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Congrats on the Poser copy. Sounds like you'll be busy. I don't think I've ever gone over to the meshbox website so I'll have to check that out.
I've been busy with this months's New User Contest which took some new skills and an upgrade in memory to pull off as I had way too much geometry and kept crashing DS. I, also, worked on a couple of renders for the It's Raining Men Contest. I wasn't completely happy with my first render, but I uploaded it anyway. I may rework that render a little bit after the contest to see if I can improve it. I'm working on my third entry for that contest. We'll see if I manage to get it done in time to upload it. My skills are getting better so that is always a plus. I did take a break to get Linux Mint up and running on my computer the last couple of days. I want to try and get DS running on Linux. We'll see how that goes. I'm also still working on that one book cover. I might have something to show for it by the weekend.
Got some more writing done on my book. It is always good when I can move the plot along and actually get some dynamite scenes written.
Happy New Year everyone!!! I'm on eastern time in the States. UTC -5, I believe so still a ways to go for me, but for those of you who are closer to midnight, have a SAFE Happy New Year!!
Thanks! I'm interested in seeing how two of the Poser outputs work for me: The Superfly renderer and their Comic Book View (which is different than Toon). I'm not sure if the latter will live up to my hopes, but I am looking forward to comparing Iray and Superfly (they are both variations of the Lux Render engine, I believe). Of course, this weekend is almost half over and I haven't even had 10 minutes to try anything. Sigh. Maybe when the holiday settles down into the new year I can make some time.
At any rate, Happy New Year, one and all!
Hi all, I've only just now found this thread. I normally just read the forums rather than participate, but I thought I could add my two cents here. :-) I write historical romance (Regency, Victorian, and Roman) and celebrated my 10-year anniversary as a published writer last summer. After a rather horrible experience with my New York publisher (they went under in 2012), I've been self-publishing my novels since 2013. Because I wasn't at all happy with the stock photos available for historical romance, I started to learn DAZ in late 2014 in order to do my own cover pictures. I've now reached a point where I actually feel confident about using my own art.
You don't need to use KDP's cover creator for your cover. Instead, you can simply upload your finished cover pictureduring the process of entering your book details. You ought to choose a relatively high quality picture (I typically do 300 dpi) and a picture that is as close to the max dimensions as possible - remember that people read e-books not only on e-readers, but also on phones and, even more importantly in regard to image quality, on tablets!
Here's a link to all the current info on cover pictures from the KDP help section:
https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A2J0TRG6OPX0VM
You should also check out D2D (= Draft 2 Digital). Their uploading process is way easier than Smashwords, and they don't automatically opt you into new distribution channels (Smashwords does, and this is not always a good thing). They've also added a few cool new features over the past couple of months like automatically updating the backmatter for all your books published through them once you a publish a new book. D2D is a really easy way to extend your distribution to the biggest retailers beyond Amazon.
However, trying out Amazon first is a good strategy. Do you plan to enroll your book in KDP Select for the first three months? It's not longer quite as effective as it used to be, but from what I hear, there are still people for whom it works quite well.
What kind of editing do you want to get done?
Yes, I did know that one doesn't need to use KDP's cover creator. I was just amazed that, if one did use KDP, the images used were of such low quality. From all of my research, the digital equivalent of 300 dpi is used. Thanks for the link, though. I don't know if that is the same link I had found when doing my research, but I'll take a look.
I had not found D2D yet. I'll check it out. As for KDP Selct, I haven't completely decided as yet. I am considering it, though.
At the moment, I'm thinking of going middle of the road and doing copyediting and then proofreading after my final edit. That might be all I can afford for my first novel. I'm not sure how much a full on Developmental Editing is, but it sounds expensive. While I realize, that type of editing could be beneficial, it sounds much more expensive than I could afford for a first book that might not sell. I would consider it a success if I managed to at least make back my costs to get it published. In all likelihood, I won't even cover any initial expenses that I have to publish. However, I have to try even if it is a complete flop.
I have a few names for editors that sounds like they could be a good mix for the type of book I write and when I'm ready I'll get some quotes for the Development Editing. More than likely, I'll go with the copyediting first to see what kind of red flags the editor manages to uncover. I have two books in the works, at the moment, and I have to finish one of them first before I can start to consider editors.
While I'm working on my books and their covers, though, I'm getting better at using DS and my skills are improving. I even have the rough outlines for my own covers while I work on covers that I might try to sell on one of the book cover sites. I've also used DS to put together some of the scenes from my books so that I can actually see them visually instead of just in my head and that has been fun.
Welcome to the group. You didn't mention your pen name or any of the books you've published. I read quite a few historicals even though I don't actually write them. I'm pretty sure that Sonja reads historicals, as well. We might have read your work. Of course, you don't have to share that, if you don't want.
