As an avid fan of the fantasy genre, I consume fantasy stories any which way I can (novels, television, movies, and video games).
Recently, I had a chance to play the Oblivion remake released by Bethesda. After I finished the main storyline quests, I decided to pick up Skyrim (its sequel) while I was at it. I was surprised at the stark contrast between the two worlds. Where the world of Oblivion is beautiful to behold and full of humorous, even slightly silly characters, Skyrim is harsh and jagged, and full of meaner characters.
That was when it dawned on me what the difference was between the two stories. In Oblivion, the world was worth fighting for. In Skyrim, the world was worth fighting.
I have since noticed that these are the two basic types of fantasy settings: the world worth fighting for and the world worth fighting. When we have a world worth fighting for, it is clear that the world the story takes place in is a good one, and the main character wants to keep it. When we have a world worth fighting, the focus is far more on the main character (or characters), and the way they rise to the challenges that the world throws at them.
We can see this in a few other examples.
Middle Earth is a world worth fighting for, demonstrated most by the Shire and Rivendell. Samwise Gamgee even makes a speech reinforcing this point.
SAM: But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something.
FRODO: What are we holding on to, Sam?
SAM: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.
Westeros is a world worth fighting. It’s awful, dark, and full of murder and betrayal.
Prydain from the Chronicles of Prydain series is a world worth fighting for. There is beauty in it, and wonderful people. Even some of the more self-serving people are still inclined toward good, and then there are the forces of darkness looking to conquer it.
Warhammer 40K has no bright spot in it, no place where the soul-crushing inevitability of demise hasn’t tainted everything. It is a mad universe where the only constant is war. It is a world worth fighting.
Not Just Grimdark vs. Noblebright
Now, I know that some people will simplify this to being the difference between the Grimdark (what is grimdark?) and Noblebright (what is noblebright?) genres. That is fair, because every Grimdark story’s setting can be summed up as “a world worth fighting.”
However, not every Noblebright story takes place in a world worth fighting for.
Take, for example, Star Wars. I would call Star Wars Noblebright because it features good triumphing over evil, and it is generally pretty clear who the heroes and villains are. Yes, recent stories in the Star Wars universe have brought in more moral ambiguity, but while the heroes may do morally questionably things on occasion, the sheer wickedness of the villains makes it clear that they are the evil ones.
But in the original trilogy, the Empire has control over everything. Making it worse, wherever the Empire doesn’t have control we get hives of scum and villainy, hostile nomadic tribes, monsters, and far-reaching criminal gangs like the Hutts.
Thus, I would argue that the Star Wars setting (true to its name) is a world worth fighting rather than a world worth fighting for. Luke Skywalker doesn’t fight for Tattooine, Yavin 4, or Hoth; he fights for those individuals he loves.
The King Arthur myth gives us a world worth fighting for: Camelot.
Sometimes what determines a world as worth fighting for is something small in it, a specific place. As I mentioned before, Middle Earth has the Shire. Harry Potter’s world has Hogwarts, which, for all its faults, becomes his bastion against the evils of the rest of the world (both the Muggle world and the Wizarding world). In the film Willow, it’s the Nelwyn village, to which Willow wants to return so that he can see his family again.
I would also argue that it could be possible to write a Grimdark story, but make it a world worth fighting for if the hero has some place in it where he can be at peace with his loved ones.
Depending on how you play it, Fallout 4 could be an example of this. The world surrounding the main character is full of mutants, radiation, violent robots, and murderous people. However, in that game you have the option to build places of sanctuary (literally starting with a neighborhood called “Sanctuary Hills”). The sanctuary you build can bring hope to an otherwise desolate wasteland, turning the post-apocalyptic setting into a world worth fighting for.
Where does your story fit?
This forced me to take a look at my own epic fantasy series: The Third Genesis. I had to ask myself if the world of Ymir where the story takes place is a world worth fighting or a world worth fighting for.
It is a world where false gods with space age technology have genetically-engineered an ecosystem made up of mythical creatures in order to exploit the planet Ymir’s unique resources. These false gods pit the people and creatures they’ve created against each other, and there are inquisitions, crusades, and holy wars. At first, I thought this made it a world worth fighting. But then I remembered that the people of Ymir live with the promise of the Third Genesis: a day when the false gods shall be defeated and the True Deity, The One, will reign. Thus, I realized that the world of Ymir is a world worth fighting for.
This also got me to examine the Bible to assess the world we live in according to the Good Book. Does the Bible speak of this world as one worth fighting or worth fighting for? While there are many places in Scripture that speak to the corruption of this world, and even places where it is implied that the Devil has dominion over the physical realm, we cannot forget the LORD’s promises of a day when He will wash away that corruption. And we cannot forget John 3:16, the most famous Bible verse of all, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
The Supreme Being has declared this world worth fighting for. So, let us do so every day, and ensure that we always follow the orders of our King when we do.
Nicholas is a prolific author who has written mostly westerns, but his true passion is for fantasy novels. Starting from the age of six (with stories about a mouse wizard named “Mousey”), he has honed his craft through years of dedicated writing.
His studies in history, religion, mythology, folklore, and classical literature have informed his works. Each of Casale’s works hit emotional notes and raise fascinating questions about the nature of life, love, morality, and existence.
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing and Eschler Editing, and am currently a weekly editor with Havok Publishing. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
Books with multiple (3+) points of view (POV) have become increasingly popular in the past couple decades, especially in massive fantasy epics and sci-fi. But there are multiple problems with this style that I commonly encounter as a book editor.
The technique is not wrong in and of itself. Every method of storytelling comes with its own pitfalls. The practice of writing novels with multiple points of view in third person is still relatively new, so authors have had fewer exceptional, “classic” examples upon which to base their style.
Now that editors have a larger body of work to analyze, it’s our job to guide authors to improve the way they tell their stories. So I’ll explain these top 11 problems that I see in manuscripts (and published books) with multiple points of view, and offer suggestions for how to avoid them:
I’ll be expanding each point into a full article with more detailed advice on how to avoid each pitfall in your own writing. Part 1: Harder to Hook is already complete – stay tuned for the full series!
1. Difficulty Hooking Readers
With every major point of view character, authors must check off all the same boxes: establish the status quo, show the individual’s wants and needs, give readers a reason to root for them, and spark off their story with an inciting incident.
With only one POV, authors can achieve many of these benchmarks within the first few chapters. This period of time is vital to securing reader interest. If you can’t catch them within this time, most readers will stop reading.
But with each new POV, authors wipe the reader’s emotional slate clean and start all over again. Readers may be interested at the end of the first chapter, but suddenly they’re faced with another stranger that vies for their investment all over again. Then a third. God forbid 4 or more.
It could take an hour of reading to get back to the first character, at which point all the emotional tension has faded and readers have to restart in their efforts to connect with the character.
If a reader only has the mental energy to read 3 chapters, a book with 1 POV has an advantage. 3 chapters is enough time for a reader to build a solid emotional connection to one character. On the other hand, if each of the first 3 chapters is written from a different perspective, after the same amount of reading time, that reader will only have just met each character, not had enough time to get to know them much at all.
How to avoid this problem: As an editor, I find that it’s more effective to group multiple chapters from 1 POV together rather than switching every chapter. It lets readers more deeply immerse themselves in one character before moving on.
Read more about how multiple POVs affect the opening hook of a novel in my full article.
2. Skewed Story Pacing
This is THE biggest problem I encounter in books with multiple point-of-view characters – messed up pacing at the book-wide level.
Say you have 3 POV characters – you’re basically writing 3 books at once and combining them into the same package. This means you’re asking your readers to endure a first act that’s three times as long as usual.
Often, the first act is the least interesting part of a story. In sci-fi and fantasy in particular, there’s often a lot of travel and exposition about the world, races and species, magic system, etc.
Readers are waiting for the moment when something changes. But with three characters, they have to wade through 3 times as much “intro content” before they get to the “interesting stuff.”
A first act usually takes up about the first third of a book. So reading the first act of a book with 3 POVs can feel the same as reading the length of an entire book that only contains first act content.
This is especially problematic if all of the characters have extremely similar situations. For instance, one farm boy trekking across the country to live out his destiny can be repetitive enough, let alone if all your mc’s start out as average joes who undertake a long journey.
How to avoid this problem: Choose POV characters whose arcs complement and contrast one another, rather than being too repetitive or seemingly unrelated (e.x. on opposite sides of the world and won’t meet for several books). Don’t be afraid to introduce some POVs much later in the book or series.
3. Skewed Chapter Pacing
Pacing is most obviously affected at the larger story level, but also at the chapter level. Often, writers are advised to “start late and end early,” but I find that books with many POVs both start and end their chapters too early.
Every time an author switches POV there is a “reset” of sorts. They need to reestablish where the character is, what they’ve been doing since the last time the reader followed them, and how much time has passed.
As a result, the start of each chapter can feel slow and exposition heavy. It’s difficult to use en media res if it’s been 100 pages since your reader last saw this character. It can take a while to build back up to a higher level of energy or greater level of intellectual and emotional intimacy.
But then, because the pacing of these books can feel bloated, authors try to end their chapters on a “snappy” note to avoid boring their readers. So they choose to end a scene too early, sometimes in the middle of the conflict they spent an entire chapter building towards.
This can leave readers feeling like “things were just getting good again” when the POV changed, resetting everything all over again!
How to avoid this problem: If you’re worried that readers won’t push through the next 100 pages unless you end a beat too early every time, you need to face the larger problem – whether that content should actually be trimmed. Authors have learned effective tactics to keep people binge-reading. But that won’t keep readers from noticing – after they’ve put down the book – that they didn’t actually enjoy “getting through” a lot of the in-between content, even though they felt compelled to continue in the moment.
