Printed version of "The Monster Below" Update 12 - Paperback or Hardback? · 6:17pm Apr 28th, 2018
Hi Everyone
I just completed formatting 'The Monster Below' for physical printing; the finished book will cost $5.89, is a 6 X 9 paperback with 232 pages, and includes the main story, the original outline with commentary, and the April Fools day chapter (moved to the back of the book, so it doesn't interfere with the flow of the main story). I haven't decided yet if I am going to do a hardcover copy of the story, and wanted to ask how many readers would prefer one.
Now, I'm aware that the following will upset some people, but the printed version of 'The Monster Below' will not have any illustrations. I wanted to include the work I commissioned, but chose not to because of the complexity of asking each artist for permission for their work to be included; some of them have vanished from the internet, making it impossible to ask them for said permission. Therefore, for the sake of simplicity, there will be no drawings in the finished book. They will, however, remain in the online version of the story.
With regards to the cover, I'm still working on the final design. While I would prefer an aged leather look similar to the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings, At the moment, it looks like this:
*Not my real name, BTW*
I admit that it's plain and a bit boring, but Lulu's cover options are quite limited, and I'm still trying to find something better. This also applies to any hardcover editions of the book, as if it's going to have a jacket, I'd want something fancier than just a black cover with simple text. If any of you have any ideas, public domain images, or images of your own that you'd like to offer, I'd be happy to take a look.
I have ordered a printed copy of the book to look over for any errors. If there are none, I'll post pictures of the finished book and open it up for orders. Expect that to happen within the next two weeks!
4849388
My words.
sadly I can’t provide any kind of art, nor do I know a good artis, anymore...
And looking at the cost, heh, shippings might cost more than the book for me.
I'd pay for a hardcover and I haven't read the story.
Like the others said, I'll gladly pay for the hardcover but I do not have any real idea for a better cover. Kinda sucks not being able to use the already drawn illustration. I guess commissioning someone for a new illustration would be a good sollution but I don't know if thats an option for you.
Hardcover. Definitely want hardcover.
Hardcover would be great.
As for the cover. The only thing I can think of to spruce it up without too much work would be some sort of a symbol or outline. Lab tools, double helix, outline of an alicorn or maybe even just something akin to a makers mark to designate it as yours. Maybe even just a simple texture instead of the uniform colour to help break things up a bit.
4849462
Actually found an idea
Just add a pair ofbwings and à horn in black and white in the middle and it should be pretty neat !
At least that's what I think
While a plain black cover can work, usually a book needs more than that. Honestly, I'd say that one of the major draws (for me at least) of a printed fanfic book is that it feels like a book -- as in, like you could pick it up off the shelf of a bookshop. If you've gone to all the effort of reformatting the entire thing for print, then you may as well make it look good on the outside, too.
I'd say the simplest thing, if you don't want to comission new art/are unable to, would be to put a symbol from the book on the cover -- it'd look like slightly more than just the tile & author name, and is comparitively simple to pull off. I've done a little cover design (just for myself), and printed a book through Lulu before, and generally that sort of thing works fairly well. Good luck!
Disclaimer: Despite meaning to, I haven't actually read the fanfic yet.
I'll go with either if nothing else can be done but for fanfics I always prefer hardcover. Printings on these don't come out often so I want what will usually hold up the best over time.
Hardcover is preferable, yes.
The default cover creator for Lulu is awful. You're better off using the advanced one-piece one. It allows you to be a lot more flexible with your cover's design, like this one I had made for my Austraeoh prints, all done by my friend in Gimp, a free program.
Hard cover is preferred if possible.