could give them my best ideas, with take it or leave it labels, in case of irrelevance. Knowing what was relevant to the zeitgeist and the project was my gift. I revelled in invisibility.
So, but, why? Do I feel an urgency to write? To come out of my particular closet?
To continue creating? It is puzzling to me, as it is not a survival need. Yet another distraction?
Do I want to be at the front of the bus, naked; my clothing in a heap around my feet. Fat thighs on display. I have so many great adventure stories from my past that many of you would find interesting. I’m aware of all the tropes about procrastination. It was my profession to be creative.
BUT
I’m of that age, so it might be a Barbie thing.
Or is it that I have become unreliable, now that I have been retired by a chronic illness.
Regardless, it is an ongoing and constant conundrum. 🤔
I don't know - I think the only compass we can follow is our own. Sometimes that compass needs some fine-tuning, and some wiping away of the crap of the world that tends to collect on it ... but it's still our best guide.
Yes. Existential way finding as my fellow Canadian Peter would call it. Less Foolish. That I understand, my father taught me this sort of navigating, but as KD an other Canadian sang, “The Constant Craving” is still a puzzler. Why, where are we going? Joanie, however, yet another Canadian, sings “I’ve seen the world from both sides now, from win and lose and still somehow...”
Aloha Russell, your timing couldn't be more perfect. Just this morning I was writing in my journal that how yesterday I selected a date to release my first self-published novel. I thought back to all of the fits and starts of previous novels and screenplays that I was just to chicken to put out there. I realized I needed to become the writer I am today, with the experience and confidence of working in the trenches (I got the idea for this book back in 2002) to step out on stage and say, "hi, this is me." I realize that if people love me, great. Also, if people don't love me, that's great too. Thank you for being so brave to just be you and sharing your journey and being a bright light for all of us!!
Absolutely, and there's also the feeling that we all are truly in this together. Your courage shows us that it's okay to step out there. I know so many writers who fell off the path because, yes it is freaking hard work, and also it's a calling more than just a career. I often think what would happen if I just stopped. I'd be a bored housewife. Writing is my passion, my fun and games, my meeting myself again and again, become someone new with each scene I write. I realized that this book is the first in a series. I'm not yet the writer I need to be to complete book four, but I will be.
You're welcome, Rachel! The "this is me" approach is pretty much exactly what I had in mind, at the base of it all. I think we need to do for ourselves first, then worry about the world later, if at all.
I want more than anything to be my true self. This is what I write about after all. But when I think of monetising my writing I notice it changes. I start writing for what I can only imagine my reader needs to hear and it gets hard and I feel like I have to push through to get it out.
Thanks for this reminder. Yes I need to remember on a regular basis that I am in fact doing this for me. It might work out as a career, it might not. But it won't work at all if I exhaust myself by doing it for everyone else. 😝
I hear you. It happens to me, too. I've been at this full time for about a dozen years now, and only now am I realizing how important it is to lean fully into who I am. ESPECIALLY as production of non-artisan books ramps up, and especially with some authors seeing AI as the way to brute-force themselves into a living, in some cases regardless of art or craft. That works for many. No judgment if so. But it's not the way I want to roll.
Aloha Karen, I do believe that in the long run, it is all about the pushing through. The more we do it, the stronger that muscle gets. For me, I arrived at a place where my writing skills finally caught up with my vision, these whack ideas are now being expressed and that is where the fulfillment lies.
There's a level of vulnerability required to truly be yourself and that's where the magic happens, I think.
I also shared in a restack that I think it's important to differentiate between being yourself through your art, and "performing authenticity" for social media likes and followers. I see a lot of the later these days.
Oh, cool. You put this in a comment. I said this in reply to your Note that expressed the same idea:
OMG yes, and thank you for pointing it out. I really hate false, performative “authenticity.” It’s the opposite of authentic. (Conveniently, this is also the excuse I use when I need to film something but don’t want to set up a good camera or lights, neither of which I own anyway. I tell myself that if I’m real, I can make shitty video sometimes. Not sure if it’s valid, but I’ll stand by it.)
Although I do think “embarrassed by it” does cover this to some degree. People do the performative shit in such a way that they can still keep ego intact. If you’re embarrassed or think you might soon be, chances are it’s real.
Yes! I think if your message is authentic then your production value isn't as important, although there are people who insist on that. ;)
For the "embarrassed by it" part - I agree that's a good way to check in with yourself.
I've also seen people do stuff that they aren't embarrassed by but maybe they should be? But because it's giving them status or money, they keep doing it anyway. It's almost like they bypass their own feelings about something because of the payoff.
