JEA Press

Ideas for Reading

8/12/2014

What to read? Maybe a new catt dahman book...it's a weird western...Doc Holliday and the boys fight blood suckers when they aren't involved in gun fights. Try Wild Boys. Maybe you want a top seller like Mark Woods' Fish story. Missing zombies? Get After and entertain yourself until the return of THE WALKING DEAD. Oh a chill is what you like? Try Amanda's book and you will feel haunted.

How about some Fantasies? These have great reviews and will thrill!

6 Authors. 6 Characters. 6 Endings. Get the ending that YOU want! It's a sexy, scary, unusual book.
"This review is from: Feral Hearts (Kindle Edition) Scary and bloody and with some crazy vampire erotica through out.... this is a pretty cool story and I love how each author contributes an initial character sketch and background. Fabulous. The endings were awesome, too. I enjoyed each one. I am hard pressed to pick my favorite. Another winner by Mr. Cardillo and the other writers! Great job!"

Have a look at our books and use the handy catalog or go to Amazon.com for ebooks an print!

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Covering Covers...got that covered?

7/19/2014

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Each book that we present, we do so as best we can. I never get tired of seeing exciting new covers and seeing new books go into the world, knowing that someone will be thrilled.
What is difficult to explain to many is this, and maybe it will help writers who are buying or designing their own covers. Books are shown as small images (called thumbnails) and are on white backgrounds. Those two issues make artists have to struggle. I like white covers, but because of the limitations, that can't be. Even off-white covers don't show well.
Because a cover must look good as a small image, sometimes, we can't have all the wording on the front, and we can't overload details. If we do that, they become muddy. Fonts (the wording style) must be clear, eye-catching, but not so strange as to distract. Many great fonts have been over-used.
In one tiny picture, an artist must capture the book's theme, interest a reader, give all valid information, but never been "busy". It's a tough balance. Some art looks wonderful until it is reduced in size.

Let's look at these three. The first says "fresh, spooky, modern", the second says "old-fashioned, fantasy, dreamy" and the third says "scary, wild, shocking". That is what each should convey. The details are there, but are crisp and look good enlarged, but when these images are small, the colors contrast and balance. The titles can be seen.
Sometime a cover will draw a reader to a book, but for sure, a cover can kill a sale if they book either isn't seen or looks weak. It isn't easy to have a cover that works well. An artist must decide about colors, the font, and even how large the author's name should be as compared to the title. And a cover isn't a simple copy and paste. There are layers and some parts are faded in and then shadows are added, lighting is changed, colors are altered, and a host of other changes.

This is a cover I like. Originally, there was a place (in this case a field with trees). The tent? See the bloody handprint? That was added. It doesn't show when the image is small, but it's there, and it matters. The clock. That was over 6 hours of work to hand draw (by layering textures into circles and adding numbers and the hands as separate layers) The entire thing had to be layered in. There is also a face that was put in to fit the background. All of that work was only to imply the book was about time and something that might be a part of camping. We know it isn't a happy book, but a scary one. The colors are precise: lime and purplish blue. The Font could have been white or any color, but to have contrast, red-orange was used.

Look at it as a thumbnail. The title shows. The face shows more, and the clock is clear. The tent falls to the background.
Sometimes beautiful images fail as covers because they don't survive the small size. Sometimes, people want far too much wording on a cover and none can be read.

THESE LOOK GOOD AT A SMALL SIZE.

For covers, if you can, hire a pro. No matter what, ask these questions:

Are images documented as legal to use?
Is the cover the correct size and resolution?
Does it look good as a thumbnail?
Is the title clear?
Does it engage?
Does it avoid "cookie-cutter, cliche, and cutsie"?
Is it commercial?
Is it "less is more"?

Cover artists may follow these very well, but unless the artists understands #7, your book will suffer. That one point can ruin a cover even if all the rest are checked. With covers ranging from $100-$500...you can get all of this. Never skimp on edits or covers.

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Celebrating a little bit of art, music, and writing....

6/27/2014

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(from catt) Hi! I never click videos but I did this once, and found a unique sound. I want to share this little song with our followers because I love the message of "All for One". The management graciously told us we could share this with everyone, and I really love seeing new, fresh artists in any area. Gangstagrass is bluegrass (fiddles and banjos) with a fun rap added.
Click their icon (to the left) to hear and see the video.

