Just as I had finished putting the chips in the oven this evening, my phone pinged.
‘Someone has liked something on Facebook’, I thought. But it was actually an email that contained a rather pleasant surprise.
It was the end of June, three months ago now, that I clicked the ‘send’ button on the email that contained the final draft of my manuscript of my new book ‘Standing in the Storm: Living with Faith and Cancer’ to my editor. This signalled the end of a frantic month of chasing deadlines, re-writes and tweaks. Of seeking endorsements and having Forwards written.
I know a lot has been going on behind the scenes as the manuscript is now in the safe hands of my publisher, Instant Apostle. This month the proof reading will be done, and this evening I got to have my first look at the front cover! (hence the surprised face in the photo above). The cover is absolutely stunning and captures the message of the book so well. I was told that the first draft they had looked as if the person was a ‘superhero’ and my book is the antithesis of this, so I am glad they changed it and went for what it is now.
It is still not complete, so no cover reveals yet (another reason why you have to put up with a photo of me pulling a strange face above), but when it is ready, I will definitely be letting you all know.
My writing journey continues to pick up pace as I have now established my own imprint called ‘Faithseed Books’ which sits alongside my song publishing arm ‘Faithseed Music’.
The two books I have previously written are in the process of being moved from my previous printer and (cough, cough) ‘distributor’ to a new one that comes highly recommended. They are joining my new imprint and as such need to be published as new editions with new ISBNs etc.
‘Songcraft: Exploring the art of Christian Songwriting’ has only recently had a new cover with new chapters added etc. So its cover is only having minor tweaks done to it. However, ‘All Things New: Stories of Transformed Lives’ is having a completely new cover designed – so watch this space – there may be more than one new cover being revealed in the coming months!
What is the most compelling element of a book cover for you? What is it about a book cover that makes you think – ‘I want to read that’? I would love to know your thoughts – so please comment below.
Thanks for reading and I will be blogging again soon.
Matt.