Yeah - now that I think about it, it's pretty hard to give any absolutes at all. I guess that's more reason to not worry about "what's the rule" and instead just do my own thing.
Okay, you guys just sent me down a little rabbit hole to learn what the heck a Forest is. I took the quiz and learned I'm a Tundra! Hey, @RusselNohelty! It says you're a Tundra, too! Woot!
Funny, too, because I'm ON substack, creating and growing my fictional world because of you, Johnny…
This guest post perfectly explains the steps I've been taking over the past year.
Epic. Epic. Epic. ...but I expect no less from your character, my friend. It’s the same reason I started following Russell. Character. Genuine. Transparent. Honest.
The publishing landscape is twisting and warping, and it makes your suggestions stand out like a billboard sign: "Publishing Bomb Shelter, Next Exit."
I've abandoned social media, cancelled many of the tool subscriptions I had, and strangely enough I started making more money, not less. I stopped advertising and invested in relationships instead. Making deeper connections with readers opened …more doors and brought much more happiness to me. Many of my followers are now good friends, and I love it.
Podcasting has always been a love of mine, but I'm not very good at it. Then it hit me. I’d been trying to imitate others, instead of hanging out with the fictional characters from my stories. It’s what I did in 2005 with my 12 year old daughter, and each episode was a hit. SO I’ve been changing it all up, ignoring what others do and doing what I love.
My fans loved that, and I smile a lot more.
You make sense, and for me, this was a personal validation that I'm on the right track. Thank you for that. I’m truly grateful.
I'm still convinced that if we met, and lived closer each other, you and I would likely be drinking buddies.
…or maybe those guys who laugh and talk shop in a coffee houses.
One things’ for sure — I’d tell people to bugger off if they didn't like you playing your guitar in the corner.
Dang. So much good (and also flattering) stuff in this comment!
First of all, the superlatives are so appreciated. Best ever? I'll take it. :) Second, I'm so glad I could be your "reason" for anything. That's humbling and very cool.
You keep doing you, Jaime. It's amazing to be part of your journey.
Johnny, there is a question I've been wanting to ask you for a long time, but never have, and I believe it fits in with this article.
What are your thoughts/beliefs on covers for your books?
I'm asking, because when I read the last line of this article, an idea hit be so hard I just about fell over. Something i've wanted to do for 15 years, but it's been against everything I ever learned or have been told to do, even from NYTimes Bestselling buddies.
My world started as comic books, which were black and white. I used to be a penciler and inker of comics for a living -- the inking is still, to this day, my #1 favorite kind of art.
I want to take that passion for black and white cartooning, and apply it to my novels, which ARE the comics ANYway. This article was a serious mental and emotions push, and I've been excited about designing my covers ever since.
Just wanted to hear about how you consider/think about your covers...
Tricky question. There are actually two questions here: the real one and the one you actually asked. I'll take the question you actually asked first: What are MY thoughts and beliefs on covers for MY books? (Spoiler: The real question is about YOUR books.)
I have immense, immense respect for good cover design. I'm DIY by nature and have a strong familial tie to graphic design, so it's not out of the question that I could design book covers that are good enough, though I'd pale next to an actual visual artist of just about any kind. I've made a few covers it in the past with uneven results. Not often, but enough to know it's possible.
The problem is that in books, covers that are "good enough" aren't even remotely close to being good enough. Even "really good" covers usually aren't good enough. The right 1% tweak in a book's cover design can multiply its appeal (and, theoretically, sales potential) by a factor of 10 or 100.
It's absolutely true that people judge books by their covers ... and not just "is this cover pretty," but "does this convince me that this is a book I want to read." The difference is immense. Our first cover for The Beam was beautiful. It would have made a great poster. However, it was not remotely correct as a book cover for The Beam. In retrospect, it's obvious. The cover is too subtle, not "sci-fi" enough. However, even really great "sci-fi enough" art still wouldn't necessarily be right because it then comes down to typography, sizing, placement and weights, and about a thousand things I don't even know could be wrong ... except that I'd know "this is wrong."
Powerful book covers (and by that, I mean not just "powerfully good art," but also "powerfully perfect for that specific book, that specific author, that specific readership, in that specific country, in this specific year") can do magic. It's really astonishing. I'll see a Stephen King book written in 1979 with a cover that feels current and exciting and exactly on-brand and on-trend for the moment, and I'll get excited in the way I would about a new book even if I've read the book before. I have a friend with trad books in many countries, and the countries all have different covers. A romance with your classic "bare-chested man" cover in America might, in South Korea, just have a single flower on a plain background. You have to know the culture and its norms/expectations to understand how to sell there.
