The Western Fictioneers Library Presents Two Novels by Jory Sherman

BUZZARD BAIT

Matt Cord is going to avenge his brother's hanging . . . no matter who he has to kill!

Matt just wants to get his brother Luke, Luke's fiancée, and the herd of cattle to their ranch in Montana Territory. But when old enemies strike at Matt through his family, he takes his .44, his Bowie knife, and his old Hawken rifle and sets out on a vengeance trail that takes him through blizzards, hostile Indians, and deadly ambushes to a final showdown!

BUZZARD BAIT is a classic early novel by the legendary Jory Sherman, dean of living Western authors. Out of print for more than 30 years, it's now available again from the Western Fictioneers Library. Don't miss this action-packed tale from a writer Loren Estleman describes as "an American treasure"!

RED TOMAHAWK

Young Sioux warrior Red Tomahawk and his best friend Curly face the dangers of an increasingly hostile frontier as soldiers and gold-seekers encroach more and more on Oglala and Lakota lands. But neither young man can predict where destiny will take them as the fires of war spread across the plains and Curly becomes the visionary leader of his people known as Crazy Horse! Their fate awaits them in the valley of the Little Big Horn . . .

RED TOMAHAWK is an epic novel of war, friendship, and danger, full of poetic visions and gritty action, a compelling tale spun by living legend and master storyteller Jory Sherman, one of the most honored Western authors of all time. This sweeping saga is a proud addition to the Western Fictioneers Library, which is devoted to making the best classic Western fiction available again for today's readers.

Jory Sherman began his literary career as a poet in San Francisco’s famed North Beach in the late 1950s, during the heyday of the Beat Generation. His poetry and short stories were widely published in literary journals when he began writing commercial fiction. He has won numerous awards for his poetry and prose and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in Letters for his novel, Grass Kingdom. He won a Spur Award from Western Writers of America for The Medicine Horn. He has also won a number of awards from the Missouri Writers Guild, and other organizations. Sherman was a book producer, packaging books for many major publishers. His CHILL series of mysteries, published by Pinnacle, appeared in 14 countries. He has published more than 400 books since 1965, more than 1000 articles and 500 short stories. In 1995, Sherman was inducted into the National Writer’s Hall of Fame. Literary critics consider Sherman to be among the top 5 of western writers, according to Dale Walker, historian. Warren French, former professor of literature at the University of Florida, wrote that: “Jory Sherman has a strange and powerful knowledge of language and an almost perfect ear.” Sherman continues to write novels and short stories as well as conduct writing workshops. He received the Western Fictioneers Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 and is the 2013 recipient of the Owen Wister Award for Lifetime Contributions to Western Literature. www.jorysherman.com

Now Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords

    

And if you missed it Western Fictioneers also published Jory Sherman's Gun For Hire in May.

Steps of Creating Covers for Western Fictioneers Novels And Ebook Giveaway

The next Western Fictioneers novel to be published will be Jory Sherman's BUZZARD BAIT. I start with the right shape for a cover even if I end up covering it up with a full image.  The color really doesn't matter at this point.  This gives me the shape 6 inches wide and 9 inches tall, which is trade paperback size.

All of the novels published in The Western Fictioneers Library have the same text and logo at the top of the cover.  Colors may vary, however. The black is easy to read on the orange/yellow so that's what I'll start with.

Next I need an image.  I can't find just one picture that fits what I want the cover to say, so I'll add a blend of them. Over at shutterstock.com I bought this image (2847541).  This doesn't feel like a blue book to me, so I took the photo over to a photo editor and played with it.  I painted the blue over with a golden orange. You can find images to buy all over the internet, just search for them on Google. Never use an image that you do not have permission to use.

With the change in color I ended up with this image.

I added the hang rope image to the bottom of the cover.

 

Next I changed the color of the original rectangle to blend with the image.

With a title like BUZZARD BAIT, we have to have a buzzard.  I found this one on Print Shop.  I think it'll look great with the scaffolding.

Is it better to put the author's name on top or the title?  I know there's been a lot of debate on this subject, but honestly I use what I think works best with the image.  I'd rather have the title take two lines than the author's name, so space-wise I decided to put Jory's name on top.

I used akaPosse font for the text.  This font was found just by Googling 'free western fonts'. It's a very visible font, so I think I'll use it on the title, too.

I want to give this a little more of a western feel.  I go looking for a bull skull.  I found the perfect one in a clipped photo, but it requires me to have my disc in the computer and I'm away from home, so I keep looking. I like this one, but I need it clipped.

Fortunately the program I'm using, Print Shop, allows me to hand crop. Adding the skull tells more of the story.

Now I want to add a little text, but the spacing doesn't work that well, so I copy the hanging image and crop the bottom, then copy and paste that section to add a little length to the pole.

This gives me added clear space I needed at the bottom for a little cover copy.

Add a few words to intrigue the reader, and I have a finished cover.

Jory Sherman's BUZZARD BAIT will be featured in tomorrow's Western Fictioneers blog, so be sure and come back.

The following are covers from The Western Fictioneers Library. All are great reads and a bargain at $2.99.  Covers have Amazon links and you'll even find a few are on sale for only 99 cents right now.

One lucky person will get to choose a free ebook from any of The Western Fictioneers Library books, including Jory's newest coming out tomorrow, BUZZARD BAIT. The winner's name will be drawn from the people who comment.