Purchase Final Reverie

JEA artists use several programs and we purchase image rights, but David must deal with sizing, balance, hue, saturation, light, and blending, just to name a few elements. JEA is honored to employ a man as talented as McG, who loves the work and puts himself out there. See more of his work here:

Mcg's Art

David McGlumphy

is a free lance artist and also on staff at JEA Press as a cover-designer and artist. As a designer, he had to first intern before he could work with the authors fully. Under the direction of Executive Editor and Art Director, Susan Simone, David learned how JEA listens to writers, considers commercial appeal, and then locates (legal!) images, or hand-draws the covers. After his internship, David was hired as an artist. (We look at talent, ethics, and ability to work within our strange company). When working on a cover, artists are very hands-on; after many meetings with the author, David sets up the images and then designs the font so the title looks good in thumbnail images. He must please the author and show their view of the book (and what it is about), balance images, chose and alter colors for contrast, and then get the font perfect so it looks good in a large view, but also when it is the size of a postage stamp! It's a challenge, but McG (as we call him) always stays on the job until the author is pleased, and Susan accepts the cover.

Sam Reese
Immolation

You never know when darkness is going to cross your path. Lydia Allison Cantrell was a beautiful child from a seemingly loving family when all hell broke loose. The person who was supposed to love her and protect her from the evils of the world betrayed her in the worst way possible. For years Lydia endured the horrors of her father’s abuse, finding her only solace in her beloved books, and a pure affection from her friend Michael. Until a day came when something, a small flame of a thing began to wake within her. Now, as the flame grows, it threatens to consume not only her but those around her as well, both innocent and guilty. Lydia must choose vengeance or mercy, realizing that both come with a cost that might be too much to pay for a girl so young.

new Interview

Purchase Immolation

Cover art by Michael "Fish" Fisher

Final Reverie

Many years after the downfall of technology, magic has reclaimed its position within Earth’s ecosystem. Over time, the delicate balance of between good and evil has weighed heavily toward the malevolent side, despite attempts at stabilizing the equilibrium. Two heroes, Franklyn – an adolescent boy, and Chij – his wolf brother, travel the land with a sole purpose of helping those that cannot defend themselves from the creatures that lurk and feed upon the weak. Their carefree travels are unexpectedly given a larger purpose when they are tasked to search for, and destroy, the nefarious being known as Nafets – who was imprisoned many years prior but teeters on the edge of reemergence.
Franklyn and Chij endure an emotional journey filled with blood, tears, and self-discovery as they encounter the unexpected and become entangled in a expedition that will test their abilities and emotions.

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Summertime Books

6/24/2014

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News

Information: click here

Accepting work for this anthology until July 31. Gore, body fluids, bizarre ideas...check. Be as weird as you wish and if you have been rejected for content, we are very interested!

Some exciting reads....

Click to purchase book

Sam Reese
Immolation

You never know when darkness is going to cross your path. Lydia Allison Cantrell was a beautiful child from a seemingly loving family when all hell broke loose. The person who was supposed to love her and protect her, betrayed her in the worst way possible. For years Lydia endured her father’s abuse, finding her only solace in books. A flame began to wake within her, and as the flame grows, it threatens to consume not only her but those around her as well, both innocent and guilty. Lydia must choose vengeance or mercy, realizing that both come with a cost that might be too much to pay for a girl so young.

Samantha Gregory

Click to Purchase this book

What is After about?
On the surface it is an action story about a young girl struggling to survive in a harsh world after her father 's apparent death. I think underneath the story deals with a sense of loneliness and what it is like to be a teenager and feel like an outcast and the search for someone who understands that.
What inspired this?
I think it is a universal theme that we have all felt at one time or another. For some people this can make or break them.

Keith Milstead

coming soon

Fish to Die For
has won literary awards and an award for cover art.
"I was born and raised in the great State of Texas. Currently I am a displaced Texan since my wife Rhonda of 16 years asked that we move to Colorado. We bought a home in the mountains and now live with the wildlife and our rescue dachshund Baxter. If I could move the weather from Colorado down to Texas, it would be awesome but then it wouldn’t be Texas then, would it?" (Keith)

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Ideas for Reading

Covering Covers...got that covered?

Celebrating a little bit of art, music, and writing....

Sam Reese
Immolation

Final Reverie

Summertime Books

News

Sam Reese
Immolation

Samantha Gregory

Keith Milstead

Author

Archives

Categories

Ideas for Reading

Covering Covers...got that covered?

Celebrating a little bit of art, music, and writing....

Sam ReeseImmolation

Final Reverie

Summertime Books

News

Sam ReeseImmolation

Samantha Gregory

Keith Milstead

Author

Archives

Categories

Sam Reese
Immolation

Sam Reese
Immolation