4. Ruined cliffhangers
But multi-POVs even ruin the effectiveness of these cliffhangers!
The more POVs you have, the longer it’ll take to cycle through them all, and the more the emotion and energy will have diminished by the time you get back to your original character.
If you end a chapter on a cliffhanger, and then switch to a second POV, then a third, then a fourth, by the time you return to the original characters, days or weeks could have passed!
Consider: Character A’s companion betrays them. Enemies surround them. CUT. …3 chapters later, we return to character A, sitting in a dungeon. We didn’t get to see their decision to surrender, the gloating of their enemies, their rage and hurt while the betrayal was most fresh, or the horror of their first few days of imprisonment.
In such situations, authors break an implicit promise to readers: “the wait will be worth it.” A cliffhanger draws readers along because they can’t wait to see what happens next. But when time skips are necessary to facilitate more POVs, readers often don’t get to see the content they most anticipated.
Readers can start to feel like authors are just stringing them along with sensational chapter endings – and if you lose reader trust, you’re one step away from losing them completely.
How to avoid this problem: Use cliffhangers sparingly and make sure the interim chapters don’t conflict with the energy you’ve built. If character A is facing a threat to their life, while characters B and C are sitting in meetings, readers will be tempted to just skip ahead to get back to character A (I’ve done this).
5. Diminished Mystery
Mystery is one of the most compelling storytelling techniques an author can use. Humans are curious! But when an author shows readers the perspectives of characters from many sides of a conflict, we don’t have to wonder at their motivations or plots anymore.
If we don’t know what’s happening on the other side of the world, in the mind of a love interest, or to a missing character, every attempt the POV character makes to uncover information is packed with greater stakes. Readers turn the pages eagerly, desperate to find out more. There are false trails, relationship blunders, and a growing pressure to discover the answer to our questions.
Imagine if Dumbledore also had POV in Harry Potter – a legitimate choice. After all, in Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card shows Ender’s superiors planning how best to manipulate him – readers see what’s happening before Ender does. But if Rowling had made this choice, her books would have lost a huge element of mystery!
Not every book needs to focus on this element. But fantasy readers love unlocking the secrets of massive worlds through the eyes of their favorite characters!
How to avoid this problem: Don’t sacrifice character realism to avoid redundancy. Is it “in character” for person A to spend a lot of time investigating x? Don’t reveal that information through person B if you will have to cut it from person A’s POV, thereby harming their plot and character arc.
6. Harmed Character Dynamics
This same problem affects character development. People talk about their experiences with each other – it’s necessary for relationships to grow. But if readers have already seen something happen to character B, the author might not bother to show character A asking about it.
This often results in a lack of important scenes that we really should see. We want to see one of our leads shocked by the other’s traumatic past, or laughing uproariously at their embarrassing mistakes. But if the reader has already seen these moments, they’re usually summarized in passing, since a joke isn’t as funny a second time around.
This can be even more problematic if a party of friends separates and then reconnects later, but never talks about their respective experiences. It’s just skipped over as though it doesn’t matter, when going over that kind of emotion is very important to relationships.
Example 1:
For instance, in the epilogue of Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance [character names redacted to avoid spoilers ahead], we discover that a character we thought died in book 1 is actually alive. It’s a tantalizing reveal for only the readers – none of the main cast knows yet. In book 3, this character makes it back to their family’s base. A servant runs ahead and announces the character’s return, everyone is shocked, then the scene cuts.
There is then a time skip! The actual reunion happens off-page!
Since the author already revealed the character’s survival to the readers, everyone else’s surprise has little emotional impact on the reader. What we have been waiting to see is everyone else’s messy emotions – joy, confusion, tears, asking about what happened.
We see none of that. Chapters later, Sanderson gives an exposition dump about how people responded and what they’re still feeling.
I find more and more that books with multiple POVs skip scenes like this. Too often, group scenes are used to move the plot ahead, and the author forgets to linger on the important emotional moments that lead to character development and deeper relationships.
Example 2:
That’s exactly what happened in the first Avengers movie. I’d been imagining for months what these characters might say to each other when they finally met – how they’d joke with each other, what questions they’d ask, if any would challenge each other to a friendly spar. Unfortunately, for the sake of time, the movie skipped right over such moments and went straight to a briefing room – the plot dump. It was as if the characters already knew each other or had nothing important to say to each other.
I wanted to see Tony and Captain America talk about his father, Thor look befuddled and amused that a human accidentally turned himself into a green monster, and their sidekicks eye each other with “thank god there’s another sane person in the room” looks. I remember being devastatingly disappointed when none of this came up. As if because viewers already know about Cap’s connection to Tony’s father, and because Tony must have read Steve’s file off-screen, that there would be no point in them discussing it. On the contrary, I think that would have been a far more emotionally rewarding moment than the terse conversations we did see between them.
How to avoid this problem: Is your story so long that you have to cut “heartfelt” scenes in favor of barreling the plot along? If the number of your POVs is forcing you to sacrifice character moments for time, you probably have too many. If your characters primarily come together for the sake of plot rather than dynamics that change their lives, then you may be forgetting what truly makes a story touch hearts.
7. Characters as Cameras
Using characters as cameras is a travesty. More and more, I see cutaway chapters that use the eyes of a random character as a way to dump plot info. We never see these characters again. They don’t matter. The author merely uses them as a lens through which to view an important event.
This tactic ignores one of the core tenants of storytelling! Events are important because of who they are about and who they affect, more so than because of what happens. You need to answer “why should we care?” I’d rather see the main character’s reaction to hearing that his King was assassinated than see the event through the eyes of one of the royal guards.
The adage “show don’t tell,” has been taught incompletely, leaving authors feeling like anything that happens must be shown on the page in the form of a scene. That’s not true. Exposition is a useful tool.
It’s easy to get caught in the allure of sensationalism. Authors might think readers will find it boring to hear about the event later, rather than seeing the death “on screen.” But the opposite can be true. Action for the sake of action isn’t necessarily compelling, but the emotional reaction of a character you care about is.
How to avoid this problem: Remember that just because you have imagined a scene, doesn’t mean that readers needs to see it that way. When you know the details, the readers will feel deep layers within the story. Don’t use characters as a vehicle for plot. Use plot as a vehicle to show who your characters are.
8. Likeability Wars
Readers will always have their favorites and least favorites. It’s frustrating to switch from an emotionally compelling character to a POV that feels comparatively flat or purposeless. The comparison can make readers begin to resent other parts of the book, as though they’re getting in the way of letting them enjoy the part of the story they’re actually invested in.
Personally, I often “check out” a little during POVs I don’t care for, essentially skimming through them to get back to “the good stuff.” I read just enough to get the gist of the plot so I can keep up with “the real story.”
Now, I’d never counsel an author not to include a character because some readers won’t like them – you should write the story you love and want to tell.
But the fact remains that readers will drop a book because of how annoying it is to wait a long time to cycle back to their favorite character. I sure have.
How to avoid this problem: Readers can tell the difference between characters you love, and ones you added because you felt like the plot or story needed them. I often see this with books that have a couple male mc’s and then throw in a female POV too. If you aren’t in love with your character, how can you expect readers to be?
9. Exhausting to Read
Reading books with multiple POVs, especially ones with 6 or more, can feel like a slog! It’s a lot of information to keep track of and can feel more like reading a travelogue or worldbuilding encyclopedia than a story.
In my experience, even people who love these kinds of books (Malazan, GOT, WOT) talk as though reading them is an exercise in perseverance. More readers seem to love these books despite their multiple POVs than because of them.
I’ve never heard a person say, “wow, it was groundbreaking for George R.R. Martin to write from 7 POVs. What a great way to tell the story – it just had to be done that way. It would have been way less enjoyable otherwise!” No. Fans commiserate with each other about how tough it was to get through them.
Some of Robert Jordan’s top fans (I regularly attend JordanCon) talk about how there are 3 WHOLE BOOKS in the middle of the series that you “just have to get through and then it gets good.” Do you want your readers to talk like that one day?
How to avoid this problem: Kurt Vonnegut famously said, “pity the reader.” Reading can already feel like hard work. We open up our minds and emotions to new experiences, often after a long day at work. So please, authors, will you pity us a little? Would you want to read a book that’s written like yours?
10. Lazy Writing
Sometimes a large number of POV characters feels like lazy writing on the part of authors.
They have such large worlds with so many characters, that’s it’s easiest to just plop them all in, like throwing every kid who wants to play into a soccer game, rather than picking the ones that make the best team and benching the rest. It’s true that sidelining characters you love doesn’t feel good, and it can be hard to determine which cast will result in the best version of your story.
But it is necessary – just because an idea or character “feels right,” doesn’t mean it should make the final cut.
Writing instructors have been known to say that nothing should be included in a story unless its exclusion would make the readers lose something. Does it have to be there? Would the story and character be lesser without it?
How to avoid this problem: Test various combinations of POVs. Offer different versions to beta readers. Cut, rewrite, repeat. A skilled carpenter will test out multiple types of wood, carving methods, and finishes before settling on a style for a major piece. Are you treating your writing this seriously?
11. More is Less
In books with many POVs, sometimes characters and plot arcs lose a little something with each added main character. Like trying to spread a small amount of butter over 10 pieces of bread rather than 2, the “energy” in a story can only disperse among so many characters.
This is especially true if you have written characters with similar archetypes or plots – their stories can start to feel repetitive. For instance, She Would be King follow 3 black young adults who escape slavery or abuse, see their mother die, and then go on a journey to Liberia. By the time I got to the third mother’s death, which occurred in almost identical circumstances as the second one’s, I was emotionally worn out. Each story on its own would have been powerful, but together, they impaired each other.
