More art I should not be doing.

First, y’all know what a revenge query is?

Revenge queries are the boomerang query letters that a relatively seasoned (i.e. jaded) writer has lined up, to send out to new markets the same day that the first query comes back with a rejection letter. Rejections are a lot like band-aids, turns out – it’s better to rip them off quickly and get them over with.

Once upon a time, once a writer exhausted all possible markets, when there were no more query options, only two choices were left: abandon the story or rewrite it again.

Now there are respectable and relatively easy self-publishing options. Revenge submissions, if you will. This can mean that 1) a whole bunch of really awful stuff floods the self-pub markets and 2) lucky and/or clever authors can build a career with the higher-royalties from self-publishing sales. The problem, as always, lies with promotion and marketing.

I’ve never self-published anything meaningful. I may be about to.

I have this fairly big 14K ‘short’ story out in circulation right now that I’m sweating over a bit. It’s a mild M/M/F fantasy romance with some slightly darker combat scenes, and it’s set in my Lonhra universe. It’s one of the pieces that I simply didn’t know how to write back when I first wrote and started submitting it years ago. If I were submitting it as a brand-new piece right now, with all the rewrites and additions, I know two professional markets that might have taken it. But neither one will look at new versions of previously submitted stories.

New writers, learn from my mistakes. Especially if you want to send your darlings to markets with that stipulation. The editors are not being meanies. They just don’t want to be saddled with endless rewritten versions of a story they already rejected.

My almost-a-novella is now at my all-time dream market, with an infinitesimal chance of acceptance. I think it’s a good story. That market is just that picky.

So I’ve been researching publishing services and I’ve about decided on one that has a great reputation. A good friend arranged for some legal cover stock photography for me. From there I used Painter 12, SnapArt 4, a tablet, and a few hours to make the first attempt at a potential cover.

Cover art has parameters that many artists don’t even think about: there must be strong negative space for the text blocks, while giving enough image clarity to at least hint at the story inside.

I think I’m close, with this cover for a fantasy sort-of retelling of ‘Orpheus and Eurydice’.