C.J.R. Isely's Blog, page 3

Shadow of the Sword - Audiobook, Release Date, Vegas

Well, things are getting more and more serious...

If you have looked at Shadow of the Sword on Amazon, you may have seen the December release date. However, I have my suspicions that things will be running well ahead of schedule. Already this book has been read and reviewed by several BETA readers. It has passed the first rounds of edits. The formatting is nearly completed, the cover designs and specs are completed, and push now is marketing.

Marketing the book and, of course, getting the attention out there for the audiobook.

It is my immense pleasure to announce that Shadow of the Sword: A Tale of Alamore will be produced with the narration skills of Steve Coleman! Coleman is an England native who auditioned for this book and absolutely captured the feel and essence of the characters in the short clip. There were more than 10 other auditions but his truly raised the bar.

The tentative completion date for this project is the end of October, meaning that the book, and the audio, should be released before November. This is, in truth, the goal!

Reason being?

In November, for the second year running, I will be attending the 20 Books convention in Las Vegas. This convention hosts a huge number of creative minds, authors from around the world who gather together to learn and perfect our trade. With any luck, I intend to have Shadow of the Sword among those books available to purchase in person if you so care to meet the author in Las Vegas, NV.

Keep your eyes open for more information on that.

And keep your ears open for sneak-peeks of Coleman's adaption of Shadow of the Sword: A Tale of Alamore as he brings it to life for your Audible entertainment.

Book Four - What to Expect

In case you were wondering - Book Four is in the works for the William of Alamore series.

For some unknown reason, the beginning of a book is always the hardest for me to pen and this one has followed that trend.

But it finally is coming together to allow me to hit my stride and take off in writing this part of the William of Alamore series.

Yet - what does that mean? What can you, as the reader, expect to find in book four?

Well, I don't want to give too much away. I can assure that a slew of old characters - friends and enemies - will be returning. We will see familiar lands, unfamiliar enemies, the grey of characters, and the point between good and evil.

One of the things I'll be very excited to share is regarding the Ranger and his new squire... but can't spoil that for you.

Thornten's peace has ended - so why are they so silent? What might be happening that has them keeping to their own lands?

It's making Will uneasy.

A cryptic message from a hooded stranger will warn Will that the unnatural calm - the strange lack of battle or raids - is at an end and he'd do best to run. Because this time he won't want to be in the way. This time the enemy is much nearer to Alamore...

Cover Release - Shadow of the Sword

Captured and bound for death, Laster faces only two choices:

Be executed as a prisoner, or trust the very Prince who put him in chains...

This stand-alone novel of Alamore delves into the tale of Sir Laster. With familiar characters to the William of Alamore series, heart-stopping excitement, and a whirlwind of events and emotions, you won't want to miss Shadow of the Sword.

Pre-order today!

Sir Rockwood of Alamore

First Seen: Ranger of Kings

Description: Lanky, thin athletic build, with black hair, warm dark eyes. Rockwood is goodnatured and generally smiling.

Backstory:

Sir Rockwood is the third and son and second from last child of a Lord that lives in the central part of Alamore. His family has Though his family holds a title and some land, they have never been one of the great influences of the realm, nor one of the wealthiest. This was part of Rockwood's reasoning when he approached his parents and asked to go to Alamore to train. Though he knew he would miss his brothers and sister, he also understood how much it might help his family in the long run if he were to make his own way rather than hope for inheritance. It was a very difficult decision to make for his parents, but in the end and after much searching, they agreed.

Rockwood joined Alamore late for a page - eleven - but had already had some training with his own family's soldiers. By the time he was a squire the next year, he had nearly caught up with the others but still felt he had much to make up for. He worried that this might make knights less inclined to choose him as their apprentice. Additionally, his lanky and less-than-ideal frame had him anxious that knights might not see him as strong enough to keep up with the other squires.

However, in the year that Rockwood had been there, a new knight had also come to court. Sir Ross Hayvern, a common born knight from Lonnac lands, was closed-off and hardly spoke to others. Rockwood watched him in practice more than once and marveled at the knight's skill with a sword. Ross spent hours training, working through hours of the night. Rockwood couldn't shake the feeling that the knight was haunted and trying to work himself into exhaustion to forget.