Books with multiple POVs are ambitious – the more characters you use, the harder it will be for you to connect them all together in a way that makes the total greater than the sum of its parts.
How to avoid this problem: Think of writing as like knitting a sweater. It’s easier to create a classy pattern with 2-3 colors, but when you try to combine 10 different colors, things can start to look like a kid’s crayon project. Be deliberate about your “pattern” from the start. Too often it’s obvious that the author got weary of trying to balance their POVs and left the story feeling like a tangled heap of yarn.
Tips for Writing Multi-POVs Well
Often, less is more. I encourage you to ask whether you have too many main characters and whether your story would be tighter and more compelling if you trimmed some of them. That is what some stories need.
Of course, not all books with multiple POVs have these issues.
And POV is also a matter of personal preference. Many readers and publishers seek out books with multiple point of view characters. If this is your chosen style, then your next step is to make your writing as strong as possible and avoid the most common pitfalls.
Here are some ways to test whether you have too many POV characters.
Questions to ask yourself:
Would character A’s journey be more interesting if the readers didn’t know what was happening with character B?
Are all of these characters emotionally compelling to me, or am I writing from their perspective because they are the logical choice for depicting plot in a certain part of the world/story?
Questions to ask your beta readers:
This is extremely important, but many authors are too hesitant to ask tough questions of their beta readers. Understandable – our books are our babies! But it’s better to know if one of your characters is boring or insufferable to readers before you publish, than to find out in your reviews.
Were you invested in all the POV characters?
Which ones were most and least compelling to you?
Are there any characters you thought were unnecessary or detracted from the story?
At any point, did it feel like a slog to get through the book?
Did these stories feel vitally intertwined or like separate books crammed into one?
Some beta reader feedback will be subjective, so it’s important to ask enough beta readers that you start to see commonalities in their responses. Then you will be able to approach rewrites with more confidence that your changes will improve your story for all readers, rather than for the preferences of a few.
Happy writing and stay tuned for the expanded version of each point – I know the tips I gave above are pretty vague, but I’ll expand them in future posts!
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing and Eschler Editing, and am currently a weekly editor with Havok Publishing. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
I’ve never been a huge fan of quest stories – “a small party wanders across the kingdom in search of x goal.” I much prefer the rich political intrigue and complex relational dynamics that are possible when a story is set in a single location, in this case a city or city state!
Now most stories do contain some travel – often the hero must leave their small town or home country to reach the new city that becomes the center of the plot. Sometimes, like in Assassin’s Apprentice, a few missions occur outside the city, including the finale, but the bulk of the character’s life is focused in the capital (I read that book over a decade ago and still remember enjoying the scenes of Fitz exploring his city!). So just to be clear…
What you’ll find on this list:
Deeply developed cities that act as a character in and of themselves
Plot that is set mostly in a single city, with minimal travel outside it
Dark, political, epic-leaning adult fantasy
What you won’t find on this list:
Modern settings or technology (beyond steampunk/gaslamp level)
Cities in the real world or alternate historical settings (e.x. no parallel Londons)
Stories limited to a city sub-region (e.x. academies, subterranean labyrinths, palace harems)
I hope you find some great reads among this mix of classics and new releases, traditional and indie published books!
This article contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
Frequently Recommended
These are some of the best regarded fantasy works set in one city, and you’ll likely see them recommended often. Here we see sampling of subgenres: low, post-apocalyptic, high, and weird fantasy.
In the brutal island city of Camorr, orphaned thief Locke Lamora rises to master con artist of the Gentleman Bastards, only to be drawn into a deadly underworld power struggle where a rival’s bloody coup threatens his crew and the city’s criminal balance.
Young Severian, an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers on the world of Urth, is exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession – showing mercy toward his victim – and wanders among the ruins of his ancient city.
Raised as an outcast bastard, young Fitz, secretly trained as an assassin and gifted with the forbidden magic of the Skill, comes of age just as coastal raiders threaten the realm, forcing him into deadly missions that may determine the fate of the kingdom.
In the sprawl of New Crobuzon, a reckless bargain struck for gold unleashes mind-devouring creatures into the city, forcing a group of scientists, criminals, and outcasts to confront the disaster they helped create beneath the iron arches of Perdido Street Station.
By Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson often writes political fantasy that includes a heavy focus on one city’s culture and historical mysteries. This trope is often present even in works like Stormlight, where the characters do travel widely.
In a world where magical Breath can animate the living and the dead, two Idris princesses are caught between a forced divine marriage and a looming war, while a doubting god and a hidden swordsman seek to uncover conspiracy in Hallandren’s Court of Gods.
In a world of ash ruled by the immortal Lord Ruler, a vengeful criminal mastermind recruits a street urchin with rare Mistborn powers to carry out an audacious rebellion disguised as an impossible heist.
Prince Raoden falls prey to the cursed magic of his once-radiant city and is exiled behind the old walls just before his marriage to Princess Sarene, who arrives to find him “dead” and must struggle politically to protect her new home from an invading religion.
Azoth, a guild rat from the slums, apprentices himself to Durzo Blint—the city’s most feared assassin—in hopes of escaping a life defined by hunger, violence, and desperation.
Reborn under the name Kylar Stern, he must master the lethal politics and arcane techniques of the assassin trade while severing every remaining tie to the boy he once was.
The dark city of Ilmar chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, and the burden of its ancient curse.
Despite the city’s refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the greatest threat, as always, will be the Anchorwood – that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores.
The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile. But when his father and three half brothers in line for the throne are killed in an “accident,” he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.
He is alone, surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor, plots to depose him, and offers of arranged marriages. Yet still he hopes to find even a single friend . . . even as unseen enemies threaten his throne and his life.
Shen Tai, son of an illustrious imperial general, has spent two years burying the dead at the site of one of his father’s last great battles. In recognition of his labors and his filial piety, an unlikely source has sent him a dangerous gift: 250 Sardian horses.
Even four or five of the famed Sardian horses could earn a man the mortal jealousy of his peers. 250 is unthinkable, even for an emperor.
If Tai was not required to claim the horses in person, he would probably be dead already…
Brenden Vetch has a gift, an innate ability to nurture and understand plants. One day he receives a personal invitation from the wizard Od. She needs a gardener for her school in the great city of Kelior.
For decades, the rulers of Numis have controlled the school, punishing any wizard who dares defy them. But unknown to the reigning monarchy is the power possessed by the school’s new gardener—the true reason Od recruited him…
In the ancient city-state of Gujaareh, Gatherers – priests of the dream-goddess – harvest the magic of the sleeping mind and use it to heal, soothe. . . and kill those judged corrupt.
But when someone, or something, begins murdering dreamers in the goddess’ name, Ehiru, the most famous of the city’s Gatherers, must protect the woman he was sent to kill – or watch the city be devoured by war and forbidden magic.
In the vibrant city-state of Castellane, the orphan Kel becomes the Sword Catcher—the body double of Prince Conor. He and the Prince are as close as brothers, but his destiny is to die.
Lin Caster is a physician from a small community whose members still possess denigrated magical abilities, and she seeks forbidden knowledge to save a friend.
After a failed assassination attempt brings Lin and Kel together, they are drawn into the web of the criminal Ragpicker King, discovering secrets that may plunge their nation into war.
Dynamite couldn’t cause such a big explosion. As Agent Beka Finley and her partner Lord Donovan investigate a devastating train crash, she becomes convinced it was sabotaged. But everyone seems bent on persuading her it was an accident. Just like the crash that killed her father six years ago.
Determined to protect more lives from the growing unrest between humans and fairies, Beka puts her own life and reputation on the line to find the truth, getting uncomfortably close to some secrets from Donovan’s own past.
Temrai, a cunning and ruthless Chief from the Plains, infiltrates Perimadeia, the Triple City, to learn how to conquer it through siege. Opposite him stands Bardas Loredan, a skilled fencer, and the surviving member of a legendary band of soldiers who killed Temrai’s family.
For the past 12 years Loredan has worked as a “lawyer,” representing clients in duels to the death. But his past comes back to haunt him as a curse tightens around him and Temrai sets his scheme into action.
Drothe has been a member of the Kin for years, rubbing elbows with thieves and murderers in the employ of a crime lord while smuggling relics on the side.
But when an ancient book falls into his hands, Drothe finds himself in possession of a relic capable of bringing down emperors-a relic everyone in the underworld would kill to obtain.
Sharakhai, the great city of the desert, has been ruled from time immemorial by twelve kings—cruel, ruthless, powerful, and immortal. With their elite forces and holy defenders, there is no hope of freedom.
Or so it seems, until Çeda, a brave young woman from the west end slums, defies the Kings’ laws by going outside on the holy night of Beht Zha’ir. What she learns that night of the Kings’ mysterious history and her own hidden heritage could finally break the iron grip of the Kings’ power… if they don’t find her first.
Lukan Gardova is a cardsharp, academy dropout, and—thanks to a duel that ended badly—the disgraced heir to an ancient noble house.
When Lukan discovers that his estranged father has been murdered in strange circumstances, he vows to unravel the mystery behind his father’s death.
His search for answers leads him to Saphrona, fabled city of merchant princes, where anything can be bought if one has the coin. But the price of truth is the deadliest of all.
The city of Guerdon stands eternal. A refuge from the war that rages beyond its borders. But in the ancient tunnels deep beneath its streets, a malevolent power has begun to stir. The fate of the city, and the outcome of a centuries old magical war between ancient beings, mages, and humanity, rests in the hands of three thieves.
As conspiracies unfold and secrets are revealed, their friendship will be tested to the limit. If they fail, all will be lost, and the streets of Guerdon will run with blood.
Jovan was born into a noble family with a secret duty. To all appearances, he is a quiet, affable friend of the Chancellor’s irresponsible Heir. In truth, he’s a master of poisons and chemicals, trained to protect the Chancellor’s family from treachery.
