The importance of book covers

Book covers. I guess they can sometimes be taken for granted, but when it's the first thing a prospective reader sees, their importance cannot be underestimated. A good cover should entice the reader to pick the book up, or in the case of eBooks to progress to the second stage, which is reading the blurb to see what the story is about. That's why I've never been happy with the covers I used for The Kult. It's been through a few incarnations, but none of the recent ones have felt or looked right. I mean for one thing, when you look at a cover, you should instantly know what genre the book is. The problem with The Kult was compounded because it was part of a series with Killers, but put the books side by side and you never would have guessed it.

I had been struggling to design something myself, and I'd seen a couple of covers by Karri Klawiter that I liked, so I hired her to design a new cover, and over a couple of days and a few emails we came up with something I'm more than happy with. I think both covers now give a hint of the story but they also create a sense of foreboding. I hope people agree:

The books can be purchased from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

And you can check out more of Karri's work on her website: http://artbykarri.com/tag/karri-klawiter/

The Kult

Now that the film of The Kult is just about complete, I've reduced the eBook price by a whopping 50% to celebrate:

Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/h0KuGw
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/h9sj9R
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/48934

It's hard work getting word out about the book, so please feel free to help me spread the word by reposting the link or telling anyone you think might be interested. And if you've read the book and would consider writing a review on Amazon, however brief, that would be awesome. Thank you.

Nurturing a love of books

I can’t resist keep buying books. I was in Rhyl yesterday and popped into The Works (which is a discount bookshop) and picked up Stephen King’s Duma Key, Joe Abercrombie’s Best Served Cold and Andrew Davidson’s The Gargoyle in a £5 for 3 books deal. I don’t know when I’ll have chance to read them, but they’ll be added to my ever growing ‘to be read’ pile.

But that’s the thing. I love books. Ebooks, printed books, it doesn’t matter. I love reading - always have - and I’ve instilled that love in my son, who at 8 years of age will stop awake late at night reading to himself (which is something that I can't tell him off for) He’s already far advanced in terms of his reading ability and was above the reading age that he should be years ago (I also bought him another book yesterday. I think his book collection will be competing with mine soon). Although he reads to himself, Deb and I still read to him every night too, so even though I don’t always get time to read my own books, I read lots of children’s books. We take him to the library every month and he takes out about 6 books at a time.

Recently The Education Secretary, Michael Gove said that children as young as 11 should be expected to read 50 books a year as part of a national drive to improve literacy standards, because the academic demands placed on English schoolchildren have been “too low for too long”.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, he said the vast majority of teenagers read just one or two books as part of their GCSEs, normally including John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men.

Mr Gove said all schools should “raise the bar” by requiring pupils to read large numbers of whole books at the end of primary school and throughout secondary education.

It follows the publication of a report in December showing that reading standards among British teenagers had slumped from 17th to 25th in a major international league table.

***

One of the most important things you can teach your children is to love reading and it needn’t cost anything but time to do. Find a subject they are interested in and then nurture it. Above all, make it fun.

And for something completely different to read, here’s an interview where I talk about serial killers: http://readhorror.wordpress.com/interviews/shaun_jeffrey_on_serial_killers/

Ups and downs of publishing

As some people might already know, sadly Leucrota Press is no more. As I didn’t want my books, The Kult and Deadfall left in limbo, I’ve re-released them in eBook format. Both have new covers. While The Kult remains the same, Deadfall is a revised edition that I call the ‘Author’s cut’. This edition also features a bonus alternative ending, which was actually the original ending before I had a change of heart and altered it. Both books are available via Amazon and Smashwords and I’d appreciate any help spreading the word that they are available.

While on one hand I'm sad that they are no longer available in paperback (except second hand copies), I do like the fact that they are now under my control (of course if someone offered me a good enough deal, I'd accept and perhaps if the film is a success, the novel rights to The Kult might be more appealing - not that it's not a fantastic book anyway ;)). But with stories of Leisure Books ripping off their authors and lots of uncertainty in the publishing world, it's strange times that's for sure. I mean apart from a few visionaries, most people never believed that eBooks would ever become popular. They also never believed that people would ever make a success of self publishing, but now you have authors such as Amanda Hocking, JA Konrath and Scott Nicholson making a good living at it. And now Barry Eisler has announced that he is going down the self publishing road. But these are the exceptions. Most people who release their own work are lucky if they sell a copy a week or a month, and they'd be lucky to ever make a living at it. I'm among those, but I still love writing, and I know there are a few people out there who like my work, which makes it all seem worthwhile. So thanks :)

In other news, I’m hoping there will be an announcement tomorrow of my next book that will be up for pre order. Watch this space …



















The Kult

Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/h0KuGw
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/h9sj9R
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/48934


















Deadfall

Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/eqE01J
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/fZIsdO
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/48929

Voyeurs and Dead Man's Eye

OK, for those who don’t know, the deluxe lettered hardcover edition of my short story collection, Voyeurs of Death is now available and shipping. It’s signed by the artist, Zach McCain and myself:


From monsters to ghosts, Shaun Jeffrey runs the gamut in this new and expanded collection. Herein are found a diverse mix of the sinister, erotic, strange and surreal. From the foreboding alleyways of Venice to a bleak Scottish island, the horror is never far away. A young boy fixes dead things. You can't always judge a man by the cut of his suit, especially when the suit isn't made of cloth. A relaxing cruise is anything but once the passengers start to die, only to then come back to life. And a trip to the past has dire consequences for the future. Now turn the page and join the voyeurs of death.

http://www.darkregions.com/products/Voyeurs-of-Death-by-Shaun-Jeffrey.html

Also, the first reviews have started appearing for Dead Man’s Eye. I appreciate the time people have taken to read and review my work very much. Book bloggers are the best.


