Email/website text: The Brittle Riders

Bill McCormick is a shining star of the independent creative scene. A prolific writer (novels, articles, comics, etc. etc. etc.) he also loves to collaborate with other artists to create shiny new content and bring talented nobodies into the light.

The Brittle Riders is his magnum opus; a genre-straddling epic saga of excitement and imagination. This is a design for a landing page for him and the first novel in the series. It includes the text for an email campaign, the heading being the email subject line.

Most email applications only allow a limited space for the subject heading, so you'd better keep it short and snappy. Within forty characters is best. 

Tricky when you want to express complex ideas, but it can be done!

The unique selling point of the book - the feature that makes it different to the zillions of similar titles out there - is the way in which he has blended science fiction with fantasy.  

Within these pages you will find creatures resembling the mythological beasts of classical legend, but the setting is post-apocalyptic Earth and these are genetically-engineered beings. "Future wizards" puts this tantalising juxtaposition right out in front.

The first sentence continues this trend: 

A wizard, a centaur, a wolf-man, a succubus and a humanoid badger walk into a tavern. 

In a world in which humans became extinct thousands of years ago, this is not in itself an unusual occurrence…

For the background I used an image of distant blue mountain peaks, hinting at a Tolkein-esque world waiting to be explored. You can buy the hardcopy book or download it to a tablet, but I used an image of the printed version because for many people a book is more than just a collection of words; it is a solid, tactile thing that you can hold in your hands. 

Feel the shiny cover. Smell the pages. Cradle in your lap on a long train journey... 

I love the convenience of using a Kindle but part of me still strongly feels that a novel should look like a book. 

Links to the rest of the site are discreetly shoved to the side. You'll find them easily enough when you are ready, and the social media icons. It's all about the book, which is why the little box at the bottom tells you everything about it: number of pages, available formats, even the measurements and weight. These details may seem excessive but some folks really crave this information. Maybe it helps them imagine what it feels like to already own it?

... Check out The Brittle Riders trilogy HERE