Jason Tesar's Blog, page 10

Artwork for Incarnation: Wandering Stars Volume One

Back in February, I mentioned that I had to change directions on the artwork for Incarnation and that I would post some details about it.  So, here’s the long—but hopefully interesting—story.
When I began working on Incarnation, the first novel in the Wandering Stars series, I knew I wanted to have artwork that was as compelling as the story I hoped to write.  And while I had created the artwork for the first three Awakened books myself, I slowly came to realize that my artistic abilities weren't up to the task.  Meanwhile, I was struggling to balance all the various aspects of my fledgling career as an author. Time was quickly becoming a precious resource.  So, I decided to look for an artist.
A web search turned up an interesting online community called deviantART, where artists of every discipline, from photography to sculpture, post their work and the work of others who inspire them.  Being an international community, the breadth of styles and vast number of artists were staggering.  But I was confident that somewhere out there was an artist who was capable of capturing my vision.  And after viewing—literally—thousands of pieces of art, I came across the gallery of albino-Z.
His style of gritty realism, mixed with ethereal fantasy was perfect for what I wanted to convey.  I contacted him for a quote and quickly hired him to do the artwork.  For the next several weeks we traded numerous emails, working out the visual details of the world I was creating for this new series, and how to capture that on a book cover.  At the time, I was inspired by some of the artwork that can be found on video games in the military genre.  Naturally, I steered the project in the direction of portraying my main character—Sariel.  Somewhere along the line, I received some brilliant objective input about the cover concept, which led me to think very carefully about the scope of what I was trying to capture with the cover artwork.
One of the most surprising things to me about the success of the Awakened novels has been their acceptance among a wide demographic.  Despite the fact that I intended to write something for males, age 20 to 40, I’ve received many encouraging notes from readers ranging from middle-schoolers to retirees…of both genders.  With this in mind, I took another look at the artwork for the Awakened and I realized that its symbolic approach is probably more appealing to a wider audience than a literal perspective.
…which brought me back to Incarnation.
Although the quality of artwork was incredible, and the piece was turning out just as I wanted—visually stunning—I realized my overall concept would only capture a narrow snapshot of the story.  I had some decisions to make…and fast!  I notified albino-Z that I might need to go another direction.  Then, my amazing wife coordinated a brainstorming session with a group of friends who are artists, photographers, and creative thinkers for the purpose of developing a higher-level art concept that would apply to the entire Wandering Stars series.  It was awesome and turned out to be really successful.  In the end, what we came up with was a rough, symbolic concept that would capture the look-and-feel of the whole series as I saw it in my mind.  At the same time, each book cover would be a unique piece of art that had a place among the overall collection.
With this new direction identified, I asked albino-Z to finish the original piece so that I could perhaps use it in another way (as concept art, or for a graphic novel?).  At the very least, I wanted to frame it and hang it in my office.
Before I move on with the rest of the story, here’s the amazing completed piece from an artist with talent way beyond my own!

I would encourage anyone looking for an artist to provide cover artwork, either character or landscape-based, to visit albino-Z’s gallery on deviantART and visit his page on Facebook.  It was truly a pleasure working with him and I hope that I have the opportunity to do so again!
On with the story…
After identifying a new concept for Incarnation, I started working with one of the artists from the group brain-storming session who specializes in photo-illustration and motion graphics.  Mike Heath, owner of Magnus Creative, walked me through a few iterations of sketches to arrive at just the right symbolic imagery that would capture the human and angelic cultures involved in Incarnation.  After creating something we were both happy with, Mike proceeded with modeling the artwork using a 3D rendering process.
The results were breathtaking and I instantly knew that I’d made the right choice for this novel, as well as the series.
While there still may be some adjustments on the text elements (title, series name, and author’s name), I’m pleased to present the cover artwork for Incarnation: Wandering Stars Volume One.