Author Shaun Jeffrey has written a dark and brilliant novella. – Fiktshun: http://bit.ly/hcnk1u

I read this in one day as I did not want to put this book down. – Babs World of Books: http://bit.ly/hSZ7TP

I really enjoyed this novella. It grabs you right away and the opening train scene had me actually open mouthed. – Mommy Wants to Read: http://bit.ly/i5BgtK

This horror story is a riveting piece of work. – Grumpy Dan: http://bit.ly/hLpxlT

If you like Thriller/horror and dark novels then I highly recommend this one. – Geeky Girl Reviews: http://bit.ly/es8TOO


I’ve also been working on the description for Dead Man’s Eye as I didn’t think it summed up the story well enough. Here’s what I have now:


Blighted by an eye disease, Joanna Raines undergoes a corneal transplant operation to stop her going blind. The procedure is successful, but in the weeks that follow she begins to see dark coronas surrounding certain people. By turns fearful that something has gone wrong and worried that she’s going crazy, Joanna searches for an answer to the phenomena.

What she finds will change her life forever. The transplant has opened a door in her mind, and the strange coronas are not legacies of the operation but proof that a legion of demons plans to invade the earth!

Now the only thing that stands between the demonic horde and their plot to take over the world is Joanna, a young woman with the power to see them for what they really are.

Seeing is believing.

The demons are real.

Joanna just has to convince everyone else before it’s too late.

*** ***

And as a taster, here is the first chapter:

CHAPTER 1

Joanna Raines looked at the world through a dead man’s eyes.

Through one eye to be precise.

Things were still a little blurry, which was why she felt sure her transplant was being rejected – why else would it feel scratchy and appear red? She shuddered at the thought of a world in darkness if the graft failed, especially now that she could see things a little clearer. The checklist she’d been handed after the operation mentioned various symptoms to watch out for, two of which she had, which was why she’d made the appointment with the doctor.

The musical notes of the tannoy interrupted her thoughts and she listened to the disembodied voice announcing that the train would be twenty minutes late. She peered at her watch, squinting to combat the double vision so she could make out the position of the hands. Prepared for such an event, she had decided to catch the earlier train. Her hospital appointment wasn’t for another hour and a half, so she still had plenty of time to get there.

A chill wind blew through the Victorian station, carrying with it the pungent scent of cleaning fluid that tickled her nose and made her eyes water. Further along the platform, she saw a yellow triangular board, the figure on which she guessed indicated cleaning in progress. She resisted rubbing at her replaced cornea, wary of dislodging it or upsetting the stitches, which although virtually invisible, made her feel a little like Frankenstein’s monster.

Joanna stared up at the lichen coated glass roof overhead. Wan light seeped through, making her feel like she was underneath a pond. Through her new cornea, she saw blurred beams of light arcing down, like biblical rays; through her uncorrected eye, it felt like trying to stare through a dusty curtain, a common symptom of Fuchs’ corneal dystrophy.

At the sound of approaching footsteps, Joanna looked up, squinting. Despite her blurred vision, she could see a large man wearing a red vest top, and as he drew close, Joanna ducked her head, letting her black hair veil her features.

“Damn trains! Always late when you need to be somewhere at a certain time,” the man said as he sat beside her.

Despite the pressure behind her eyeball caused by leaning forwards, Joanna didn’t look up. “It shouldn’t be long,” she said, the words coming out barely more than a whisper, intensifying her insecurity.

“An optimist. I guess you don’t travel by train very often, otherwise you’d be with us pessimists.”

She gazed at her feet, all four of them. Concentrated on trying to correct the view, closing one eye at a time, but it didn’t help, and the replaced cornea actually stung and she started to feel a little giddy and sick.

“You like a stick of gum?” the man asked.

“No thanks.”

“I know, it’s god-awful muck, especially this low sugar shit. If I wasn’t in a bodybuilding competition this afternoon, I’d be eating chocolate. God, I miss chocolate. You don’t realise how much until you can’t eat it. The things we do for our dreams eh.”

Joanna nodded. She knew all about dreams. Had followed hers through college and university where she gained a BA (Hons) in photography before setting up as a freelance photographer, specialising in portraits; then her eyesight started to fail, and the dream faded along with her vision.

“Sorry for rambling,” the man said, “it’s just this fuckin- pardon my French - train, where is it? We’ll probably get some bloody lame excuse about leaves on the line next.”

Joanna heard the man tapping his foot on the ground and drumming his hands on his thighs. She could almost feel the impatience oozing out of him.

