Etta! gets a redesign!
Welcome to the new era!
Did you know that Etta! was originally released in 2018? She’s just turned 4 years old!
I always forget to celebrate milestones because I tend to move forwards and never look back, but it’s been quite the journey since I hit ‘publish’ on that novella.
To say my writing has improved is an understatement, but in all honesty it’s not changed that much, and that is something I’m actually proud of. Do I find it easier to write now? Yes! Do I feel like I have my own writing voice, which means the years don’t interfere with style and consistency? Yes. Do I wish I could go back and re-edit it? No!
Etta! will always be my baby, and so, for her 4th birthday we celebrated (and I mean me and Etta), by redesigning her cover.
I had never minded the original cover because, at the time, I wasn’t so worried about what people would think. I’m still not, to be honest, but I do have the self-awareness to know that she was soft launched into the world, and her cover was just that… a cover. To hide my insecurities as a writer and not try to compete with anyone else. She was just supposed to be a way into the publishing world so that I could show everyone that I did actually know what I was doing, but also please don’t look at it.
I’m sure there are many people who can relate to that! Right?
Over the last year, as I’ve been toiling away with other books and series (whilst also working on keeping Etta’s world afloat), I decided that I would love to re-design her to be more obvious of a younger book. She is, what I would call, a middle-grade-YA-cusper, and at the moment these genres are released with illustrated covers.
Being on a budget (read:cheap), I redesigned it myself and yes, it would have been well suited to a graphic designer/ cover artist, there’s something I love about my self-publishing exploits and my desire to want to be as hands on as possible. As I’m sure you’re aware, I do also dream of being traditionally published - where you don’t tend to get a lot of say in design matters? - so forgive me if I enjoy the little stresses of indie publishing.
So what do you think of her?
I’d love to know your thoughts!
With Etta’s cover finally released, Baby Steps will be next, which will hopefully lead into the publication of the third story in the series. Currently unnamed but I’m working on it!
- Sam