After three weeks of being a squire without a knight, Rockwood couldn't sleep for worry and found himself at the edge of the jousting arena. Ross was again practicing, moving through the steps of an exercise with the speed and force that always made people whisper that he might even be a better swordsman that Cavian Greyhead himself. Feeling reckless, Rockwood picked up one of the heavy practice swords and climbed into the arena. He didn't speak to Ross, only stood several paces away and mirrored his movements.

For three nights in a row, Rockwood climbed from bed to rush to the jousting arena. He and Ross never spoke, but he didn't mind. It felt like the one-on-one training he hadn't been receiving since no knight had offered to train him yet.

On the third night, Ross growled at Rockwood to quit lunging so far forward on the fourth step, since he was making himself unstable and an easy target. Soon, he started coaching Rockwood on keeping his movements controlled, using his lanky frame to his advantage in terms of speed, and what to watch for in terms of reading the next strike of an attacking knight. By the end of the week, Ross had officially asked Rockwood to train as his squire. Rockwood agreed wholeheartedly, never once concerned with Ross's common birth nor what others might think of a noble being trained by village born.

Rockwood snuck from bed the night after becoming Ross's squire, intent to train with his knight again, but found Ross wasn't in the jousting arena. After that night, Rockwood noticed some of Ross's haunted expression leave and knew that he'd been right about the midnight training. Ross had been fighting some memory that tore him apart. But now, with a squire to train and someone to take care of, it seemed that the ghosts of his past had quieted their own cries.

Once in training consistently with Ross, Rockwood improved vastly. He worked the entire first year and a half of his squirehood from the back of one of the shaggy castle ponies used for pages. He was too embarrassed to admit to Ross that his family couldn't afford a good warhorse so lied repeatedly to the knight and insisted he liked the animal's build.

Never one to be fooled, Ross took matters into his own hands. One morning, as Rockwood went to saddle his pony, he found the animal missing from his stall. Instead he was met with a bright chestnut stallion, still young and gangly in his own frame. Bewildered, Rockwood turned to find Ross waiting, his stone face unreadable, and told him to hurry up in getting the horse saddled. When Rockwood tried to thank him, Ross only brushed aside the thanks. Though neither of them said it, both understood that Ross's change, the peace that had settled over him since taking Rockwood on as a squire, was more than thanks enough.

Rockwood trained diligently with his new horse. He was grateful when an older squire, astride his iron-grey stead, offered to help him with learning how to train war tactics onto the leggy horse. He quickly started to look up to the older squire - Laster - and idolized him. Their friendship developed from their despite the gap in age.

Their friendship, however, would fail with the events of Laster's capture (See Shadow of the Sword...)

Rockwood became a knight at eighteen. For the first few years of his knighthood, he spent much of his time traveling from Alamore to his family's estates to visit. He worked largely on helping the Kingdom maintain control over forests that had, prior, been overrun with thieves, bandits, and members of the group known as the Ridgar.

When it seemed things around his family's lands had quieted, he returned to Alamore where he took notice of a tall and lanky page among the squires. He noticed the boy's sharp mouth and quick wit. He found himself entertained by the boy's antics but it worried that a son of such a noble house might not want him as a mentor. Ross's words when they discussed it were "don't be an idiot."

The day the boy became a squire, Rockwood asked if he would be interested in being his apprentice. The boy didn't hesitated, already enthusiastic at the prospect of being trained by his favorite knight. And so Rockwood had his first squire - a rowdy boy full of mischief named Rowan.

Character Insight - Prince Tabius

Introduced: The Cutthroat Prince ** Spoilers for The Cutthroat Prince **

Description: High cheek bones, black hair, black eyes, handsome. Teenager.

Rank: Prince Tabius is the only son of King Tollien of Thornten. He is next in-line heir for the Thornten throne.

Background: Prince Tabius was raised with his mother away from court. This was to reduce the risk that Alamore might attempt to use him in some way to subdue the constant attacks from Thornten.

For the first fourteen years of his life, he has lived on the eastern coast of Thornten, near the ocean, training with knights and other squires. His mother has never cared to much discuss the Thornten family history with Tabius, instead insisting he study Kings and Queens long gone. This bothered Tabius. It always seemed to him that some dark secret was being held from him, that he was being treated like a child instead of royalty. He quickly found new ways to occupy his time; wandering the practice courts with those squires who banded behind him, picking on younger squires, and venting his frustration on servants.

