I’ve just sent the new cover through to Amazon. Within hours, this will be the new look of This Plague of Days, The Omnibus Edition.
Thanks to Kit Foster of Kit Foster Design, I have a lovely cover! If you need a book cover (ebook or print), a new web banner, advertising…whatever your design needs, Kit is The One. Check out his portfolio at KitFosterDesign.com.
Thanks to everyone who gave me feedback on the interim cover for This Plague of Days, The Complete Series. I considered everyone’s opinion. Most people liked #4 so I went with that. Then I considered what everyone had to say again and went through with my tweaks to the cover.
The paperbacks are getting reformatted now and Kit Foster of KitFosterDesign.com is doing new covers for the second editions of the books. I had some production problems with the ebook and paperback text. Typos that snuck in because of a file management issue have been corrected in the ebooks. The paperbacks are not available until they’re formatted and Kit has new covers. Everybody loves all Kit’s covers already, of course, but the man is an artist and a perfectionist. The new covers will have a matte finish and beyond that, all I know is Kit says they will be “sexier.” How different will that be? I don’t know. I let Kit do his thing! Don’t stand in the way of genius.
Hey, if you’re into it, cool, but don’t get too excited about having the Omnibus Edition in print yet. At well over 1,000 pages, it would be very expensive to produce and would only be for collectors and the diehards, really. I’ve considered doing a Kickstarter for that project, but that’s off in the future, possibly after the movie deal is finalized.
The ebook of the Omnibus will be very affordable by comparison. Times are pretty tough to be charging people what a huge book would cost.
It sure does look great picturing it as a book in 3D, though, doesn’t it? It’s three TPOD Seasons put together, of course, so the real thing would be a King-sized brick, about the size of The Stand. (Hope you enjoy the Stephen King homage and the joke about The Stand cult in Season 3, too.)
I’ve asked Kit to do what will be the final, long-term cover. (So, hey, if you hate the cover, you shall be appeased.)
Also, I’ll have news for everyone subscribed to ThisPlagueOfDays.com soon about TPOD Season 3. Membership has its privileges.
And finally, the winner picked at random has a connection to the book! Her first name was the inspiration for Dr. Keres AKA Shiva! Congratulations and the TPOD Omnibus Edition go to author and former guest on the Cool People Podcast, Ava Easterby!
Thanks again and meet you soon in the Mindfield, everybody! Much love!
~ Chazz
I’m sick again and yes, I had my flu shot. Is it Sutr? I don’t feel like I’m about to drop, eat brains or sink my teeth into anyone’s neck. At least, not until they wash that neck. No, not Sutr. Yet.
Since I’m not feeling well, I’ll keep this short and to the point. I’m waiting for confirmation from CreateSpace, but within the next day or so…
Some readers have asked, with an eye to Christmas shopping, about the print version. I think I made it just under the wire for those Christmas orders. I’ll update you here as soon as it’s confirmed by CreateSpace. In the meantime, witness the beauty of my graphic artist’s cover for Season Two below. If you got the whole autistic boy versus the zombies show by episodes, you’ll recognize the front cover as a little something from the Episode Five cover. (That’s the one I also submitted to the Ebook Cover Design Awards. Kit Foster’s a genius.)
This is what the print cover for This Plague of Days, Season Two looks like. Releasing? Any minute now.
Kit does all my covers, that’s no secret. If you need a book cover or a new web banner for your website or an ad done right, go to KitFosterDesign.com to check out his portfolio and use his services. His prices are very reasonable and he’s not satisfied until you are. He’s helped me a lot and he can help you, too. Spruce up your website or something. Whatever your graphics needs, the nice Scottish guy is the man!
Also, on his portfolio page, astute readers will find a book of mine that is (still? STILL!) not yet published. The cover will be the same although the title has changed. That unpublished book is the first cover Kit did for me but I won’t get to publish it until the summer of 2014. With a few minor alterations, that will be the cover for the book that comes after This Plague of Days, Season 3.
