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taleweaver-ramblings · 2 years

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I want to know about the Great Redwall Reread 👀👀👀👀👀👀

You are a lovely human being. Also tagging @lostmousemaid, @christian-anon-reblogs, and @friendrat who are also lovely humans and asked about this. Sorry for taking so long to reply to y'all.

Anyway. Back in 2020, I decided to reread all the Redwall books in chronological order, which is my preferred reading order, tracking a bunch of stuff: plot type, significant elements that set each particular book apart from the others, romance or nomance, which books focused primarily on one type of creature, notable connections between books, villain madness level, "scribe's errors" (aka inconsistencies between books), and notable riddles and rhymes. Originally I was going to track some other stuff too (namely food and how many named characters die), but I kinda dropped that after Lord Brocktree. In any case, I was most interested in plot types (because we talk about how many Redwall books are just the same plot, different players, and I wanted to see if that was true) and villain madness level.

I'm not going to go over all the results, but if you want to see the spreadsheet with all my notes, you can do that here.

For plot types, before I started I came up with what I thought would be a reasonably accurate list of five basic plots that all of the Redwall stories should fit into.

Type A: Evil Comes to the Abbey A1: (And Besieges It) A2: (And Requires an Ancient Treasure to Be Found) A3: (And Takes Something of Great Value)

Type B: Evil Comes To Salamandastron (And Besieges or Conquers It)

Type C: Evil Exists Elsewhere (And Must Be Driven Out)

Type B is the least common; it only really happens three times (with a fourth instance of an attack at Salamandastron in The Rogue Crew). Chronologically speaking, after Salamandastron it kind of just stops happening. (Going by publication order, I think Lord Brocktree would be the final Type B.) Unsurprisingly, A1 is the most common . . . by one point. A2 is the second-most frequent. Most of the books end up having a combination of plot types, which is probably part of why the books don't end up feeling too same-y.

All in all, my plot types ended up covering everything pretty well; there were only three books that couldn't be neatly slotted into one of the plot types:

Mossflower is technically closest to a Type C in structure, with evil existing in a particular location and heroes coming from elsewhere to end it. It's weird because the evil is technically existing at the area that will be Redwall.

The Legend of Luke isn't any of these, since the A-plot of the book is Martin finding out what happened to his father and his people. The B-plot (Luke's journey) is also closest to a Type C.

The Long Patrol is closest to A1 or B, but isn't a true instance of either because there's no siege and everyone knows the enemies are coming long before they get there.

In the other categories, the most interesting results to me are in the Connections and Scribe's Errors sections. Despite changing casts every few books, Jacques included a lot of callbacks to previous books — in particular, if you pay attention to landmarks, you'll notice characters repeatedly taking the same paths on their journeys (even if it's not explicitly called out, as in Mattimeo and Loamhedge). I also have a pet theory that Peace Island (in Triss) is the same place as Ruddaring (in Pearls of Lutra) because that seems like a very Jacques thing to do. Oh, and we can probably assume that either Finnbar Galedeep originally came from High Rhulain's Green Isle or else relatives of his settled there, as the surname Galedeep shows up in both books. I just think that's cool.

On the flip side . . . look, the thing about reading the books in chronological order is that it's a lot easier to pick up on contradictions in books. A lot of them can be explained via the passage of time, so I let them go (or, in the case of leadership succession in the Guosim, try to let them go — look, we have roughly four data points, and only half of them agree with each other! it bothers me!). The one I like to rag on, though, is the fact that, in Salamandastron, Arula digs acistern in the bottommost parts of the mountain that somehow then travels back in time to exist during the events of Lord Brocktree. How. I recognize that Jacques probably just forgot stuff, but how.

Oh, and I'm still sad that the sparrows are only ever in two books. I liked the sparrows.

So, yeah. Those are what I consider the highlights of the reread. Hopefully that was interesting. (Also, rereading the whole series was an excellent experience that I would highly recommend. It's really nice to read something where you know who's good and who's evil and who's going to win in the end, and where friendship, home, and simple goodness is celebrated.)