If you want critiques on prospective covers you've created, there are some great guys on here that have a ton of publishing experience and they are really good at giving constructive criticism.
Thank you so much for the warm welcome!
LOL. I didn't mention my full name because my website is a bit of an embarrassment at the moment: I haven't updated it for ages, it still has all the older versions of my covers, and it isn't mobile friendly either. Fixing that website is going to be the first big project of the new year - or rather, the second one. The first one will be finishing the WIP (just 1 1/2 chapters more to go!!!).
Anyway, to answer your question, I write as Sandra Schwab, and my first three novels, The Lily Brand, Castle of the Wolf, and Bewitched, were published by Dorchester.
Great, thank you! That's really good to know!
@ScribblingSandy I looked you up on Amazon.com and was very surprised to find that I had not read any of your books as they are exactly the type of book I enjoy reading. I did download the book you had up for free and I downloaded samples of a few that looked really interesting. I, also, visited you website and signed up on your mailing list. I could see where you've been playing with DS, nice stuff there.
I'm in the middle of a series by Cheryl Holt when I'm not working on my books. However, as soon as I finish those books, I'll give yours a read. While I enjoy historical romances immensely, I have no plans to write one. At the moment, I'm working on a paranormal (shifter) romance and a science fiction romance. I keep swapping back and forth between the two as I work out plot points, world building (usually things I thought I had thought of, but found in the actual writing that I needed to flesh out more), and such. Currently, the paranormal romance is closer to completion, but that could change. Both are really close to their end and I'm not sure which will actually get to the finish line first.
Sandy: Welcome aboard! This is a very friendly place and we're definitely willing to assist everyone with developing their cover art.
BTW: One and all -- HAPPY NEW YEAR!
My only advice would be to tread very carefully on spending too much money, especially for a first try. There are a lot of bogus outfits and individuals out there who are more than willing to take your money and provide little or no service in return. My personal feeling is that for structure issues, I think you'd do better sharing your novel with a writer's group and seek constructive criticism there, rather than spend the several thousand it usually takes for a development editor -- who, at best, is going to agree with you anyway, because you are paying his or her tab.
On the other hand, the money is well spent on proofreading, especially a word-for-word read of the formatted galleys. I'm always trailing off my thoughts, and not completing
I have an account on Critique Circle as they appear to be one of the most widely recognized online critique website for aspiring authors. I haven't been as active the last few months of my writing, but I have had a few of my chapters critiqued and received very helpful advice. It is a very active site with a lot of writers who sell on Amazon. I have a set amount in mind that I'm willing to pay for an editor based on my research. The way I have researched for editors has been to actually take a look at books in my genre that have sold well, were free of grammatical errors, and didn't seem to have any inconsistencies in plot, characterization, or voice, etc. I then researched those editors and tracked down their websites. All of the editors that I narrowed down, had websites with the rates clearly established for their services with the exception that most required that interested parties request a quote for development editing. I have about 5 editors that I am seriously considering contacting once I'm closer to completing my novels and they all seem to be highly competent and reliable.
I am a fairly good editor of others work, but I find that I miss things when I am editing my own work. I think that is true of a lot of writers which is why we need editors. I get very irritated when I read a book and there are inconsistencies like mixing up characters' names or grammatical errors. I do not wish to have my work end up being one of those frequently reviewed books that state, "It needs editing." or "It would have been good if it had been edited." I think I have a good plan in motion and I am trying to be smart about it. Only time, and a published work, will tell me if I managed to succeed. I am trying to be smart about the whole process. It is definitely a learning experience.
I don't usually have a problem completing my thoughts. Usually, I suffer from procrastination and I have difficulty, at times, getting all of my thoughts to develop into a cohesive story arch. Usually, this is because I figure out I have something vital missing in my plotting. I think every writer struggles with some aspect of writing. Plotting is the thing I struggle with the most.
Thank you! And I hope you'll enjoy The Bride Prize (you should have got the second in the series for free, too, when you signed up for my newsletter).
I'm having so much fun with that Victorian series - in the past few years, my academic research focused on Victorian magazines and newspapers, in particular Punch, and it was a lot of fun indeed to use that for my fictional work. And ever since I first stumbled over a mention of the Eglinton Tournament, I wanted to write a story set against the backdrop of that particular event.
Thank you so much! *waves*
That sounds as if you've already done some really good, solid research in that matter, Knitttingmommy. If you decide to get a developmental edit done after all, I can highly recommend my own editor, Bev Katz Rosenbaum, whose prices are really reasonable and who used to work for Harlequin . To have somebody with a background in traditional publishing was very important to me when I picked my developmental editor.
