A few of months ago, I translated my debut novel (Das Erbe des Seefahrers / The Mariner’s Legacy) from German to English. It was surprisingly elaborate and took almost as much time as it took me writing the book, so I totally understand the high prices for professional translation services. My main reasons to translate the book myself were:
In the end, I had a look at different covers from other publishers. US covers are often lighter or have brighter colours and more abstract imagery than the corresponding UK covers. Most covers used for the German market were the US version, however, if a new German cover was created then they leaned more towards realistic imagery with people and houses than abstract images. Last but not least, I found that even for bestsellers and known authors, many book covers were the same across markets, therefore I decided to keep my book cover the same as well. See for yourself. Here is a selection of nine books with their covers for the: German, UK, and US market.
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There is a book - The Men by Sandra Newman - which comes out on the same day and covers a similar topic as my own sci-fi XX - The History of Mankind.
I was in shock yesterday morning as I was not aware of this book at all (I do not live under a rock, but I am currently trying to manage an international move, so I'm hopefully excused for my ignorance). Reviews for The Men are mixed and it certainly got some flack from early reviewers, but also praise from journalists and book reviewers writing for established news outlets (e.g. The Guardian, The Spectator, Bookmunch, ...) So, what to do about that? Surely I cannot compete with a traditionally published book that already has a head-start in it's marketing campaign and stirred up a heated discussion about transphobia and feminism again. Or can I? Maybe I can hitchhike on the hype buzzing around The Men and get people interested in comparing our books? Best case scenario would be a boost for both of us. I do not want to read Ms. Newman's book, at least not at the moment, as my trilogy will edge even closer to her storyline in books 2 and 3, and I do not want to get influenced by The Men and later be called a copy-cat. But here is what I have gathered from the reviews I read in the last 24-hours: The Men is a sci-fi novel, some describing it as a gender apocalypse, where men, or rather every one with a Y-chromosome suddenly disappears. The remaining women, or XX carriers, grapple with the loss of their husbands, fathers, sons, lovers, and friends, but also adversaries and tormentors, whilst trying to rebuild society and a stable economy. The reason for the disappearance is apparently never fully explained, which is one of the points that readers criticized. On the other side, it is supposedly beautifully written and the struggle of women in our modern society well carved out. So far so good. XX - The History of Mankind is equally a sci-fi novel fitting into the sub-genre of gender apocalypse. It is mapped out as a trilogy which gives it more space to explore the different stages of the apocalypse. In the first book, the beginning of a silent pandemic that changes the way we reproduce is the focus, which explores a potential and scientifically sound scenario (with some fictional freedom) about how a gender apocalypse could start. As men do not suddenly disappear, the dynamic between people, couples, and strangers who realize what the fate of humankind will most likely be is the second driver of the story. It begs the age-old question: What is the meaning of life? I don't want to give too much away, but you can already see that the books are quite different despite having the same central premise. That is a relief for me and maybe an opportunity for you, dear reader, to add another book to your reading pile. I would love to see some reviews comparing and (probably) confirming my suspicion that The Men and XX - The History of Mankind are very different books indeed and each deserving of an audience.
For a few months now I have come to enjoy the attention of book promotors on Instagram. It's exciting to get some attention from people who think that you and your book are worth some more attention, isn't it? You might have seen the serious bookstagram pages where dedicated readers stage their favourite books because they love and believe in them, right? Most often the insta-book-promotors that get in touch with you have very uninspiring post with flat book covers on unicoloured backgrounds and with a hodgepodge of genres that make the eye hurt. Moreover, I quickly realized that everyone and anyone charges a "small fee" for their services. Whilst I have nothing against paying for services - on the contrary, I think more people should actually do this rather than to expect freebies - most if not all of these Instagram pages are not worth your while or your money. Now, there are the really obvious bots who just comment that you should promote your book on xyz. XYZ might have an impressive following, but the boot is usually a newly created, often private account, with very few followers. And there are hundreds of thousands of them bugging you every day. Block them, ignore them, report them, what ever, not sure if they would interact if you actually contacted them. The mother-pages-of-book-scammers probably will get in touch if they haven't done so already. Usually, what you will see is a friendly message informing you that they have send you a message and to please accept it as they are really impressed with your page/book and would like to "co-lab". If you show interest, they usually let you know that they charge a "small fee for their services", but that it's totally worth it. I hear you say $20 is not much and what's the worst that can happen? By all means, go for it, but here are a couple of things to check out first: 1. Do they put in any effort in presenting the books? 2. Are they giving 5-star ratings for anything and everything? 3. Do they have a theme and promote selected genres that actually match your book? 4. Are they promoting books from the big publishing houses (I know it's nice that they give us self-publishers a platform, but it's still good to check out the crowd you are mixing with)? Drilling a little deeper: 4. How many likes do their posts generate? 5. How many comments do their posts get? 6. Are the people commenting genuine readers or generic (aka bots) travel/food/beauty/insert-other-trend bloggers? Still not convinced? 7. Check out any of their "reviewed" books on Amazon, Goodreads, or any other genuine book page (especially the ones they claim they are using), and see If the book has any noteworthy ranking, increased number of reviews since insta-book-promotion, and if you can find the review of the insta-book-promotor anywhere else but their own Instagram page. Last but not least ask them what their ROI (return on investment) is; in other words, how much does their promotion actually increase any book sales, which is what you want, right? They probably won't have an answer to it as they won't be able to measure it, but it's something to think about. Is your money really best spend on some dubious instagram reviewer or are there better ways to promote your book? But this is something for another post. Stay tuned. My first sci-fi XX - The History of Mankind is now available for presale on Amazon. Official release date is the 14. of June. If you would like to receive a FREE eBook copy sign up to my newsletter until June 1. and your wish is my command (make sure to bookmark the download page). To sweeten the time and keep myself busy, I created a first lot of short book trailers, yes, that's plural, and they are scheduled to come out over the next few days. Have a look :).