That's all to say that I don't mess around anymore. We had some great covers put on my books while I was with Sterling & Stone, but as I go forward, I'm not settling for anything less than the best. I know that almost ANY book with a spectacular cover will perform better than a very good book with a pretty good cover. (Obviously you have to deliver with the story, but the cover does a lot of the expectations-heavy-lifting for you in advance, so they're more ready to be convinced of your awesomeness anyway.) I'll easily pony up a few grand, once I'm up and running in my solo gig. Marketed right, a good book will easily earn that money back many-fold.
Now: As to you.
The answer is, I don't know if it's a good idea. There's no question you do good work, but you're not a cover designer. It's a specific skill set. I don't know comics at all, though, and it seems to me that it'd make a difference that the cover drawn from your comics would make perfect sense for a book of your comics. I'm not sure if that's what's going on here, though. You said novels, but also said comics.
Maybe ask your readers? Try a mock-up and see what they think? That won't tell you the whole story because you need to appeal to the world at large rather than people who already like you, but it might help. Or you could publish one that way and see. If it flops, just get a new cover and try again.
If you are talking about actual novels, I personally would tread carefully. Artists especially have a tendency to think that because they do good art, they can do good covers ... but that's like saying that because I'm able to play the guitar, I can play the harp. It's a different skill. They don't always translate.
Too many variables to consider for me to really say! As the flight commander in the movie "Airplane!" said to Ted Striker, You'll have to decide.
Very good points, and I really appreciate the perspective.
Have much to think about and consider. I am not dissuaded yet (I know that was never your purpose, just have to consider the publishing path I'm on. I'm making so many changes, carefully, to get past the last set of potholes that always seem to derail me.
You're spot on, and I totally agree that the skill sets are very different...graphic design and illustration/cartooning. I have what I feel are 'basic' graphic design skills, but my strength really is in illustrations and cartooning. My last project was working for Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs) as the cover artist for his mom's book: Vacuuming in the Nude -- and other ways to get attention.
Peggy is a great lady, and great writer. She hit #3 and the cover was the talk of the town. I got an award for designing a New York Times Bestselling book cover (have the plaque hanging above my computer from Simon & Schuster)...so I don't complETELY suck. Your point about that 1% though, in my mind, is everything. Truly. That's what I've been doing for the last few years...tweaking, adjusting. A rocket that's aimed at the moon, if it's off by 1%, will miss the whole planet by 4900 miles!
Then there's the 'gut' thing. That variable that if you DON'T listen to it, it could ruin serious opportunities, and if you DO listen to it, could ruin serious opportunities!
So let me ask you if THIS makes sense.
I am an anomaly. IMO, not in a good way, either. I've mentioned this to Russell, who met me when I stepped into an argument he as having across substack. I defended some guy, Russell and I engaged, I was about to tell him off -- but I DO try to listen. He reasoned his points with me, and I ended up siding with him and told the other guy to pull his panties up and be a man.
...then I excused myself from Russell, telling him that I wanted to get back to my favorite Substack, and finish the article I was learning from. I also told him I considered him a friend for reasoning me with both patience and class.
Turns out it was Russell's substack.
Things like this happen to me...often.
On the flip side, I have never -- EVER-- had a program work out for me. I won't go into this, but I can assure you that I have religiously followed dozens upon dozens of classes, seminars, books, programs, and work above and beyond what I was instructed to do. Lived by the letter of their laws and never saw a sale of my books. So I don't invest in them anymore.
When I go the opposite route, the one less (or not) traveled, I get results. Sometimes freakishly so. One month I was getting my 'trickle' of sales, as usual, then had a surge of 3100+ book sales over a 48 hour period. No sales, no promo codes, just solid sales. A few days later I had a surge of 9000+ sales.
No warning. No clue as to WHY it happened. No way to know how to duplicate it.
I get calls from librarians in other states, telling me that boys fight over my books, or that they have to replace the books often, because kids steal them.
...I don't know what to say.
My POINT here, which ties in to why I asked you those questions in the first place...is it trad routes have never worked, and non-trad routes have, would you be more inclined to listen to your 'gut', when it's screaming at you?
This isn't a permission thing. I'll make up my own mind, but I respect you, Johnny. What I DO benefit from , is learning from conversations and testing how knowledge DOES apply to my personal sphere.
