Guest Blog: Jenn LeBlanc {THE RAKE AND THE RECLUSE; An Illustrated Romance} & International Giveaway!

Today AtM readers are going to get a glimpse into a new type of digital book: One with photographs! 

Author Jenn LeBlanc is a professional photographer, as well as a writer, and has combined her two passions by including photographs that inspired scenes in the book, that combines to create an illustrated romance!

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Hello everyone! I am so excited to be here Among The Muses. I’m going to chat a bit about the creation process for my illustrated novel THE RAKE AND THE RECLUSE. 

The only thing I knew going in to the process of querying for an agent and publisher was that I needed to stand out in a crowd. Since I am a professional photographer, I decided I could shoot my cover to send in to catch their attention. Naîve perhaps, but I didn’t now any better, and right now my readers are happy for it. (And so am I!) 

I scoured the internet for models and finally found this guy: 

His name is Derek Hutchins and over the course of the past couple years he has become a very dear friend of mine. I mean we have worked pretty closely on this project and a couple other projects to the point that we now make a pretty great team. We have a lot of fun together. 

Anywhoo...we shot for the cover which was supposed to look like this: 

We had so much fun, my mind started racing. It was the same time the first iPad was to be released, and I thought why can’t I illustrate my entire novel? I knew the answer to that question prior to the iPad, but now? The cost is nil, as an ebook it doesn’t cost any more to publish a fully illustrated book. 

I talked to Derek and he was all for it, so over the next year we shot about 8 full day shoots, comprising nearly 50,000 raw images to sort through. It was interesting to figure out what to shoot and when, how to set up the shoots, proper shoot order etc to save time. 

Turns out the most logical order to shoot in is by hairstyle, then costume, then lighting setup, then actors, then sets. Of course we didn’t quite figure this out until after a few shoots. It really was a major undertaking. Similar to shooting a movie, because we had scenes to set, costumes, models, etc. 

I went through the book and picked out what I thought were the most poignant quotes. I wanted to illustrate these ideas in particular. These images are all about emotion, the feeling and intent of the storyline. 

I also made notes about the details in the novel, the framed miniature, a rock that is important to one of the brother’s, the drunken pears, the brandy, things like this. I wanted to shoot these detailed images, to give texture to the scenes without telling anything about the story. 

We also shot images of the characters beyond the story, portraits, costumes, things like that. Background images that don’t necessarily speak to the story but simply to the characters themselves. 

So we shot and shot and shot some more. During this time I started the layout process. I had to learn ePub layout in inDesign, because I was doing everything in inDesign, and I wanted to try to keep every file type fairly uniform. As it turns out, there is no easy way to do the ePub layout. You have to design completely different files for every output, ePub, PDF, lit, MOBI, print, etc. So I have now learned layout and design for multiple outputs. YAY! 

The most difficult part of the project was cutting images. I worked with an amazing photo editor, Mike Davis, who cut my 150 image edit down to about 7 images. He explained the purpose of the images I shot and gave me fresh eye to dig back into the project and figure out which images would stay and which would go. 

While I did not stick to the 7 image edit, I did cut it down to a little over 100 images total in the eBook. I was able to do this because I knew what I was looking for, because I knew the purpose of the images, either detail, emotion, or story. 

I then worked with an incredible designer, Deb Pang Davis, who went through the final book and gave me some great insight into structure and layout as well as fonts. What she recommended was simple but made such an amazing difference in the final product, and really in the branding of my books overall. She also helped me schmooze my website into a better overall flow and feel. She was an incredible asset to my team. 

The book was finalized and published last February digitally, then I spent a month designing the hardback and trade paperback versions for the big release party in April. It was fun. 

I brought Derek out to RomCon here in Denver last August and we had a great time with readers and fans. It has been such a great adventure. I am really looking forward to the next conference and chance to meet everyone! 

Until then, for updates on my work in progress, the follow up to The Rake And The Recluse, you can subscribe to my blog. All news goes there first, and as we are starting the casting for the next book there are quite often pictures of the models I am working with or looking to hire. You can also follow the casting work on my tumblr blog, or on Twitter with the hashtag #castingPerry.

Thank you so much for joining me and if you read my book PLEASE track me down somewhere and let me know what you think! I LOVE LOVE to hear from readers. You can find me on Twitter and Facebook. 

 

Because The Rake And The Recluse is a FULLY ILLUSTRATED novel, it is meant to be read as an eBook. It is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance eBooks and on iBooks from your iThingy and is ONLY $2.99!

So I always like to ask what draws you to an image. What are some of your favorite images? Book covers? What stands out in your mind when you visualize romance?

 

 

Giveaway Details:

• Jenn is offering a digital copy of THE RAKE AND THE RECLUSE to one lucky commenter who answers Jenn's question(s) at the end of the post!

• To be entered in the contest, answer Jenn's questions along with your email addy.

• Contest is open Internationally!

• Contest will run from 10/24 - 10/28 11:59pm.

• Winner will be randomly selected and notified via email.

 

Good Luck and thanks for stopping by to support Jenn and her unique illustrated romance: THE RAKE AND THE RECLUSE!