Tim Arnot - Flick Carter #1: FREED! Showing 201-250 of 1,656

[Tim]

There's a thought... ;)

[D.D. Chant]

Poor Tim, will a brownie and a fluffy pillow help?

[Tim]

Early lunch and a walk round the Clumps (a nearby iron age hill fort) I think :)

[Tim]

Well that worked in a negative kind of way! Ended up in a business meeting with some potential work leads (got to eat too...), then this evening I started playing around with cover ideas. here's two variations on a (simple) theme. See what you think...



Obviously these are just mockups with comp images.

[Kath]

I never think a white background works because it fades into the page, both here and on Amazon. Black makes it harder to read the Felicity Carter Book 1 bit. Try another colour? I love the design though.

[Tim]

I think the white looks really good as a paperback (I've printed several out!), but I agree that black works better for ebooks. The grey text will almost certainly be either white or yellow on black. Still playing around with different fonts though. (yeah, I know, get back to the editing!!!)

I have a mate with a collection of flint arrows that I'm seeing this arvo, so I might not have to buy a stock photo...


More defined stroke + drop shadow & serif font...

[Patti (baconater)]

Tim, I really, really like everything about it!

Except the white. It'd be perfect as a DTB but it really doesn't work on a screen. :(

[Kath]

Preferred the first font. Clearer. Don't forget people are seeing it on Am as a thumbnail. You need to be able to read it all when it's ensmallened. did I just invent that?

[Patti (baconater)]

Actually yes. The first font is better. For the title and your name, anyway.

[Andrew]

Love the covers, Tim. I agree with the girls though that that the black one works best. And it is easier to read the first font too.

[Kath]

Girls! Awww, bless.

[Tim]

There's always the good old border...



The problem is, I know the black works better for ebooks, but I don't actually like it that much...

[Kath]

Now, then, KINGSMEN doesn't show up in red but I still like the black, of the two. The white's better with a border, definitely.
Can't I persuade you to try another colour?

[Tim]

I'm always open to suggestions. :)

[Patti (baconater)]

I don't like that felicity carter font.

Maybe if you capitalised 'Book'?

Of the two, I prefer the white now it has a border.

You got a blurb yet?

We could probably help more if we knew what it's about...

[Kath]

I know what it's about and I love Flick because she's a really feisty, gutsy heroine and I want to be her when I grow up!

I like the Felicity font, again, for its clarity. Would it work on a green background? Patti would like that and it kind of fits with the lack of electricity and the green - that's not the word I want but I'm feeling a little verbally bereft at the moment - non-consumerist, maybe, setting?

[Tim]

I think it worked better with small caps as per the other font - I'll try a similar style in Arial (yes, it's bog standard Arial, although I'm sure I can find something better!)

This is the old blurb I put up when I started writing. It's well out of date now, but it'll do for the time being:

23rd Century Britain is tough. There's few people, no oil and no electricity (by order). Kingsmen rule the country with a rod of iron, and exact the severest of penalties for the smallest of crimes. When sixteen year old Flick Carter comes across an injured pilot from an illegal aircraft that has crashed, fixing him up is her first crime, and falling in love is her second. In a small town of just 150 people, it's hard to hide for long, and when the Kingsmen find out her secret, the choice is simple: Love, or life.

[Kath]

I like bog-standard Arial.

[Tim]

Red on green? I don't think so. And what if you're red-green colour blind...

[Kath]

You don't need to stick with red.

Ne'mind. I like the black meself.

[Patti (baconater)]

Oh thanks for that. Now I read it, I do recall the blurb.

I still like the white best.

[Tim]

This is just one idea, there are others still in the back of my mind yet...

[Katie]

For what it's worth, I prefer the black, too.

[Rosemary (grooving with the Picts)]

Hi Tim I like the fonts and prefer the white, it's cleaner. I find the "Felicity Carter" line upsetting though because it's not centred, and it should be moved down so that there is a "space" equal to the height of the lower case letters between that line and the HUNTED above. Ditto the KINGSMEN should be eased up a squeak.
Sorry but OH used to do typesetting and layouts and is always getting on at me when I do things like this. Thought I'd just pay it forward! ;)

[Tim]

Thanks Rosemary :)

[Kath]

Now I find things upsetting when they are very centred and evenly spaced. I like a bit of randomness! You should go with your own instincts though Tim. It's your book and you never get a consensus with a committee!

[Rosemary (grooving with the Picts)]

You're quite right Ignite - Tim, it's yourself you ought to be pleasing! (unless you want a camel of course!)

[Patti (baconater)]

mmmmmmmmmcamelmmmmmmm

[Tim]

Patti (A Fine Pear) wrote: "mmmmmmmmmcamelmmmmmmm"

According to Tescos, it's not camel, it's chicken.

[Kath]

Haha!

[D.D. Chant]

Just a thought Tim, but have you considered a red back ground???

I find red catches my eye, and for some reason I equate the colour with excitement (but it might make the arrow harder to see). Maybe a plain black font over the top...

[Tim]

I had another idea, which could work in red...

[Kath]

I still prefer your earlier black. Red's a bit of a poke in the eye.

I like the suggestion of the building though.

[Tim]

It's a derelict WWII bomb fusing hut, absolutely choked with brambles, & suits the story down to the ground. :)

I'm changing the series title yet again, so it'll now be Flick Carter Book 1. Why? Cos I've just registered flickcarter.com and kingsmenseries.com (and felicitycarter.com was taken!) :)

[Kath]

Yes, I 'recognised' it from the story!

When are you going to get chance to populate those websites? 'Cos you know you'll be nagged for Book 2 as soon as this one's out, don't you?

[Tim]

This is the b&w version I tried for a WoB, but haven't managed to get the picture to look convincing yet (I hate negative images!)




They'll all link to the same site, at least initially, & I'll work on it while the proofing is going on (famous last words etc!)

[Tim]

Hehe, that's unfortunate! It doesn't read like that on the bigger sized image. I guess it'll attract the lads...

(or I could change the font, I suppose)

[Kath]

Now that B&W one, with the red writing and a border - maybe a fine black border? But you could try red. Now that might work.

[Rosemary (grooving with the Picts)]

I like the black and white hut very much Tim. One small thing though, when I was scrolling down the page FLICK just looked rather like F*CK!

[Tim]

Hence my comment in the immediately following message ;)

[Rosemary (grooving with the Picts)]

Aah, missed that, sorry! It is eyecatching though

[Tim]

I'm almost tempted to do nothing about it, and plead "Oh how unfortunate" if anyone complains! A touch of controversy never hurt anyones sales... ;)

I do like the styling of this one, although as others have pointed out, a picture of a brick wall is a bit dull...

[Kath]

Not if you know the story. ;)

[Kath]

And it's one step beyond Get Carter!
I liked the Felicity Carter version - I know it's her Sunday name and you don't have the appropriate website but hey. What the Flick?

[Tim]

Ignite wrote: "Not if you know the story. ;)"

That is inherently a problem, and I think one that Katie mentions in her Covers article in Writing (another plug ;)) - the cover is there basically to attract people that *don't* know the story, so anything with an "if you know the story..." gets an automatic yellow flag.

[Tim]

Ignite wrote: "And it's one step beyond Get Carter!
I liked the Felicity Carter version - I know it's her Sunday name and you don't have the appropriate website but hey. What the Flick?"

ROFL(ICK)!!!!

[Kath]

Bummocks! That's my theory blown out of the water.

[Andrew]

Oi, I like brick walls ;)

[Kath]

I know you do. I reckon you've banged your head on enough, eh?

[Andrew]

Ahaha, I have left an indentation in one or two now you mention it ;)