Jenn LeBlanc's Blog, page 14
February 14, 2011
Valentine Sale!
In honor of the day of LOVE, my new novel, The Rake and the Recluse is on sale!!
50% OFF TODAY ONLY!!
Go here: The Rake and the Recluse
and enter VALENTINE at checkout.
Have a wonderful, LOVEly day. Jenn
February 11, 2011
EPUB vs PDF
I was going to write a helpful little post about format and reader selection for everyone. Then I thought about the awesomeness that is Jane L over at Dear Author, and how she has had so many helpful posts about the ereaders and whatnot so I went to see if she had already done just what I needed and
OF COURSE she had…
So if you need info on what format to purchase this book in go there. Or rather, go HERE.
Filed under: News Tagged: ebook, epub, format, novel, pdf
February 8, 2011
THURSDAY!
All this work and it's down to two days of cramming in edits and redesigns.
CHAOS!!
I love working on deadline, that comes fro my blood as a photojournalist, a newspaper photographer. I thrive on dead. So here I am.
I wanted to post a few more screenshots of the [working title] but these are very likely to change in the next couple days. Not much I don't think, but who knows. They can only get better from here!
This page will most likely not be in the final edition as my designer would like to cut this image, and the chapter headings are unnecessary in the epub version as it creates it's own working table of contents. That is why I particularly wanted to share this mesmerizing stare. So popular with my test audience, not sure whether it will survive the cut, but it is here for you.
I just love this smile. So endearing.
Ah Perry the rake, how could I possibly not give you a preview of my rakish man. We have come to call this the closet ruination.
So there you have it, some screenshots form the novel, to give you an idea of what this illustrated reading experience will be like. Only two days from now!!
A few little housekeeping issues.
NONE of my books will have DRM. So play nice, or I won't be able to afford making the sequel (wink wink) DRM drives me nutty. I have two readers, and four different kinds of software for managing three different libraries. I HATE DRM. So there you have it. If you purchase from Barnes and Noble or Amazon directly the books are cheaper, $9.99. They DO NOT HAVE the same number of images as the full DRM-free PDF and full DRM-free EPUB version that you would purchase through this website. If you purchase the EPUB through the iBookstore, it is a full version EPUB, but controlled by whatever controls Apple sees fit to place on the file.
I recommend you purchase through my site, but understand if you can't, or don't. I just want to make sure you understand that you may be purchasing something different, or not quite as easy to use, as the files you purchase directly.
If the final ebook ends up being black and white, there will be a gallery of images that would have been in color at the back of the novel (since the black and white is one of my design recommendations from my designer)
I have shown many of the images and illustrations in color, so in keeping with that, They will be included for your perusal at the end. I personally think the black and white images are absolutely beyond beautiful, but understand how many people actually prefer color. For these reasons, outside the final design I'm happy to share. As well, look for screensavers and other fantastic extras to be available after the release!
Thank you Thank you. I can't tell you how excited I am that this 'little' project is finally being released to you.I would love for you to follow me on Goodreads, Twitter and Facebook. And be sure to leave your comments about the book in any of these places! I would LOVE to hear from you!!
Filed under: Illustration, Images, News, Snippets, The Novel Tagged: beauty, book, epub, historical, illustrate, illustrated, illustration, images, Jenn LeBlanc, lights, love story, male, model, Monika Graf, novel, photography, portrait, romance, sexy, studio, Victorian, vintage
February 3, 2011
January 25, 2011
DRM (or…the devil)
There are so many debates about DRM (digital rights Management) and eBook pricing that I have to say a couple things about my novel.
It is a digital book only (there is a Limited Edition print version…but the cost is astronomical because of all the illustrations). I have thought a great deal about all the work I have put into illustrating this thing, (not to mention the writing of it,) and I have come to a couple conclusions.
I am basically a one man band. Sure I called in pinch hitters where it counted, copy-edits, photo editor, designer, but overall this thing is all me.
I am not paid to do this. This was not funded by anyone but me.
I also hate DRM.
I hate hypocrites.
That being said, after reading Jane's post on pricing and value I sat down and really considered what I needed to do. The facts are the facts. You get what you pay for.
My novel, fully illustrated designed proofed and created for the digital format will not have DRM. I so very much hope you love it enough to tell others to buy it, instead of sending the file to everyone via dropbox.
In consideration of the extras my book includes, (there will be versions with additional images galleries and screensavers, possibly even access to the gallery of studio outs which are just too darn funny not to share) my starting price point is $22.95. I will have sales and discounts and the like, but looking at what you typically get for your reader, and what I am giving this seems fair. Additionally, if you prefer a cheap alternative, the novel is for sale over at Amazon for Kindle for $9.99. That version doesn't have all the images, it has no color whatsoever, no extras to speak of— just the book and a few illustrations.