#redwall #taleweaver speaks #asks answered #books #the great redwall reread #firefletch #lostmousemaid #christian anon #friendrat

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kanerallels · 2 years

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So, I'm not sure I can really explain what led me to write this, let alone post it. I'm like 88 percent certain this is something God wanted me to do judging by the fact I almost never post this kind of stuff

But my uncle once told me that every piece of writing has a specific audience, and it won't affect those that aren't part of it. I hope that I manage to find that audience

I'm gonna tag some people who've expressed interest in my original writing before. The full story is beneath the cut, and is a little over 2,000 words. TW for mentions of war and death

@accidental-spice @heckin-music-dork @laughingphoenixleader @silverpaintedstars @taleweaver-ramblings @authorofemotion @headingtowardsimplicity @sifuprincesscarry

The night was cold and crisp, a million stars glittering above the camp. It was late, but the residents of the camp weren't asleep.

For this was no ordinary group. They were warriors, brave and strong, fighting under the service of their King against the Enemy who had taken captive the people of their country. And they had been summoned by their leader, the Prince, to an urgent war meeting.

Among those leading the way to the tent was one of the captains. He'd been in this army for years, fighting alongside his men and his Prince, and knew them all well. So he also knew that this kind of meeting was unusual, to say the least.

At his side was one of the younger warriors, who'd only joined them a few months back. The captain had taken him under his wing, as he had many before him, and even now kept an eye on the young man.

"What do you think is going on?" the young man whispered to him as they reached the tent.

"I'm not sure," the captain admitted. This wasn't something the Prince had done before, and he felt a flicker of unease in his chest. He just returned from a visit to the King, he reminded himself. It must have something to do with that. Pushing it aside, he added, "But I have a feeling the Prince will tell us soon enough."

They stepped into the tent, which held only a large table that was usually covered in maps and notes for strategy. Tonight, it was empty save for one map, and the captain frowned at it. First the unusual meeting hour, now this, he thought as the others filed into the tent behind him. Something's up. Something important.

As the last man moved into place, the tent flap opened one last time, and their leader stepped inside– the Prince. The captain sensed a slight ripple going through the men as they stood at attention, and he did the same.

They always did for the Prince, although it wasn't something he demanded– far from it. There was something about their leader that commanded respect, loyalty, but more than just that. He was the kind of leader that any self-respecting man would be proud to serve under. The kind of leader that not only would any man in the crowd lay his life down for in a second, but they knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would do the same.

"At ease," the Prince told them, his low voice calm but commanding. The men relaxed, and the Prince moved up to the table, resting his hands on the surface. He gazed at the map for a second, his expression solemn, and the captain's frown deepened. What's going on?

"Captains, step forward," the Prince ordered, and the captain moved from amongst the crowd to stand at the table. Three or four others joined him, all of whom he recognized– he'd fought alongside them at all one time or another, and knew them well enough. He exchanged a quick glance with them as the Prince began to speak.

"As you know, I've been to visit the King," he told them. "And I'm back with a plan, one that will strike a decisive blow to the heart of our Enemy, and ultimately decide the fate of the war."

The captain's eyes widened, and he heard gasps of surprise and murmurs around the tent. "That's incredible news, sir," one of his fellow captains said, his eyes bright with excitement– although whether it was for the end of the war, or the upcoming battle, the captain wasn't quite sure. "What kind of plan is it? Will we trap them somewhere? Is it a head on attack, or maybe a siege?"

"It's none of those," the Prince told him with a slight smile. "It's not any kind of battle that we've fought before."

"Oh," the other captain said, looking slightly disappointed. Recovering quickly, he asked, "Then what kind is it, sir?"

"It's a deep cover operation," the Prince replied. "One man will go behind enemy lines. He will be disguised so that the Enemy will be unable to touch him, but it will still be dangerous. And he won't be back for many years."

"Are you looking for volunteers, sir?" the captain asked slowly. He could already sense his young protege a few feet back, bristling with excitement at the thought of volunteering, and couldn't pretend his heart didn't sink at the idea.