I’m so pleased with the artwork that I now hope to achieve the same level of quality with my writing that Mike was able to achieve with the art.  My experience with Magnus Creativewas awesome and I’m looking forward to the projects that we will be able to collaborate on in the future.  Please visit Magnus Creative online and contact Mike if you, or anyone you know, has needs in the areas of photo-illustration, motion-graphics, or 3D rendering.

When will INCARNATION be ready?

Back in February, I mentioned completing the 2nd draft of my manuscript for Incarnation: Wandering Stars Volume One . By now, you're probably wondering when it's going to be available for sale. Believe me—I'm asking myself the same thing on a daily basis!

Weeks ago, I began receiving edited copies from my Beta-Readers. With some great feedback, I went immediately to work fixing punctuation, grammar, tense, and all the usual stuff that gets missed when you stare at a computer screen for months-on-end. But I also noticed something else. Between the corrections, behind the comments and suggestions, I saw an opportunity for improvement.

Not just for the story, but for myself as an author.

I could have ignored it, fixed the typos, and moved on with publication. But I don't want to be that kind of author—someone who just writes the next episode in a series of cheap entertainment. I'm hoping for more. I'm striving to create realistic characters and detailed worlds—where imagination is free to roam. Somewhere readers can get lost and, in the process, discover something about themselves and their own lives.

I'm pushing myself to build an epic saga that will be meaningful to both reader and author.

So, I purchased and read through some educational books on writing in an effort to hone my craft. Hopefully, it will pay off and the extra work will be evident in my writing. Now I'm back to editing and already, I can tell that my eyes have been opened to another level of this art form.

So, when is it going to be ready?

Good question. I've stopped mentioning dates because the real answer is: "as soon as possible, and not a moment sooner." I won't publish something that I'm not satisfied with. And I'm sure many of you expect nothing less.

Thanks for being patient!

Indie: Not Just for Authors

As a self-published author, I am drawn to stories and blog posts that enable me to keep my finger on the pulse of the rapidly changing publishing industry.  With traditional publishers going bankrupt and indie-authors making it big, it seems there is a new development on almost a daily basis.  But this morning, I ran across an inspirational story that opened my eyes even wider.
It's not just the publishing industry!
Since 2002, singer/songwriter Josh Garrels has charged ahead into the unknown territory of self-recorded, mixed, produced, and distributed records.  His latest effort, The Sea In Between, is a collection of live performances and documentary-style vignettes, described as "a full audio-visual album.  In essence, an LP of sights and sounds."
This fascinating concept is brought into greater focus on the website for the film (http://theseainbetween.com/), with statements like:
"New mediums must be established to present and distribute art and to re-establish strong bonds between artist and audience."
"What happens when the ever-narrowing gap between artist and audience disappears?"
While I knew this type of change was happening in other industries, it wasn't until I watched the trailer that I was able to connect this transformation with a person and his family.  That's when it began to mean something significant to me.  I resonate with Josh's story and look forward to seeing more artists—of every medium—connect directly with their audience, without the traditional "gatekeepers" standing in the way.
The production of this film is listener/viewer-supported, relying on donations to bring it to completion.  I encourage you to check out the website, watch the trailer for the film, and consider donating.

Manuscript Complete for Incarnation: Wandering Stars Volume One

Yesterday, I finished the second draft of Incarnation: Wandering Stars Volume One .  And while this is exciting, there are many more things that need to be done before the novel is available to readers.

Over the next several days, I will be sending copies of my manuscript out to beta-readers and copy-editors.  This part of the process will take several weeks.  In the meantime, I'll be working on the interior artwork (maps, diagrams), the glossary, and other miscellaneous things. I will also be meeting with a creative team to brainstorm ideas for the cover artwork for the whole series, as well as this first volume. I already had something in the works for this, but I had to change directions. I'll probably post more details about this later.  Once a concept is identified, I'll need to determine who is going to do the artwork (this depends on the style and direction I need to go). Then, the artwork has to be created. In a perfect world, this would all happen while the manuscript is being edited, but this is probably not realistic.