Honestly, it isn't very pretty. It actually makes me sad, but those are the rules set for publishing via kindle. It is what it is. My AD has a Kindle, she very much prefers the PDF version to the Kindle version, even though resizing isn't there with the PDF. So there are still options for Kindle users!
So there it is. My hope is that with all of the extra content you are receiving, and you will have true ownership of the novel, that you will pay a higher price point than is looking standard for ebooks. I also truly hope that this doesn't come back to haunt me and all of my hard work is just passed around and given away.
But I don't want to use DRM. I don't want to be a hypocrite, I want to believe.
Filed under: News, The Novel Tagged: Adobe, book, book business, digital, digital book pricing, DRM, ebook, ebook business, ebook pricing, epub, iPad, Kindle, novel, ownership, pdf, romance, Sony
January 20, 2011
IPAD!!!
The EPUB version of my novel on iPad is absolutely GORGEOUS!! Oh my stars I'm excited. Especially after seeing the kindle preview. (sorry about that whiny post)
Anywhoo! I am thrilled by the look of the novel on the iPad the color plates are stunningly beautiful, the text flows perfectly, the layout is almost perfect, I just love it. I will be thrilled to upload it to the app store once I get my permission from Apple to play. (waiting…waiting…tappping finger, toes and noses!)
Until then here is one of the plates iPad style:
Every time I look at this image I'm reminded of one of my favorite shows. Firefly, in the episode titled "Shindig" Captain Mal and Kaylee go to a fancy shindig (duh) and Kaylee gets a huge frou frou dress. She says "Yes sir Capt'n tightpants!" HA! Love it. Because these pants? They were tight. Super tight.
Oh I'm sorry, would you like to see that image a bit BIGGER?!?! Just rotate!
As always, the true version is so much prettier than my cell phone picture of my iPad on my lap. 
hee hee.
Filed under: Illustration, Images, News, The Novel Tagged: butt, crop, Derek Hutchins, epub, historical, illustrate, illustration, iPad, male, man, model, novel, photography, riding, romance, sexy, studio, The Rake and the Recluse, Victorian
January 18, 2011
Kindle
I uploaded my novel to Amazon for Kindle yesterday, and I am am frightfully disappointed. First, it takes the ePub version and strips even more of the formatting to make the images thrown in and not as pretty. Second it is restrictive as to price. That is good for Kindle people, but not so good for an author who has spent the last year illustrating this novel. The inevitable decision in all of this, in order to sell the novel as a Kindle book is to strip the majority of the illustrations simply so it can be listed as a Kindle book, and then hope that you choose to purchase the full novel directly from my website. See Kindle is now PDF friendly, so you can purchase the full novel, with all of the images in a version that can be viewed on the Kindle as well as on a computer, along with an epub version and special attachments like screensavers and other goodies TBD.
I have had a friend preview the PDF version on her Kindle and she says it looks great, except the words were a little small, so I'll be adjusting the text to make it a bit more legible, running some more PDF tests and then exporting the book. It's all very exciting. I'm also looking forward to working with one of the best photo editors in the business as well as an amazing designer to add a little more catch to the look and feel.
My release date is still set for February 10, (EXCITING!) SO stay tuned, the purchase link will be right on the homepage of this website.
Until then…who wants a preview image?
Filed under: Illustration, Images, News, The Novel Tagged: Derek Hutchins, eyes, green, historical, illustrated, male, model, novel, romance, sexy
January 7, 2011
Out take
I have to remember not to ignore the blog over here. It isn't the easiest thing, unfortunately. I released my favorite image of last year on my photography blog yesterday, which was a big deal because I had vowed never to share it for a myriad of valid reasons, all of which have now been abolished. The final permission was received, and the image uploaded.
If you are interested in the story or mechanics behind this image that is more for my photo blog, and you can read about it over there, for here I will say this. This has been the most incredible project the breadth of which I had no idea. I am in absolute shock over the outpouring of support and excitement, not to mention the fact that I actually finished it. SHOCK. The amount of work that has gone into this illustrated novel is immeasurable. But the way I feel about all the work done can be summed up in this one image:
Filed under: Illustration, Images, The Novel Tagged: beauty, Derek Hutchins, historical, illustrate, illustration, Jenn LeBlanc, model, photography, portrait, romance, sexy, studio, Victorian, vintage
December 30, 2010
The end of a long year
The image above was the first picture I ever made for this project and here it comes, the end of the year. Officially, I started illustrating this novel on January 9, 2010. SO for me this year has been momentous. The thing of it is, when I started I had no idea it would go this far. Originally I thought I would shoot the cover as a control-freak of a photographer. Of course, then it mushroomed into a few illustrations. Those illustrations were so fantastic and telling (and we had so much fun shooting them), and they added so much to the basic story that I decided to expand on them, to take it as far as I could. Eight photo shoots later I have a fully illustrated romance novel.
