June 2023 – Month of the Cover Reveal

It has been a whirlwind June for Far Removed. I have a couple of exclusive offers for those who have been bearing with me all these months.

Cover Reveal

Details

When I illustrated my cover 6 months ago, I didn’t think I’d have to document my process to prove I’m a human artist. I will share what I have. Hands are tricky, so I often take my own reference photos for poses. Before any digital painting happens, I sketch my ideas in a book. I had merged the earlier layers of the psd file, but on the right is a rough version of Prismer’s mask. I was still blocking in areas of shadow and highlights there.

This is a character-driven story so I wanted Prismer upfront. The back cover will feature a setting more related to Oklas, my other POV character. He will likely grace the cover of the next book in the duology, mirroring this layout.

At the start of June, Tessa Hastjarjanto, who I had encountered on Twitter, kindly agreed to reveal my cover on her website, Narratess:

Cover Reveal: Far Removed by CB Lansdell

Pre-orders

1 June 2023 was also the day I shared my Amazon pre-order page. I plan to distribute the ebook of Far Removed through other retailers like Kobo, using Draft 2 Digital. I will update this universal link as that happens. Paperbacks and hardcovers will be on the way next month. I am reviewing my typesetter’s work now.

ARC Reviewers Wanted

I had mentioned exclusive offers. If you can’t wait until September for the release, I have set up an ARC of Far Removed on Bookfunnel. There are limited copies available. If you agree to read the epub, I would appreciate an honest review in return, ideally on Goodreads and one other major book retailer by September. Author and reviewer relationships have a reputation for being explosive. I want to assure you that if life gets in the way and you can’t leave a review in time, I understand. I might just be a bit sorry for myself if there were no reviews by the end of the year. Please do not distribute your ARC.

The Prequel Novell(ette)a

I started out calling my prequel story a novella, but according to Wikipedia, the word count for a novella is 17500 – 40000 words. “Novelette” is the term for something between a short story (roughly 7000 words max) and a novella. At the time of writing this, the story is still in novelette territory at around 16000 words, it shouldn’t grow much more.

What is it about?

Set 30 years before Far Removed, The Tidelings of Dras Sayve follows Emis Rindar, a character mentioned in my upcoming novel, as he searches for a protégé from the secretive and technologically-advanced clan of Dras Sayve. There are definitely Easter eggs for FR, but this story is tonally a bit cosier. It lacks the horror elements of my novel. You can read them in any order. The novelette will give more background to the events that shaped one of my MCs in FR. If you read FR first and return to the prequel, there are some delicious moments of dramatic irony. Some of the themes here are only explored in part 2 of my duology.

How do I get it?

My mailing list’s landing page will go live on my birthday, 13 July. When you subscribe to this, you will receive a link to an epub of The Tidelings of Dras Sayve. I hope to eventually publish it, together with a second novelette, as a paperback and hardcover. I will have them professionally edited around that time. In its current state, TToDS is fairly polished, but there might be little errors that have escaped my self-edits.

In Closing …

There is a lot more I could say. Hopefully, by the time we get to July’s newsletter, I will have some photos of printed proofs to share. After receiving some fantastic auditions, I have chosen narrators who complement each other well. They have just finished their recordings, and it won’t be long before I can share more about the process of producing an audiobook.