So I’m in the process of putting together the print version of Hunting the Phoenix, the final book of my Herbert West Series. A while ago I mentioned a change to the cover image. Here it is. The change should be obvious if you compare this image with the corresponding one in the set of four above.
Another new thing is five small glyphs I created for the five section title pages. They are symbols used in alchemy and early chemistry. I was having a hard time finding uniformly-sized versions, so I drew my own set with Microsoft Paint. They turned out well enough for my purposes. For the title text, I wanted a font with a similar hand-drawn feel, so I used Tempus Sans ITC.
Next step is proofing. The print version should be available in March.
Audrey Driscoll's Blog 
They make a fantastic set of images, very vivid and intriguing. The change: the dancing man has a hat?
Glyphs are good. I tried to include them in my ebooks, but they never worked in the Smashwords versions, so I abandoned them.
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Thanks! Yes, the hat added to the man is the change; can’t think why I didn’t suggest that when the images were first put together. Not that the central character of the series always wears top hats, but they sort of represent his style.
I’m surprised glyphs wouldn’t work on Smashwords, especially as the formatting guide suggests using them. And people do publish picture books there. I have to admit my ebooks are pretty basic. I didn’t feel any desire to ornament them, but for print books, I think it’s worth the effort.
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The problem might have been down to me using transparent PNG files. I’ll know next time.
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I just selected each glyph from MS Paint and inserted it as a picture into my Word doc. Of course they’re pretty basic. The CreateSpace checker flagged them as substandard (less than 300 dpi), but since they’re just ornaments that’s not a problem.
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I’ve discovered the Ceatespace checker can be inconsistent in what it accepts and rejects.
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Could be. I haven’t tried anything too complicated, so have had uniform results for my four books. None of them has any illustrations, just small symbols. And there is a photo of me at the back, but that has always been OK. It’s those small glyphs that always trigger the “less than 300 dpi” warning. They look fine on the printed books, though. (So far; am waiting for the printed proof of book 4).
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When I was doing the covers for my last two paperbacks, they were rejected because of the page margins inside, but when I ignored that and resubmitted the files they went through the second time!
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Ha! So it’s a gamble. Adds to the thrill (and frustration) of self-publishing. 🙂
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