After King Tollien's squire - Robin - abandon Thornten to swear loyalty to Alamore, Tabius was brought to court to learn the ways of Thornten and act as Tollien's squire as well as to learn some from his uncle; Marl.

Tabius quickly became something of a ring leader among the squires of Thornten, befriending the largest and most violent of the squires - Draccart.

When in Thornten, Tabius had the first chance to truly spend time with his uncle, Marl. During practice with Marl, he asked him why neither his mother nor father seemed willing to discuss the past of the Thornten throne with him. Marl exposed the truth to him, gifted him his dagger, and mentioned that it might benefit Thornten if he himself had an heir, as he was planning to take Kelkor by Right of Blood.

This idea festered in Tabius until he finally came up with a plan. He would hunt his own cousin, William of Alamore, and bring him back to Thornten... He would become The Cutthroat Prince.

** Tabius's story is still being written within the William of Alamore books. The information given pertains to book 2 primarily. In order to avoid future spoilers, Tabius's insight page will remain unfinished for the time being **

Character Insight - Lady Serena

First Introduced: The Cutthroat Prince

Spoilers: The Cutthroat Prince

Description: Lady knight - first of Kelkor, then of Alamore. One of Kelkor's most trusted knights (under reign of King Azric). Serena has red hair, green eyes, and a below-average height yet strong build.

Back story: Serena is related to several of the noble houses of Kelkor. In her youth, there was never any doubt that she would train to become a knight. She is a second child, her older brother inheriting the lands of her title. She is the only girl in her family to pursue knighthood (to the disapproval of several more distant relatives, including a powerful uncle.)

Serena came to the capitol palace of Kelkor in Kelvane, in the rule of King Havias and Queen Lenara, when she was eight to train first as a page. As a page, it was quickly clear that she was not to be under estimated and caught the eye of Lady Elhar, Leader of the Queen's Command. Upon becoming a squire, Lady Elhar selected Serena as her apprentice and Serena was inducted to work alongside royals and knights.

While working with royals at age thirteen, Serena soon befriended the Princess - Paranella. Despite several years of age difference, the two quickly became inseparable. She and Paranella spent free time training together, studying, and riding. When it came time for Paranella to meet potential husbands, Serena was included in the meetings surrounding this and learning about the suitors, the power they held, and the reasons which relationships might bring Kelkor strength.

Suitors arrived at the start of a one month celebration of Paranella's seventeenth birthday. At this time, suitors from Phersal, Shadow Dale, Bronswick, Cale, Alamore, and Thornten joined the court, along with their parties of supporters.

Amongst these were Prince Azric of Alamore and Prince Marl of Thornten.

Prince Mark of Thornten was joined by his younger brother, Prince Esrin. During the first night of celebration, Serena found herself standing away from the crowd, more fond of practicing in combat that social events. She was soon joined by Esrin who asked her to dance. She politely declined, pointing out she was a squire, not there as a noble, and intending to stand guard. So, instead of leaving, Esrin took the chair beside hers and they spent the evening debating which suitors might be of most interest to Paranella, discussing the differences in Kelkor and Thornten practicing, and agreeing that they'd train together the following morning.

Prince Mark of Thornten was joined by his younger brother, Prince Esrin. During the first night of celebration, Serena found herself standing away from the crowd, more fond of practicing in combat that social events. She was soon joined by Esrin who asked her to dance. She politely declined, pointing out she was a squire, not there as a noble, and intending to stand guard. So, instead of leaving, Esrin took the chair beside hers and they spent the evening debating which suitors might be of most interest to Paranella, discussing the differences in Kelkor and Thornten practcing, and agreeing that they'd train together the following morning.

With Paranella distracted in court affairs and Lady Elhar acting at the Queen's side, Serena had been certain the month would be boring. Instead, however, she found Esrin joining her in practice more often. In time after practice, they lounged in the libraries or explored the cliffs - something Esrin was fastinated in, having never been in an area of cliffs. Soon, Serena found she was growing fond of Esrin, her guard relaxing around him, trusting him with rants and annoyance of suitors that she'd met, how she didn't feel that they deserved Paranella, and discussing the strengths each might bring to Kelkor.

This, ultimately, proved costly. Little did Serena know that Esrin was bringing this information to his brother, Prince Marl. Marl quickly realized that he could turn from trying to sway Paranella's affection - which he had little interest in - to trying to prove that he was powerful enough to lead battles against enemies of Kelkor. Instead, he began seeking followers at court who wanted vengeance against Shadow Dale for their constant attempts of war.