But it already didn't feel right– and sure enough, the Prince shook his head. "No," he said, his gaze calm, but sad as he spoke. "I'm here to say goodbye."

The captain felt his heart nearly stop. It took the crowd a few minutes to put together what the Prince had said, but when they did, the tent exploded with protests.

"Sir, you can't–"

"It's too dangerous–"

"We can't lose you–”

And most overwhelmingly of all, "Sir, let me–"

The Prince held up a hand, and silence fell almost instantly. "I have never asked more of my men than I was willing to do myself," he said firmly. "And I am the one who must do this."

"One of us could come with you," the captain suggested, his shock melting into fear and a fragile hope that he could protect his commander. But the Prince shook his head.

"I would be honored to have any one of you by my side. But this must be done alone, and it must be me. This is the only way to protect my people, and to fully destroy the Enemy's hold on them." Turning to address the entire tent, the Prince said, "If this mission succeeds, the people of the world will finally have a choice."

"A choice between what?" one of the men asked.

"Between continuing to live under the law of the Enemy, or accepting the love and forgiveness of the King and coming to live with and for him."

"Who wouldn't choose to live under the King?" the captain's protege asked, his voice confused.

The Prince gave him a sad smile. "That is an excellent question, my friend. Not everyone agrees with my Father's rules, or His way of life. Some people have been hurt by those claiming to serve me and my Father. But no matter what they believe, we cannot force them to make the choice to follow Him. It has to be theirs. But by taking this mission, I'm granting them that choice– or at least making it easier."

"What does the King think of this plan?" the captain asked– and realized the answer seconds before the Prince spoke.

"It was His plan," he replied quietly.

The tent was stunned to silence for a moment, then one of the men spoke. "He's going to send His own son on a mission that could get him killed?"

The captain flashed the man a scolding look, and the man lowered his head. "Sorry, sir, I didn't mean to–"

"It's alright," the Prince said, directing the words both to the captain and the man. Addressing the latter, he said, "My Father and I have agreed that this is what needs to be done. We both know the consequences– but saving our people is worth it." A small smile crossed his face, and he added, "They're His children, too, you know. Which means they're my family, and I would fight and die for any of them. Just as I would for you."

A silence came over the tent at the Prince's words. They all knew their commander well enough to know he would never lie to them. And they could never prevent their leader from fighting for those who needed him. It's his nature, the captain thought with a pang.

"Then if it's your will, and the King's will, we'll follow it," he said quietly.

"Thank you, my friend," the Prince said, resting a hand on his shoulder, and the captain felt himself stand a little taller under it.

"We'll miss you, sir," one of the younger soldiers blurted out, and the captain saw a smile flash across the Prince's face.

"And I'll miss you. All of you. But you must continue fighting without me. Protect those you can, and follow the King's will. It will be a long time before we see each other again, and I won't look the same when we do."

"How will we know it's you, then, sir?" the captain's protege asked.

"That's a good question," the Prince said, giving him a nod of approval, and the young man glowed under his praise. "You'll know it's me because I'll be where I always am, and that's with those who need me. Does that make sense?"

"I think so," he said earnestly, and the Prince smiled.

"Good."

"Can you give us any other details, sir?" the captain said hopefully. "Even if we can't come, there must be some way we can help."

The Prince shook his head regretfully, and the captain's heart fell. "The best thing you can do is carry on the fight for me. But I can tell you this much– my disguise won't be what most would expect, especially the Enemy. And my arrival will be far from conventional."

"It never is, sir," one of the men said. A ripple of laughter fluttered through the tent, and the Prince laughed with them, his laughter bright.

"I suppose it isn't." His smile faded away, and he studied them seriously. "Remember everything I've taught you. Follow the King's commands above all, and take care of each other until I return."

Recognizing their dismissal, the men let out a murmur of assent and started making their way out of the tent, stopping to bid the Prince farewell as they went. He had time for each of them, be it a quiet word or a smile or a hand on the shoulder, and every man moved with a lighter step for it.

The captain was one of the last few to leave, and he stopped in front of the Prince, trying to figure out what it was he wanted to ask. He felt the Prince studying him, his gaze full of kindness. "You're concerned," he said quietly.

