I love getting test copies!

From idea to content to actual product is quite a process. First, I spend months writing, editing and working on the cover art. Then a few weeks of layout and finally I can order test copies. It’s like a special gift landing in the mailbox every time. Of course, I’m always a little nervous they won’t look good. Especially after the struggles we had with Evanescere (but that’s a story for another time). To order test copies is a very important part of our process. I want to be sure that the final product you buy looks good.

I also need it for the product pictures in our shop. The real thing always beats a mock-up in my opinion.

Today I got the new paperback version of Evanescere (which will show up in our shop soon!), and a dotted journal made from the valentine rose card I made. I just love how the new cover art for Evanescere turned out. Merging my paintings into a collage really worked out well and compensates in some small way that there are no illustrations in the paperback version.

The dotted rose journal is so very beautiful. I tried two different bindings – spiral and hardcover. With a spiral journal one can always remove pages, but with a hardcover you don’t need any supporting table or other surface to write. The spiral looks really good, and the hardcover does too. It’s just that I think the hardcover might look even better with more pages. This time I went for 100 dotted pages. 200 felt a little too much last time I tried. Maybe ideal would be somewhere between the two. I also feel that I want to add ‘Roses’ as a title to it. So, still work in progress.

Tell me what you think in the comments!

With love,
Anneli

P.S. Read more about the enchanting Evanescere here.