My wild ride has Brought A bit of Sadness

It has been the busiest, most exciting roller coaster of a ride in the last month. The opening of Dark Dawn Creations, has taken the majority of my time the last three weeks. So much of it in fact, that sadly, the shut down of Noteworthy Releases is immanent. I've advertized in the only place I can think of for some one to take over, KDP forums, and no one has come forward.

I refuse to sell it to someone who will use it for their own advertising purposes and financial gain. Therefor, it will be closing sometime in the next few weeks. Noteworthy Releases has been like a child to me for the last six months, nurturing it and watching it grow. It is a sad day for me indeed to announce it's closure.

Finally Met My Match

I never like to admit my inadequacies. Who does right? But three weeks into Dark Dawn Creations, and I have found the one and only thing that has thrown me for a loop. What is this thing? you ask. LIGHTNING SOURCE. Never in my life had I heard of it before. Probably because in the age of print on demand and a self pub being able to produce a book for free ( if  your wise) I never ventured far into the Pay us to print your book world.

A few weeks ago I had a commission for a print cover package. Great I say, wonderful series. Absolutely a blast working on the cover. Then it comes time to do the print version, and I find out he's using Lightning source. Never heard of it before so I did some research. OH MY!! The guidelines for a cover are so strict it's insane! Now I'm not a total dip nor a stranger to composing print covers, done it three times now for my own in pdf for createspace. Down load template,  Paste parts, align, export as pdf print ready, away into the printed world you go.

Lightning Source has created a nightmare. While no stranger to CMYK or all of the other color profiles, tif PDF blah blah, I have met my match. Just reading their guidelines and rules gives me a head ache. To top it off, every mistake I make costs my client money. Yep you heard me right, Lightning source charges you for every submission. Tonight I am giving it one more go at creating a lightning source approved cover. If all goes well, you will hear me cheering at my brilliance in a few days. If not, I will bemoan the day Lightning Source set up shop and refund my clients money.

One things for sure, I will never take another Lightning Source commission again.

Writing, Features, and Covers Oh My!

I have recently launched my cover service and my oh my how it has taken off! I'm booked for the next month. Unfortunately this will take away from the next Children of Fury novel and the squeal to Hailey's, but the dust will settle soon and I can get back to writing. I actually enjoy the change of pace. Truthfully I was getting burned out. Helping others out with the bit of a gift that I apparently have is a bonus. For any one waiting for the next in the series, don't fret. They will both be out by the end of the year. : )