My mother was profoundly mentally ill and we had very little in common. She loved to read, however, and I early developed a love for stories. I wasn’t very old when I started to make up stories and characters of my own. I believe I was maybe six or seven the year I determined to start creating my own characters. I started writing them down when I was thirteen. They were awful! I still have a few of them and they full of really terrible spelling and those awful 80s names! Back then, Rossyn’s name was Tristian! All of those stories became the basis for the Joanna books I’m currently publishing.
When I was thirteen, I had an accident and hurt my ankle really bad. Almost broke it. It was the first week of summer vacation and I was off my feet all summer long! I spent that whole three months reading this one book by this one author. I was pretty bold and corresponding to authors was a thing then. Patricia C. Wrede wrote back! It was 1983 or 84 and it was the best thing to happen to me. Ms. Wrede started to teach me a little bit about writing, authorship, and publication. The rules were very different back then but one thing is still imperative.
If you create something, copyright it before you share it!
It may seem unimportant in an age like this where so many people share so much of what they create online or on some app. In many cases, copyright begins at creation. In some cases, that doesn’t happen and if the creator can’t prove they were the author of that piece, be it a novel, a poem, or a piece of art, they lose the rights to that and any and all income, promotion, or career advancement it may have provided. That was one thing Ms. Wrede taught me which has stayed with me all these years! Copyright! Copyright! Copyright!
Teachers while studying art prompted me to take special care of what I create because a portfolio is so important to anyone who is seeking further education or seeking employment in the art industry. It’s the same ideal. It may seem silly to wait for the certificates to come in before I actually publish Dorian 2. It’s important to be given the credit for work that you create.
I was wandering the movies I’ve watched in one of my TV apps and ran across Pride, Prejudice and Zombies. The reason that can be created first in a novel then in a movie is because the original copyright Jane Austen and her estate had on the work has long since expired. While many hated the re-imagining of Jane Austen’s classic, I thought it was funny and loved what they did with the character Lady Catherine.
So both the certificate for the novel and for the cover art are in. I’ve got to sit down and make some time to relearn KDP and get the book into print so I can order my copy!
This is such great fun. I don’t love, love, love every single thing about it but it all involves so much creative freedom and such a wonderful learning experience. I fully expect to one day create better artwork for these books but, for now, these are covers which work.
It’s interesting that my journey to learn to create good cover art has instead led me to a real love of art and creating art that is in some ways challenging my love of writing and stories. It’s just really so much fun and I look forward to what is ahead!
W. M. Tag Writes 