On the final night of celebration, the night of Paranella's birthday, Marl stepped forward and announced he would marry her and that much of her court already had shown their support of him. This caused outrage, as Marl had broken rules of chivalry by using information that had been confidential. It caused issues, too, as powers of court argued amongst themselves and his brutal proposal was seen as an attempt to corner the Princess rather than strengthen the country. Serena quickly realized where Marl had gleaned this information. After this, she refused to speak the Esrin that evening or the next day when the court, still in turmoil, fell into silence of debating how to proceed.

It was finally Azric, the quiet Prince of Almaore, who came forward to the King and Queen of Kelkor. He announced that, on behalf of his father, King Paradon of Alamore, he was swearing loyalty to Kelkor without need of a hand in marriage. He said that Alamore would stand with Kelkor against Thornten and Shadow Dale, if needed, but that Paranella deserved the right to marry who she wanted to. This not only won him favor with court but also Paranella. She announced she would marry Azric and that Marl would need to leave court immediately.

Marl did so, as did Esrin, in the dead of night. Along with Marl and Esric, a knight of the Queen's Command - Lady Orlena - vanished with them. She and Marl later wed in secret, leading people to wonder if it had been Orlena who provided these secrets to Marl.

However, Serena was tried in court under the King and Queen for treason. With her life at stake for spilling secrets that might have caused war, Serena did not attempt to defend herself. It was Princess Paranella and Prince Azric who, in the end, came forward as her defense. Paranella said she knew Serena did not mean harm by anything she may have told Prince Ezrin. Azric informed the crown that Serena could not be held accountable for her actions, as no one could truly prove Orlena had not given Marl this information.

Serena was acquitted but swore her life to Azric, Paranella, and later their daughter - Kalia. Despite Azric's defense, Serena remained certain that Esrin had used her for information. She would never trust him again.

Character Insights - Anryn Denbrek

First Appearance: The Cutthroat Prince

Description: Small frame, short, with greying blonde hair.

Bio: Anryn Denbrek is one half of the partnership that owns The Dancing Stag - the premier tavern of Alamore's capitol city. She is wife of Sir Richard of Alamore.

Anryn was born the eldest of the seven children born to a common-born woman and a Finnwick Soldier under Earl Kiva. She often accompanied her father to Finnwick as a small child, where she played with several of the younger boys of the castle including the Earl's son, Kenta, and the Earl's nephew, Richard.

When she was ten, Anryn's days of following her father were abruptly ended by the death of her mother. Anryn was quick to realize she needed to tend the family since her father was needed in Finnwick constantly and could not afford to take time to spend with them. She worked as many small jobs as she could find, doing anything to earn money to tend her siblings while making sure she was home to take care of her father when his day was done at the castle.

At sixteen, Anryn started working at Finnwick's tavern - The Destrier's Den. There she became a loved barmaid by many of the locals for her sharp wit, quick thinking, and pretty face. She never allowed soldiers to get out of hand in the Den and was fast to end any sign of a potential fight.

She was introduced once more to Kenta and Richard after they staggered into The Destrier's Den one winter night when Richard, a squire of Alamore, came to visit his cousin. They spent most of the evening revisiting old memories of their childhood. Reminiscing was cut short when a visiting soldier made a rude remark about Anryn and Richard tackled the stranger from across the table. It took Kenta, Anryn, and a bucket of ice water, to break the fight. By that point Richard had a broken lip, a black eye, and little sense of balance. Anryn was livid at him for not allowing her to take care of herself.

Kenta calmed her down, pulled Richard's arm over his shoulder, and promised he would bring his cousin back for an apology the next morning.

There was no need. Richard slipped from Finnwick before dawn to arrive at The Den and apologized to Anryn. After that, he used any free time from his training as a squire to ride to Finnwick and see Anryn.

Anryn traveled to Alamore the day that Richard was knighted. After being knighted, Richard brought Anryn to the city and informed her he'd purchased half shares in the abandon tavern there with another knight. When she asked why, he informed her that he would like to live in Alamore but he hoped she'd be closer. He proposed to her in the empty shell of a building that would become their tavern.

They were wed in The Dancing Stag.

Though they never were able to have children of their own, Anryn and Richard loved spending time with Sir Henry's two daughters and, later, acted as parents to Richard's squire and the third son of a Count; Haru.

