Tag: saltswept

Saltswept Sets Sail!

Saltswept Sets Sail!

By | | Comments 0 Comment

Hello pals,

Saltswept publishes this month! I’m extremely excited to share some of our launch plans with you.

Events

On Tuesday 24th at Waterstones Glasgow Argyle St I’ll be in conversation with L.R. Lam chaired by Hannah Kaner. These are two of my oldest Edinburgh writing pals, who have been such champions of my writing and navigate this journey. On Thursday 26th at Waterstones Edinburgh Princes St I’ll be chaired by Annabel Campbell, who has been such a lifeline through the debut process!

I feel very lucky to share the stage with these authors whose work I admire and who are real gems of the industry! I can’t wait to meet readers (surreal!). I’ll have special event exclusives including character art cards of Finlyr, Ris, and Hanan. Choose their favourite. Plus ‘Salt and Sweet’ embosser to hallmark your edition.

I’ll be in conversation with Thea Guanzon for online event with FANE Productions. Available to stream free via FANE Online between 5th and 19th March.

I’ll certainly be appearing at festivals and further events across the UK later in the year. Watch this space for news!

Pre-order Exclusives

We’ve also partnered with wonderful Edinburgh-based indie bookshops for exclusive collaborations: Signed and Dedicated Editions from Portobello Books and a Pre-Order Campaign with Lighthouse Books to win a bookbinding workshop at Wheel of Fate.

I’ve already been overwhelmed by the lovely things people have said about Saltswept. It’s an absolute dream to have the book so close to being with its readers. This is a story of which I’m extremely proud, full of beauty and love and the search for home. Conversely, the novel also delves into the darker sides of humanity: our rot and ruin.

You may love Saltswept if you enjoy any of the following: a ragtag crew; BPOC cast of characters; a queer-norm world; hijinks on the high seas; necromancy; talking animal companions; and an evil queen.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this book and I can’t wait to share it with you.

Stay soft, light, slow,

Kat x

Saltswept: From Vibes to Cover

Saltswept: From Vibes to Cover

By |

It’s been an exciting few months for Saltswept and Soft Light Slow, my intermittent newsletter, rises from the depths!

In February, it was a thrill to see the announcement in The Bookseller. Mere months later, in June, we shared the absolutely stunning cover!

I wanted to share my experience of the cover design process as an author. I was incredibly grateful to have so much support and care from my team at Hodderscape. My Editor had requested an aesthetic, so I shared my moodboard for the project which I had compiled while drafting. Then I collated some covers in my genre which I felt vibed well with Saltswept. 

My Editor spoke to the Design department in-house and created a design brief, which was given to a Freelance Illustrator, who worked with the Cover Designer on the final image. I was shown a few different concepts for the cover and once everyone was in agreement, I was shown a detailed line drawing, then rough colours, and finally the detailed full-colour illustration.

The Cover Designer at Hodderscape, Natalie Chen, and the Cover Illustrator Jason Lyon, were both an absolute joy to work with. It means a lot to me that two Asian artists worked on this book’s cover, and they went above and beyond. Jason added so many little thoughtful details such as the sampaguita flowers and the rainbow eucalyptus tree.

I thought it was serendipitious that the font I had chosen for my playlist cover was the exact font chosen for the final cover. It was also lovely to be able to share Hannah Kaner’s very generous and thoughtful quote on the cover and I’m so grateful to everyone who has shared their joy and excitement about the novel’s journey so far.

Til next time, stay soft, light, slow,

Kat x