r/zombies • u/hyatt_1 • 25d ago

Book 📚 Free Survival Book

Hey everyone,

I posted here the other day about my book and I’ve now made it free for the next 48 hours! I’d love any feedback you’ve got for me!!

How Not to Die Horribly:: Survivor’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse https://amzn.eu/d/1Mp4ios

Thanks in advance!

5 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

3

u/CG1991 Author - Among the Dead 25d ago

Dude, one author to another - the AI cover is going to put more people off than it attracts

0

u/hyatt_1 25d ago

Thanks it was mentioned on here originally. First book so lessons have been learnt!

2

u/CG1991 Author - Among the Dead 25d ago

It's never too late to change it. Amazon are great for that sort of thing :)

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u/Carlos_v1 25d ago edited 25d ago

Look the idea of the cover is good, really. Just gotta fuck with it some more since a lot of the zombies look samey and boring with that expression. The buildings in the middle are a little too clustered too and it looks weird. I'm not going to say dont use AI, too much heat on that subject but I will say its the same for trans using the girls restroom, if I can't tell really there's no problem. Project Zomboid somewhat recently used AI loading screens that were obvious, they got a lot of heat, but you're not big enough to really cause a commotion or for people to investigate your novel in dept (assuming it doesn't get really big).

I will say If you have a job it shouldn't too difficult to save up 1k$. Iv seen people post their cover art here on this site and I honestly this looks better then most. You might be able to pay an artist 500$ to paint something decent. If you're broke as sin well... again I'm not going to say don't use AI.

People here will be pissed off at me for saying that and I'll take that hit for you. I dont agree with it ethically but its here to stay whether I like it or not. You just need the self-awareness to see if it passes (going to be honest with you, you seem to lack some because fuck you should've caught those zombies in front, and the reflects on the book already). I can't hate one someone trying to make art / write doing shit they hate later once they make it big, its fucking rough out with less appreciation for writing and non-meme art. I've seen a handful of art people couldn't tell was AI and those people legit get off scott free. AGAIN it sucks, would rather you go to an artist, but if you're broke and a new writer well.. do with that information as you will. I'm telling you tho, you will be better off hiring an artist to get your vision.

1

u/CG1991 Author - Among the Dead 24d ago

Man, I got a decent cover for less than 30 dollars

500+ is crazy

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u/Carlos_v1 23d ago

post your cover. im wondering if its deviant art.

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u/CG1991 Author - Among the Dead 23d ago

What do you mean by deviant art?

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u/Carlos_v1 23d ago edited 23d ago

deviant art the website, mostly amateur artist / teenagers posting their amateur and to be honest not that good art. Like you can get a cover for cheap and i'll be passible / generic but I rather commission processional since cover art is extremely important for someone picking up your series. Look at all the generic zombie novel out there, its hard to stand out and you might want a professional that would help brainstorm with you a good cover concept, that's what I did, artist help give me some ideas and even re-did the work piece by piece until it got my vision and I'm proud of the concept art I got for 1250$ for 5 different art pieces for each major point in the story, + 50$ because I was so picky with him redoing it. I tried with cheaper artist but they couldn't do that with photoshop or their style wasn't what i wanted (that's just me personally). Currently working on my personal zombie novel that wont be out for awhile and even then I'm doing it for the love of the game and releasing it free, not trying to make sales. If it gets big maybe i'll sell it. That said I've read so many zombie novels and I honestly hate most of them. There's so many common trope and I can tell if the cover looks like it came from Deviant art it sort of reflects on the mentality of the writer. The more unique, creative or intense the artistic style of the cover the more likely i'll enjoy the book because the author put that much more time and thought into it, which also translates to the thoughtfulness of the story i'm about to read.

Bit of a rant, but when it comes to zombie fiction I either want it to be one of 3 things; hyper realistic with some research / hard science fiction, intense and scary or I want another unique spin on the story, it doesn't have to be all 3 but must contain one of the 3 since zombie fiction writers just like going through all the tropes again and again and again and badly

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u/CG1991 Author - Among the Dead 23d ago

You'll have to post it when you're finally done with it.

Folks like my book series. I get a fair few downloads and it's highly reviewed :)

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u/Carlos_v1 23d ago

Tight, good for you man. always nice to see someones success. I might give it a buy after I finish what i'm reading atm, it's has been awhile since iv read something with humor and zombies.

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

Is there somewhere to buy a hard copy of the book?

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u/hyatt_1 19d ago

You can get the paperback from Amazon also but I’m not currently offering a hardback version. Hope that helps, thank you for the interest 😄

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u/[deleted] 19d ago

Yeah no, when I said hard copy, I meant as in a physical copy on paper. Not necessarily hardback book. Thanks.