Posts Tagged ‘cover art’

Hannah and Other Stories: Cover Reveal Next Week!!!

Posted: March 23, 2023 in Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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I knew there was a reason why I was feeling so good about the near future.

As many of you know, I have a new collection of short stories, Hannah and Other Stories, to be released sometime this year by BSC Publishing Group. This is a terrifying collection filled with stories about ghosts, budding serial killers, and carnivorous horses, among other things. And I’ve been updating you all as developments occur.

Well, I have a new development: the cover will be revealed next week! What day, exactly? I can’t tell you. What does it feature? I won’t tell you. All I can say is that after I sent BSC’s graphic artist some ideas, they ran with them and created some great mock ups. From there, we worked together to make the cover everything I hoped it would be, and I think the final result is, to use my best French, fucking fantastic.

Anyway, I look forward to showing you the cover next week, and I hope you’re looking forward to seeing it. Once that cover is out there, the process to getting the book ready for publication and selecting a release date should speed up a bit. Just you wait and see, it’s going to be awesome.

And in the meantime, if you want to support me, or if you’re just looking for a creepy read, you can find all my work on the Books page of this blog. From plant/human hybrids and ancient gods to mafia-hunting serial killers and mad scientists, I got a bit of everything, so why not check it out and see what tickles your fancy?

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to fill my belly before getting into a groove of creativity and terror. Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and look forward to whatever’s coming next week.

“Agoraphobia:” Release Date and Cover Reveal!!!

Posted: February 8, 2021 in Novel, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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This day has been full of exciting stuff happening behind the scenes. In fact, quite a lot has been happening on and off the blog. I can’t go into all of it right now, but I hope to get a few out before this time next week. For now, however, there’s an important one I have to make.

As I announced previously, my next e-release will be “Agoraphobia,” a short story I wrote last year about a man with severe anxiety and agoraphobia who has contend with the possibility of leaving his home during a hurricane. It gets even worse when something gets into his home.

I haven’t talked about it since then, but guess what? I’ve finished looking over the manuscript, the cover’s been created and the release date is set. The gears, ladies and gentlemen, are moving and “Agoraphobia” will release on Tuesday, March 16th, 2021! Why that date? No reason. I just believe stories, from short stories to novels, should have a good lead up time so that as many people as possible can get excited/interested in reading it.

And now, for the cover reveal. This cover was created by Don Noble and Rooster Republic Press. They do some amazing cover work, if you’re interested (you can check out their design services here). And I have to say, I love what they’ve done with my ideas:

Pretty cool, right? It’s quite atmospheric and I love the title font. And it really evokes the hurricane element.

So, where do you get “Agoraphobia” if you’re interested? I’ve include the Amazon links below. It’s available for pre-order, and at only 99 cents (or 77 pence in Britain or $1.26 in Canada). And if you do decide to read it after it comes out, please let me know what you think. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me, as well as other readers, out in the long run.

And yes, I’m sorry that it’s only available in e-book format. Print versions will only be available at events where I’m a vendor as chapbooks. (Click here to see what events I’ll be attending and when) Yeah, it’s a marketing strategy I’m trying. Here’s hoping it pays off.

Agoraphobia: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I have a marketing machine to set into motion. I hope you’re excited to read “Agoraphobia” as I am for you to read it.

And if you’re interested, or need something to read in the meantime, I’ve got some other stories available. You can check out my short story collection, The Quiet Game: Five Tales to Chill Your Bones; my serial killer thriller novel Snake and my fantasy-horror novel Rose; or “Mother of the King,” the first story in the New Arthur Universe, a series of shorter stories centering around the return of King Arthur. I’ll include the links below. And if you decide to read any of them, let me know what you think. As I said, it helps both me and other readers out in the long run.

Until next time, my Followers of Fear, stay safe and pleasant nightmares!

The Quite Game: Amazon, Createspace, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo.

Snake: Amazon, Createspace, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo

Rose: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Audible

Mother of the King: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada

My Next E-Release: “Agoraphobia”

Posted: January 18, 2021 in Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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Back in November, I announced that I was going to release some of my short stories as e-book exclusives, with print versions available as chapbooks at events (click here to find out what a chapbook is, and click here what events I’ll be attending in 2021). At the beginning of December, I released the first of these stories, an Arthurian fantasy called “Mother of the King” (links below). That did very well and got good feedback. And based on that feedback, I’ve decided to tell further stories in that world.

