Derry, Northern Ireland

Derry, Northern Ireland
A book I'm working on is set in this town.

Saturday, April 29, 2023

This was my day, all day...


Working on the paperback cover for the book. And reworking it and trying out things and not liking them then going another direction till it finally all fit together. And that includes the synopsis on the back. I decided to keep it to a certain length and the font a certain size, so it could be easily read but not for the visually impaired,  and that turned out to be harder than I thought.

I finally posted it on Facebook, knowing it still has a couple of flaws that need addressing, but I'm dog tired. And that's with me taking a nap, after dinner. I like it, now. I could tweak on it forever, to be honest, but after a while you hit the point of diminishing returns.

Of course, the first comment I got on it was kind of nit-picky and unhelpful. Now I'm locked into wondering if I let an issue get by that should have been addressed...but which I, in fact, kind of liked. It's the shape of Daniel's face, in the foreground. It's slightly misshapen but that felt right for his character in the book. He's off-balance through most of it, till near the end when he takes control. But I wonder if others will have the same reaction -- that it just looks off?

Sometimes I can get lost in my ideas of what works and doesn't and forget that others just plain do not see the world or my work in the same way I do. And that tends to throw me when it's pointed out. Self-doubt takes over and, like Daniel in the story, I start second-guessing myself. Which usually fucks things up even worse.

So I'm letting it sit till tomorrow afternoon, after I'm done with laundry and lunch. One thing I will note is, I need to update my tools if I'm going to be doing any more of this. My MacMini and photoshop are having problems with each other, mainly due to both being a good 20 years old. So upgrades are in order.

Christ, that is something I do not want to think about, right now.

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