Daron D. Fraley's Blog, page 11

Special Announcement: Ebook release of The Thorn

I am pleased to announce that THE THORN is now available as an ebook on smashwords.com in the following formats:

HTML, Kindle (.mobi), Epub (open standard), PDF, RTF, LRF, PDB (palm doc), and plain text.

Smashwords is the only site at the moment which carries the ebook, but other sites such as Apple, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc., will have the iPAD, Kindle, and Nook versions soon. They have been submitted for approval. The Smashwords website indicates that the process takes...

Book Cover Final

Here it is folks. This is the version I will be using.

The change is minor, but it fixes a perspective problem on the hilt-guard. I redesigned it. And did a more realistic fill on the surface. Other than that, it is the same. Oh, and the end cap where the second crystal snaps in also got the same fill.

(Interesting… a crystal sword. Glows blue. Has a short, removable crystal on the end. Makes you wonder about the story, doesn't it? You want to read it… I know you do.)

But now I a...

Book Cover Tweaking 101

Perhaps this is it… thank you all for your numerous comments and for your encouragement. I really appreciate it.

This is the latest version of the cover:

I realize there is no way that I am going to please everybody. But this is probably as close as I can get to considering all of the best suggestions I received. Let me know if this is yet another step above the last version of this cover. Did the tweaks work? (Items changed: Font, coloring on font, edges of font, leading...

Book Cover Reloaded

This is the result of consulting with some artists.  Yes, I did the entire thing on my own. I think this one is getting very close to being a usable cover! But that is just my opinion… what do YOU think? Please let me know in the comments. You may compare it to the previous two blog posts if you wish.

Thanks for taking the time to look.  Let me know what you think!

Update – Book Covers

I had fairly mixed reviews on the last set of book covers. I think I know why.

Therefore, I have attempted again…

Does THIS one change your opinion any? Is it better? FAR better? Or does it still stink?  Let me know in the comments….

And for those of you who are wondering where I got a picture of a crystal sword… have you seen the movie Inception yet? I am learning to be an architect.

Thank you for your comments!

What If These Were My Book Covers?

I have heard it said many times that readers DO judge a book by its cover. The artwork needs to catch their eye, the text needs to be sharp and clean, and small versions of the cover need to be more than an incoherent blob.

I am looking for your input here. There is a poll in the sidebar of my blog. Please take a look at the candidate pictures below, and vote!

One quick note… the artwork and pictures are all mine, with the exception of the wheat field in the third cover. I...

A Touching, Heartfelt Review Of THE THORN

Kerry Blair, a friend and fellow author reviewed my book. She claims it's not a review, but I'll still take it as such. I had not expected her to do any kind of review, short or long . . . I had simply sent her a copy of the book as a gift for her wonderful kindness to me when I was first starting out on this journey of being a published author.

Her words today left me both speechless and immensely grateful for the person that she is. Her blog post lifted my spirits . . . and a...

The Open Author and The New Media Prize

I have two different publishing related websites I want to highlight today.

1. If you care about the future of publishing, this is a blog you need to follow. Marion Jensen is a published author (a.k.a. Matthew Buckley, "Chickens in the Headlights" / "Bullies in the Headlights") who also spent several years as the director of Utah State University's OpenCourseWare project. He knows what he is talking about in relation to open source, open content, and open models. Marion's...

The Thorn – Two Great Reviews Posted Today

There were two great reviews of The Thorn posted on blogs today. I would like to share them.

One came from a twitter friend @duane_scott. He is a co-founder of "The Authentic Blogger", a popular group of bloggers on Facebook. If you have a blog you would like to share with the group, they are open to new members. Contact either Duane or Dawn if you are interested.

I have been greatly impressed with Duane ever since I started reading his blog sometime last year. He is truly...

Results of the Pay It Forward Contest

With the assistance of http://www.random.org,the results are in! About 36 hours late, because I am clueless and forgetful, but . . . the results are in!

Thank you all for your participation. I appreciate all of your comments! But there can only be one winner…

And that winner is: MARILYN!

Marilyn, I have your email, so I will send you a note requesting your shipping address.

Here are the books Marilyn has won:

The Thorn, by Daron D. Fraley (that's me!)

My review of Secret Sisters...