I’m pretty excited about finally publishing the latest Kid Sensation adventure, Extraction, which is a short story (although technically – based on word count and length – I think it actually fits the definition of a novelette).
As with the first two novels, the cover art was done by Isikol.
The story itself is kind of a holdover – something hinted at in the second book, Mutation. However, rather than fold it into the action taking place in Kid Sensation #3 (the third book), my gut instinct was to make it a stand-alone adventure (which I hope fans of the series will appreciate).
As with the second book in the series, I once again failed miserably in terms of announcing a publication date, doing a cover release, and so on. Frankly speaking, it’s probably my process that prevents me from taking any of the aforementioned actions.
I typically don’t even begin thinking about a cover until I’ve finished the manuscript. In fact, the first time I turn my mind to what should be on the cover is usually when I’m reaching out to my artist, Isikol, to say that I’ve finished a new book and would like to commission some cover art.
Moreover, since Isikol also does the typography for me, I usually have to spend a little time trying to come up with a descriptive blurb for the back of the book before he finishes. (If I haven’t mentioned it before, I usually do both an ebook and a print version of my books.)
In short, my thinking simply isn’t advanced enough yet to contemplate doing all the things that established authors do. (Just to show what a Neanderthal I am, I was putzing around trying to wait for the book to show up as “published” on Amazon when the first sale came through. Apparently, books become available to readers before Amazon even lets authors know that the publication process is complete. I’m also racing like the dickens trying to get it up on other publishing platforms.) Regardless, I’m glad to have this one out there and hopefully readers will enjoy it.
In other news, with this baby now put to bed, Isikol can focus on the cover for the Warden sequel. As I previously posted, the text for that one is already done; depending on when the cover art gets finished (and I don’t plan to rush my artist, no matter how quickly I’d like it done), it will probably get published in a week or so. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that readers will feel that it was worth the wait.