When the Chancellor succumbs to an unknown poison and an army lays siege to the city, Jovan and his sister Kalina must protect the Heir and save their city-state. But treachery lurks in every corner, and the ancient spirits of the land are rising . . . and angry.
The city-state of Saraykeht is a leader of commerce, but its economy depends on the power of the captive spirit, Seedless, an andat bound to the poet-sorcerer Heshai for life.
Enter the Galts, a juggernaut of an empire committed to laying waste to all lands. If they can dispose of the sorcerer, the spirit too will perish and the entire city will fall.
Otah, a simple laborer with a complex past, inadvertently discovers the Galtish plot inside the city – only he can stop them.
Amidst the gas lamp shadows of the city of D’Orsee, former soldier-turned-mercenary John Vanguard hunts criminals for a corrupt employer. Seeking to make amends for his deserter past, a chance encounter with Tarryn Leersac – a skilled, young, would-be-assassin fallen from high society – leads Vanguard to become an unlikely mentor.
Charged with hunting down the killer of two guards, Vanguard delves into the underbelly of the city, becoming entangled in greater mysteries. Can he find redemption, and piece together the truth of the last war, before another tears them apart?
God is dead, his corpse hidden in the catacombs beneath Mordew.
In the slums of the sea-battered city, a boy called Nathan Treeves picks treasures from the Living Mud and the half-formed creatures it spawns. Until one day his desperate mother sells him to the mysterious Master of Mordew.
The Master derives his magical power from feeding on the corpse of God. But Nathan has his own strength—and it is greater than the Master has ever known. Great enough to destroy him. If only Nathan can discover how to use it.
After 10 years on the run, dodging daemons and debt, reviled magician Edrin Walker returns home to avenge the brutal murder of his friend. Lynas had uncovered a terrible secret, something that threatened to devour the entire city. He tried to warn the Arcanum, the sorcerers who rule the city.
He failed – Lynas was skinned alive and Walker felt every cut. Now, nothing will stop him from finding the murderer. Magi, mortals, daemons, and even the gods—Walker will burn them all if he has to. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s killed a god.
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing and Eschler Editing, and am currently a weekly editor with Havok Publishing. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
Princes and strategists, martial champions and war heroes, grit, sweat, brawls, and schemes. Since the beginning of time, we have told stories about the best and worst of men – from myths and epics, to action and adventure classics, to modern superheroes and fantasy rogues, such stories have touched hearts across language barriers and millennia.
So why are they hard to find on bookshelves today?
Let’s take a look at the modern publishing market, reader tastes, and my own perspective as a book editor (plus a few obligatory caveats):
These are 8 of my favorite books of all time. Notice any commonalities?
All of these stories are about men (and boys) – clever, dangerous, heroic, stalwart men. Some are written for general audiences, while others go all in on the “bro vibes.”
Each tale contains passion and violence, loyalty and steadfast friendships, promises broken and kept, strategic and psychological contests, and a mix of wit and heartbreak. The ones that have stood the test of centuries reveal great truths about the human condition.
There’s something else I’ll point out though. The most recently published of these 8, Virtuous Sons (read my review) and Theft of Swords, were both self-published first, and only picked up by publishers after finding great success. The same is true of the wildly popular Cradle series by Will Wight and the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman.
2 more of my favorites, The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard (read my review) and Paranoid Mage by InadvisablyCompelled, have continued to gain momentum as self-published works.
It’s not like we have a net shortage of books about boys and men – that’s the majority of what’s been published for all of human history. But, naturally, modern readers gravitate toward books written in a modern voice – we want new ones.
If I, as a female reader, am irritated by the lack, I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be for male readers, especially boys and young men who are developing their taste for reading!
Big publishers don’t want boy books – they’re wrong
But the Big 5 publishers don’t want to publish “boy books” anymore. Many will deny there’s even such a thing as a “boy” book, or that there shouldn’t be (“that’s not inclusive!!!”).
I strongly disagree with all 3 statements:
I want to see boy books published – I want to read them! And edit them. And market them to more readers who will love them.
There’s definitely such a thing as a book by, for, and about men/boys, that male readers enjoy more than female readers (not that girls can’t as well – I’m a woman and you just saw my favorites list). That doesn’t change the fact that at the core, they are bro books.
There should be boy books. Stories that feel like they were written just for you are incredibly powerful! Everyone should have the chance to read stories that delight and resonate with the deepest parts of our soul. If that means reading books about people that are like you… well, duh.
Modern publishing has a chicken and egg problem. They claim they don’t publish as many books about male main characters because male readers don’t buy books as much as female readers.
Male readers respond thusly: “We’ve stopped buying your books because you won’t publish the types we actually want to read.”
There are thriving indie publishers and reading communities online for action and adventure books that are just straight up fun – no identity politics, no need for sensitivity readers – just cool dudes running around with swords. Virtuous Sons, published initially as a web novel on Royal Road, received over 4 million views.
In the past, before the digital age and the advent of self-publishing, books published by the Big 5 were the only option. If you weren’t reading them, you weren’t reading. In their elitism, the Big 5 have refused to adjust their attitude. They blame their potential buyers rather than their own business model. But men are reading. They’re just taking their time and money elsewhere.
And why wouldn’t they, when their tastes are being insulted?
No, I have no interest in reading any of the “adventure fantasy” books on Amazon with grotesquely proportioned anime pinup girls spilling across the covers. No more than I want to read any of the romantasy featuring glowering, glistening, shirtless shifters.
But male readers (and female ones) are told they’re stupid or backward for wanting to read books about male heroes running around killing dragons, clearing dungeons, leveling up with ridiculously powerful magic, sitting around with their comrades swapping scar stories, and chasing (and getting) the girl at the end.
You’re not stupid. Those are great stories. Some are just good stories – that’s ok too.
What I’m NOT saying
Because everyone gets triggered so easily these days, let me tell you what I’m not saying.
I’m NOT saying that girl books are stupid, or that female authors shouldn’t write the stories they want to tell, or that female characters are worse than male characters, or that if a book can’t appeal to a male audience too, it shouldn’t be published, or that female characters can’t compel male readers etc. etc. etc.
I’m certainly not saying that for a book to be truly great, it needs to be by, for, or about men.
But the publishing industry needs to stop saying the opposite. Stop telling (white) male authors that it’s their duty to step aside and “stop taking up the limelight already so that others can have their turn.” Stop telling authors that their stories are “too male-centric” and that unless they have at least one female POV/main character, their book won’t even be considered. Stop telling male authors that strong, masculine, confident male protagonists are inherently problematic.
Write boy books!
I want to read your boy books! Even more so, I want to read your “men books” – with characters worthy of the tag “epic.” So please write them (whether you’re a male or female author)!
If you’re also on the hunt for modern bro books, you’re not alone. Guess what my most popular blog post is? By a massive margin.
There is demand. Don’t let people tell you otherwise.
And if you’re a male author looking for a book editor, but are feeling a bit querulous after discovering that almost all book editors are women, you don’t have to worry that I’m going to treat you like a tasteless jerk for “having the audacity to think a story deserves to be told about a male main character who starts out as kind of a jerk.”
Characters are supposed to have weaknesses. There wouldn’t be a story if your characters didn’t have to grow and change.
Neither does a male protagonist have to be the most profound, unique character ever written in order to make a good story that readers will buy. The female protagonists in most modern books sure aren’t.
I would be delighted to read your story, review it, and perhaps even work with you to edit it into the best it can be.
So keep writing about brave boys and mighty men!
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing and Eschler Editing, and am currently a weekly editor with Havok Publishing. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
“And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.” – Psalm 39:7 (NKJV)
Father,
It’s so hard to wait. I confess my impatience and difficulty with waiting. We’re conditioned to have difficulty waiting seconds, let alone weeks, months, or years. But, as the old saying goes, “Good things come to those who wait.”
O Lord, You are more than worth the wait! There is no other hope found in the universe outside of You. You have indeed been my arm every morning and my salvation in the time of trouble. Help me not to miss all of the gems within the waiting. Though I would love to press the publish button today, help me see each and every lesson along this writing journey.
I long to wait patiently for what You have for me. Help me not to settle for the tempting shortcut. Give me the courage to stand strong in the face of a culture promoting instant gratification.
Finally, before I begin today’s writing session, I wait for the gift of Your Spirit to empower me and illuminate my mind. Give me the endurance I need to persevere and overcome every obstacle the enemy throws in front me. May this writing session be rewarded with the fruit of waiting.
It’s in the name of Jesus in whom we wait,
Amen.
“O LORD, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble.” – Isaiah 33:2 (ESV)
“Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.” – Psalm 27:14
“On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.” – Acts 1:4 (NIV)
PRAYING GOD’S WORD In your own journal or notepad, write out your own personal prayer regarding waiting. Feel free to incorporate the scriptures above or others of your choosing.
Since 2008, CJ and Shelley Hitz have written and published over 70 books through their independent publishing company, Body and Soul Publishing. They have mentored writers since 2010 and now help Kingdom writers, like you, take the courageous step of writing, self-publishing, and marketing your books inside their online membership, Christian Book Academy. Together they create a powerful team to help you accomplish the goals God has placed on your heart and have been called “pastors for writers.” Find out more and join their community of Kingdom writers here: christianbookacademy.com. Or find resources for authors at TrainingAuthors.com.
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing and Eschler Editing, and am currently a weekly editor with Havok Publishing. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
So, your editor has sent you the manuscript assessment for your story, and it’s a good 10+ pages long. It’s packed with useful feedback, some tough suggestions, and market advice you may never have thought of. You’re probably feeling excited, thoughts whirling, but also a little intimidated about where to start. It’s a lot to consider all at once.