While those are still gestating in my imagination, however, I still plan to release a few short stories over the course of the year as e-books. And, if the title of this post didn’t clue you in, I’ve decided on which story will be getting the e-treatment: “Agoraphobia,” which follows a man with severe agoraphobia and anxiety trapped in his home during a hurricane. And there’s something in his home with him.

I chose this story because I’ve gotten a lot of good feedback from beta readers on the language and portrayal of anxiety. I also think, since this is more horror than “Mother of the King” was, more people will show an interest in it and want to download it. And of all the stories I’m considering for e-release, it’s the most edited, so that’s helpful.

Before I set a release date, however, I’m going to go through this story one more time and see if I can’t fix up any typos or whatever. I’ve recently learned how to do that thing where Microsoft Word reads your document to you, so I’m looking forward to using that as an editing tool. After I’ve gone through and cleaned it up as much as possible, I’m going to commission an artist to make a cover, as I feel that there aren’t any stock photos or covers I could use like I did with “Mother of the King.”

After all that, then I’ll set a release date, let you all know, and get the ball rolling on that marketing machine of mine. I hope you’re as excited as I am for me to get this story out there.

In the meantime, I’ve got some other stories available if you want to check them out. My other e-release, “Mother of the King,” is available, of course, but so are my fantasy-horror novel “Rose;” my serial killer-thriller “Snake;” and my collection of short stories, “The Quiet Game: Five Tales to Chill Your Bones.” I’ll leave the links below if you want to check them out. And if you do end up reading them, please leave a review or let me know some other way what you thought. Positive or negative, I love your feedback, and they help me and other readers in the long run.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Until next time, stay safe and pleasant nightmares!

Mother of the King: Amazon US, Amazon CAN, Amazon UK

Rose: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Audible

Snake: Amazon, Createspace, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo

The Quiet Game: Five Tales to Chill Your Bones: Amazon, Createspace, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo.

Rose: Cover Art, Update on Advanced Copies and More!!!

Posted: June 17, 2019 in Living and Life, Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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It’s finally here! With four days until Rose releases, we have a cover, made courtesy of The Gilded Quill. Take a look.

Now how about that? It’s very much influenced by fantasy, which is a big element of the novel. Though if you see this book in a bookstore and think it’s a typical fantasy, you’d be very much mistaken. In fact, here’s the blurb we’ve been using:

 

When Rose Taggert wakes up in a greenhouse, the past two years missing from her memory, she has no idea what is in store for her. Her body changes, transfigured into a new, plant-like form by Paris Kuyper, a student and her self-proclaimed lover who used an ancient family grimoire to save Rose’s life. While Rose is at first willing to trust Paris and work with him to recover her memories and the supposed love they shared, it soon becomes clear her lover is not all he seems. In a short time, she decides to put love and memories aside in favor of survival.

But a rose may be defenseless when a storm surrounds it. And Rose may only be able to stand for so long against the forces swirling around her.

So as you can tell, this is a lot darker than your average fantasy story. In fact, it’s fantasy-horror. And from what I’ve shared with people, they’ve responded well.

Speaking of which: advanced copies will end up being sent out Wednesday. Yeah, sucks. We were hoping to have them out today, but perfection can’t be rushed, and we wanted to make sure the book comes out as pristine as possible.

On the bright side, the book will still be released Friday, and preorder links and everything will be up as the advanced copies are sent out. It’s all happening rather fast, but I think it’s going to be magnificent once it does come out.

Well, I hope, anyway. Let’s see what the reviews say when those start popping up.

Anyway, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ve got to get started on dinner and get a lot more marketing work done before Rose is released. However, I might have another post, this one not Rose-related, out tomorrow, so keep an eye out for it.

Until next time, pleasant nightmares.

Rose: One Week Till Release

Posted: June 14, 2019 in Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Their only relation is a Japanese influence. Nevertheless, it has to be used here.