I made a book trailer for my fantasy book Amantos. I really like stop-take animation and already used this technique for my book trailer to "The Mariner's Legacy" (currently only available in German, but I'm working on the translation). Instead of going through the length and creating real props and taking photos, I made the Amantos trailer completely on the computer using Photoshop. First I collected images from public domain sources to mash them up into different buildings, then I moved the buildings around by tiny increments and saved the images as jpegs. Finally, I used Adobe Premiere Pro to combine all the images into a one-minute long promo video. Oh, and I sat in my wardrobe to record myself narrating the summary. How long did it take, you ask? A couple of months working a couple of hours every day. It's maybe quite a bit of an effort for a book trailer, but I just love the creative process and feel immense pleasure to see the final outcome. Do you create book trailers? Let me know in the comments.
Super excited about this one!
XX - The History of Mankind, part I of my sci-fi trilogy, is now off to the editor. Again, I used Reedsy to find the perfect editor for my book. The book launch is planned for June 2022, but for now I can focus on writing part II and my novella anthology. In the meantime, you can get excited about my fantasy book Amantos, which is coming to Amazon on 15.3.2022. After a couple of rounds of self-editing and a first round of corrections from a trusted test-reader, Amantos is now off to a professional editor for copyediting and proofreading.
Just in case you want to know, I used Reedsy to find an appropriate editor for my fantasy novel. I am super nervous and excited to share this fantastic novel with you soon. Having been actively involved for two years in Armidale’s theatre community, and having directed two short plays, I already had suitable actresses and actors in mind that I wanted for my main roles. For the role of the mother, Mrs. Shoemaker, I contacted the actress that had portrayed Mrs. Shoemaker already on stage. Heather joined a group of fellow retirees who read and discuss plays and went on to act for the first time in a production of George Orwell's ANIMAL FARM, followed by a revised version of JACK AND THE BEANSTALK and finally took on the role of Mrs. Shoemaker in the stage version of DEATH AND OTHER VANITIES. She definitely has a natural talent for acting and I was delighted that she agreed to reprise her role for the big screen. The daughter Belinda was played by Valerie. We were in the midst of another season for Armidale's Favourite Shorts and were both acting in the short play Artic Homes. I had had several months to see her acting talent close up and was convinced she would do justice to the role of the depressed daughter. At the end of a rehearsal, I told Valerie about my plan to make a short film and without hesitation, she agreed to come on board. Valerie has been acting as a hobby for several years now and has carved out a reputation as an excellent character actress and taken on parts in THE LYONS, A BUNCH OF AMATEURS, RED JACK, ARCTIC HOMES, and IN BED WITH THE BISHOPS. Belinda’s husband Pete was played by Stephen who was also part of the Artic Homes cast as well as being one of the main characters in my play Harriette also for Armidale’s Favourite Shorts. Stephen has been involved in plays and musicals since primary school and went on to obtain a B.A. in Theatre Studies. Stephen acted in a few productions, but more often than not, he would be found behind the lighting desk. He built a reputation as a lighting designer and operator and worked as tech crew for professional and amateur theatres in Sydney, Ballarat, Melbourne, and Armidale as well as for small local film productions. Belinda’s psychiatrist was played by Gordon who is a veteran film and theatre actor and director. He is running the High Country Theatre and is part of the Armchair Theatre initiative, where theatre enthusiasts like Gordon and Heather get together to read and discuss plays. Gordon was a great asset as he brought a wealth of experience and lighting equipment to the production. Our two youngest cast members were Sophie and Caoiltiarn who played Valerie's and Stephen's daughter, Caoiltiarn being the real-life daughter of Stephen. Sophie together with her older brother Nicholas (who played Belinda's coworker) have been around the Armidale theatre circuit multiple times and are well versed actors. Nicholas is currently studying for a B.A. majoring in Theatre and Performance (minoring in Screen Media) and has been involved in plays and musicals since 2013 with the Felt Tip Theatre Company, Two Sticks Theatre Company, the Armidale Drama and Musical Society, High Country Theatre and is now on the board of the UNE Friends of Theatre Society. |
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March 2023
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