When I get the edit copies back, I'll need to incorporate the feedback. This will certainly involve fixing typos, but may also include more extensive writing. Then, the publication process begins. I'll need to format my manuscript as an ebook, with the proper font, line spacing, content layout, images, and all the associated hyperlinks between related content within the book.

When all that is done, I'll be ready to upload the content to Amazon. Their process takes about 48 hours before the book shows up in their online stores. Then, I'm planning to publish directly through Barnes & Noble and Apple for the Nook and iPad versions. Lastly, I'll go through Smashwords for all the other outlets. Whew! It's a lot of work. But I wanted to give you all an idea of what's involved so you understand why I can't make the book available immediately. Thanks everyone for hanging in there. I can't wait for you to read the book, and I hope you consider it worth the wait!

Book Review: Lone Survivor

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Lone Survivor gives the reader a fascinating inside look at the training and operations of one of the most elite groups within the United States military. One of the most interesting insights that I will take away from reading this is the mindset of these individuals--how their training is designed to identify the point at which someone will give in, and give up. For a SEAL, that point comes after death!

Although it is non-fiction, many chapters read like a novel. The big difference was, I actually got choked-up reading about what happened to these soldiers, because they were real people putting their lives on the line to secure our freedom. It was also touching to read the events that were taking place at Mr. Luttrell's family ranch in Texas, while he was on the battlefield on the other side of the world.

The quality of the writing wasn't spectacular, but then again, Marcus Luttrell never claims to be an author. He enlisted the help of co-author Patrick Robinson to help document his experiences as they occurred, without the stylistic embellishments that would have made this more entertainment than fact. The end result is an easy-read of an amazing journey, giving readers a peek into the mind of the warriors that risk their lives for us.

On principle, I give it 5 stars!



View all my reviews

Background Info on Ukiru

***SPOILER ALERT***Please don't read this unless you've already read The Awakened!
Recently, one reader expressed some interest in knowing more about Ukiru's background. Since I don't plan on including this info in future books (unless I publish a collection of short stories like some authors do), I thought it would make a good blog post (it's too long to add as a comment).

Hope you like it!

-Jason

"But years ago, one of our citizens committed a crime and then disappeared." (Matsuri talking to Kael in an excerpt from The Awakened)

Ukiru was a troubled individual from the time of his youth, stemming mostly from his exceptional fighting skills which bred an arrogance that prevented him from appreciating the more sophisticated qualities of his culture. Unable to accept criticism or correction from his elders, he repeatedly lashed out in ever more dangerous ways. Finally, as I hinted at in The Awakened, he went too far and murdered one of his instructors. In shame, he escaped the Fortress City and never returned.

Struggling to survive on his own in a dangerous world, Ukiru quickly learned that his best asset was his ability to fight. Over the years, he eventually worked his way into a high ranking military position for a powerful warlord. But his inner demons reared their heads again. Though his skills had won him a privileged life, he resented the fact that he was really only a mercenary. After several incidents that made this fact painfully obvious to him, he secretly made contact with the King who had been trying for years to rid his kingdom of these dangerous competitors for his throne. In exchange for a position under the King, he promised to assassinate the warlord. Though the attempt was successful, it didn't occur as secretly as planned. When word spread of the bloody assassination, the remaining warlords abandoned their individual efforts to seize the throne and pooled their resources, realizing that the war had just changed dramatically. No longer was the King fighting with honor, but with treachery. In response to this unintended effect, the King disavowed any knowledge of the assassination and committed some of his resources to finding the assassin and killing him.

Ukiru became a hunted man. The warlords wanted to take him prisoner to find out the truth behind the assassination. And the King wanted him dead. After many months of living on the run, Ukiru was cornered and captured by the warlords. But, someone else had plans for him.

Magnus, whose ambitions were already far-reaching by this point, learned of the assassination through his vast network of spies. Knowing what a tremendous feat it was for one man to kill the warlord and all his guards, he watched with great interest the developing politics of this region, waiting for the time to make his move. Then, after Ukiru was captured, Magnus used his "other-worldly" powers to rescue Ukiru and his enormous resources to bring him undetected to the Orudan Empire.

