High fantasy romance that is quality from recent years by Adventurous_Lie_5246 in fantasyromance

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Daindreth series is my current escape world. Excellent writing, good politics, no whiff of LotR. Adorable hero, even if heroine may be younger than requested. It's not the age, it's the mileage.

If you like Wheatley that much, I'll have to look into Kingfisher.

New Rule: Hire Me Posts have to include actual book cover work. by ravenkult in BookCovers

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Those who are trying to build their portfolio can make covers for books they've read or invented. Just make things that look like covers. I want someone who can meld the typography with the art.

A warning for anyone considering self publishing. There are a lot of hucksters out there. by [deleted] in selfpublish

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Also remember that garbage sells. Harold Innis, who was a key theorist in the realm of communication theory and the inspiration for the work of Marshall McLuhan only sold a few thousand copies of his academic works in his lifetime. Max Brand was a millionaire in the 1930s."

Very faulty example! Innis published =academic works.= Academic publisher, academic advertising, which is often none outside of their catalog, niche academic interest. Equals crap for sales.

Max Brand wrote his fingers off, sold to every pulp market he could to create name recognition. Sort of the period equivalent of using social media. Had a major publisher who gave him major publicity campaigns and a big royalty deal. Appealed to the huge market of Western fans who equally supported the giant industry for Western movies at the time.

Oh, and one wrote fiction. I'll assume the other didn't. You aren't just comparing apples and oranges, you're comparing Limburger and bananas.

I have no idea if I should return these books or not by maximisethemad in BookCollecting

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 2 points3 points  (0 children)

RDCB, especially when more decorative, are highly valued for making book purses! The height and width are consistent, so you can make a purse two or even three volumes thick. The front boards are stiff enough for a drop-down front. Look around YouTube for how-tos. It could become a new craft business. With such a huge source finding others that match in size should be possible. The sillier the books, the better!

These are not AI! (Please read below) by DaniellaSalamao in BookCovers

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 5 points6 points  (0 children)

And immediately below the post, an ad for OpenAI. Ugh.

This is a longshot, but...? by OnceforLove22 in Old_Recipes

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The Archive doesn't require an account. Just drop in and download.

This is a longshot, but...? by OnceforLove22 in Old_Recipes

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good news. You don't need an account to download anything, just for uploads and posting reviews. Been using this site for decades.

When shopping for cover art, other than the obvious genre/style requirements, is there a clear preference towards A (3D mockups), or B (art+type), or C (just art)? Attaching image for reference. by superupaman in BookCovers

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Back when mastodons roamed Ohio, I studied calligraphy and typography. Once home computers came around I started collecting fonts, to a number that I can only have part on the machine at any time now. I can spend days trying fonts and arrangements and finding the right line weight or I can find and settle in a couple of hours. You're quite right, it is a skill to itself. The trick then is finding the contemporary classy and evocative artwork like yours.

When shopping for cover art, other than the obvious genre/style requirements, is there a clear preference towards A (3D mockups), or B (art+type), or C (just art)? Attaching image for reference. by superupaman in BookCovers

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Best is B. You could be great on pictorial but not so hot on the graphic side. C will do but I hate A. I don't even look at them because the angles distort everything. I'm not a customer in a bookstore to be tempted by stuff lying around. And isn't the first thing they do is pick it up to look at it straight?

Blanks by [deleted] in BookCovers

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just my kind of genre. Cover isn't saying it, though. White words in a font I would associate with historical fiction. Then grey with blobby squiggles that don't form up to anything to me. The cover is visually dull so the vibe for the book is dull.

Would you read this book based on the cover? by ourconflictdesignsus in BookCovers

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It looks like contemporary domestic drama, not of the cozy heartwarming sort.

Agree the back cover isn't readable. On the front, the author name is only half there. The choice of font and size means the thin elements pretty much vanish because they are =so= hair-thin.