The last thing I’d want is to complete a manuscript assessment for an author, only for them to sit and stare at their draft, with no idea what to edit first. And that’s not the author’s fault!
Think about it. You were taught (or learned through experience) how to write and how to accept and incorporate feedback from other writers or beta readers. If no one teaches you how to break down a long editorial report into steps you can implement in page-to-page editing, it’s little wonder you might feel stuck or overwhelmed.
So here are 8 tips for self-editing your book using the developmental feedback found in a manuscript assessment:
Note: if you haven’t received a manuscript assessment, but are reading this article to determine how helpful it might be to acquire one, I recommend you check out this sample manuscript assessment I completed for one of my author clients.
1. Reorganize Feedback into a Simple Checklist
I tend to organize my manuscript assessments by topic:
Character arcs
Plot
Structure and pacing
Opening, mid-point, ending
Writing style
Marketability
More
However, this might not be the most helpful form of organization for you to refer to quickly while editing. You could rearrange feedback into a chronological checklist.
For instance, in my section on characters, I may offer the following feedback: “I immediately related to the characters, but drifted emotionally from them in the middle of the story when they lost sight of their goals, but was moved by how they pulled through in the ending.” I might also say of writing style: “The first half of your story contained a heavy amount of passive voice and some awkward sentence structure, but your writing improved over the course of the manuscript.”
You could then pull out feedback suggestions and organize them into an editing checklist:
Act 1 Edits: – Active voice – utilize a thesaurus to vary verb choice – Sentence structure – sign up for a free trial for a grammar program (like ProWritingAid) to highlight my most common problems with sentence structure – Reexamine my turning point moving from Act 1 into Act 2 – compare it to what I did in the opening hook – how can I strengthen it to propel readers into the middle of the story with greater character clarity?
If another method of organization is more intuitive to you, then go for it! The idea is to pull out the common threads and compile them into a quick reference sheet that you can work through methodically.
2. “Pants” it!
Or, you could just throw organization to the wind and start where you’re most excited! If you’ve already rewritten your opening more times than you want to count and you dread editing it AGAIN, then skip to the part you WANT to write.
Don’t worry about the whole manuscript. Pick one scene that you have a ton of new ideas for, and start playing with it. It doesn’t have to be the chapter that needs the most work, or the scene that’s most important to the story as a whole.
I hope you can still have fun! Even if editing isn’t your favorite part of the writing process. It’s so important to remember why we even do this. Cling onto the joy of your story!
3. Make small edits that affect larger patterns
Complete a read-through with an eye out for small choices that contribute to consistent problems or patterns. For example, if I tell an author that their protagonist often comes across as whiny and disrespectful, I will mention several specific scenes where this problem was most apparent to demonstrate what I mean. But I won’t list every single instance.
That’s what a developmental edit is for – in a full edit I would highlight each time the character’s attitude appeared problematic and offer suggestions for improvement. But after an assessment, it’s up to you to read through your work again, watching for others ways such problems may appear.
The same is true for any issue your editor mentions was consistent throughout your story – the dialogue was drawn out, the descriptions were confusing, the action scenes felt clunky, etc.
This is where an editing checklist can come in handy again. If there are problems you know will come up consistently, write yourself a reminder.
In each chapter, check: – MC attitude and speech – Can I trim dialogue? – Read descriptions out loud to see if I stumble over them. Rewrite and trim for clarity.
4. Brainstorm with Friends
Get a second or third opinion from writer buddies and beta readers, especially regarding feedback that is hard for you to hear. It’s difficult to maintain emotional distance from a story that’s so close to your heart. So how will you know which editorial suggestions you should definitely implement, and where you can trust your own instinct as a writer?
That’s where additional feedback can help! Talk it out with a friend. Share the editorial advice you received and ask them what they think. Even if you can’t find a critique partner for your entire project, you could find people who are willing to look at a few chapters.
When you start hearing the same thing from different readers of your genre (that distinction is vital), you’ll gain more confidence and clarity about the necessary changes.
5. Decide What Feedback to Reject
Decide what feedback you want to accept and what you don’t. You’re not going to agree with everything your editor says, and that’s ok. There may be things your editor doesn’t know about later books in your series, or you could just love the way you have something and not want to change it. Editing is a collaborative process.
Of course, don’t reject professional suggestions out of hand. Some changes won’t feel fun, but really will strengthen your story.
But you might come up with alternate ways to address a problem your editor raises. Suggestions are just that. They’re meant to be helpful, not to pigeon-hole you or kill your creative spirit and voice.
Trust your instinct! Don’t pain over everything. If there are gut decisions you can make after going through the assessment, write them down on a “do” and “don’t” list, and move on.
This is one way that editing with a manuscript assessment can be more efficient than working from a developmental edit! All of your feedback is in one place, so you can read through it and make your “yes”/”no” list quickly, without first having to re-read through individual comments on your entire manuscript.
6. Ask Your Editor Questions
If you’re stuck, feel free to reach out to your editor again! I always invite authors to send me follow-up questions, and surprisingly few do. Perhaps they’re being considerate of my time, which I appreciate. After all, if I ended up offering writing coaching, I should bill for that time. But I consider follow-up questions to be part of the manuscript assessment service. It’s not hard to answer a few questions over email.
I also really enjoy talking about the stories I’ve worked on! Sometimes I’m actually disappointed when the author doesn’t have anything to say after I return my work, because I’m invested in their story and so curious and excited to see how they develop it further! You love talking about your book – so do I!
Of course, you could ask for a one-off coaching session. Or, if you feel like you need more detailed edits on a “problem section,” you could hire your editor to work on certain chapters. Not all editors will agree to edit “a-la-carte” like this, but some do, especially if they’ve already read your entire manuscript and understand the context.
One of my clients, for whom I completed a manuscript assessment, later hired me to edit his action scenes, as that was an area of weakness I had highlighted. He decided it wasn’t worth it to struggle over them – it wasn’t one of his strengths. So we worked on those portions together. It’s a great way to stay within budget, while still ensuring your work meets the standards you want.
7. Allow Yourself to Take Breaks
You might think, “but I’ve already been on a break, waiting to get my assessment back. I should jump back in now.” Not necessarily. You can allow some time for the ideas to percolate.
It’s hard to open yourself up to feedback on your story, which is your precious baby! It’s ok to take a breather, go read or write something purely for fun, and then come back to the assessment once your creative juices are flowing again.
Often, I offer reading suggestions to authors in my assessments – whether standout works in your genre, comparative titles I think could help you pitch your book, or writing resources.
It’s better to do something productive or uplifting than stress yourself out or do nothing at all!
8. Make a Plan Against Procrastination
The longer you put off getting started, the harder it’ll feel to go back and look at that editing list again. Try to set a schedule, set aside a consistent time to write, and make some personal deadlines.
This often works best when you have a writing buddy who can help hold you accountable! Try swapping each newly edited chapter with a critique partner once a week or biweekly. Your speed of editing isn’t important, but chipping away at your project little by little IS – or it’ll never happen.
This is general writing advice. If you had the self-discipline to finish and edit a draft, and send it to an editor, then you’ve learned some great habits over the years! Apply what you know of yourself as you use your manuscript assessment, even if the process feels different from how you’ve worked in the past.
If you’ve edited your novel using the feedback from a manuscript assessment, what worked best for you? What didn’t? Reach out – we’d love to add your advice as an author into this post!
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing and Eschler Editing, and am currently a weekly editor with Havok Publishing. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-20
Heavenly Father,
Bless me with confidence in the anointing You have given me to write.
You are the Author and Perfecter of our faith (see Hebrews 12:2), and I pray that You will help me as I author the words you have called me to share that will bring You honor and glory and breathe hope into the hearts of my readers.
Help me to not get distracted by worldly busyness and building my own platform, but to be busy building Your Kingdom and pursuing the calling You have given me, just as Jesus did (see Luke 2:49).
Protect me from the lies and deceit of the evil one. May I rest confidently in your truths and in my calling, rather than getting sidetracked by doubts, insecurities, and distractions. Equip me to write with courage, confidence, and faithful obedience.
Help me to focus on my readers, on their needs, on their struggles and desires. May every word, every message You want me to share flow into my writing.
Holy Spirit, You are welcome here. Strengthen and guide every word I write. Help align my motivations and desires with Yours.
Amen
*This is an edited excerpt from the anthology Prayers for Writers, to which Jenn contributed.
She also loves spending time with her husband and two sons, savoring coffee chats with friends, curling up with a good book, and enjoying a wonder walk through nature.
For additional resources to help you pray for your writing, check out her site Prayer Empowered Writer.
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing and Eschler Editing, and am currently a weekly editor with Havok Publishing. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
Professional book editing can be pretty expensive. Perhaps you’ve researched standard rates, or have recently received a quote that’s outside your budget. Either way you’re probably feeling pretty frustrated and wondering if there’s a way to save on costs, without sacrificing on the quality of feedback.
I’m here to tell you there is! It’s called a manuscript assessment or manuscript evaluation – a detailed editorial letter summarizing developmental feedback (without in-line edits).
It’s hard to find an actual example of a manuscript assessment on the internet, but I’ve uploaded one (with my client’s permission) here! I’ll also go over:
A manuscript assessment is an 8-15 page editorial letter detailing developmental feedback on:
Characterization
Plot
Style
Pacing
Structure
Dialogue
Openings
Endings
Marketability
Recommendations for next edits
More!
Here is an example of a manuscript assessment which I completed on a speculative fiction novel, shared here with the author’s permission. The complete version I provided to the author was 15 pages, but I have redacted some content and blurred names to protect the author’s unpublished work.