In that moment, their unusual relationship was born.

After watching the display of Magnus' awesome power and resources, Ukiru had finally found someone who was smarter and more powerful than himself—a worthy superior. And Magnus had just obtained the last piece of a puzzle that he had been constructing—the most gifted warrior that this remote country had ever produced. Together, they would be capable of producing the finest human instruments for the All Powerful's purposes.

So, in exchange for his safety, Magnus offered Ukiru a chance at a more-peaceful and respectable life. To raise a group of children and discipline their bodies and minds for future use. Ukiru accepted. And in all the years that followed, Ukiru's loyalty never faltered. Even during his secret errands for Mangus that sent him into numerous countries throughout the earth, he never considered running away, because Magnus was the only one capable of finding him and holding him accountable to their arrangement.

As happens with those in power, Magnus trusted very few individuals, and had no close friends. Over the years, his trust in Ukiru grew and their tense arrangement softened into a sort of friendship, with each confiding in each other as much as one could with a business partner.

And this is how they remained, locked in a bizarre dance of power, bound together until that fateful day when someone upset the balance.

Over 120,000 downloads of The Awakened

During this holiday season, when many folks are looking back on what has transpired throughout the year, I thought it would be appropriate to share one way, in particular, that God has blessed me and my family.  Though it's not even close to being the most important blessing, it's fun to think about the amazing journey He has led me through, and the others He has in store for each one of us.
It was an exciting time in late 2010, when I received the proof copy of The Awakened: A Wandering Stars Novel .  Just to hold the official version of something I'd spent years creating was a thrilling experience.  The next few months were spent obsessively checking my sales report to see if anyone would bother to read something I wrote.  By the end of last year, I'd sold 48 copies, almost exclusively to friends and family.  It wasn't exactly the wider audience I was hoping for, but I was still pleased.
2011 started slow.  After selling only 8 copies in the first four months, the practical voice in my head began to tell me, "This writing thing has been fun, but now it's time think about going back to school and focusing on your career."  Meanwhile, the side of me that prefers to think about less-practical things—the dreamer—whispered, "What about ebooks?  Those are becoming popular."
So, I started doing some reading.  Then I began formatting The Awakened as an ebook.  In April, I released my novel for this new platform.   But after a couple weeks, it seemed that my writing was destined for the same outcome, regardless of format—to sell a few copies here and there.  Again, the practical voice reminded me that I wasn't getting any younger.
But then I read a few success stories of ebook authors and I saw a common perspective among them.  I'll try to summarize that message here:
In a world flooded with products competing for our attention, why should anyone pay money for your book?  Who are you?  How do readers know that their money won't be wasted?  There is a threshold that a reader must cross when deciding to buy a book.  For an established author, readers know what they are going to get and how much they are going to spend for that entertainment.  For an unknown author, they don't.  So, the threshold has to be really low.  Extremely low.  FREE, if possible.  You have to have something to give away so that people can get a taste for what to expect from you.
That's when the light bulb went on!  Though The Awakened was written as one novel, I wrote it in three parts.  Each part wasn't exactly a stand-alone story, but it might still work.  And the thought of giving the first part away for free—well, I wasn't exactly selling tons of books anyway.  So, I gave it a shot.
By mid-May, I had electronic versions of Book One , Book Two , and Book Three for sale through Smashwords and Amazon.  It took a little while to get Book One listed for free, as this wasn't a standard option for Amazon.  But it was for Smashwords, and Amazon will price-match with competitors.  So, I sent Amazon the link to the free version of Book One at Smashwords.
Then I waited.
A few days later, I woke up early on a weekend morning and checked my Amazon page for Book One.  To my surprise, it was ranked at #1 in the Epic Fantasy genre for free ebooks.  Confused, I checked my downloads/sales report.  Instead of the single-digits I expected, I saw thousands of downloads.
And that's when I started to get excited.
Since that day, Book One has remained at, or near, the top of the free Fantasy bestseller list on Amazon.  And the visibility offered by this position has led to sales of Book Two and Book Three, as well as the full version in both print and ebook editions.
As of yesterday, the total number of downloads and sales for all versions of the Awakened, in all countries where they are available, was 120,887!
While the vast majority are free downloads of Book One, it is still mind-blowing to think that over a hundred thousand people throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, are Spain, are holding some version of my novel.  And now, readers are actually writing to me, telling me how much they enjoyed the story and can't wait to read its continuation.
While this would only be considered a modest success by some authors, I feel truly blessed!
I would like to thank everyone who has supported this "hobby" of mine.  2012 is going to be a fun year!  My goal is to release two of the four prequels to The Awakened, and my hope is that they will be even more entertaining.
Merry Christmas!
…see you next year.