I’m looking forward to feeling well enough to write more. Until then, I’m reading Stephen King’s 11/22/63 by the wood stove. The plot is taking a while to get where it’s going, but it’s about the journey, not merely the destination. That’s appropriate for a deep time travel story, too. I’m really enjoying it, sitting here by the fire with the wind blowing snow around out there in temperatures of -10.
Mr King is demanding a lot of self-control from me. I really want to jump to the last page of this one to discover the time travel results. I’m about 75% through and I suspect I’ll be reading slower as I go, to make the deliciousness last.
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Somebody thought I was trying to rip them off. That upsets me greatly, so, before we get into the heady release of Season 2, a post to clear things up. If anyone else wants to know about serialization, here it is:
There are all kinds of reasons to serialize which I’ve explained on my blog for writers. This post is for readers who don’t care about that behind-the-scenes stuff. Serialization is an old thing (i.e. Dickens et al) that’s new again. Some readers will inevitably become confused as to what’s going on. They’re used to buying one book, or books in a series, so serial’s look weird at first. (Too bad Amazon Serials didn’t go for This Plague of Days, though I’m told this same landmine pops up for them, too.)
This is the beginning of a large story arc. It was sold weekly, as episodes, through the summer of 2013. There were five episodes in Season One. It’s a lot of fun to write this way. It’s much like writing for television (hence “seasons” and “episodes”.) People had the option of buying Season One at once, one episode each week and some even bought both.
The episodes cost 99 cents and at that price people were getting a novella. I kept the price at $3.99 so readers could read a big chunk of the beginning (Episode One) and decide whether they wanted to give the next episode a chance, bail, or just go get the whole thing at a discount.
After Season One ended, I did a huge giveaway (close to 14,000 free copies) and then raised the price to $4.99. At 106,000 words and years in the making, I think that’s very fair for many hours of entertainment. You know…if you dig it. If you don’t dig it, no price is fair and I hope you didn’t pick it up. I don’t want to waste anyone’s time. I know my flavor won’t be for everyone, but judging from the happy feedback, I’m very grateful that I’ve finally written something so many people enjoy. I’ve written nine other books I love, but this is the one that seems to have potential to be the biggest hit.
As I write this on September 25, the episodes you see listed make up Season One. Season Two does not release until October 1, 2013.
We kept the same theme through the covers and labelled the covers Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (versus Season One) to try to avoid any confusion with Season Two. My cover artist, Kit Foster of KitFosterDesign.com, created a Season Two cover that has a very different look to distinguish it from Season One. All the covers are labelled (we hope clearly) so no one clicks too quickly and gets something they don’t want (i.e. If you bought Season One, you’ve got all the available episodes already.)
Sorry if you missed it. If you’ve purchased any book in error, please return it to Amazon for an easy refund. I never want anyone to feel ripped off. EV-ER. I’m in the brain tickle business to avoid anyone feeling ripped off.
Wait. It’s September 25!
I better get back to the final polishes of Season Two. There’s wood to pile, I’ve got to drive a kid to the orthodontist, we have a house guest tonight and SEASON TWO‘S RELEASE IS JUST DAYS AWAY!
Oh, dear. I need interns. I need more coffee. I need somebody else to stack a cord of wood.
Crap.
Anyway, I hope that clears things up and no hard feelings.
Cover by Kit Foster of KitFosterDesign.com.
As I work away on the revisions for my coming serial, This Plague of Days, I have a key supporter in my corner. Kit Foster is the multiple award-winning graphic artist behind KitFosterDesign.com and he does the covers for all my books.
To encourage me to work faster (and because he loves creating art so much) he sends along ideas he’s noodling with for the serial art and advertising. Isn’t this cool? I particularly love the distressed type and the treatment he did with the foreboding sky. The tiny daisy is a nice accent, too. Or do you like the darker version below better? (I grabbed the type to slip into the header for this page, too.) As we go forward with this book, I don’t just see book covers. I see movie posters.
And now, with this goose to my bum, I’ll get back to work. Won’t be long at all before the release is here. Click the pics to check out more of Kit Foster’s excellent art portfolio.
Just $0.99 on Amazon! Click it to grab it now!
The virus has evolved and no one is safe, even in their dreams.
This Plague of Days 