Please note that my author-editor contract specifies that I cannot share any portion of an author’s manuscript or any sensitive details about their work (without permission), which is professional standard. This is why it is difficult to find examples of a manuscript assessment online, and perhaps why this service is not more commonly known by authors.
How a manuscript assessment differs from a developmental edit
A manuscript assessment does NOT include line-by-line edits and comments.
A developmental edit examines characterization, plot, structure and more through in-line comments and notations on the manuscript itself. An editor will include specific feedback throughout each chapter, sometimes even on every page (depending on how much work the writing needs).
As such, a developmental edit takes a lot more time, with much more detailed attention paid to each scene and portion of the manuscript.
A manuscript assessment summarizes the most significant feedback into a single document – saving the editor a lot of time!
How Much a Manuscript Assessment Costs (compared to an edit)
Because a manuscript assessment takes less time, editors can offer the service at much more affordable rates. Which is a huge win for authors!
A manuscript assessment usually costs half or less than half of a developmental edit, while still offering a significant amount of feedback.
The Editorial Freelancer’s Association compiles median editorial rates as self-reported by their members. Please note that since these are median rates, this means an equal number of editors charge above and below these amounts.
Median developmental editing rate for fiction: 3.0-4.0¢/word
Example project: a developmental edit on a 100,000 word fantasy manuscript would cost $3,000-4,000.
Median manuscript assessment rate: 1.5¢/word
Example project: a manuscript assessment for a 100,000 word fantasy manuscript would cost $1,500.
Our Book Editing Rates
If you are interested in working with Creative Cornerstones, my rates are $0.02/word for developmental editing and $0.007/word (a third the cost) for a manuscript assessment.
Example projects: a developmental edit on a 100,000 word fantasy manuscript would cost $2,000 and a manuscript assessment would cost $700.
Beware of excessively low editing rates
You may be thinking, “but it’d still be better to get a full developmental edit than a manuscript assessment. I could find someone online who will do a full edit for a lot less than $3-4K!”
That’s true. But beware of cutting costs too much, or you risk hiring someone whose feedback may actually do more harm than good.
I met a self-published author once who said she found someone on Fiverr to “professionally edit” her whole novel for only $200. That’s barely enough to cover, at a living hourly wage, the time it would take to read the full manuscript. This service may have functioned like a valuable beta read, but it was by no means a professional edit.
If you have to make the choice between hiring a hobbyist to complete a “full edit” and hiring a professional to complete a shorter task like a manuscript assessment, I would absolutely recommend the latter. You will gain more if a professional gives your book 20 hours of their time than if a novice gives your story 40 hours of their time.
Is a Manuscript Assessment the Right Choice for You?
Still, it’s not the right choice for everyone. Unless you are willing and able to put in significant work self-editing your novel, I would not recommend a manuscript evaluation.
A manuscript assessment is a great fit for:
Authors looking to traditionally publish their book who want to make their manuscript as competitive as possible before seeking representation.
Authors intending to self-publish their work who do not have the budget for a full developmental edit.
Authors who are confident self-editors, but are looking for a professional second opinion.
Newer writers who aren’t sure what their manuscript needs and are looking for detailed feedback that still affords room for significant rewriting.
I have worked with all of the above types of authors!
One of my author clients had been working on her story for over 10 years and had re-written it many times. She had reached a point of frustration – not ready to start on the sequel, and not confident enough to explore publication. She opted for a manuscript assessment almost as a way to receive writing coaching for her specific project.
Another of my clients is pursuing traditional publication, but he wanted to make his manuscript as strong as possible before querying agents since he understands how competitive the market is.
Why don’t more Authors know about manuscript assessments?
If manuscript assessments are so great, why is this the first you’re hearing of them?
Even after I started working in the publishing industry and was trained in the differences between developmental, line, and copy editing, I didn’t hear anyone talking about manuscript assessments.
I discovered the term quite by accident, and was astonished that it was not more widely known – because it is a perfect fit for authors looking to self-publish! Indie authors don’t have a huge budget, but still absolutely need to receive professional developmental feedback.
So many authors have reached out to me requesting a sample edit, gotten excited about moving forward, but then felt crushed when they heard my quote for a full edit. In such cases, I’m so glad to be able to suggest a manuscript assessment as an alternative!
I love books! I love authors! I want every writer to be able to afford professional feedback, even in a condensed form!
These authors go from crestfallen and overwhelmed, to delighted. So many have said, “I didn’t even know that was an option!” I feel frustrated on their behalf. The editorial industry has not done a good job of marketing this service.
How many self-published authors have inquired about professional editing, realized it exceeded their budget, and released their work without the benefit of any professional feedback?
I’m writing this article so you know there’s another option!
Yes, the best case scenario is to receive several rounds of editing on your work – developmental, line, copy editing, and proofreading. This is what traditional publishers do. Is this realistic for most indie authors? No. But it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Getting a manuscript assessment and incorporating the feedback in a final round of self-editing can massively improve your story!
If you’re an author, I’d certainly love to work with you on your manuscript, but I’m writing this article mostly to educate the writing community. I hope you go on to tell all your writer friends that there is such a thing as a manuscript assessment!
If you are serious about your author career, then your books are a business. Every business invests upfront in creating a top-quality product. Your book needs professional developmental feedback to maximize its potential. But that doesn’t have to be out of reach for you!
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing and Eschler Editing, and am currently a weekly editor with Havok Publishing. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
Are you an author who speaks English as a second language? Welcome! Whether you’re dreaming of publishing your book with a North American publisher, or looking to translate your novel into English to reach a wider audience, our team would love to support you.
First of all, I’d like to enforce the value of submitting your book to the English-speaking publishing market. According to data reports, books written in English make up between 1/3 to 1/2 of all global book sales.
In 2024, book sales in North America accounted for 33% of the global book market’s revenue. Europe accounted for a share of over 25% of worldwide book revenue.
Publishing your book in the English language will position your work in front of the largest demographic of book buyers in the world. A potentially lucrative choice!
Publishers and agents in these marketplaces are happy to accept the work of ESL authors from around the world, as long as your work holds up to industry standards. This means your work needs to be indistinguishable in quality from writing by native speakers.
Common English as a Second Language Errors
English is a hot mess! Native speakers admit it freely. The grammar is confusing, and it’s even harder to get the idioms right – for instance have you heard the phrase “hot mess” before? 😉
As an editor, I often see the same types of mistakes in writing by non-native English speakers:
Omission or incorrect use of articles such as a, an, the
Subject-verb agreement
Incorrect order of adjectives
Improperly used verb tenses
Overuse of passive voice and transitional phrases
Unclear sentence structure
Use of descriptors that don’t quite fit the context
A manuscript that contains basic errors like this will not appear marketable to an agent or publisher. Even if your English skills are exceptional, native speakers might still sense a stiffness to your style.
Working with a native English speaker will transform your novel, eliminating common errors and smoothing out cultural idiosyncrasies that you may not be aware of.
Editing Your Novel
I love working with global authors! You bring a unique perspective and style to storytelling which can be refreshing and exciting for native English-speakers to experience. As a reader, I am so incredibly blessed to have access to books from around the world that have been translated into my native language!
It’s been my privilege to work with authors from:
China
Central America
Ghana
Austria
Ethiopia
Types of projects I accept:
Manuscripts written in English by advanced or fluent ESL authors
Manuscripts that have been professionally translated into English and need a second look
Speculative fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, fairy tale and mythic retellings, etc.) is my specialty. I am also familiar with the mystery and thriller genres.
Projects I do not accept:
Manuscripts written by authors who are at the beginner or intermediate ESL level and still need significant language instruction
Manuscripts that have been translated with Google Translate, other AI, or a non-native English speaker
Nonfiction (excepting memoirs)
I would love to be able to work with all authors, but below a certain level of language proficiency, authors would benefit more from further language and writing instruction. A professional edit is a significant investment – it’s best to wait until your work is truly ready.
Self-Editing Support
I encourage you to take advantage of grammar and editing programs like ProWritingAid (both free and paid options available)! They highlight mistakes, but also explain each error, teach you the matching rule, and offer editorial suggestions. Unlike programs like Grammarly, ProWritingAid is designed for creative writing, not business or academic writing, and so they have better stylistic suggestions.
Running your work through programs like this can help you eliminate a lot of the more common mistakes, like absent articles, which will reduce the amount of time your editor needs to spend on later drafts – saving you money!
WARNING: Please be very careful not to write using AI! That is a sure way to get your work rejected by publishers. ProWritingAid offers suggestions for how to rewrite sentences. Do NOT just copy/paste them into your text. These programs are wonderful as a learning tool, but if you let them think for you, your writing skills will not improve.
How to Get Published in North America
Please note that while my team offers book publishing services to authors, including coaching, editing, self-publishing support, and marketing, Creative Cornerstones is not a publishing house or agency. We also do not offer translation services.
I would be delighted to edit your novel to maximize its quality and increase your likelihood of finding representation. I have worked with 2 publishing companies – Monster Ivy Publishing and Havok Publishing – and can advise you on the expectations of the publishing market in the United States.
Even native English speakers are increasingly hiring freelance editors before querying agents, because they know how competitive the industry is. In an attempt to cut costs, publishers are much more likely to accept a book that has already undergone developmental editing than one that needs significant rewrites.
Traditional publishing in the United States is dominated by the Big 5 Publishers:
Penguin Random House
HarperCollins
Macmillan Publishers
Hachette Book Group
Simon and Schuster
Each company operates many imprints – subsidiary publishing companies that they have acquired or created to specialize in certain sub-genres or audiences.
These companies are businesses looking to profit, so they seek books with mass appeal. They only offer deals for books they think will sell tens of thousands of copies – at least. If you’re seeking publication with a traditional publisher, you will first need to gain the representation of a literary agent.