The learning curve has been deadly, the expense deadlier, studio time, costuming, flying my lead model around (since he moved shortly after the first two shoots, and I tried to replace him, but he just really wasn't replaceable.) learning all the ins and out of ebooks, etc…
My hopes however have done nothing but grown. I really think I have done something wonderful here, something others will want to copy, and I hope…HOPE… they call me. I would love to work on illustrations for other novels, I would love to work with other authors to expand their stories to the visual. There are other forms of new media that involve eReaders, but they have different formats, including video. I don't think video is appropriate accompaniment for a novel, I think it's disruptive to the flow of the story, not to mention the fact that if you have pretty much any eReader, besides the iPad, you have to move to your computer to see the video. The great thing about the still images is they are inobtrusive, they flow with the story in the pages, they don't interrupt the reading experience, rather they enhance it.
I'm still waiting to hear back from the majority of my marketing test subjects, but so far all is good. I look forward to this being the first, of many, of this kind of new media.
Filed under: News, The Novel Tagged: ARC, beauty, black and white, book, color, critique, ebook, epub, freebie, help, historical, illustrate, illustration, images, Jenn LeBlanc, love, love story, male, men, model, novel, pdf, photography, portrait, read, romance, sexy, studio, The Rake and the Recluse, Victorian
December 17, 2010
Valediction
This is it. The home stretch. The grande finale. The whole shebang (not the Ricky Martin version). That's all folks. Fin. Finito. 10-4. Over and out. Adieu. My own valediction.
My personal deadline for finishing the final run through and placing, designing and checking out this book is…Christmas Eve. It's my Christmas present to myself to be done. I'm über excited. The pages are coming together and looking so wonderful, and like real novel pages with lots of beautiful words, and incredible imagery. Yep, I'm tooting my own horn, just like the tin man. Speaking of which, I wish I could do the things he does, and he has a cool heart to boot. But I digress (no, really?) My next step is to export the book to PDF and ePub files and give some copies to a few stout volunteers for market research.
See, this hasn't been done. This is a full-length manuscript with illustrations. It will be published as an eBook only. (I'm printing a few hardcopies, but they are 400 pages, all glossy with full color and black and white plates and will cost an exorbitant amount of money) This whole idea came about to embrace new media. It won't work as a hardcopy, there is just too much to it. There's even a playlist you can purchase separately.
At any rate. Did I mention I love you? Oh yes, this is where I ask for help, from you, or from your bestie Glinda, who is a closet romance reader. From your mom Sophia who LOVES her Teresa Medeiros (she was my first), your girlfriend Lucy's long lost cousin Henrietta who has a complete set of Lisa Kleypas novels signed on her bookshelf. Or your uncle Dave who happens to love, love, LOVE the macho male Cynsters of Stephanie Laurens' novels.
The first 15 of you to email me your info will receive a full digital version of my novel. What I really need to know are nitpicky things about the flow and content. How does it look on your reader, computer, iPod, whatever. Are the images distracting? are there too many? Not enough? Etc…etc…etc… Along with the novel you will receive a complete questionnaire to fill out. One more catch, I really need it back within the next two weeks. Because the release is set for love weekend. So if you —or someone you know— is a willing and able candidate for my little experiment please send an email to Jenn.K.LeBlanc@gmail.com (JENNdotKdotLEBLANCatGMAILdotCOM) that says HEY! I'd Love, love LOVE to read your novel and give you some constructive criticism! The first 15 of you will get a reply email with the novel attached in about a week, and a very special thank you when the novel is published.
There it is. Thank you in advance! Here is a little blurb (also awaiting final copy…but you get the idea)
The Rake and the Recluse
a historical romance
Francine Larrabee almost has it all. Doing what everyone else expected of her, she was on a track bound for certain glory, a high paying position, a big house in Cherry Hills, soon to be followed by husband, dog, children, fish, and happiness, and yet— something is missing…something beyond the glory, the house, and the rest. Something is just not right, and then in an instant all of that possibility is gone. A bizarre accident rips her from her everyday life, thrusting her into a strange place…and time.
As impossible as she knows it to be, Francine wakes up in the distant past, unable to speak and under the care of a reclusive and forbidding Duke. As imposing and inscrutable as he is, there's something intangible that draws her to him. Before long Francine finds herself forgetting her old life and, as outlandish as it seems even to her, perhaps even falling in love. But before she can find happiness with her Duke, she must first overcome not only his own sense of propriety and the rules of the peerage that bind him, but the troubling fact that she seems to be already betrothed to the despicable Lord Hepplewort, who will stop at nothing to claim what is rightfully his.
Can Francine escape Lord Hepplewort's clutches and find contentment in a life so far removed from everything she's ever known?
More important, can she overcome the Duke's reticence and convince him to surrender to the passion they both feel?
Filed under: Illustration, The Novel Tagged: ARC, beauty, black and white, book, color, critique, ebook, epub, freebie, help, historical, illustrate, illustration, images, Jenn LeBlanc, love, love story, male, men, model, novel, pdf, photography, portrait, read, romance, sexy, studio, Victorian
