Part One of this subject talks about consistency. That is always important for anything. Consistency is key, and that's one of the reasons I decided to go back and rebrand the entire Saga. It was formerly the Sars Springs Saga, and The District Series, but now it is one big Saga The MOD Life Epic Saga. All sub-series have been removed, and all volumes have been renumbered. All titles have the word "Life" within it. Some titles have been renamed.
Before I actually did anything, I had to plan. I created the logo, I created a basic cover template, and I had to figure out what I wanted on the cover, and inside the book (besides the actual story). So, once it was planned, then, I could begin.
I have completed the first NINE books in the Saga (originally they were the entire "life" series).
Cosmetics:
Covers/External
All covers have a similar design. I utilized the basis for each cover and make changes when necessary. Where I got rid of the individual series names, I still "lumped" those books together with different colors. So, background color for the covers, both front and back (for paperback), have the same shade. Most of the books have the exact design, with the exception of the books that take place in The District, and the ones that are part of the individual bonus series of the saga.
An example of a cover is to the right, using "Unwritten Life" as an example.
Internal:
Document Tagging/Metadata
One of the most important things, especially when using the same document to create "new" versions or for different formats (I.E epub conversion, mobi/kindle, createspace etc) is to make sure the tagging is proper. I use MS Word 365, so I can update the tagging of the document in the "info" tab under the file menu. I make sure that the title is correct and that the author name is correct. Sometimes, if you use a template from publishing site, the author's name is connected to that site, so make sure you change it.
Title page: I created a new title page. When I did formatting (something I will detail in another post), I only used three types of font styles, Heading 1, Heading 3 and Normal. In another blog post (part III, I'll detail the different formatting). The title page has only the title of the book, and the author name (mine). I do not find it necessary to write "a novel". I just write by Amy Shannon.
© Copyright. The copyright page not only provides the copyright dates (each time it was published) but also if it was previously published under another title (Most titles I had to changed the name).
And then, I have the boilerplate text of "All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permissions of the author, except by a review who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a newspaper, magazine, or journal. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Credits: Cover Illustration Copyright © 2018 Cover design by Amy Shannon" which is what I use for all my work. the only thing that changes are the dates.
Book list:
For each book, I have the book list up to and including the title. On the page that follows, is the volume number. I also made sure the volume number is also on the book cover image.
Introduction: This is my personal thing that I like to do. I always call it the Introduction, and it is the synopsis that would be on the back cover of the book, or in the book description on buy sites.
Of course, there is the content. Though it has been published, it has been reread and reedited, and of course, reformatted.
As part of my rebranding, I will be publishing on Smashwords, CreateSpace, and Amazon. So, they will not be on KU. However, I also offer ALL my books on my website for sale. Click here to purchase or browse. As a reminder, the BONUS books are all FREE.
The end of the book has a few extra pages of information. Each book contains a Character List of all the characters in that book. It also gives you a brief synopsis about the next book in line, and then, there is the author bio page, where I share some links, my email and a brief bio about myself and my books.
So, that's the cosmetics of the books.
The first nine are available, and the next books that come after will have official releases.
Stay tuned for part III on rebranding and details on formatting the books to meet the requirements.