And life continues...

I cannot believe almost a week has gone by since making a post. Wow! I knew this would be hard to keep up with.

It has been a busy week though. I have finally decided book two will be released in as trade paperback instead of a hardcover. So both book one and book two will be released in April 2007 as paperbacks. That is unless a larger publisher decides to pick up the series. I can still hope! Thankfully the reader base is large enough for the series now, that printing costs are covered. I just would love to spend more time writing instead of 80% marketing/publishing and only 20% on writing.

Back to the paperback discussion... FotU hardcover was originally marketed to a wide range of audience since it crosses over into multiple genres, but we will now be focusing our energy primarily on the children/young adult and Christian children/young adult readers now. Paperback just makes sense price wise. I have created a first draft of the paperback cover of Into the Darkness as you can view from the post here. I am also working on a new paperback design and cover for Faith of the Unforgotten. I will post it later once I find a background for the scene I am happy with. I am a 'cover browser' at bookstores, so the covers are really important to me. I am always interested in responses, so if you like/dislike the new cover design let me know.

Publishing is an interesting business. I must say I have learned alot in the last few years. I am a constant state of research and comparing what the big houses are doing. I have books lined up 20ft from my desk and always comparing my designs compared to others. At a bookstore I do more than look. I can't help to check out what thickness of paper was used, if they embossed, gold foil stamped, etc... I look at books in a total new light these days. I someday hope to find that larger publisher that will take on the series, but until then, I press on... Maybe my next series after The Foundations series. I can't say much about it yet, though. I have some absolute crazy marketing plans for FotU coming up. I would suggest checking back every so often if you ever wanted to read FotU and haven't yet.

On the non-publishing side of things, I have decided to start working on getting my Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE) for work. Yikes! If anybody knows about the MCSE tests, they are down right hard. That should be lovely to fit into my already tight schedule. But computers are what pay the bills and I love the job. I can't complain about getting paid for something I enjoy :-)