CHECKING OUT CREATE SPACE SITE 

CS is very user friendly still being a newbie I managed to stumble around what later became obvious.  First step setting up the title of your MS. One of the reasons I chose to go with indie publishing is having complete autonomy.  TITLE: A long time ago I just knew the perfect title for my novel was A Hint of Darkness. It epitomised the essence of the story.  When I made the decision to split the book (it really was too cumbersome) I went back & forth between The Story of Emmaline & The Journey of Emmaline. I chose the latter. Emmaline endured quite a journey; one which I shared with her. I could predict her every thought, emotion & action.  That may sound weird but once I begin to write my characters take on a life of their own. Ellie of course, had her own journey & fond as I am of her there were times I felt a bit annoyed at her behaviour. She is quite wilful.
Back to reality & more autonomous decisions. COVERS:  Here I had the expertise of graphic artist & designer Chris Brunton.  Who as well as being completely professional is also a saint. Not once did he yell at me (maybe muttered a few times) when I kept changing bits. It is more difficult than I realised to get perceptions across without any artistic talent to express them. I spent months in finding the two pictures of Emmaline I wanted for the covers. I needed one portraying her youthful beauty for A Hint of Darkness & another showing a more mature & self-assured woman for The Journey of Emmaline. Over a number of years, I compiled a folder of possible pictures. I eventually settled on one. Alas it was from a famous portrait.  My beloved husband who is quite talented tried to draw it for me. sadly, drawing didn’t quite have the refinement needed. I eventually found what I was looking for on a site where you could purchase photos of models in suitable costume.  Chris worked his magic & did the rest. I’m very happy with the outcome.
Three viable ways to do your book covers. Design it yourself & upload to CS. Have it professionally done as I did. Pay to have CS do it for you. Before doing the finer points for your cover you need to know number of pages to calculate spine thickness etc. Follow the steps & work forward. I started with cover first & gave myself lots of hassles. Number of pages can change as you format the layout. You need to do know exactly what is required. Be super-organised to save hassles. I’m all set up for next time.








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Excerpt: A Hint of Darkness

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