Yes, that’s right. It’s only seven days till Rose is out. And ooh boy, am I getting all sorts of excited and nervous! This past week has been a flurry of emails regarding the novel. I’ve been emailing my publisher; my publisher has been emailing me; I’ve been emailing websites and bookstores; they’ve been emailing back. Plus a ton of final edits, planning for parties with coworkers and family members and friends, and a couple of anxiety attacks.

But as of right now, it looks like Rose will still be coming out on time next week, with the advanced copies being sent out on Monday most likely. And for those of you who don’t know, Rose is my first novel published with an actual publishing press. Castrum Press is set to release it on June 21st, 2019. Assuming I don’t do something to fuck it up between now and then (always a possibility).

As for what the book’s about, here’s a description:

When Rose Taggert wakes up in a greenhouse, the past two years missing from her memory, she has no idea what is in store for her. Her body changes, transfigured into a new, plant-like form by Paris Kuyper, a student and her self-proclaimed lover who used an ancient family grimoire to save Rose’s life. While Rose is at first willing to trust Paris and work with him to recover her memories and the supposed love they shared, it soon becomes clear her lover is not all he seems. In a short time, she decides to put love and memories aside in favor of survival.

But a rose may be defenseless when a storm surrounds it. And Rose may only be able to stand for so long against the forces swirling around her.

I really hope you’ll check out the book when it comes out next week. And if you do, please consider posting a review after you read it. It’s not necessary, but it would really help me out in the long run if you did.

And in the meantime, I hope to have more news about Rose in the future. Cover art should be finalized and sent to me at some point this weekend, and as soon as I get it–assuming I’m not fast asleep when I receive it–I’ll post that everywhere once I get it. And if I can arrange it, I’ll have preorder links up as well. And if any other developments come up, I’ll make sure to let you know.

Well, that’s all for now. It’s Friday night, so I’m making dinner, cracking open the beers, and relaxing with a couple of good movies. Until next time–which might even be tonight, for all I know–pleasant nightmares, my Followers of Fear!

Rose: One Month Till Publication

Posted: May 21, 2019 in Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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So today after work, I stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few things. As I was leaving, I spotted one of my teachers from elementary school and her husband getting out of their car to do a little shopping of their own. We recognized each other right away, and while I’ve grown from the scrawny kid I was, she hasn’t seemed to age a day in the fifteen years since I last saw her, and neither has her husband. Normally I would attribute that to witchcraft, but given that they’re Orthodox Jews, I think it’s far more likely they’re using the not at all diabolical but still very impressive power of Kabbalah.

Why do I tell you this story when the subject of this post is Rose? Well, it feels like the basis of a story, and honestly, I felt like sharing it. Do I need better reasons?

But back on subject: Rose will be published in a month from today, on Friday, June 21st. And since my last post on Saturday, I’ve had some updates. My publisher Castrum Press and I have been going back and forth a lot, discussing the editing process and the things we still need to do to get the book out on time.

First, there’s the final edits. According to Castrum, I should be getting the first round of final edits probably near the end of next week. From there, it’ll be a race against time to get the edits done before too long so we can reach the target date for the release. Luckily, I’ll be on vacation during that time, and all my traveling during that vacation time will be wrapping up around that time, so it works out for me. I’ll still have to put my nose to the grindstone so I can get those edits done, but I think I’ll be able to make the deadline. I might not be able to hang out with family and friends during that time, but I’ll make it.

It beats disappointing potential readers and having to order new business cards with amended release dates, anyway (the costs of those pile up if you have to change them frequently, you know!).

In the meantime, I’ve been working on some other stuff that doesn’t get considered until we’re this far along in the process. Last night, I wrote a dedication for the book, an acknowledgements section, and a preliminary blurb for the back cover. That last part may get changed around a bit between now and release day, but I think what I wrote last night gives a good idea of what the novel is about while withholding enough information to get people to actually read.

Here’s what I sent my publisher:

When Rose Taggert wakes up in a greenhouse, the past two years missing from her memory, she has no idea what is in store for her. Her body changes, transfigured into a new, plant-like form by Paris Kuyper, a student and her self-proclaimed lover who used an ancient family grimoire to save Rose’s life. While Rose is at first willing to trust Paris and work with him to recover her memories and the supposed love they shared, it soon becomes clear her lover is not all he seems. In a short time, she decides to put love and memories aside in favor of survival.