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir– I don't mean to doubt you or the King's plans. It's just, well–"

"It's not in your nature to let someone else take the risks," the Prince finished.

"Yes, sir," the captain said. "And we want you to be safe– none of us want to lose you, sir."

The Prince rested a hand on the captain's shoulder. "I know. And I know you're worried about what might happen. But you have to trust me, and trust the King. If He has planned this, it will be so. The people of the world need me, and sometimes, the greatest strength is to let someone else be strong for you. That's something you need to learn as well, and to trust in my Father's plan."

"It's– not always so easy for me, sir," the captain confessed, feeling shame burn through him.

The look the Prince gave him was so understanding that the captain felt tears nearly start in his eyes. "I know. I know you well, remember? But ask, and you will receive."

"Thank you, sir," the captain managed hoarsely. He started to move forward, then paused. "Sir?"

"Yes?"

"I– well, some of the people out there– they won't welcome you," the captain said. "Especially if they know who you are."

"Oh, I know. I'm counting on it." Smiling at the captain's confused expression, the Prince said, "Sometimes, to help people, you need to make a little trouble first. Trust the King's plan, remember?"

"Yes, sir," the captain replied. "Our prayers will be with you."

"That's appreciated," the Prince said warmly, and the captain nodded his farewell before he stepped out of the tent, feeling, if not happy, then at least a little more at peace.

His young companion was waiting for him, bursting with curiosity. "Where do you think he's going?" he asked as they headed down the road. "And what do you think his plan is?"

Shaking his head slowly, the captain said, "I don't know." Glancing back at the tent, he added, "But whatever it is, it'll be good. Something the Enemy could never see coming."

Thousands of miles away, across the country, a young woman was given news that would change her life and millions of others as a plan to save the world was set into action.

No one could ever have expected what came next.

#original writing #original story #my writing #allegory #christmas #christmas writing #original characters #short story #writers on tumblr #salt and light #writing stories is a kind of magic too

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ao3feed-jonsa · 5 years

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Idyll

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2M4Bxdl

by TaleWeaver

Written for @jonsadungeonsanddrabbles Day 4: Lazy Days/Workout

Now they've finally consummated their relationship, Jon and Sansa enjoy their much-needed alone time, and finally get to speak the words they've both wanted to say for a long time.

Words: 1172, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 4 of No Dungeons Just Dragons

Fandoms: Game of Thrones (TV)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Jon Snow | Aegon Targaryen, Sansa Stark

Relationships: Jon Snow/Sansa Stark

Additional Tags: AU: Dungeons and Dragons, But not exactly, references to similarly themed anime in here as well, word count? we don't need no stinking word count

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2M4Bxdl

#IFTTT #ao3feed #jonsa #jonsa fanfiction #actuallyjonsa

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horizonboundtrainer · 3 years

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Note: Legendary-verse May's heralds have absolutely nothing to do with Knight's canon. They're something much closer to her predecessor's Lorekeepers in that she selects a single individual to speak to her followers in her stead. ( They're part of her trifecta along with her Taleweaver and Storm Singer )

With few exceptions, her heralds are charismatic enough to be a force of nature, even if the majority are merely above average in terms of battling skill. All of them are fanatically loyal to the Storm King, to the point of launching revolutions in her name.

#headcanons.#may's heralds are chaotic asf #she doesn't give a shit about whether or not they have special powers but #she knows enough to help refine the ones who do

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thestoryfilesblog · 6 years

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Light #TaleWeaver

Light #TaleWeaver #story #life #love #supernatural #ghosts #spring #writing #prompt #writer #blog

Mum died when I was a baby and every since then I’ve seen the light orbs. No one told me they were ghosts, it was just something I’ve always known. I didn’t really speak about them because it was so normal I thought everyone could see the orbs.

