Great Horse 16 – the ebook
Little did I imagine when I started this blog series that, more than a year later, I would be adding another post! But even as I was
writing my earlier posts in the series, eager to let you glimpse the
background work that goes on behind the scenes of creating and publishing book,
the paper versions of “I am the Great Horse” were slowly going out of print.
Eventually no copies were left in the warehouse, and since my publishers
decided not to reprint, the rights reverted to me.
Bombarded by (well, sprinkled by) emails from
people seeking copies of the book, I began work on the ebook edition in 2012. I
quickly ran up against an important publishing decision: did I make the ebook
look like a children’s book, since the original hardcover and paperback editions were published
on a children’s list? Regular readers of this blog will be aware I already have
some pictures of the horse characters, which I tried inserting into the text as
illustrations. But I soon took them out again. Not only did they make the file
very large (amazon charge for electronic delivery, you know!), they also made
the book feel a bit too much of a “horsey/pony” book. That idea is not dead, however, just shelved... a condensed version of the text focused on the horses rather than the history might work quite well, so look out for post 17.
I was, however, keen to include the lovely illustrated map by artist Brian Sanders, which he kindly gave me permission to do. We
worked out an image size that would zoom on the Kindle screen, and I inserted it
sideways so the details are more legible if you're reading your
Kindle in portrait view. (If you are reading it in landscape view, you might have
to turn your Kindle upside-down… sorry about that, but can’t please all of the
readers all of the time!) You can see Brian’s artwork much more clearly at http://artofbriansanders.blogspot.co.uk
Since size is no barrier to an ebook, the rather lengthy text could stay as in the original print
books, with just a few minor tweaks at final proofread stage (because the
Great Horse insisted upon sticking his big hoof into the story again).
Then I came to the cover. An ebook's secret weapon - or curse, depending how successful it is in attracting readers.
The original print editions featured Bucephalas’ rather big head. I loved the classy silver cover of the American version, which
also had an elegant interior layout to match:
 |
| Scholastic US hardcover |
While the dramatic close-up of the Chicken House edition gave the paperback
an edge of its own:
But neither of these covers really suggested Alexander the
Great to me.
This was a deliberate move on my publisher’s part to avoid putting off younger readers who might enjoy the horse element of the story without too much mention of history (remember the book was originally published on a children’s list). Older readers, my editor felt, would read further and realise what the book was about. I was a bit doubtful at first, but it must have worked because the book sold out. In the print editions, of course, we had the luxury of a back cover. So Alexander’s name went on the back to keep me happy, along with a ‘blurb’, and the book did eventually find adult readers interested in history and Alexander the Great, as well as people who liked horses.
 |
| Chicken House UK paperback |
This was a deliberate move on my publisher’s part to avoid putting off younger readers who might enjoy the horse element of the story without too much mention of history (remember the book was originally published on a children’s list). Older readers, my editor felt, would read further and realise what the book was about. I was a bit doubtful at first, but it must have worked because the book sold out. In the print editions, of course, we had the luxury of a back cover. So Alexander’s name went on the back to keep me happy, along with a ‘blurb’, and the book did eventually find adult readers interested in history and Alexander the Great, as well as people who liked horses.
Having already found its younger readership in print form, and knowing the Kindle is more popular with adults, I
decided that for the ebook I would try a different style of cover, making it clear to potential readers from the outset that this
is a quirky historical novel about Alexander the Great, and not merely a horse story.
My other ebook covers follow a silhouette theme, which seems to work quite well at thumbnail size online, and in black and white for older Kindles. So I hunted around for a suitable image and took my inspiration from an ancient coin featuring Alexander and Bucephalas, which appeared in several of the books I'd used for researching the novel.
My other ebook covers follow a silhouette theme, which seems to work quite well at thumbnail size online, and in black and white for older Kindles. So I hunted around for a suitable image and took my inspiration from an ancient coin featuring Alexander and Bucephalas, which appeared in several of the books I'd used for researching the novel.
Deciding on a gold and black theme, I created my own 'coin' of Alexander riding Bucephalas on a sheet of orange paper,
using a dinner plate:
I then cut out a horse-and-warrior design from a sheet of black paper
I drew some black dots around the edge to suggest the outer rim of the coin, and added Greek-looking letters for the 'Great Horse' part of the title:
Then I finished off the details on the silhouette with a silver pen:
Alexander’s lance head made an obvious “A”, which I inserted into the title:
Then I finished off the details on the silhouette with a silver pen:
Alexander’s lance head made an obvious “A”, which I inserted into the title:
I then photographed the result with my digital camera and transferred
it to my photo-editing software to add the smaller text, along with my long-desired strapline
about Alexander the Great. (Ha! The joys of indie-publishing!) A few tweaks to the contrast and brightness etc, a background photograph of a sunset to add interest, and the
cover transformed into this satisfyingly fiery version:
HA!
The “I am the Great Horse” ebook is available now from:
amazon UK
amazon US
and epub format from Kobo, Nook, Apple etc.
amazon UK
amazon US
and epub format from Kobo, Nook, Apple etc.