Picking Their Brains: Authors' Top Reads of 2018

We've all heard the advice that writers should read to become better writers, but where to start? What are writers reading? I've asked a few indie authors what their favorites reads were this year and here's what they had to say. Many thanks to these fine authors for sharing their recommendations:

Best: For me it is a tie between Richard Nell's Kings of Paradise and Straight Outta Fangton by Charles Phipps —Michael R. Baker, author of The Thousand Scars

I only read three books this year, and really enjoyed all of them: CT Phipps's I was a Teenage Weredeer, ML Spencer's Darkmage, and Rob Hayes's Where Loyalties Lie. Still hoping to finish AM Justice's A Wizard's Forge over the holidays. —Matt Gilbert, author of The Dead God's Due

The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding (Total shocker, I know lol). Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence. Paternus by Dyrk Ashton. —Rob J. Hayes, author of City of Kings

Fantasy: Godblind by Anna Stevens. Non Fiction: On Writing by Stephen King. Historical Fiction: Men of Bronze by Scott Oden. Added bonus... Worst book I’ve read (apart from mine) Fools and Mortals by Bernard Cornwell...DNF —Paul S. Lavender, author of The Eighth God

Two books stand out from the last year - Orconomics by J Zachary Pike (currently doing well in SPFBO) and The Green Man's Heir by Juliet E McKenna. —Martin Owton, author of Exile

I dove into an anthology of Penny Dreadfuls this year with classics like Diary of a Madman and Sawney Beane. I love this kind of work because of the different flavors of diction that they provide. Read some Charles Phipps. The stuff I got ahold of for him was a kind of slapstick horror mixed with blood-pumping action. That is not a super accurate description but for the last few months I have been trying to categorize his work unsuccessfully. This is the best I can do right now. I read Bone by Jeff Smith this year, if you haven't, you should. And look for ML Spencer she is a woman in fire. —Jesse Teller, author of Song

My favorite read this year was definitely Darkmage by M.L. Spencer, though I really enjoyed Fae: The Wild Hunt by Graham Austin-King, American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, I Was a Teenage Weredeer by Charles Phipps, and a re-read of Firestarter by Stephen King. —Richard Writhen, author of Hiss of the Blade

Picking Their Brains: Matt Gilbert on Cover Design

Continuing the advice topic of book cover design, let's hear from Matt Gilbert, author of the Eye of the Lion Saga...

As a video game programmer, I have a lot of contact with artists. I was able to locate someone by consulting with colleagues, but if you don't have that option, deviantart.com is a great place to look. There are forums where you can post looking for artists to commission, and they have examples of their work online.
 

A huge thing to consider up front is to make sure your artist is the sort of artist you want. Yes, that's right, there are lots of different kinds, and they are better at some things than others. One guy may be a whiz at 3d modeling, another may be jam up at painting and 2d, etc. It pays to understand that. If you are not sure, find a book cover you want yours to resemble and ask your artist if that's his thing. A pro will tell you if it's outside his skillset and recommend you to someone else, or be able to show you a portfolio that backs up his claims.

If you have a vision you want to see realized, words are good, but pictures are better. To get the right look for my Xanthians and Nihlosians, I did a lot of description, a lot of 'this is how they feel', snippets of description from the books. I also did a lot of google image search to say, "Like this guy in this movie, only sort of like this other guy in this other movie."

A good artist will work with you to compose the scene, and get you roughs to approve before real work begins.

Expect at least a few hundred for a good cover. You can keep that low if you allow the artist to use the cover in his portfolio, rather than demanding it be totally exclusive. Also, a lot of artists support indy art (including writing) in general, and will work with you on the price if they know you're an indy, so don't be shy about it.