For more information about finding a literary agent, I highly recommend Gina Kammer’s course on querying – she has over 15 years of experience in publishing and offers exceptional coaching to authors.
Other publishing options include mid-size and independent publishers, and self-publishing. I discuss these different routes in greater detail in the following article.
Ready to take your book to the next level?
I would love to hear more about your story and discuss how we could work together to make your book stand out in the crowd!
You are welcome to send me the first chapter of your book – I will complete a free sample edit on your first 1000 words and provide my recommendation for the type of edit your manuscript needs.
You can find a breakdown of the different types of editing – developmental, line, copy – here. Feel free to reach out to my team with any other questions as well!
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing and Eschler Editing, and am currently a weekly editor with Havok Publishing. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
Book covers! We love ’em but we hate them too… once we see the price tag that comes with a professional artist. If you’ve decided to make your own book cover, it’s easier and more affordable than ever.
BUT, an unprofessional or lackluster cover will result in poor book sales, while a polished, eye-catching design will draw the right types of readers to your book. Your book cover is your best sales tool – you really need to nail it!
So, to help as you design your own cover or pursue working with an artist, we’ll examine the following marketing concepts and cover art guidelines:
NOTE: since I specialize in sci-fi and fantasy, all the cover examples will fall within these genres. However, my general advice about marketing angle, artistic direction, and design programs is applicable to all fiction authors.
Your Book Cover is Your #1 Marketing Tool
Your book cover is your most effective marketing tool. And that’s how you need to think of it. You probably have a ton of images in your head of favorite scenes, cool characters, and dramatic vistas.
But accurately conveying the beauty of your world or main character is NOT the most important element of your cover. A cover is only effective if it will make your target reader pick up your book (and ideally buy it).
To interest your ideal reader, a cover needs to convey:
Genre – a fantasy book looks a lot different than a contemporary romance. Make sure to use the general trends that are appropriate for your genre AND sub-genre. First impressions are lasting!
General tone and themes – use color scheme, lighting, and subject matter to narrow your audience – is there a male or female figure on the front? A close-up of a face, or a unique, sprawling vista? Cool or warm tones?
Accurate reader expectations – if your book doesn’t feature a lot of romance, you won’t want a steamy couple on the cover. If there’s a dragon on the cover, that dragon better show up! If your cover looks bright and cheerful, but has a tragic ending, readers might be miffed.
It is vitally important that you follow through on “the promise of the premise.” If your cover promises “high concept space opera” and you deliver “found family scrapping by in space,” you’ll irritate the readers who do pick up your story, and fail to find the ones who’d truly enjoy it.
Have you heard of “Chekhov’s gun?” It’s a phase that originated in the film industry – if you depict an element that has exciting connotations – like a gun, legendary sword, dragon, or battle – that element better show up in the story, or readers (viewers) will feel misled and let down.
Your cover makes a “promise” about the type of story and emotions readers can expect. Keep that promise.
How to Do Market Research
The best way to ensure that your book signals to the right type of reader is to complete market research. In other words, look at other covers within your genre and sub-genre to see what’s resonating with readers.
Look up your favorite authors. Skim through lists of Amazon new releases in your category. Save your favorite (genre-relevant) book covers to a Pinterest board.
What catches your eye? What do you skim past without really noticing?
Your own tastes are a good place to start, but it’s important to poll a wider field. There are some great communities online where you can post cover mockups, in-progress works, and alternate versions, and ask readers to vote on them!
Just make sure you’re polling people who actually read within your genre. Facebook, Reddit, and Discords have pretty active groups that tend to be pretty kind, in my experience.
Trends come and go, especially on social media – ask readers what designs they love, what turns them off in a cover, and which version of a cover looks best. These are effective ways to ensure that your cover not only looks professional, but also has the highest chance to sell your book.
Fit in But Stand Out
It’s important to find a balance between originality and familiarity. You want readers to look at your book and, within 0.01 seconds, understand what genre and sub-genre your story falls into – that’s all the time they’re going to give you.
However, you do still want to stand out. A book cover with a close up of a sword’s handle may convey “sword and sorcery” plenty effectively, but that’s all it does. Seriously, enough already – this tells me absolutely nothing about your story!
The same goes for the plethora of covers that feature a noblewoman in a puffy dress, a cloaked boy facing off against a dragon, or a random space ship hovering over a planet.
You need to imagine not just how your book will look on its own, but how it will compare when stacked up against the competition – literally stacked in a pile at a bookstore, or more commonly these days, on an Amazon new releases list, Instagram or TikTok feed, or any other online platform.
These covers all look sharp and effectively convey “dark romantasy,” but because of the vague titles and intense similarity in visual elements, I get overwhelmed when looking at them all. I don’t know how they stand out from each other. I’ve stood in bookstores reading the back covers of books like this, and then as soon as I set them down, I forget which description goes with which title.
That’s why when covers like this come along, in the same genre and sub-genre, they shoot to the top of #booktok lists – because they stand out, while still fitting in!
So scroll through those lists! And especially look at the books and authors you’re using as comparative titles. You may love covers that use graphic design, but if your comps use highly realistic oil paintings, you may want to consider using that style to flag the same readers.
The Visual Elements of a Strong Cover
Choosing Fonts
I’ve put this at the top of my list of visual elements because unprofessional fonts are the most common mistake I see on covers these days. With photo manipulation, pre-made covers, and accessible programs like Canva, it’s more affordable than ever to acquire an attractive image for the base of your cover.
But a generic, improperly formatted, or genre-inappropriate (e.x. corporate text on a fantasy book) font will scream “amateur” even if you use a great image.
The above covers make the following mistakes:
The font is simplistic, more fitting to a word document than a cover
The color of the text doesn’t stand out well against the background
The font is too small
The title and design compete, rather than working in concert – part of the design is obscured, and part of the text is less readable – neither win (more on this in the next section)
Here’s a simple rule of thumb for picking your actual font: if you’d use the font in an email, DON’T use it on your cover (except in your blurb, which should be highly readable).
If a font is available for free in a word processing program, it probably won’t look professional on a book cover. It’s absolutely worth it to pay $15 for a month of Canva premium to select a few unique fonts.
A book’s title, author, series name, and any taglines or testimonials are often written in different but complementary fonts. Keep that in mind as you look through examples.
Focal Point and Composition
Focal Point
A book cover needs a strong focal point – the place in the image that your eye is instantly drawn to.
Covers tend to use either the title or the image as a focal point. Note that in the first two covers below, the image and backgrounds are relatively simple, while the text is much larger. In the second two covers, the images are much more striking, causing the eye to fix on them immediately.
Both choices are valid – just make sure that your text and image don’t compete with each other, like on the Realm of Dragons cover above.
Ensure your image has enough negative space for your title, or an area that is simpler in texture and color, so the words don’t have difficulty showing up clearly against the design.
Rule of Thirds
The rule of thirds is a useful compositional strategy that divides an image into nine equal parts with two horizontal and two vertical lines. It’s recommended to place key elements along these the lines, at their intersections, or within the segments.
Our brains like segmenting things and following patterns. Harry Potter is placed squarely in the middle of his cover, and the title takes up the full top third. The pillars frame him pretty closely along the horizontal lines of the thirds.
On The Neverending Story‘s cover, each “third” in the bottom only contains one fanciful creature, giving us some mental space to process one and then another. The mandala motif on The City of Brass takes up exactly the top 2/3 of the image, with the pillar of fire and figure strikingly illuminating the center “column” of the book.
Guiding the eye
Using the rule of thirds is also helpful in designing a composition that draws your reader’s eye around the full frame – from image to title, to author’s name, and back again.
Amok‘s cover by @jiwosophy does a stunning job of this!
1. The title starts at the top left focal point, taking advantage of the reader’s instinct to read from top left to right.
2. The curve of the woman’s body along the top 1/3 of the image follows our reading path, ending in a second focal point – her face.
3. The linked arms and blades then cleverly lead us to the author’s name!
4. The dynamic curve of the young man’s body draws us to his head, which rests at another intersection of two lines.
Significantly, we don’t see his face. If we did, it would likely compete with the title for attention, as the human eye gravitates toward faces. The back of his head still serves as a focus, and his outstretched hand points us upward toward the woman’s feet, and back to #1 – the title.
Masterful! Not to mention, the motifs and style of this cover hint at the story’s unique worldbuilding – inspired by author Anna Tan’s Malaysian ancestry.
Artistic Style and Medium
Artistic style is one of the best ways to give readers a hint of your writing style and the “feel” of your story. As my lit professor loved to say, “form reflects meaning.”
Some top design styles include:
Traditional media – oil painting or watercolor
Digital painting
Real life images – models, landscapes
Cinematic cover
Culturally or historically inspired artwork – Chinese ink painting, Greek pottery motifs, and wood cut prints
Graphic design
Mixed elements
Medium hugely impacts the depiction of light and color – watercolor or acrylic will look much softer than richly saturated oils or bright digital paintings. So this choice will greatly affect your book’s perceived sub-genre.
What style makes you the most excited? More importantly, which one makes you want to pick up the book?
It’s SO hard, but the most beautiful cover, isn’t necessarily the best cover. It’ll save you a lot of pain down the road if you accept NOW that some images are best left as supplementary art or interior illustrations, rather than as your cover.
You want to pick the style that best sells both your book and your brand as an author.
Here are some various covers for The Fellowship of the Ring over the years, and they each convey something different about the story. The 1st image is the original cover design, the 2nd cover looks more like a children’s book, the 3rd reveals the beautiful scope and literary quality of the work, the 4th is more cinematic, the 5th is a graphic design call-back to the original cover, and the 6th looks like a modern dark fantasy.