The Awakened is now available at Kobo

Weeks ago I read that Kobo, an ebook and apps retailer with their own eReader product (like the Kindle or iPad), was also the world's largest seller of books for mobile devices like cell phones. Today, I made a valiant effort to find the source of that statement so I could quote it, but I was unsuccessful. Oh well; it's only a side note anyway. The real point of why I am writing is because, for the last seven months, I haven't seen any versions of The Awakened show up on Kobo's site. Apparently, they had an enormous backlog of titles from Smashwords and were struggling to handle the influx of new books.

Well, I'm happy to announce that The Awakened has finally arrived at Kobo, just in time for Christmas!

Click here to check it out.

What Are Your Favorite Book Covers?

As I mentioned in my last post, I haven't been blogging much recently. Instead, I've been focusing my efforts on writing my next book, Incarnation of the Myndarym. It is the first of a four-volume series that will set the stage for the continuation of The Awakened. I've finished the first draft and, after a brief intermission for additional research, I'm several scenes into the second. And while I'm focused almost entirely on writing at the moment, I can't help but think of the cover artwork that will become my next challenge when my manuscript is being edited.

I certainly have ideas about the look and feel that I'm going for, but I also want to be open-minded about what draws the reader's eye. I've read articles about the changing perceptions of book covers with the recent explosion of ebooks. There are many people out there throwing around opinions about what covers should look like, but I find it difficult to take any advice when it's tied to marketing of someone's graphic art skills.

Instead, I thought I'd ask you what you think.

What are your favorite book covers—in ebook or print? What is it that draws your attention? Are they typical for their genre, or do they defy conventions? Does the cover art help set the tone of the book before you ever read a single word? Or do you even care what the cover looks like? If you do care…why?

I'd like to hear from you. Send me a link or an image—either through my blog or email—and let me know your opinion. My philosophy is that it's more efficient to learn from the best. So, let me know who has done it right—who has captured your attention and touched you through their art? After all, if you're reading this blog, it's probably because you read The Awakened. And if that's the case, then it's your opinion that I care about.

And…it's also just fun to discuss art!

Progress on Wandering Stars

Looking at the date of my last post, I realize how quickly time can move.

Rather than writing blog posts, I've been busy working on my next writing project—a prequel series to The Awakened, entitled Wandering Stars. Hopefully you understand how I choose to prioritize my time. When I started this blog, I knew I wouldn't be able to write daily or even weekly. The goal was to write something interesting to readers—background information on characters, progress on various writing projects, behind the scenes info. Stuff like that.

Lately, I've been able to adjust my day-job work-schedule to free up some writing time during the week. And I'm happy to report this time has been extremely productive. For those of you who've been keeping up with me on Facebook, you know that I'm 77% done with my first draft of Volume One, provisionally entitled Incarnation of the Myndarym (I reserve the right to change my mind if needed). This is quite an accomplishment, considering how long it took me to write The Awakened. My goal is to have the new book out by Christmas. With rewrites, editing, graphic art, and the publishing process, I'm not sure I can achieve this goal. But I'm trying anyway.

So, I didn't want you to think I've dropped off the face of the earth.

I'm writing.  A lot.  Just not blogging.