They were white and yellow in colour but sometimes I saw lights in blue or green. They came in different sizes; from pin points, to coin size to the…

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#dating #death #ghosts #life #light #love #Spring #supernatural #writing prompts

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taleweaver-ramblings · 2 years

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Finally watched Encanto and I am very confused why everyone is obsessed with "We Don't Talk About Bruno" when "Waiting On a Miracle" is right there. Y'all sleeping on the good stuff.

#legit do not get it #I liked literally every other song in the movie better #it's not that it's a bad song?#but it's also not that great sorry #encanto #taleweaver speaks

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taleweaver-ramblings · 2 years

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Looking for a book to read?

Let me put an author out there who may or may not be on your radar: Kendra E. Ardnek. If you're in the market for a fairy tale retelling or a portal fantasy (or, in one case, a high fantasy political thingy), she's your girl. Her books aren't consistently masterpieces, but they are a delight to read and full of cleverness and adventure and humor and tragedy and love.

(Also, full disclosure: Kendra has a necessary medical procedure coming up that she needs to find a way to pay for. So, while I would recommend her books anyway, that is a motivation for making this post and trying to convince you to pick them up.)

My favorite of her books is The Worth of a King — it's got long-lost siblings, murder, plots, fabulous non-long-lost sibling relationships, a whole nation of people who are basically doing their best Zorro/Dread Pirate Roberts impressions 24/7, a super sweet romance, actual contemplation of what it is to be a good leader, and, last but not least, Prince Delaney, who I love. (You'll also love him once you meet him.)

A close second is her Rizkaland Legends series, which is portal fantasy in the vein of Narnia, but more modern (and also with bonus arranged marriages — don't worry, there's nothing remotely questionable on the page). You can start with either book 1 or book 2; I love book 2 best, but that's because it contains most of my favorite characters in the series. Be aware: Book 3 is awesome — it deals a lot with that question of how the people who go on these adventures adjust to being home again (spoiler alert: the answer is "not terribly well) — but it will also tear your heart into tiny pieces. In a good way, though!

Her latest book, Rose Petals and Snowflakes, is also pretty fun. If you're a fan of Austen and fairy tales, give this a shot; it's a blend of Sense and Sensibility with Snow White and Rose Red, and it works astonishingly well. I had my doubts about it when Kendra said she was going to write it, but storm me if it isn't a genuinely clever idea and a good book. (She's doing Pride and Prejudice crossed with Cinderella next, and I think Emma/Rapunzel is after that. She actually has me excited for the Emma retelling, which is saying something since I have yet to get through a version of that book, full stop.)

She also has the Bookania Quests, which are humorous fairy tale retellings that end up hitting some serious topics by halfway through the series. The first couple books are her early work and therefore a little rough, but the second half of the series makes up for it by virtue of (A) just being generally better quality and (B) having the main couples get married and then just . . . keep having adventures. Like, who does that? More people should! If you want to skip the rough start, you can start with Book 4, which was written as an alternative entry point and features the aforementioned married adventuring couple. (Well . . . sorta. You'll see what I mean if you look at the book.) And then if you fall in love, you can go back and read how they got together.

All of her books are available in Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and paperback. If you don't want to go through the 'Zon, contact her and she'd probably be willing to set you up with a back-channel copy.

Also, if you've already read her books, tell me so we can chat! Or try to chat. I am not very good at carrying a conversation, as you might have noticed. xD

#taleweaver speaks #taleweaver recommends #books #kendra e. ardnek #she is a very fun author #and a very good friend #and I already own all her books #so the best I can do to help her out is try to get other people to buy them #I genuinely do enjoy these just for the record #I will rate quite a few of them five stars

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taleweaver-ramblings · 2 years

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Gonna try kombucha today! Been thinking of trying it for literal years, and now I'm pretty excited. :D

#taleweaver speaks #taleweaver tastes #will it be delicious?#or will it be horrifying?#only one way to find out!

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taleweaver-ramblings · 2 years

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Wait. You can confidently info-dump about self-publishing?

I'm literally begging you to do so, I need this knowledge. (I mean, I'm gonna do my own research at some point, but if I can also use a Tumblr friend's knowledge-- bonus!!)