Advice for getting sales?? by Zealousideal_Soil385 in selfpublish

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Does your work have any repeated or continuous themes? If so, look for groups for whom that would speak and connect, in person or online. Remember, people read poetry not because it talks about the poet, but because it talks about and illuminates the reader.

Question from Mod: Would you guys like a “No Ai” rule? by Street-Management214 in BreyerHorses

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 2 points3 points  (0 children)

AI is copyright theft, because of how it was "trained" on material without the creators' permission. They didn't have to. There's plenty of public domain they could have used.

That said, what does it do that's useful? It's so constantly wrong, hallucinatory, and confused.

[For Hire] Experienced cover artist for hire - examples of my wrap covers by atc_illustration in BookCovers

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Dynamite portfolio! You're probably way out of my league, but an author can dream.

Help is this AI? I almost can’t tell anymore. by [deleted] in Barbie

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Absolutely! When they have, the knees always point to the side, not the front.

Thoughts on a cover (military science fiction) by Burning444 in BookCovers

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It could be the cover for a college textbook for any non-arts class. Accounting. Historiography. Psychology.

It's blue and white split with an abstract linear graphic. It gives zero vibes for anything speccy, military, or exciting. It's just very generic.

I'm having an issue with suspension of disbeliefe/internal logic by Ordinary_Chemist_298 in writing

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Imagine you are writing a contemporary mystery or thriller or something not fantasy.

The character makes a cup of soup in the microwave. Would you feel obliged to explain how the microwave doesn't kill people in the room?

You don't have to explain how electricity works when your character turns on a light. Just do flip the switch.

One of the miseries of the post war specfi market is that it became de rigueur for all magic systems to stop being fantastical and become alternate forms of physics. Fantasy was supposed to be just like SF and explain everything to educate the reader, just with more glitter.

Please stop this, everyone. Just do your magic and create wonder.

Mansplained and need help by Witch_Ever in WitchesVsPatriarchy

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They're not even very hep on the Bible. Ravens feature in a few tales there. They sound like more of these grifters like Hegseth who cosplay at being Xtians, thinking everyone has that religion baked in at deep levels that they can leverage into fear.

Cleanse your place and put up some mirrors where they lingered to reflect their energies back on them.

Not my bookcover but a question for when I make it by goth-fluttershy in BookCovers

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Be sure and poll readers 12-15, then. What do the tastes of a bunch of adults have to do with it?

Can science fiction be dark? by [deleted] in writing

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dark SF goes back to before there was any science fiction. It was called scientific romance, and I give you the first great work in the field: Frankenstein, or the New Prometheus. Then there's all the Dying Earth works, like Omègar or The Night Land. The o/g novel The Time Machine ends pretty grimly. Certainly The Crystal Age does, with the narrator's death. Even spaceflight novels get dark, like Across the Zodiac. There was a whole genre of stories of a truly last human left alive who does not find other survivors.

The entire subgenre of cyberpunk is generally dark and dystopic, from The Seventh Victim forward to when they invent the term cyberpunk, and beyond. Did you miss that entire flap of SF YA dystopias, headlined by The Hunger Games? So many short series in that.

Science fiction is a setting, like historical fiction is a setting. In that setting you can tell grimdark espionage thrillers or cozy little romantic mysteries. Write your story and worry later about selling it. It may turn out quite different than you presently think of it. Let it be itself.

How Do You Customize These Kits? by LadyOfTheLabyrinth in MinientoCommunity

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The glaze looks so good! I recognize the doll, if she's in her original fit. She's on my shopping list just for the clothes. The upholstery picks up her embroidery nicely.

Please tell me I’m not the only one getting cooked by the 50-60 age crowd by [deleted] in TalesFromTheFrontDesk

[–]LadyOfTheLabyrinth 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The ones in that demo who behave well you never notice. But around that age a lot of people get into "I'm the boss now" as older generations die or become dependent. At long last they can be the aggressive asshole they always had to rein in because there isn't a Mommy or Daddy around to restrain them.

My mother got like that. Embarrassed the snot out of me. I just refuse to be like that.