Fantasy novel out this December!

Toby Frost

Toby Frost

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Hi guys,

I am going to self-publish a novel! It's a dark fantasy story set in a sinister Renaissance city, called Up To The Throne. I'm planning to bring it out on Kindle in December. As yet, I've not got plans for hard copies, but that could well change.

This is my first foray into the weird and wonderful world of self-publishing, so it's all going to be rather strange. I'll keep updating to let you know how it's all going. It should be interesting! In the meantime, here is my super cover.

Up To The Throne metallic writing.jpg
 
Congratulations but just one thought. Whilst I appreciate you might want to separate your SF and fantasy writing, is there not a risk that by using a slightly different form of your name you might not be capitalising fully on your existing base of readers? Something I'd have thought was particularly important in self-publishing.
 
Good point. From what I can tell, there are good reasons for both options. I went with the initials partly to show that it's not the usual Toby Frost stuff (Iain M!) and partly for technical reasons involving metrics so that it's possible to tell the different types of book apart. There is a Space Captain Smith Facebook group (and a Toby Frost page now) so hopefully I'll be able to tell them what's going on there!
 
Vertigo said:
Whilst I appreciate you might want to separate your SF and fantasy writing, is there not a risk that by using a slightly different form of your name you might not be capitalising fully on your existing base of readers?
Click to expand...

I haven't tried it, but you should be able to use Author Central to grab the books under the other name and link them to your main name, so they'd all show up on the main author page on Amazon while still showing the different form of the name on the book pages.
 
Yeah, I wouldn't put your normal author name up there, in case someone thinks it's a fantasy spoof. But it's a good idea to link it to your name on Amazon - I figure most people will realize you're aiming at different audiences.

Toby Frost said:
I've not got plans for hard copies
Click to expand...

Once you get the basics of formatting your Word document, setting up a paperback is simple on Amazon KDP. :)
 
People who don't know you will think you're a girl hiding her gender by using initials only.....:D

Don't know if you want other cover comments, but I'm not entirely keen on the overlaid square and circle - especially the way the circle goes into the book title - interferes a little with the readability.
 
Great cover :)

It's some time ago, but I think I did some beta-reading for the first chapter or two of this, and liked it.
 
Thanks everyone! The cover was designed by my friend Claire at www.autumnsky.co.uk. The circle and square design is actually a very slight nod to the Vitruvian Man picture by Leonardo: I wanted to include some hint of the odd machinery in the setting, but didn't want to get too steampunk or Warhammery.

Cover design is a funny thing: I've seen some fantastic covers here, but I've also seen some pretty ropey ones from large publishing houses. It seems to depend very much on the individual book.
 
OK, yup, know the picture. Could I suggest slightly more fade on the circle where it goes into the title? It is particularly the way that it interferes with the title that I don't like. Where it crosses the T and the E is my biggest problem.
 
On the cover, I don't have the same sort of problem as @Montero but there is, for me, something wrong about the figure that makes it look pasted on top of the background. Not sure if it's a 'edge effect' around them; too sharp and edge between them and the background, or if it's different levels of contrast or lighting. But somehow the figure and the background don't look to me like they are originally the same image, like they're lit differently. And, to me, that gives it that slightly amateurish look of self generated covers that I see on so many self-pubbed books.
 
I did think of the da Vinci drawing (always forget what it's called).
 
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