All these covers say something true about the story, but appeal to different readers. What type of reader do you want your cover to speak to?
Depicting Your Character
Some readers hate seeing characters on book covers, while others love it, or don’t really care. The choice is yours.
Characters are usually depicted on covers in one of 5 ways: silhouettes, shots from behind, multiple characters interacting, half or full body front view, and close-ups of faces.
1. Character silhouettes
In this style, characters are often seen from a distance or depicted through a simplified art style – little can be made out about the character except for gender, and pose.
These covers work harder to indicate their genre and sub-genre than to communicate what is unique about the main characters. These are meant to be archetypal depictions that make a reader think, “I like stories about swordsmen, or ladies in Victorian times.”
What to avoid:
You’ll want to be careful not to overuse graphic design elements that look like clip art cutouts. I’ve seen the same silhouette of warrior girls and dragons on so many book covers that it has become distracting. All I have to do is open Canva and I know exactly which one they used, which makes a cover appear less professional.
2. A figure shown in profile or from behind
In these cases, we don’t see the character’s face clearly, but are given more intricacy in clothing and other features.
This is a great way of indicating more about the personality and profession of your main character – soldier, noble, spy, alien, and so on, without committing your readers to a certain version of their face.
What to avoid:
You don’t want to be too vague here. I’ve seen a ton of fantasy covers that feature a cloaked or armored figure from behind, or a young woman with her hair blowing, and these figures don’t really tell us anything about the story or character. The examples above give enough detail to let us know general ages, professions, culture, and potential goals.
3. Covers that depict multiple characters
If your story centers around dynamics between one or more characters, featuring multiple figures on the cover can be a great way to establish reader expectations. You’ll let them know that the heart of the story centers around love interests, buddies, rivals, found family, master-apprentice relationships, and so on. Readers will also often assume that such a story follows multiple point of views, which is useful information to convey.
What to avoid:
Including too many characters on one cover can become distracting. It also makes it a lot harder to maintain continuity in later covers or if you have to change artists. Note that Kings of the Wyld, which features the most characters of those examples, still uses one character as a focal point, while the others fade into the background a little.
You also want to avoid having characters just stand around. In the covers above, the characters clearly have a task before them, and are not just posed before “the camera.” They look ready to solve a problem or leap into action.
4. A front view of the character (half or full body)
If you don’t mind committing yourself to an artist’s rendition of your character’s face, then go all in with a front shot!
The most effective character shots are dynamic, emotional, and indicate another layer of the world (plot, magic). These characters feel like they’re in the middle of a scene, and we’re holding our breath, waiting to jump in and see what happens next.
What to avoid:
You’ve likely seen many covers that show a character just facing the reader (as though looking at a camera), with a rather neutral facial expression and body language.
These depictions, while potentially “accurate,” are rather boring to look at. You want to at least partially answer the question: what makes this ranger, orphan, or prince different from the others?
5. A close up of a character’s face
This can be a very effective way to communicate something unique about the main character, display intense emotions, hint at a major theme in the book, or just show off a hot character! 😉 A close up can also indicate that the story will follow a single character’s perspective quite closely – perhaps even in 1st person.
What to avoid:
If you’re going to depict a character’s face prominently on your cover, you MUST maintain consistency across the series. Here is an example of a series that failed to do this.
These book covers all feature a different model, and none of them actually look like the main character, who is a redhead, not a brunette. Her face tells me nothing about the story or who she is – her expressions are passionless. These are also all essentially the same cover – a woman over a planet – which tells me nothing about how the series might progress.
In contrast, the most recent cover in this series actually depicts the point of view character accurately, down to her determined stare and dress uniform. We receive more information, including a fighter jet, which indicates the military themes of the book. Plus an accurate portrayal of her husband, and the inclusion of a unique celestial body, rather than a generic planet.
In summary, the face of a character rarely in and of itself creates a complete cover. Other elements, including clothing, lighting, and emotion, are incredibly important to hooking a reader.
Also Avoid
the uncanny valley
When creating faces digitally or with the use of photo manipulation, it’s easy for a figure to fall into “the uncanny valley,” the name for the unsettling, even repulsive, feeling people experience when encountering humanoid figures or artificial entities that are almost, but not quite, human-like.
Think creepy doll effect, photoshop catfishing, or CGI animals whose mouths and eyes don’t quite match up with their words.
Here are some examples of covers that look “off” because of over-photo-manipulation and the blurred effect of digital brushstrokes.
In addition to looking amateur, they just feel a bit creepy, which is the last thing you want a prospective reader to take away from your book. Make sure to look at an artist’s portfolio before you hire them. If you’re not confident your artist can depict faces well at your budget, it’d be better to simplify the design or show your characters from behind than to end up with this kind of effect.
Bad Photoshop
Badly photoshopped covers are less common these days. The technology is more accessible even for amateurs, and it’s a lot easier to find freelance artists on platforms like Fiverr that are both affordable and have better skills than those displayed in the covers below.
Still, it’s good to keep in mind that just because you can cram a lot of fanciful elements or light filters into one image, doesn’t mean you should. Even if the image layers are merged and shaded properly, such covers can still look a bit… extra.
AI-Only
This is a whole can of worms. But as a business, Creative Cornerstones takes a very simple approach: don’t do it.
AI can be a fun tool to create mock-ups for your own enjoyment, to brainstorm ideas, or to provide references for your artist.
But DO NOT use a fully AI crafted image as your book cover.
In order to create these images, AI scrapes existing art and copies it, stealing the hard work of real artists. You open yourself up to a word of copyright issues. Most lawsuits about AI are still ongoing, and you really just don’t want to risk it.
There are many ways to create a book cover for next to nothing.
Besides, readers can tell when a book cover is AI-made and often they won’t pick it up as a result. I participate in many author groups online, and when authors posts covers asking for feedback, one of the top, most repeated comments I see on AI artwork is, “if I saw this on Amazon, I wouldn’t buy it because it looks AI.”
Often, readers might not care about the AI art itself, but what it indicates about the work as a whole. It shows that the author didn’t have the budget to hire a professional artist, which means other elements about the book might lack professional refinement as well – especially the writing quality. They might think, “was this book ‘written’ by AI too?”
There are SO many books on the market, that if a reader has even the slightest doubt about the quality or ethical construction of your book, they’ll simply move on to something else.
Affordable Cover Design Tools
Whether you’re looking to create your cover by yourself, or simply want to make a mock-up for your artist, there are some great programs that are affordable and user-friendly.
Book Brush: $149/yr (this one is designed specifically for creating book covers, ads, reels, etc. with tutorials and templates)
Canva and Adobe Express both have completely free versions too, but I highly recommend getting the upgraded version just for a month – there are way more templates and design elements available that will make your cover easier to create and more professional-looking. Since hiring an artist could cost $50-2000, $10 or $15 is nothing.
For more information about technical details such as image dimensions, trim size, and printing details, I suggest you directly consult your publication platform’s requirements.
I do recommend hiring a cover design artist, at least as a consultant. There are a lot of refinements you may not consider, such as genre-appropriate lighting filters and color tone, or how much you should brighten an image to make sure it looks good once printed.
“Fixes” like this could take an artist just half an hour to spot and correct, saving you a ton of trial and error and pain down the road.
These days, I hesitate to recommend freelance platforms like Fiverr, because it’s hard to tell whether an artist’s work is genuine, or if they use AI and still charge “full price.” I’ve seen a lot of posts lately by authors who were burned by artists (often from abroad) who lied about their work, charging $100s-1000s upfront and then delivering work that contained obvious AI mistakes (distortions, disproportionate figures, oddly repeated patterns, etc.).
I strongly encourage you to choose an artist based on word of mouth recommendations. Ask people in your writers group, at local conventions and book fairs, and in online groups specifically designed to help artists and writers connect.
If, while doing your market research, you find an artist whose work you really admire, why not reach out? Don’t assume their work is outside your budget! Artists who work with small and indie presses usually have much lower rates than those who’ve created covers for the Big 5.
Here are 3 cover artists I recommend, in order of cost ($, $$, $$$):
1. Galadriel Coffeen, our in-house artist creates sharp, digitally painted covers that feature high contrast, striking colors.
Her covers range in cost from $50-500, depending on design complexity.
She also paints dragons and dramatic character illustrations!
2. Kirk DouPonce of DogEared Designs creates luminous covers for sci-fi, fantasy, and thriller books. At the moment, he is not accepting new commissions, but if you like his work, you can check back in the future and reach out on his website for a quote.
3. Jeff Brown has created stunningly epic covers for indie authors and big names alike. He charges $4000, which includes typography, full usage, multiple print covers, multiple deliverables, etc. and is currently booked over a year out. Find more examples and information on his website.
Market Testing
One more hugely important reminder: once you have a couple versions of your cover, test their effectiveness! Ask your target readers (on social media, in your newsletter, in groups, at book events, etc.) which cover they’d be more likely to buy.
You can even ask what the cover says to them about:
Genre (and sub-genre)
General tone and themes
Reader expectations
Readers LOVE seeing covers and voting on which ones they like. Don’t assume that just because you and your artist love it, they will too.
You can’t just “change it later,” as it becomes extremely complicated to list various cover editions on Goodreads, which is one of the major platforms for gaining reviews.
Learn More
If you’d like to learn more about creating a competitive cover, I recommend Eschler Editing’s Pocket Editor course: Crushing Your Cover. They go into further detail about cover design strategies for various genres, including nonfiction. You can use the code Cornerstones10 to receive 10% off the course.
I work with Eschler Editing, an award-winning team with over 25 years of publishing experience. They’ve successfully launched work with bestselling authors, traditional publishers, and indie creators.
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing and Eschler Editing, and am currently a weekly editor with Havok Publishing. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