But a rose may be defenseless when a storm surrounds it. And Rose may only be able to stand for so long against the forces swirling around her.

Like I said, this may change a lot over the next month, but I think it’s not a bad start.

As for other updates, I’ll be keeping those under wraps for a while. But I think I’ve got enough brewing in my proverbial cauldron that at the very least, I can guarantee that A LOT of people will hear about Rose and may consider giving it a read.

Speaking of which, as I said in my last post, I’m still looking for advanced readers for Rose. If you’d like to receive an early, electronic copy of the novel from my publisher prior to release, all you have to do is send an email to ramiungar@ramiungarthewriter.com. All I ask in return is that you read the book and consider posting a review after it’s released. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I hope to have more updates soon, maybe even a shot of the cover. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

The Long Process of Publishing a Book

Posted: October 1, 2018 in Living and Life, Novel, Progress Report, Reflections, Writing
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IT’S OCTOBER!!!!! The best month of the year, when things start getting cooler, the nights grow long and you get a little more leeway in how spooky you can be! Or in my case, reveal a bit more of my non-human side. And on this month, my powers of darkness grow by a hundredfold! You can bet I will be raining terror upon certain heads this month. Just you wait and see!

In the meantime, I thought I’d talk to you about something that happened to me yesterday. I was at my mother’s house for a party, and as often happens when family and family friends get together, everybody wants to know what the latest news is with Rose and the anthologies I have stories being published in. Rose, for those of you who don’t know, is a novel I wrote in college as my thesis, and which is being published by Castrum Press, a publishing company based out of Belfast, North Ireland. The story follows a young woman who finds herself being turned into a plant creature (and that’s just the start of her problems!).

I told them that I’d heard from Castrum on Saturday, and that they were hopefully going to get back to me on the latest draft of Rose some time this month. I expressed hope that when I heard back from them, they’d say I just needed to do some touch-ups here and there, and then we can set a publication date. My mom, who had been one of the most ecstatic and amazed people when I’d told her about Rose back in March (I still remember how she said “Oh my God” two or three times as clear as a whistle), remarked, “Wow, I had no idea the publishing process could take so long.”

And that’s the thing: the publishing process can take a long time. For any book. Not many people realize that, even among writers (including me at one point), but it’s the truth. Nowadays, technology and the Internet have helped speed some things along, but it’s always taken a long time for books to get out. Heck, even Stephen King had to wait a while for his books to come out early in his career. Yeah, now he can put one or two out every year, but that’s after nearly forty years of proven success. When he was still basically an unknown, Carrie took over a year before it got on bookshelves. And while I hope it doesn’t take that long with me, it may be a while longer before anyone gets to read Rose.

I’m not saying this to trash any publishing houses or complain about the publishing process. I’m just stating a fact. And if you think about it, this pace makes sense. After all, most publishing houses involve a few people handling projects from multiple authors. Any one project takes a lot of time out of the day, and while it would be nice if there was a single editor for each and every author contracted to a publishing house, I don’t even think even big publishing houses have a staff like that. So obviously each publisher has to juggle their projects, devoting time here and there to each one, deciding the order based on all sorts of factors. It’s an involved process.

But it’s also a process I’m grateful for, because it’s not just the number of books being published, but what’s being done to get them ready for being published. Each one is being polished and cleaned up, formatted and given the best cover art, strategized over and discussed ad nauseum. All to make sure that when the book finally does come out, it’s not just a great story, but one that’s free of typos and with words not falling off the page or some other unforgivable goof. I’m glad the process is slow, because I’d hate it if the process went by super-fast and when Rose did come out, it was full of errors and had terrible art. And I’m sure you would too.

So while it may take some more time before Rose comes out, I know the book is in good hands and I’m looking forward to the state it’ll be when it’s ready to be released. And I know that you’ll love it too.

In the meantime, I’ve got plenty of stuff to write and blog about (I might even have a new blog post tomorrow, depending on a couple of factors). And I can’t wait to share them with you. So until then, you all have a goodnight and pleasant nightmares, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to celebrate the month. After all, it is October. Plenty of material to review, plenty of stories to write, plenty of people to terrify senseless. I can’t wait.