Feeling a little dizzy, she folded her arms across her chest and closed her eyes to rest her sight, but the irritation from her replaced cornea caused tears to form. The darkness behind her lids increased her fears about going blind. She couldn’t imagine a world of perpetual darkness.

Someone walked past, pulling something that rattled across the stone floor. She heard a couple of children arguing and an irate mother berating them. She also heard traffic outside and the beat of wings as a bird, probably a pigeon, flew through the station. Then she detected the sound of heavy machinery droning in the distance like a mechanical bee. The whistle of the wind blowing along the platform. And above it all, the man at her side beating out his impatient rhythm like a war beat.

She never realised before how much extraneous noise the ears picked up that the consciousness ignored.

The sudden musical note of the tannoy interrupted her thoughts and the announcer mumbled out an almost incoherent apology for the lateness of the train, and that there was a change, and it would now be arriving at platform two any minute.

“Typical,” the man beside her said as he stood and hurried away to the platform.

Joanna opened her eyes, the tears obscuring her sight even more. She blinked rapidly, aggravating the stinging sensation that felt as though she had a lash stuck on her eyeball. Despite wanting to rub it, she closed her eye and pressed the palm of her hand against the lid to soothe the pain.

She looked up at the sound of the approaching train, the engine’s single headlight like a Cyclopean eye. Through her Fuchs’ eye, she saw the light as a bright ball with needle-like rays radiating out. Through the transplant, she saw at least three bright lights.

When she looked with both eyes, the effect combined to create a distorted image.

Joanna gathered her belongings and made to stand when she heard a shout and what sounded like a hollow drum roll. She looked across the platform and saw a flurry of movement on the stairs leading down to platform two. People jumped aside, and she squinted to combat her distorted vision, recognising what appeared to be a suitcase tumbling down the steps.

The waiting passengers scattered out of the way of the falling luggage, knocking into each other in their haste.

A woman with a halo of blonde hair stepped aside, crashing into the man beside her. He grimaced and reared back, inadvertently knocking into an old woman who dropped her drink. The plastic beverage container exploded like a grenade, splattering hot liquid over the legs of a teenage girl wearing a miniskirt. She squealed and flailed her arms in the air, punching the young man next to her in the nose, and causing him to step into the path of the bodybuilder that had been sitting next to Joanna.

Unable to tear her gaze away, Joanna watched in horror as the man stumbled and then fell over the edge onto the tracks. Someone screamed. The engine driver blew his horn, the hellish sound almost deafening in the confines of the station.

Although it wasn’t going fast, the train wheels squealed against the rails. The man tried to roll out of the way, but he didn’t move fast enough. With sickening precision, the front wheel rolled across his arm.

The train stopped, and a strange silence descended.

Blood gushed from the stump where the man’s arm had been.

Joanna froze, unable to believe what she had just seen. Bile rose in her throat and she fought not to be sick.

She caught sight of movement beside the man and turned her head. Saw what looked like a strange shadow, a black ethereal mass that surged towards the fallen figure and flowed into his body through the ragged stump of the missing limb.

Thinking she’d imagined it, that she was seeing anomalous floaters, Joanna blinked, aggravating the irritating pain from her cornea. She narrowed her eyes, straining to make sense of what she had just seen.

A second later the man moved, his legs twitching. Then he sat up and grabbed the severed limb. Despite the distance, Joanna thought the sliced end looked like a cut of meat marbled with fat and muscle. But strangest of all was that although the man’s arm had been severed, he had what appeared to be a black limb protruding from the shoulder.

The man started to stand, and a strange black shadow surrounded him like a dark phosphorous corona. The nimbus was so black, it looked like an absolute absence of light, as though the man had been carved out of his surroundings.

Joanna covered her face with her hands. Either her eyes were playing tricks on her, or she was going mad …

She shuddered. Maybe there was something even worse than a world of darkness.

*** ***

Available to purchase from the following for $1.99

Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/hvWbCp

Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/dKDwke

Smashwords: http://bit.ly/g6lgRn

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/i4Qzfj

The future of publishing

I have a question or two to ask today. Firstly, what do you think of the current climate in publishing? It seems to be going through a radical change, what with the current glut of ebooks. So have physical books had their day? Also, what does the future hold? Do you like reading on ereaders or does paper still win the day? It will be interesting to see how bookshops and publishers fare when so many people have decided to go the indie route. Of course not everything that has been published this way is any good, and it's surprising how many people champion authors that really need to learn how to write properly. They know the basics, but so much of the work I read is comparable to a first draft, and not something that should be out there for everyone to read before it's been through multiple edits, ideally by someone with a keen eye. So with the potential for so much bad/poor writing to flood the market, will readers’ expectations drop? Will they learn to accept what is on offer, or will they become more discerning in what they read? I know I’ve skimmed through numerous samples available to download for free, and read some terrible writing that people, probably friends and relatives of the author are praising to the skies. In my opinion this does a disservice to the author(s) who probably thinks he/she is better than they are and it does a disservice to the reader prepared to shell out their hard earned money on something that shouldn't have been published until it was ready. Constructive criticism would do some of them the world of good, as long as they were prepared to listen. What do other people think?