Character Insight - Sir Laster of Alamore

Sir Laster of Alamore

First Appearance: Ranger of Kings

Description: Handsome, amber eyes, light brown hair, though arrogant and sneering much of the time.

Background: Laster is the youngest son of a noble house. In his early years as a squire, he worked constantly to earn the praise of his own father, though relied heavily on his knight for guidance and family. As a seventeen year old squire, riding through the forest on patrol with his knight, Laster and his knight were ambushed by Thornten Raiders, led by Prince Temrod - known more formally by his middle name, Marl.

Laster was captured by the youngest Thornten Prince - Prince Esrin. Though he fought to escape, this was fruitless and Marl killed his knight. Prince Esrin warned Laster not to fight or Marl would kill him too. Laster did not listen and ended up being subdued by use of Inanimus.

Prince Esrin recognized Laster as the youngest son of a powerful Lord and convinced his father - King Temrod of Thornten - to ransom Laster in exchange for money, information, and loyalties.

Laster struggled to find a way to escape from the prisons of Thornten. Twice he nearly managed when food was slipped in through the door, both times he was fought back, the second time he was beat by Marl. As he lay in the cell, Prince Esrin came to speak to him.

After days of wishing the youngest Prince nothing but the most painful death, Prince Esrin returned to give Laster the response from his own father: as far as his father was concerned, his son was already dead and not worth the ransom.

Knowing this meant his own death, Laster was taken aback with Prince Esrin offered him a bargain; if Laster brought him to Alamore, then Prince Esrin would help him escape.

They escaped in the dead of night only to run into knights of Alamore who had been planning their rescue of the squire, in the woods beyond Thornten. Prince Esrin was captured and returned to Alamore with them and Laster was brought back to continue his final months of training to become a knight.

After his father's heartless response and lack of emotion at Laster's rescue, Laster dropped his Surname and association with his family. His father never attempted to contact him again. Upon his knighting, Laster swore allegiance to those who had come to help him - the knights of Alamore, King Paradon and Prince Revlan.

Character Insights - Want to learn more about the characters of Alamore?

This is something I've been toying with for a while and I believe this seems the right time to do them.

If you've read the books in the world of Alamore, you've run into a fair number of characters. You may have realized, also, that a lot have their own stories, their own lives, and their own past traumas or successes.

These are things I normally know but never put down in words, so I've decided I'm going to start releasing Character Insights regarding those people of Alamore who you may want to know more about.

There are a few characters who will receive a bit more time to shine, as I hope to do a few spin-off series and have a few Novellas planned, but until then, why not come to the website to learn about the characters?

One of the first characters to be featured will be Sir Laster of Alamore - one of my absolute favorites, and one who has his own spin-off in the works (nothing long, but a Novella of his past all the same).

Which characters do you want to know more about? Who are your favorites? Who are your least favorites?

Why Aren't My Books Selling - Cover Art

I try to keep this blog diverse as I dance between reader and writer content but today, I think it's important to give a hand to those writers out there who ask me: how are you selling?

While I might feel I don't sell a lot of books, I am always astounded by the number of authors who, on hearing that I sell a few here and there, that I make a decent pocket change each month, immediately ask me how I can do that.

So - how can you get your book off of virtual shelves and into the hands of readers?

There's a lot of answers so this is going to come as a blog series rather than one blog because it's about the length of one of my novels if I try to squeeze everything into one.

This blog here will focus on one of my favorite topics: your cover.

Warning: If you're looking for free advise of free solutions, this isn't where you want to look. I am a firm believer in 'if you want to make money, you best be willing to spend it... even on a budget'

"Don't judge a book by it's cover..."

Right there is the first pitfall we all trip into. We write a book, we pour blood, sweat, tears, and a lot of imposter syndrome struggles into our work and then we decide it's time to get a cover. We hear quotes, we scream inside, we decide to make our own and think 'that's good enough!'

Spoiler alert: unless you know your way around art and trends, it's not good enough.

If your book was a house, the cover is the curb appeal. If it is sketchy, significantly different in a bad way from those houses with trimmed hedges on either side, more likely than not people will go to those nicer houses that are selling for the same amount.

So, make your cover count.

Start with research.

