I’ve been quiet for a while, hoping to post something positive about my two projects, The Book of Dungeons series and the board game with the same name.
My publisher decided he would rather not venture into the LitRPG genre. He tried to help me hook up with Travis Baldree, but his fees are beyond my non-existent budget. Travis was very forthcoming about the business, so I’m grateful he could spend a little time explaining how things worked.
My ex-publisher also introduced me to a senior staff member at Podium Publishing. Talking to them helped, but she wanted me to launch the book as an ebook to demonstrate my potential to generate revenue. It seems like a sensible first step to hiring a voice actor, but if I can succeed without a publisher, why would I need one? I may not fully understand how their business works.
Connecting with Podium confirmed that my abstract book covers weren’t going to be popular. Before I release any ebooks, I postponed development on my board game to redo my covers once again.
Below is the first new book cover.
I designed the square layout to fit Audible’s marketplace format, so finding the money to hire a voice actor will be the only thing I need for an audiobook. I’m happy with the result, but I’ll probably tweak things here and there.
The new style uses ZBrush geometry rendered in Blender and painted over in Photoshop. It’s a more traditional approach, and I’m already working on the second book. Astute eyes will also notice that also redesigned the new logo for The Book of Dungeons. It has a little more presence.
I also finished monster art for my game boards, and I’m pleased with the results. Making the dungeons beautiful was one of the goals I sought to overcome. It convinces me more that my game will be one of the better-looking dungeon crawlers.
Doing paint-overs for the covers is giving me an idea of how heavy the card art workload will be.
On the home front, my cat, Ozzy, keeps reacting to something in his catfood. I’m changing his diet, but he keeps getting ulcers on his lower lip. The vet clears them up with steroid shots, but I’m running out of options. At least, Cheddar’s ear infection is gone.