Makes perfect sense. I think the world in general should learn how to listen to its guts, so if you're being screamed at from that location, I'm sure I'd listen in your shoes. You could be wrong, but as I said in my last comment, I don't think it's very high-risk to try. If it works, wonderful! If it doesn't, there's really no harm done because you can always change it to something else. It depends on so many factors, but the fact that you already have a bestselling cover under your belt has to prove something.
Why not go for it? I don't see a reason not to give it a shot, if it feels right.
It's an interesting concept, to validate yourself to yourself, gain acceptance from your worst critic and then move forward as the person you want to be, free of all the baggage society and artistry area you're in says you should be.
I am inspired to be me, to put more of myself into my writing and let those who read and/or critique my work to accept it (or not) without becoming insecure because of their opinions.
I’ve always loved writing, but I really started taking it seriously sometime last year.
Sometimes it’s exhilarating, sometimes it’s less so. Sometimes I’m pounded by the heavy feeling that I’m yet to find my so called niche. Everybody makes it sound like once your find your niche, the stars fall at your feet; to hell with the ‘nicheless’ writers.
What keeps me going is the love I have for the craft. I enjoy writing, and I can’t yet imagine a world where I don’t write.
When I write, I’ll say my mind—politically correct or not. I’ll be unapologetically me!
I’ve been thinking about this a lot yesterday. One conclusion is that I want to keep taking the pictures I like to take. If others like them too, that would be awesome. It should however not influence what I create. If I start censoring myself, one of the first things that will go is what makes these pictures uniquely me. Ha, this will save me tons of grief in the future. Thank you so much for the prompt. I hope tons of True Fans will find you and you will have the freedom and time to create the work that is uniquely you(rs).
A very interesting read. It gives me a lot to think about. I'm a very private person. I don't believe it has to be a share everything you are or a share nothing. I'll have to think more about this... Thank you for giving me something to ponder.
Oh, you DEFINITELY don't have to do it this way. This is my approach, for people like me. A lot of people prefer something else. But like you said: Something to at least consider.
It doesn't scare me to show myself, and I'm slowly stitching together true fans. For example, today someone forgot to turn off her mic during our virtual workout, so everyone could hear her grunting. She apologized. I announced, "I like it. Why don't we turn off the music and show everyone grunting?" So we'll try doing that for a set on Valentine's Day! Hilarious to me.
But we should acknowledge both the original True Fans essay (https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/) and the fact that true fans may not have the means to support you. Or if they do, people change, move away, and die. Plus you will have to face being ignored and scorned along the way. So you constantly need more True Fans. Still, it's so much fun to write, and so wonderful to connect with other cool humans, I ain't stopping now.
Thank you. I needed to read this very badly rught now. 🙂.
You've basically just described my entire approach. I didn't know what it was but that's pretty much it. I write what I think are very commercially accessible books (except they're not. Each one mashes 3-5 genres so they're impossible to describe accurately. Indeed, I can't give them away 🤣🤣) but I write them for me because I love them. If anyone else likes them, that's gravy. There is goodwill... I think... oh maybe people just feel sorry for me. 🤣🤣 I have a slight problem with people liking me and buying all my books because they like me but not actually reading any of them. So I'm diversifying my content with some memoir and non-fiction planned... and my street art photo book goes live on kickstarter this week. I am not sure how to utilise subscriptions because I produce stuff incredibly slowly; far too slowly to commit to an article a week without burning out. And now I'm just rambling on. Sorry.
But yeh. Thank you. I have no trouble putting myself out there, I toyed with stand up at one point but sat down because I wasn't funny enough. I used to tell people and they'd say they thought I was brave but I suspect that, actually, I'm just desperate for attention. 🤣🤣🤣 Or an egotist ... or possibly both.
As a female creative who has had a long and successful career behind the curtain, fame adjacent, I was famous to those in the know. Similar to ghost writing, I suppose I was a creative ghost.
Note; it was so safe there with a front man, the forward facing page, taking all the blame. (and the praise) (and the big salaries)
I could give them my best ideas, with take it or leave it labels, in case of irrelevance. Knowing what was relevant to the zeitgeist and the project was my gift. I revelled in invisibility.
So, but, why? Do I feel an urgency to write? To come out of my particular closet?
To continue creating? It is puzzling to me, as it is not a survival need. Yet another distraction?
Do I want to be at the front of the bus, naked; my clothing in a heap around my feet. Fat thighs on display. I have so many great adventure stories from my past that many of you would find interesting. I’m aware of all the tropes about procrastination. It was my profession to be creative.