(So this is very delayed because I was trying to finish my WIP. The WIP is not finished, but the chapter I've been working on for almost a week is, so I'm calling that a win.)

Can I info-dump about self-publishing? Can I info-dump about self-publishing? Buckle up, because we're about to go for a journey. (A very long one, fair warning.)

So, you wrote yourself a book.

Or maybe you aren't finished yet. Maybe you're writing a book. Either way, you want to share it with the world, but you don't want to go through a traditional publisher because, I don't know. You don't trust Big Book Industry. You want to have creative control. You think that querying sounds terrifying. You were cursed that on the eve of your first traditional book release, you would fall into a dreamless slumber from which you would not awaken for a thousand years. The point is: right now, you have two jobs. Three, if you haven't finished writing the book.

Find yourself some friends and a quality editor.

Decide what self-publishing platform you want to use.

There's more than one self-publishing platform?

Of course there is. The two big ones are IngramSpark and Kindle Direct Publishing. Both are very solid options. A quick rundown:

IngramSpark . . .

isn't run by Amazon. You may or may not care about this.

allows preorders in all formats and offers ebook, paperback, and hardcover options.

offers fairly wide distribution for all formats — aka, you can sell your book through most physical and digital book retailers.

costs money to publish ($49 for print and ebook; $25 for ebook only, plus an extra charge for revisions, if I remember correctly).

Kindle Direct Publishing . . .

is an Amazon service, which you might have guessed from the name.

offers ebook and paperback options. They also have a hardcover option, but I think it's still in beta.

allows ebook preorders, but not paperback and hardcover preorders.

offers wide distribution for all formats, but gives you a little bit of an advantage if you choose to only distribute via Amazon.

is free up front, but takes a percentage of your profits.

Kindle Direct Publishing (aka KDP) is what I know the most about, so that's what I'll be referencing. It's also what I recommend, especially if you're starting out and trying not to break the bank before you make any money off of your writing. It's a pretty straightforward process, it offers a handy program that will format your ebooks for you (for purposes of uploading them to Amazon, not for distributing to other people yourself), and, again, it doesn't cost anything up front.

Ingram's main advantages are that it offers physical preorders and hardcover format books and it isn't Amazon. These are all very nice advantages! Maybe you care a lot about one of them! If so, go for Ingram. Most of the actual action steps apply to both services, so the rest of this post should still be useful.

Ok, so we're publishing with KDP. So do I just upload my manuscript and go?

Slow down, my friend. Let's go back to the first action step: find some friends and a quality editor. Or, at least, find some friends who you trust and who know good storytelling from bad storytelling, have strong grammar skills, and are willing to read your book and tell you what you need to fix.

Never, ever release a book that only you have ever laid eyes on. Even if you are an expert grammarian, even if you have gone over the manuscript ten times with a fine-tooth comb, you will miss things. Not just grammar things — places where some story event is clear to you but not to others, where a character who's supposed to be kind comes off as a jerk, where you accidentally botch your theme in the climax because you got carried away by what's cool, and so on.

You can manage without hiring a professional editor. Get two to five people who fit the above description and have them act as beta readers. You send them your story (usually in the form of a Word doc or Google doc), they make comments and edits. Let them know what you're looking for (any and all comments, specifically character and story stuff, specifically technical edits) and maybe give them some specific questions you want answered. Make sure they have at least a month to read your book. Then, go through their advice and apply what's useful. Make sure you thank them in the acknowledgments, and maybe send them an e-copy of the finished version.

If you can afford it, though, I strongly recommend hiring an editor or, at minimum, a proofreader to go over your book. You can find freelance editors for hire all over the internet; if you want recommendations, find an author/writer group online (there's a few on Facebook that I can suggest) and ask around. Or contact your favorite indie authors and ask who they use. Either way works. The advantage of a hired editor is that they're less likely to cushion blows (this is their job) and they typically have knowledge that your beta readers might lack.

The point is, you want your book as polished as possible before you get it out in the world.

Ok, so I polished up my book and now it's so shiny that I can see my face in it (or maybe I just realized how much of myself I put in my characters). Now what?