Are you a member of Romance Writers of America? Being a member of RWA was really beneficial to me, especially at the beginning of my career. By now, the annual national conference has a strong self-publishing track, and you can buy and download recordings from past conferences.
Not currently a member, no. I do plan to join. It is the start of the year and I figure it is the perfect time to signup and become a member. I have discovered that there is a really active local chapter in Ft. Lauderdale. I know one of the qualifications of joining the local chapter is that you also need to join the national chapter. I've considered going to one of their monthly meetings as it is only about 30 minutes drive away or I can take the local TriRail system, if I don't feel like driving, and that is a straight shot from home to Ft. Lauderdale. So far, though, I haven't managed to make a meeting since moving here. At first, it was getting settled from the move here and then it was carting my 3 boys around to all of their various activities. We are settled in a mostly fixed routine now, so I could easily arrange to go. I think their next regular meeting is in February so I might go up there and check it out. They certainly seem to have some interesting local conferences.
edit: spelling error, I keep forgetting that this form has a spell check option
Hi, everyone, I'm riding high today and had to share. My entry in the New User contest for December garnered 2nd place. It was my first landscape and it turned out rather well. Now that the contest is over, I have in my gallery. I'm surprised to say that it is my highest rated render to date in the galleries. I never thought it would actually turn out that well when I started it as I was having a ton of problems that I had to figure out how to fix. I still need to work on my postwork skills. I think, though, that it could easily be modified to be part of a backdrop on a cover if I were so inclined someday.
Here is the link if anyone wants to check it out. That should take you to it's gallery page. I didn't want to clutter up the thread with non current cover related pictures. I have to say it was a nice render to close out the year.
We're looking at it here on a 40" Samsung panel and it looks fantastic - congratulations!
- Greg
CONGRATULATIONS! That is SO COOL!
I remember seeing this when I cruised through that forum a while back, and I remember liking this. This is a well-deserved win for you. And you're right, this might work as a backdrop for a cover. Well done!
Also, I may have to pick your brain about using Above the Fog. I'm trying it for the first time in Iray, and am NOT getting good results. The fog is a solid-white blanket and has no transparency.
Wow! nice to know it holds up well on something that large! Thanks.
Are you rendering in Iray? Because, yeah, it is harder to get the transperancy just right with Iray and you really have to watch the camera angles. This render was my first effort with it and I can't say it was a roaring success unless you count what I learned while doing the project. It was really hard getting even just the amount of transperancy that I managed to get in it. I'd be happy to share anything I've learned if you have questions, but I'm still playing with the product myself. The best advice I have at the moment is to just play with the opacity and glossiness sliders. Depending on the look you are going for, I would also suggest setting the Lighting Mode? (I don't have DS running yet today to double check that is the right part) to Matte. The default for a lot of things seems to be plastic and matte works better for the fog. I don't remember what the default is when Above the Fog is loaded. When I boot up DS for the day, I'll double check the exact wording on that particular surface setting.
Now for something totally different: I found this link and it inspired me to try some different designs.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/22-reasons-why-design-was-more-awesome-in-the-80s#.eapqj8vwx
Caution: NSFW because of a few "artsy" but not dirty nudes.
Congratulations!! It's a beautiful scene and a great render!
"They knew how to combine the randomest shit in the awesomest of ways." LOL! -- I really like the first picture under #2 - the female figure whose lower torso turns into a ribbon.
I finally had a chance to open DS (it contributes to my late nights) and check some settings I had done with Above the Fog. Forget everything I said above because my memory is very faulty. Too many projects between the last time I fooled around with Above the Fog and now. It was the Diffuse Strength and the Translucency Channels I that I had played with that helped with transparency of the fog. So, for a more see thru fog, use the materials setting for light fog and then dial down those two settings until you get it close to what you want. Forget what I said above about the matte setting as I must have been thinking of something else. Might have been the moose. And, I know this is going to sound funny, but try adding a really light grey to the emission color and make sure it is on the first option (cd/m^2) and set it real low at like 5 of 10 on both the temperature and luminance. I found that actually helped slightly in the opacity. I did manage to get a fairly good transperant fog, almost as good as in 3Delight. The secret is the Opacity setting, but not the slider. Don't touch the slider because does very weird, not in a good way, things to the fog.
In fact, when I started up DS I started playing around with the settings again to try and get something more transparent and figured out a great trick. The trick is to add an Opacity Map to the Opacity setting. I have a my own fog opacity map that I can give you if you want to try it out. I did it in Filter Forge so it is my own texture that I can give away if I want. I'm more than happy to share because it really helps. If you want to see the render with my results, I've just uploaded it to the Above the Fog thread. I only let the render go about halfway, but the fog turned out really nice. Just as nice as the fog in 3Delight, I think. Let me know if you want the texture file. I can either put it up in Dropbox or set up it up as a download on my Deviant Art account.