BUT
I’m of that age, so it might be a Barbie thing.
Or is it that I have become unreliable, now that I have been retired by a chronic illness.
Regardless, it is an ongoing and constant conundrum. 🤔
I don't know - I think the only compass we can follow is our own. Sometimes that compass needs some fine-tuning, and some wiping away of the crap of the world that tends to collect on it ... but it's still our best guide.
Yes. Existential way finding as my fellow Canadian Peter would call it. Less Foolish. That I understand, my father taught me this sort of navigating, but as KD an other Canadian sang, “The Constant Craving” is still a puzzler. Why, where are we going? Joanie, however, yet another Canadian, sings “I’ve seen the world from both sides now, from win and lose and still somehow...”
Keep on truckin.
This was the most inspiring piece of writing advice I read in a long time.
Oh, sweet. So glad I could be a part of it!
Yay!
Aloha Russell, your timing couldn't be more perfect. Just this morning I was writing in my journal that how yesterday I selected a date to release my first self-published novel. I thought back to all of the fits and starts of previous novels and screenplays that I was just to chicken to put out there. I realized I needed to become the writer I am today, with the experience and confidence of working in the trenches (I got the idea for this book back in 2002) to step out on stage and say, "hi, this is me." I realize that if people love me, great. Also, if people don't love me, that's great too. Thank you for being so brave to just be you and sharing your journey and being a bright light for all of us!!
That's amazing! I love it. Johnny always gets me inspired to go my own weird way with things, so I'm glad it resonated with you :)
Absolutely, and there's also the feeling that we all are truly in this together. Your courage shows us that it's okay to step out there. I know so many writers who fell off the path because, yes it is freaking hard work, and also it's a calling more than just a career. I often think what would happen if I just stopped. I'd be a bored housewife. Writing is my passion, my fun and games, my meeting myself again and again, become someone new with each scene I write. I realized that this book is the first in a series. I'm not yet the writer I need to be to complete book four, but I will be.
I love this so much.
You're welcome, Rachel! The "this is me" approach is pretty much exactly what I had in mind, at the base of it all. I think we need to do for ourselves first, then worry about the world later, if at all.
I want more than anything to be my true self. This is what I write about after all. But when I think of monetising my writing I notice it changes. I start writing for what I can only imagine my reader needs to hear and it gets hard and I feel like I have to push through to get it out.
Thanks for this reminder. Yes I need to remember on a regular basis that I am in fact doing this for me. It might work out as a career, it might not. But it won't work at all if I exhaust myself by doing it for everyone else. 😝
I hear you. It happens to me, too. I've been at this full time for about a dozen years now, and only now am I realizing how important it is to lean fully into who I am. ESPECIALLY as production of non-artisan books ramps up, and especially with some authors seeing AI as the way to brute-force themselves into a living, in some cases regardless of art or craft. That works for many. No judgment if so. But it's not the way I want to roll.
Aloha Karen, I do believe that in the long run, it is all about the pushing through. The more we do it, the stronger that muscle gets. For me, I arrived at a place where my writing skills finally caught up with my vision, these whack ideas are now being expressed and that is where the fulfillment lies.
"Whack ideas", hahaha....I love you just for saying THAT, Rachel! We must be kindred spirits.
There's a level of vulnerability required to truly be yourself and that's where the magic happens, I think.
I also shared in a restack that I think it's important to differentiate between being yourself through your art, and "performing authenticity" for social media likes and followers. I see a lot of the later these days.
Oh, cool. You put this in a comment. I said this in reply to your Note that expressed the same idea:
OMG yes, and thank you for pointing it out. I really hate false, performative “authenticity.” It’s the opposite of authentic. (Conveniently, this is also the excuse I use when I need to film something but don’t want to set up a good camera or lights, neither of which I own anyway. I tell myself that if I’m real, I can make shitty video sometimes. Not sure if it’s valid, but I’ll stand by it.)
Although I do think “embarrassed by it” does cover this to some degree. People do the performative shit in such a way that they can still keep ego intact. If you’re embarrassed or think you might soon be, chances are it’s real.
Yes! I think if your message is authentic then your production value isn't as important, although there are people who insist on that. ;)
For the "embarrassed by it" part - I agree that's a good way to check in with yourself.
I've also seen people do stuff that they aren't embarrassed by but maybe they should be? But because it's giving them status or money, they keep doing it anyway. It's almost like they bypass their own feelings about something because of the payoff.
Yeah - now that I think about it, it's pretty hard to give any absolutes at all. I guess that's more reason to not worry about "what's the rule" and instead just do my own thing.
