E&D: Editing and Design

The Final Run-Through

The book has been edited for the very last time.

By me, that is. Now it goes off to an official editor to copy-edit and proofread the hell out of it. It is the first official investment in this book that I will make, unless you count the odd subscriptions and writing conferences that I’ve made in the last few years.

I was fortunate enough to be offered access to a new site called Reedsy which allows you to upload your text and through a marketplace hire an editor. You and the editor can then work together in real-time to go through the manuscript and see the changes as they are made, so that sounds the best bet at the moment! Now to find someone who has worked on Young Adult fiction and who I think can offer a good perspective on my writing to make it gleam and shine.

Designs

Now for the other half of the book – the very first thing my audience will see when they come across this book: the front cover! I have a specific image in mind of what I want my book to look like. I’ve added in some earlier ideas for the front cover below – you can really see just how fantastic my drawing skills are (not!)

I should have been an artist

After quite some time convincing myself that I needed to hire a professional graphic designer it hit me that I have one loving under the same roof as me … My sister. She is a First Class graphic designer – literally and metaphorically – and currently teaches (you guessed it!) graphic design. She has created some wicked work in the past and so who best to work with throughout August to create exactly what I need. And hey, it’ll be a lot cheaper too than outsourcing the job to a total stranger who doesn’t understand this story and hasn’t heard me harp on about it every week for the past few years!

Inspirational Front Covers

After some consideration of what is out on the market in similar genres to mine, I have decided that I want my front cover to look something similar to the following:

The inspirations for my book cover …

I personally like the dark purple – it’s mystical and intriguing, and the other brighter colours stick out against it. The gold on both also works well with the dark background. I’m envisioning a picture of a clock and numbers and shapes/symbols spilling out of it. I think the more simplistic design of The Tales of Beedle the Bard book would grab as much attention as The Bone Clocks, and will be easier to create too.

Once I’ve got a final image confirmed you’ll be the first to see it on this blog!

I also downloaded Bryan Cohen’s book How to Write a Sizzling Synopsis so I’ll be shaping up my final synopsis as I start work on a website throughout August. On the topic of August, it will be a unique month as I’ll be blogging all about the good characters in my story.  I’ve planned out a number of posts to introduce my characters and give you an insight into their world,  who they are and the role they play in this adventure.

Some there’s a little update with things, till next time have a good rest of the week 🙂

LJJ