Now we talk about how your book looks. Technically, this is going to happen concurrently with the editing phase. There's two parts to this: cover design and interior formatting. Depending on your skill set, you may be able to DIY this, or you may really need to pay someone to do it.

Of the two, interior formatting is the one you're more likely to be able to DIY. You can do it in Word pretty effectively (I know someone who uses Word exclusively); KDP offers templates that you can drop your book into, and there are plenty of tutorials out there. If you're comfortable with adjusting page layout and margins and using paragraph styles, you'll be fine. (Friendly tip: set your body type size a little smaller than you think you should — 10 or 11, never 12.) If you want to get fancy, you can use a page layout program like Adobe InDesign, but it's not necessary. And if you're formatting for ebook, KDP offers a program that will take your Word document and do all the work for you.

(The downside is that the resulting file can only be used to upload to Amazon, so you may want to stick with Word, export your document to a PDF, and then use another program, Calibre, to convert the PDF to epub and mobi files — mobi is the Kindle format; epub is for all the other screenreaders out there.)

Of course, if you're not comfortable with doing interior formatting yourself, there's plenty of people for hire. Some of them even offer packages: pay for a book cover and interior and you get a discount! Which brings us quite nicely to cover art.

People say not to judge a book by its cover . . . how much does cover art matter?

A lot. It matters a lot. If you have poor-quality cover art, people will notice, and people will probably judge you. Your cover art needs to have a clear, readable title and author name (even at small sizes), should be fairly interesting or eye-catching, and, of course, should reflect what the book is actually about. It's actually a lot like poster design, but on a much smaller scale.

Cover design price tags vary — you can often get premades for less money than custom covers, but the tradeoff is that it may not reflect your book as well. Professional covers can range from $80 premades/$150 custom to . . . well, much higher. You may be able to get a lower price if you go to a non-professional or a student, but keep in mind that you often get what you pay for. (Also be aware that there's currently a trend in indie fantasy cover design towards computer-generated models, which some people like, but I think look weird and awkward and video-gamey. Your mileage may vary on that point.)

On the other hand, if you're artistically inclined, you can design your own covers! KDP has cover templates that you can customize (keeping in mind that other people will have used the same template) and guidelines for sizing and margins if you want to workfrom scratch. You can find stock images (but make sure you're going to a legitimate source) and use those, or you can make your own art. Spend some time familiarizing yourself with the current trends and take note of what the book covers you like do well.

Also keep in mind that if you're publishing paperback or hardcover, you will need wrap-style covers for those, in addition to the front cover.

My book is polished and formatted inside, and I have a really nice cover. Now can I publish it?

Yes! Almost. With KDP, you'll set up a new book by entering all the metadata (title, author, publication date, page count, and so on), then upload your interior and cover files, then set your price and choose Amazon Select or Expanded distribution. Amazon Select lets you put your book in Kindle Unlimited (great if you're publishing a series you expect people to binge-read); Expanded means you get your book in Barnes and Noble and elsewhere (great if you know people who hate Amazon with a passion). If you purchased an ISBN, you can enter that as well, but honestly? Amazon will provide you with an ISBN for print books and an ASIN for ebooks, and there's no reason you can't just use those, especially early on.

At this stage, you also get to order a proof copy if you're publishing a paperback version of your book. Always order a proof copy. You need it. Colors may look different on the printed book than they did on your screen, you may realize that the font you've chosen isn't great, there's all kinds of things that can go wrong.

But, with all that set up, you can finally click publish. Your book is out in the world!

And now you have to get people to buy it.

That should be easy, though, right? I wrote a great story; how hard is it to convince people to read it?

Unfortunately, harder than you think. Indie authors get the pleasure of doing it all, and that includes marketing. Thankfully, you don't have to do all the work.

The typical way marketing works is that you'll get together a group of people known often known as a "street team." You'll give them your book blurb, book cover, links for buying the book, and anything else that might be useful. Then, you get them to post about the book on social media. You typically want these posts to be especially thick and frequent around two times: when you reveal your book cover (and push for preorders) and when you actually publish your book. Preorders and publication-day purchases do a lot to improve sales rankings, which helps your book get seen by more people. You'll also be posting about the book on social media, and you'll be doing it more than your street team is.