“Be yourself beyond the limits of reasonability.”
Love that line! 🥰
What a great post, and thank you for giving me an extra bit of confidence for my post this Thursday, not sure how it will be received. 🤞🤞🤞
Awesome! Always glad when I can help. :)
I definitely don’t fit in a niche either. I took the Author Ecosystems quiz and I’m a forest
Forests unite! (I'm one too, it seems.)
Okay, you guys just sent me down a little rabbit hole to learn what the heck a Forest is. I took the quiz and learned I'm a Tundra! Hey, @RusselNohelty! It says you're a Tundra, too! Woot!
Didn't know what this was -- so I just went and took the test also....FOREST!!
One of the best posts I’ve read.
Anywhere.
Ever.
Funny, too, because I'm ON substack, creating and growing my fictional world because of you, Johnny…
This guest post perfectly explains the steps I've been taking over the past year.
Epic. Epic. Epic. ...but I expect no less from your character, my friend. It’s the same reason I started following Russell. Character. Genuine. Transparent. Honest.
The publishing landscape is twisting and warping, and it makes your suggestions stand out like a billboard sign: "Publishing Bomb Shelter, Next Exit."
I've abandoned social media, cancelled many of the tool subscriptions I had, and strangely enough I started making more money, not less. I stopped advertising and invested in relationships instead. Making deeper connections with readers opened …more doors and brought much more happiness to me. Many of my followers are now good friends, and I love it.
Podcasting has always been a love of mine, but I'm not very good at it. Then it hit me. I’d been trying to imitate others, instead of hanging out with the fictional characters from my stories. It’s what I did in 2005 with my 12 year old daughter, and each episode was a hit. SO I’ve been changing it all up, ignoring what others do and doing what I love.
My fans loved that, and I smile a lot more.
You make sense, and for me, this was a personal validation that I'm on the right track. Thank you for that. I’m truly grateful.
I'm still convinced that if we met, and lived closer each other, you and I would likely be drinking buddies.
…or maybe those guys who laugh and talk shop in a coffee houses.
One things’ for sure — I’d tell people to bugger off if they didn't like you playing your guitar in the corner.
(grin)
Dang. So much good (and also flattering) stuff in this comment!
First of all, the superlatives are so appreciated. Best ever? I'll take it. :) Second, I'm so glad I could be your "reason" for anything. That's humbling and very cool.
You keep doing you, Jaime. It's amazing to be part of your journey.
Johnny, there is a question I've been wanting to ask you for a long time, but never have, and I believe it fits in with this article.
What are your thoughts/beliefs on covers for your books?
I'm asking, because when I read the last line of this article, an idea hit be so hard I just about fell over. Something i've wanted to do for 15 years, but it's been against everything I ever learned or have been told to do, even from NYTimes Bestselling buddies.
My world started as comic books, which were black and white. I used to be a penciler and inker of comics for a living -- the inking is still, to this day, my #1 favorite kind of art.
I want to take that passion for black and white cartooning, and apply it to my novels, which ARE the comics ANYway. This article was a serious mental and emotions push, and I've been excited about designing my covers ever since.
Just wanted to hear about how you consider/think about your covers...
Tricky question. There are actually two questions here: the real one and the one you actually asked. I'll take the question you actually asked first: What are MY thoughts and beliefs on covers for MY books? (Spoiler: The real question is about YOUR books.)
I have immense, immense respect for good cover design. I'm DIY by nature and have a strong familial tie to graphic design, so it's not out of the question that I could design book covers that are good enough, though I'd pale next to an actual visual artist of just about any kind. I've made a few covers it in the past with uneven results. Not often, but enough to know it's possible.
The problem is that in books, covers that are "good enough" aren't even remotely close to being good enough. Even "really good" covers usually aren't good enough. The right 1% tweak in a book's cover design can multiply its appeal (and, theoretically, sales potential) by a factor of 10 or 100.
It's absolutely true that people judge books by their covers ... and not just "is this cover pretty," but "does this convince me that this is a book I want to read." The difference is immense. Our first cover for The Beam was beautiful. It would have made a great poster. However, it was not remotely correct as a book cover for The Beam. In retrospect, it's obvious. The cover is too subtle, not "sci-fi" enough. However, even really great "sci-fi enough" art still wouldn't necessarily be right because it then comes down to typography, sizing, placement and weights, and about a thousand things I don't even know could be wrong ... except that I'd know "this is wrong."