Go and look over the books you consider your competition. This is where I stumbled with my first book - I didn't know what I should have on the cover of mine and it is boring, quite honestly. Go and click through books that sell well in your genre, look at their fonts, the characters on the cover, the colors. Look into styles and trends. Look at their titles, even. If your title is something like "The Blue Shoes" and it's epic fantasy, you're probably going to have to twist that title to something more fitting or Amazon and other smart platforms are going to end up putting your book in the wrong place.

You did your research?

Your cover idea matches?

Your title is fantastic for your genre?

Excellent.

Now you can rough design it.

Please, for the love of all things, don't think that rough design is 'good enough.' You need to make this professional.

After you have that rough design, you have to have an honest conversation with yourself and ask the following questions:

a. What is my budget? Is it under $100? Over $500? How much can I spend on a cover?

b. Do I have the skill to do this myself AND be good at it? (If in doubt, don't sacrifice your years of hard work. You poured a lot into this book. Revisit the budget question.)

c. Where am I willing to find a cover artist?

I'm astounded how many people hit up a facebook group and say things like "Hey I am looking for someone who wants to design my book cover for free experience."

If they are good at art, Free Experience and Book Covers aren't the same thing. They can doodle at home. You need to pay for your cover.

This doesn't mean you have to start panicking. You can get a cover for a decent price but it won't be award winning. You don't need that to start - you can start with something that fits your genre and seems professional enough that it doesn't scream "I am an indie author who has absolutely no idea what I'm doing." We want to avoid that, remember. That's how good books get left behind.

Where to look for your cover?

Option for a budget friend cover number one: look for premade covers. See if a company with pre-made covers can help you out with something they already have. There are some fantastic companies that do this and they can be found in facebook groups and through quick google searches. Make sure it fits your book, please, for goodness sake. Don't pick the pretty cover that has nothing at all to do with your story.

Option two: custom. This is where the price can start to hike, and very quickly at that. However, over the last few years, I have been able to find decent quotes on both ends of the price scale (lowest good book cover was about $50, with the most expensive quote breaking any budget I have set before with a whopping $6,000.)

Here are a list of sites where you can find artist if you want to go with something custom (and I've ranked them from least expensive options to most.)

www.fiverr.com : You can find an artist in all budgets here. I've played with some designs from here and have been overall very happy. My three books in the William of Alamore series were originally designed on Fiverr (their new covers will start being created in late 2022.) I even had my logo (which I absolutely love) designed with Fiverr. If you aren't browsing Fiverr, you never know what you're missing out on www.upwork.com : Like Fiverr, Upwork is a freelance site. You will work with artist around the world on Upwork but most tend to be based out of the US and, with exchange rates and such, can come in a bit more expensive overall than Fiverr does. But if you can find some artist here in your budget, it is entirely worth a look. www.reedsy.com : Reedsy is one of my favorite author sites. If you need anything, you need to check Reedsy, because they're amazing at what they do. This is where I've got the highest price quotes to date but it is one of my absolute favorites. Editors, cover designers, marketers, they have it all. You will pay for what you get, they are talented, but if you budget isn't high than you either need to wait to release your book or look for someone closer to your budget.

You might be frowning right now and thinking "but why?" Why does it matter if the cover is made on paint or not?

Because we judge books by their covers. We all do it. We aren't going to buy a book because we saw the author spamming it on facebook posts (I am not against facebook post, I am against broad outreach without discretion. Find your audience and talk to them, do try to talk everyone into reading your book.)

You want your reader to see that cover in a lineup on Amazon or in a TARGETED facebook post (see? I told you I wasn't against it.) You want them to see that cover though, and pause. That cover is what makes them want to read your description. That cover is what they are already envisioning, perhaps, for their booktok and bookstagram post. If your cover can make someone slow their scrolling, you're going to get more sales.

Your cover and your font (all goes together, trust me) are going to make someone stop more than your description. Your cover is your product, your description is your sales pitch.

If someone doesn't want to see your product, I promise they won't stay for the pitch.

So, step one in our marketing lesson?

Go examine your book and your cover and be honest with yourself. If you are emotionally attached to your cover, find some beta readers or a facebook group to post it in and ask for honest feedback. They won't hold things back and, though it may bruise your pride that they don't seen the genius art you see, it will be better for you in the long run. Don't sacrifice sales for the sake of a poor cover. Believe me, you can fit it in your budget. If you can't? I repeat: delay the launch until you can.

Until next time, my fine authors - have a good one!

CJ