In addition, you typically want to distribute early digital copies of your book to people who'll review it on Amazon and Goodreads. Note that you can't offer anything besides the free copy of your book in exchange for this review or else you might get in trouble with Amazon.

For most of the last ten years, book releases have also included a "blog tour" — the author has the equivalent of a street team post on their blogs with reviews, character spotlights, author and character interviews, sneak peeks of the book, and so on. All this happens in the week surrounding the release, or sometimes just on the day of the release. These days, people seem to be moving away from blog tours, focusing more on the social media aspect of things. The key is just to get exposure for your book where there are people who might be interested.

Oh, and something you should be aware of here — you really need more people than just, IDK, your parents and a few relatives to buy your book. Specifically, you need people to buy your book who also buy books your book is like. If you write an epic sci-fi or fantasy adventure, but the primary buyers are people who mostly purchase cookbooks, memoirs, and historical fiction, you're not going to get the exposure you need. Basically, you want to show up in the "Customers also bought" section for the right books. Just something to be aware of.

This sounds like a lot.

Yeah. It is a lot. I told you I was infodumping. And, just to make things even better, it's kind of all happening at once! Here's a general timeline of how all this might happen, based on the supposition that you publish a book six months after you finish the first draft.

Six and a half months out — Find beta readers.

Six months out — Finish the first draft (and mention it on social media). Do a quick initial edit to clean up the stuff you decided to change halfway through the book. Send the book to beta-readers, giving them a deadline of about a month to read it and get back to you.

Five months out — Find a cover designer you like and can afford and commission a cover (usually takes a few weeks unless your designer is super busy), or design your own cover. If you're going to hire an editor, find that editor and settle on a price. Talk more about your book on social media.

Four months out — Get the book back from your beta-readers. Start editing with their changes. Figure out a street team, starting with any beta readers who had positive reactions to the story. Keep talking about your book on social media and let people know that they should keep their eyes open for a cover reveal.

Three months out — Send the book to your editor. Set up an Amazon KDP listing for your book, hit "release for preorder" on the ebook version. and do a cover reveal, which includes inviting people to preorder your book.

Two months out — Get the book back from your editor. Do all those edits. Format your book or send it to someone to format for you. Order a proof copy. Keep posting about your book.

One month out — Make final changes based on your proof copy. Finalize release promotion plans. Remind people on social media about how close your publishing date is.

One week out — Social media and blog promo starts in earnest with the street team. Finalize any last details that you've been putting off or that have been delayed. Make sure your final manuscripts are uploaded.

Three days out — Double-check that your final manuscripts are uploaded. Hit publish on your e-version and paperback version for the last time.

Day of publication — Celebrate. Tell everyone on the internet that your book is out there. Congratulations; you're done . . . until you do it all again with the next book.

Finally, two words of warning.

You may already know this, but I am contractually obliged to say it: beware of vanity publishers. Beware of anyone trying to charge you money to have your books published. This is different from IngramSpark charging $50 for essentially "hosting" your book. Vanity publishers will charge you thousands of dollars and then do nothing to help you actually sell your book.

And, on a related note — avoid hybrid publishers. These companies offer "publishing packages", often including editing, cover design, marketing materials, and books printed through their company. Many of these are legitimate businesses, but their quality varies, and you can typically get better prices via freelancers (plus, you can find people who you feel comfortable working with and who you know work in the style you want). There are probably some cases where a hybrid publisher is the best option, but there aren't many.

I think that about covers it.

Hopefully I didn't lose you somewhere in there. If you have any questions or want me to elaborate more on anything, feel free to ask! I'll probably be able to answer those a little faster, haha.

#self-publishing is great #but you really do have to do ALL the things #and it can be a lot #don't ask how I know all this #(but the basic answer is that I hang around indie authors in a lot of internet spaces)#self-publishing #guide to self-publishing #taleweaver speaks #asks answered #the taleweaver's guide to . . .#kanerallels

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