Powerful book covers (and by that, I mean not just "powerfully good art," but also "powerfully perfect for that specific book, that specific author, that specific readership, in that specific country, in this specific year") can do magic. It's really astonishing. I'll see a Stephen King book written in 1979 with a cover that feels current and exciting and exactly on-brand and on-trend for the moment, and I'll get excited in the way I would about a new book even if I've read the book before. I have a friend with trad books in many countries, and the countries all have different covers. A romance with your classic "bare-chested man" cover in America might, in South Korea, just have a single flower on a plain background. You have to know the culture and its norms/expectations to understand how to sell there.
That's all to say that I don't mess around anymore. We had some great covers put on my books while I was with Sterling & Stone, but as I go forward, I'm not settling for anything less than the best. I know that almost ANY book with a spectacular cover will perform better than a very good book with a pretty good cover. (Obviously you have to deliver with the story, but the cover does a lot of the expectations-heavy-lifting for you in advance, so they're more ready to be convinced of your awesomeness anyway.) I'll easily pony up a few grand, once I'm up and running in my solo gig. Marketed right, a good book will easily earn that money back many-fold.
Now: As to you.
The answer is, I don't know if it's a good idea. There's no question you do good work, but you're not a cover designer. It's a specific skill set. I don't know comics at all, though, and it seems to me that it'd make a difference that the cover drawn from your comics would make perfect sense for a book of your comics. I'm not sure if that's what's going on here, though. You said novels, but also said comics.
Maybe ask your readers? Try a mock-up and see what they think? That won't tell you the whole story because you need to appeal to the world at large rather than people who already like you, but it might help. Or you could publish one that way and see. If it flops, just get a new cover and try again.
If you are talking about actual novels, I personally would tread carefully. Artists especially have a tendency to think that because they do good art, they can do good covers ... but that's like saying that because I'm able to play the guitar, I can play the harp. It's a different skill. They don't always translate.
Too many variables to consider for me to really say! As the flight commander in the movie "Airplane!" said to Ted Striker, You'll have to decide.
Very good points, and I really appreciate the perspective.
Have much to think about and consider. I am not dissuaded yet (I know that was never your purpose, just have to consider the publishing path I'm on. I'm making so many changes, carefully, to get past the last set of potholes that always seem to derail me.
You're spot on, and I totally agree that the skill sets are very different...graphic design and illustration/cartooning. I have what I feel are 'basic' graphic design skills, but my strength really is in illustrations and cartooning. My last project was working for Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs) as the cover artist for his mom's book: Vacuuming in the Nude -- and other ways to get attention.
Peggy is a great lady, and great writer. She hit #3 and the cover was the talk of the town. I got an award for designing a New York Times Bestselling book cover (have the plaque hanging above my computer from Simon & Schuster)...so I don't complETELY suck. Your point about that 1% though, in my mind, is everything. Truly. That's what I've been doing for the last few years...tweaking, adjusting. A rocket that's aimed at the moon, if it's off by 1%, will miss the whole planet by 4900 miles!
Then there's the 'gut' thing. That variable that if you DON'T listen to it, it could ruin serious opportunities, and if you DO listen to it, could ruin serious opportunities!
So let me ask you if THIS makes sense.
I am an anomaly. IMO, not in a good way, either. I've mentioned this to Russell, who met me when I stepped into an argument he as having across substack. I defended some guy, Russell and I engaged, I was about to tell him off -- but I DO try to listen. He reasoned his points with me, and I ended up siding with him and told the other guy to pull his panties up and be a man.
...then I excused myself from Russell, telling him that I wanted to get back to my favorite Substack, and finish the article I was learning from. I also told him I considered him a friend for reasoning me with both patience and class.
Turns out it was Russell's substack.
Things like this happen to me...often.
On the flip side, I have never -- EVER-- had a program work out for me. I won't go into this, but I can assure you that I have religiously followed dozens upon dozens of classes, seminars, books, programs, and work above and beyond what I was instructed to do. Lived by the letter of their laws and never saw a sale of my books. So I don't invest in them anymore.
When I go the opposite route, the one less (or not) traveled, I get results. Sometimes freakishly so. One month I was getting my 'trickle' of sales, as usual, then had a surge of 3100+ book sales over a 48 hour period. No sales, no promo codes, just solid sales. A few days later I had a surge of 9000+ sales.
No warning. No clue as to WHY it happened. No way to know how to duplicate it.
I get calls from librarians in other states, telling me that boys fight over my books, or that they have to replace the books often, because kids steal them.
...I don't know what to say.
