Authors Electric

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I’m currently in the process of giving my books a facelift. I’m not reworking the actual contents (apart from clearing up a few minor typos and formatting problems), just trying to make them look more attractive and professional. The process so far has given me a thumping headache, and a renewed respect for publishers. Getting a book to look all lovely and slick – in both its print and eBook manifestations – is, let it be said, no easy matter. A thousand perils lie in wait for the unwary. This is sort of how I feel at the moment... © Phil Date / Dreamstime Stock Photos Still, I’m encouraged by the fact that achieving a nice professional look, though difficult, is eminently possible. Here I am, sitting at the kitchen table and thumping away at an ancient laptop that’s probably not even good for spare parts any more, but with attention to detail, hard work and a smidgeon of luck I might just be able to turn out books that are at least acceptable . Still, it’s tricky. The n...

This month I've gone retro. I’ve been playing with print. Yes, I know that on this blog we are brilliantly electric. But it’s a year since I released my novel, My Memories of a Future Life , and I thought I'd celebrate. On a whim, I created a special, limited print edition of the book to be given away as a prize. It wasn’t premeditated. As with most of my ideas, it was a side-effect of something more purposeful. As part of the anniversary celebration I ran a twist on my blog series TheUndercover Soundtrack . Usually, authors write about using music in their creative process, but I flipped the concept and hosted two musicians who make work inspired by novels ( here and here ). So there I was, footling with PagePlus, creating an adapted logo. I swiped the cursor over a thumbnail of the Future Life cover and it flashed into negative, like a premonition. The blood piano and ethereal sky became copper-green and thunder. In a book that looks at reincarnation the wrong ...