MM Hurley

The holidays were amazing and brutal all in the same breathe.

But now that the holidays are over, I am able to get back to focusing on the book journey. But routine has always been a hard challenge for me. Getting started with one, or keeping one. So today was the first real day that I put a ton of energy into my book. But I did. I feel very good with what I was able to do, including actually posting on my website. As it’s been too long since I’ve done that too.

I’ve been making it a habit to think about my book every day. But sometimes that’s all that happens, is thought about what needs done or what I want to do. Not action. So having action today made me very pleased. One thing I thought a lot about was my book cover…

……I made a hard choice.

I had created the cover that you see below months ago. In trying to mark something off the to-do list that stands between me and self-publication. And I think it’s beautiful. I love it. I love the coloring, the mask, the whole picture. But when I created this, I did so with the help of AI photo generators (Fotor.com). Thinking it over and then overthinking it some more I have decided to not use a AI genatored cover.

Why? The answer is simple, there is still so much grey when it comes to AI generators. I used it, used my account to make it, but do I own the creative rights to publish and in theory earn from a creation that I really didn’t make, I genorated.

Because of that, I kept thinking about how I wanted to do my new cover. I had attemped on way of doing it. And it just wasn’t working for me. It was cool and looked okay, but it wasn’t right. Then my hometown was hit with a snowstorm. So I went and laid in a snowdrift at the edge of my yard and got some photos that I loved. I wasn’t even warm when I made the tiktok. But the photos I got that day, made me really happy.

The hard choice was the right one. I was able to use Canva and create a book cover that I love, that I feel represents my story well. But most importantly one that own-free and clear-no grey area. So I say goodbye to the AI generated one, but it is the right thing to do.

Journey/Thoughts/Comments
via a list

1. I am closer now then I’ve ever been. It’s taken two years for me to get here. But I’m so glad that I am. I really am terrified to publish this, but am so looking forward to being down with this process. I have learned a lot, and I’m still learning so much. I just hope this is recieved well.
2. I am down to tweaking four chapters. Chapter three, four, nine and ten. There just needs some more polishing. My editor and I spoke about a month ago and she gave me some pointers that I’ve been working on implenting. It’s been slow work due to the holidays. I worked a lot more hours, I had a lot of focus on family traditions and holiday events.
3. With the tiktok ban that is coming, I may not be able to post the videos that I’ve been doing. But I still have my facebook page, instagram account, X (Twitter) account, so I still will be posting to the socials like I have been trying to. But I may not be able to do any more videos. Time will tell about that.
4. Writing is hard. Publishing is hard. I have made myself a to-do and am finalizing it all as much as possible. I want to have this published by the end of February.

Okay, that’s enough on this list. I have so much to do for life in general and my work.

@mm_hurley

hey all! I’ve went a bit ghost recently. working on a post for the website to explain. hopefully some of you are still around. #update #editing #themaskofemmelinejones #EmmelineJones #aspiringauthor #selfpublishing #indieauthor #debutnovel

♬ nhạc nền – kynguyen4991 – kynguyen4991

Thanks for following on with the journey.