My POINT here, which ties in to why I asked you those questions in the first place...is it trad routes have never worked, and non-trad routes have, would you be more inclined to listen to your 'gut', when it's screaming at you?
This isn't a permission thing. I'll make up my own mind, but I respect you, Johnny. What I DO benefit from , is learning from conversations and testing how knowledge DOES apply to my personal sphere.
...am I making sense?
Makes perfect sense. I think the world in general should learn how to listen to its guts, so if you're being screamed at from that location, I'm sure I'd listen in your shoes. You could be wrong, but as I said in my last comment, I don't think it's very high-risk to try. If it works, wonderful! If it doesn't, there's really no harm done because you can always change it to something else. It depends on so many factors, but the fact that you already have a bestselling cover under your belt has to prove something.
Why not go for it? I don't see a reason not to give it a shot, if it feels right.
I LOVE ALL OF THIS
Awesome. :)
"....I’m my ideal reader. In the end, I am all I need."
I LIVE BY THIS .... preshate the reminder to STAY MYSELF.
Nobody does YOU like you, DuVay!
It's an interesting concept, to validate yourself to yourself, gain acceptance from your worst critic and then move forward as the person you want to be, free of all the baggage society and artistry area you're in says you should be.
I am inspired to be me, to put more of myself into my writing and let those who read and/or critique my work to accept it (or not) without becoming insecure because of their opinions.
I’ve always loved writing, but I really started taking it seriously sometime last year.
Sometimes it’s exhilarating, sometimes it’s less so. Sometimes I’m pounded by the heavy feeling that I’m yet to find my so called niche. Everybody makes it sound like once your find your niche, the stars fall at your feet; to hell with the ‘nicheless’ writers.
What keeps me going is the love I have for the craft. I enjoy writing, and I can’t yet imagine a world where I don’t write.
When I write, I’ll say my mind—politically correct or not. I’ll be unapologetically me!
purplemessenger.substack.com
I’ve been thinking about this a lot yesterday. One conclusion is that I want to keep taking the pictures I like to take. If others like them too, that would be awesome. It should however not influence what I create. If I start censoring myself, one of the first things that will go is what makes these pictures uniquely me. Ha, this will save me tons of grief in the future. Thank you so much for the prompt. I hope tons of True Fans will find you and you will have the freedom and time to create the work that is uniquely you(rs).
That's great. I love that this was helpful!
A very interesting read. It gives me a lot to think about. I'm a very private person. I don't believe it has to be a share everything you are or a share nothing. I'll have to think more about this... Thank you for giving me something to ponder.
Oh, you DEFINITELY don't have to do it this way. This is my approach, for people like me. A lot of people prefer something else. But like you said: Something to at least consider.
It doesn't scare me to show myself, and I'm slowly stitching together true fans. For example, today someone forgot to turn off her mic during our virtual workout, so everyone could hear her grunting. She apologized. I announced, "I like it. Why don't we turn off the music and show everyone grunting?" So we'll try doing that for a set on Valentine's Day! Hilarious to me.
But we should acknowledge both the original True Fans essay (https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/) and the fact that true fans may not have the means to support you. Or if they do, people change, move away, and die. Plus you will have to face being ignored and scorned along the way. So you constantly need more True Fans. Still, it's so much fun to write, and so wonderful to connect with other cool humans, I ain't stopping now.
Oh, sure. Yeah, there's always churn, as much as I like to pretend that everyone's always there forever.
The grunting story is hilarious. :)
Thank you. I needed to read this very badly rught now. 🙂.
You've basically just described my entire approach. I didn't know what it was but that's pretty much it. I write what I think are very commercially accessible books (except they're not. Each one mashes 3-5 genres so they're impossible to describe accurately. Indeed, I can't give them away 🤣🤣) but I write them for me because I love them. If anyone else likes them, that's gravy. There is goodwill... I think... oh maybe people just feel sorry for me. 🤣🤣 I have a slight problem with people liking me and buying all my books because they like me but not actually reading any of them. So I'm diversifying my content with some memoir and non-fiction planned... and my street art photo book goes live on kickstarter this week. I am not sure how to utilise subscriptions because I produce stuff incredibly slowly; far too slowly to commit to an article a week without burning out. And now I'm just rambling on. Sorry.
But yeh. Thank you. I have no trouble putting myself out there, I toyed with stand up at one point but sat down because I wasn't funny enough. I used to tell people and they'd say they thought I was brave but I suspect that, actually, I'm just desperate for attention. 🤣🤣🤣 Or an egotist ... or possibly both.
I'm glad I could enable you! :)