Hi everyone. This is Isaac. I just wanted to let everyone know that we just started a book cover contest at 99 Designs, a service that pairs authors with graphic designers to create great book covers for our books! Keep tabs using the provided link to see how the contest develops over the next week or so and check back to see who the ultimate winner is!
Why 99 Designs?
Well, it is a different direction for us at Isaac Hunter and for our books. I have been doing extensive work the last several months on updated editions of previously published books and getting new and fresh covers for ebook, hardcover, and paperback editions. We so far have In the Meadow, Seeking Light Aurora, and Ashen Monk Mountain finished in all three formats, and the new updated and edited editions are available at our shop and at Amazon for sale. With this contest we are right now focused on Our Daughter.
I chose 99 Designs because I had a pretty terrible experience with 100 Covers when we were working on In the Meadow. We are still not happy with its updated cover and will probably redo it when we do the cover for its sequel, Returning the Meadow. I also have had terrible luck with Fiverr.
We did strike some gold with a graphic artist in Spain, and he did both Ashen Monk Mountain and Seeking Light Aurora. We love both of these covers. But, alas, as with most things in this space, nothing ever lasts. So, I decided to try 99 Designs and see if 1. we could get a really great cover for Our Daughter and 2. maybe we could find a new book cover designer we can work with regularly in the future.
What Happened to Your Previous Graphic Artist?
To be honest, we are not sure what has happened. We are not sure if he is just super busy with current clients, or if his business life has become complicated, or who knows what else it could be. I do know that he was initially very responsive when he did Ashen Monk Mountain several years ago, and then again when he did the work on Seeking Light Aurora here recently. But we had some graphic design work for all of the book series and the Isaac Hunter Universe in general (some sigils, logo, etc), but after sending him some detailed instructions and his interested initial response, we heard nothing more.
I ordered the cover for Our Daughter back on the 2nd of October, hoping that he would jump on the work. But, after two follow up emails and a third follow up contact using his website form, I’ve heard nothing back in over 2 weeks. And, so, here we are…
I do wish him all the best. He is a VERY talented individual.
Contest Specifics
Here is how the contest works.
- You can find the contest page here. Check back frequently to see if we get any submissions (finger’s crossed).
- You can read all the specifics about what I’m looking for here.
- The designers have 4 days remaining to post their submissions. After that it goes into the final round and I have to pick up to 6 submissions (if I get that many). I have guaranteed that I will pick one winner so hopefully we will get a good turn out. This is all trial and error at this point, so, again, finger’s crossed.
- After the final round, I provide feedback (I assume) to each submission, then they make changes, and then I pick a winner. They only have it set for a hardcover edition, but I’m hoping I can either use the same cover for paperback (same exact dimensions) or they will provide a paperback as well just for good measure.
So, check back periodically, and as submissions come in (if they do), please comment down below in this post to which one you think we should select for the winner.
Until our next post…
Please consider supporting my writing and efforts to reach people wherever they are at by purchasing one or more of my books. I am a full-time author, and any support you choose to provide is GREATLY appreciated.
Excerpt from Our Daughter:
“Okay, mom,” Randy said.
“You behave yourself and be nice. You’re lucky to have company while you wait for the doctors.”
The woman turned and started back the way she came.
“The nurse said it would be twenty or thirty more minutes, so we’ll eat quick and be back up here before they take you in, okay?”
“Okay, mom.”
“Sorry for him,” the woman said to Katie as she walked by.
“He’s funny.”
Katie grinned.
As the woman left, Katie noticed the boy moving around again on the bed. Before she realized what was happening, the tiny lump disappeared and she could hear the faint sound of bare hands and feet on the tile floor.
He was low crawling under the beds toward her.
A moment later, Randy popped his head out from under the nearest hospital bed, craning his neck around to look up at her.
“Hello, there,” Katie said.
Randy disappeared back under the bed, the bed sheet draping down almost to the floor. Katie could still see three little fingers pressed to the tile.
“What are you here for?” Katie asked, readjusting her seat in the chair, trying to get the ache in her chest to lessen.
For whatever reason, the wheelchair was really uncomfortable.
“Why are – “
Randy’s voice trailed off for a moment as he looked around.
“Why are you here?”
“I’m getting my leg fixed,” Katie said. “See?”
Randy poked his head back out from under the bed and looked at the leg she was pointing to.
“What’s wrong with it?”
“The doctor said it’s broken,” Katie said. “Shattered.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. Ouch.”
“Can you feel it?” Randy asked, able to stay out from his hiding place.
“I can feel it, but it’s not too bad,” Katie said, then tapped the IV in her arm. “This thing is giving me medicine of some kind for the pain. At least that’s what the nurses said.”
“Why are you – “
Randy stopped mid-sentence.
He scooted out from under the bed entirely and slowly crept over to er on all fours.
“What are you, some kind of spider?” Katie asked, giggling a little.
“What are you?” Randy echoed.
He was now only about a foot away from her chair and sat there, his legs folded up under him, gawking up at her.
“What are you staring at me for?”
“I’ve never – “
Randy put out a hesitant hand and ever so gently touched her arm.
“Are you some kind of ghost?”
He looked around again.
“Are you – ”
He leaned in, talking in a whisper.
“Are you dead?”
A nurse came around the corner and stopped abruptly, spotting the empty bed in the far corner where Randy should have been.
“Randy Andrews,” the nurse said, her hands now on her hips. “You get right back into the bed and you stop playing around, please. They are ready for you in surgery.”
Katie watched as Randy scrambled on all fours under the beds and back up onto his, pulling the sheet back over top of himself again.
She started to ask him about his question, but couldn’t get the words out before his parents appeared at the door.
Katie sat there quietly, watching Randy stare back at her from under his sheet. She glanced over at his parents and the nurse, noticed Randy’s dad had no hair on the top of his head.
Are you dead?
What kind of question was that?
The snap of the wheel locks being disengaged on Randy’s hospital bed jarred Katie out of the confusion she was in.
The doctor she’d first seen was now at the door, waiting for Randy.
He was his surgeon.
They wheeled Randy out of the room, his parents following right behind, disappearing to the left, heading for his operating room.
The pre-op room was empty again.
Dead.
Are you dead?
What kind of crazy question was that?
The nurse came back through the double doors.
“It won’t be long now,” she said.
“Okay.”
Katie tried not to think about the dull ache growing just behind her sternum.
The nurse disappeared around the corner as Katie watched the double doors to the operating rooms slowly shut.
Buy my book Our Daughter and begin the adventure of a lifetime, as you uncover the mysteries behind Katie Cadora’s new life after the horrible accident that stole her mother away from her. Will she find sure footing again? Will the pain ever stop? Will she discover the secrets her new foster family are keeping from her? Is the boy’s question right? Is Katie Cadora actually dead?
Click here and grab your copy today and jump into this Witch Gnostic Heresy trilogy with both feet!
But, trust me when I tell you, there are deceivers in our midsts! Get started in this bone chilling suspense novel right away and find out why….sometimes….you’re just better off DEAD!
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