July 8th, 2010
Big News #2 — Merlin's Blade Is Printed ... !
Yes indeed—the first ever copy of Merlin’s Blade is rolling off the press right now , and will be sent to me in a week or two.
If this proof copy turns out as expected , then I will be ordering more copies to give to ten published authors I’ve met, as well as one friend, Tegid !
(Remember … I am NOT self-publishing Merlin’s Blade. These copies are purely for securing endorsements to increase my chances with a publisher such as P&R … remember my previous Big News #1?)
Here’s the complete list of authors:
- LB Graham
- Douglas Bond
- Scott Appleton
- Wayne Thomas Batson
- Christopher Hopper
- S.D. Smith
- Andrew Peterson
- Pete Peterson
- Mystery Author #1
- Mystery Author #2
LB lives here in St. Louis, and we attend the same church … LB … we need to get together soon!
Even though I’ll have to mail a copy to both Douglas Bond and Scott Appleton, I was able to spend time with each of them when they visited St. Louis … Scott in January, and Doug in June.
I’ll see Wayne and Christopher at the Curse of the Spider King party this coming October, so that’s going to be great fun!
S.D. Smith is being sent a copy for himself and one to share between Andrew Peterson and his fellow brother-author, Pete Peterson, whom he’ll meet at Hutchmoot 2010, which I’ll sadly miss. 
As part of getting Merlin’s Blade ready to print … I have finished the cover art for the novel using Blender 2.5 Beta 2 and a lot of help from my son, Leighton! So … here it is … if you want to see it up close, click the image!
Keep in mind that this cover art is for my personal printing only … a publisher would probably want to do it differently. Either way, I have striven for as professional of a look as I can get given time constraints.
As well … here is a “desktop background wallpaper” version if you are interested in that. I removed the extraneous text from the image to make it more artsy and also reveal the graphic.
Enjoy!
Oh … you’re wondering who Mystery Author #1 and #2 are? For that you’ll have to wait for Big News #3 … coming up soon!
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9 comments
I've tried to get my brother to finish a concept he began several years ago, because I want to submit it as possible cover art (whenever a particular fantasy manuscript is ever accepted). It's simple, subtle, mysterious, and not the almost over-the-top kind of artwork on many a fantasy novel's cover in recent years.
All the best in your endeavor to get the right publisher's attention. The novel is definitely worth it!
Scott ... it should arrive sometime in August.
Sam ... your copy will be coming, too!
Keanan, If you have any sketches of the art, it would be cool to see it on your blog. Maybe that will encourage him...?!
-Robert
I just realized that asking asking for an endorsement was asking a lot, and I shouldn't require someone to read my book on their computer. When a published author gets endorsements, the publisher sends out Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs -- they're just an advanced printing in a rougher format).
So I thought, hey, just because I don't have a publisher yet doesn't mean I shouldn't do the same. Anyway, I hope having a real book with a decent cover encourages the authors to take a look, and I hope any endorsements I might get might encourage a publisher to take me on.
I used Lulu.com because I could print in both hardcover and softcover. Their prices were similar to CreateSpace (Amazon's service), and it looks great.
And no ... as long as its not for sale, then it is not self-published. A publisher wants first printing and selling rights. If you make it for sale, then you've taken that from them. However, if you can show a track record of sales, a traditional publisher is more apt to take a look now-days than in the past.
Scott Appleton did this ... he self-published and through a LOT of hard work sold nearly 3000 copies. Now he has a contract with AMG for the same book.
-Robert
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