I really enjoyed looking through this!! Brings back memories. The 80s definitely had a unique style that I don't think will ever be repeated.
Thank you. I can't believe how many likes it has gotten. I keep having to go look and pinch myself. I am pleased that it turned out so well.
I loved that one, too. It is very well done. And, considering they didn't have all the tools we have today, pretty amazing.
Hi everyone. Just checking in. I got a little distracted by Above the Fog and trying to get it looking good in Iray. Finally suceeded in getting the look I wanted. mmitchell_houston If you want to take a look, my latest test render (not a full blown render) is over in the Above the Fog thread and it looks fairly decent. I'll have to play with it more for a full on render, but if you want that type of look in Iray let me know and I'll get the opacity map to you and give you a detailed "how I did it" pm.
I haven't really done much with my book covers because I've actually been working on my book. I actually managed to get several chapters done so it is almost finished. Then, of course, I have to go through a couple of revision processes, but then I'll be ready to send out to an editor. I can't believe that all my hard work is almost a finished product. I have a couple of scenes giving me headaches and I have to work out a plot complication, but the end is in sight. Once I send it off to an editor, I'll have to do some serious work on my own cover for it. I've been working on the characters and how they look when I get time. And I think they look pretty good. I'm not sure what I want the actual cover to look like yet, though.
I hope everyone is doing well.
As far proofreading goes, I proof read for a couple of friends who are just starting out as well. Funny thing is when I read books I often find mistakes that the professional proof reader missed. Now I do realize that its almost impossible to proof read something to perfection but it does make me chuckle a bit when I come across it. Acutally happens more often than you would think.
Yes, I've found a few whoppers in books that have supposedly been edited. Some things just tend to slip by on occasion.
Excellent!!
I always find that last bit, those last few scenes to finish the first draft, particularly difficult. I finally managed to finish my WIP last Saturday, and it took me FOREVER to get the final paragraphs onto the page. And then I realized I needed to fix some minor clothing and housing issues in the manuscript, and I needed a day and a half to steel myself to tackle those bits. *sigh* On Monday night I sent the ms to my editor, thinking I had got rid of it for a couple of weeks (ha!), but no, I heard back from her yesterday. :-) She loved the book and the characters - and of course, she also gave me a long list of suggested revisions. And yes, that last scene I wrote is among the more problematic bits.
I've also started working on a series of covers for a new series of fluffy Regency-set historicals (after two books set in Ancient Rome, I need something light and fluffly for a change!). For the background image I want to create a picture of a garden with the lion well from Willow Spring as the focal point. This will be the first time I'm going to use a detailed background image, and I still need to figure out how to pull the whole picture together. And find some nice hedges. Or perhaps change the color of the ones I already have.
Hey guys! I just finished an illustration for a superhero role playing game and I would love to get some feeback on it. Since it's not a cover, I didn't want to post it here, so I created another thread elsewhere.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/69499/wip-sf-superhero-battle-scene
If you do comment (and I'd really appreciate it), please comment in the new thread, not here. THANKS!
Thanks for the feedback. Here's another illustration for the book, if anyone's interested. Any feedback on it would be appreciated. This was the first one to use the comic-book style, so it's similar but a little different.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/64940/wip-opinions-sought-on-comic-style-illustration#latest
Just posted another superhero illustration and would LOVE some feedback from you guys.
And thanks to everyone who commented on the images. You are definitely helping me make them better.
WIP - Supervillain, The Hero Defeated
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/69695/wip-supervillain-the-hero-defeated
I don't know a huge amount about creating comics but I used to read them alot lol. I left a comment hope its helpful
Sonja: Thank you very much for the comment. I hadn't thought about the direction of his head not engaging the reader.
And thanks to EVERYONE who commented. Here's hoping I can nail both of these down by tomorrow so I can move on to the next illustration. We're on a deadline and need to get this wrapped up fast.
Hey all! I'm up against a time crunch on this project, so I pulled something out of my archives for the editor to see if he wants to use it. This was created for my own fun (and then given to a small press magazine to use as a cover sometime later this year). Even though this one is pretty much finished (there is no time at all for edits), I'd still like some feedback on it.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/70312/wip-golden-age-superheroes
Sorry for making you guys click-thru to it, but I'm trying to keep the comments together in one place.
Thanks!
Posted another rough draft here. Any thoughts on the composition and color of the robot?
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/64940/wip-opinions-sought-on-comic-style-illustration#latest