@DaniDuck I really feel for you. I get it. I'm a mum of a 12 & 14 year old. My husband runs a martial arts school, so this means he's usually not home until the kids are in bed. I feel like a single parent sometimes. I'm also freelancing from home.

I can feel your overwhelm just reading your words. Take a deep, long breath. Be kind to yourself.

Some stuff I learnt the hard way:

• Learn one thing at a time. Choose one course, or have one drawing challenge and give yourself a timeframe. For example, give yourself 3 months to study different botanicals. You absorb more that way than if you try to learn 5 things at once.

• Household stuff: clean less! It won't be the end of the world. Spend an hour on a weekend and have the whole family do chores together. Even the 3 year old can put away toys and wipe down surfaces. What's done in that hour is done. What's not done can wait.

• Food: cook in bulk and freeze stuff so you don't have to cook every night. I cook every second night. Your family won't die if they eat the same meal 2 nights in a row. We also have a take out night. I beat myself for years because I had to resort to feeding my kids cereal for dinner occasionally. Then I found out they LOVED it and wished I'll let them do it more often.

• Don't rush. Depth is better than quantity. Do less but do it better. Create between the cracks. Find time for you because you is important.

Big hugs xo
Cindy

@burvantill I agree. There need to be more space between "I" and "E" or it reads "FLES"

@DaniDuck I really feel for you. I get it. I'm a mum of a 12 & 14 year old. My husband runs a martial arts school, so this means he's usually not home until the kids are in bed. I feel like a single parent sometimes. I'm also freelancing from home.

I can feel your overwhelm just reading your words. Take a deep, long breath. Be kind to yourself.

Some stuff I learnt the hard way:

• Learn one thing at a time. Choose one course, or have one drawing challenge and give yourself a timeframe. For example, give yourself 3 months to study different botanicals. You absorb more that way than if you try to learn 5 things at once.

• Household stuff: clean less! It won't be the end of the world. Spend an hour on a weekend and have the whole family do chores together. Even the 3 year old can put away toys and wipe down surfaces. What's done in that hour is done. What's not done can wait.

• Food: cook in bulk and freeze stuff so you don't have to cook every night. I cook every second night. Your family won't die if they eat the same meal 2 nights in a row. We also have a take out night. I beat myself for years because I had to resort to feeding my kids cereal for dinner occasionally. Then I found out they LOVED it and wished I'll let them do it more often.

• Don't rush. Depth is better than quantity. Do less but do it better. Create between the cracks. Find time for you because you is important.

Big hugs xo
Cindy

Like everyone else, the first one appeals to me most as well BUT I like the spattery torn rags on the last one which I think hints at revenge and his personal hardships.

May be you can have a play with different text variations as well?

I also feel the blurb areas seem too text heavy. Maybe see actual books of a similar genre and check out their copy treatments.

I don't know how detailed this project is meant to be but I also noticed that there's no room for the publishers logo.

I like the black background and your stylized treatment though. It gives it a more modern feel to a classic story.

Does this help?
Cindy

@mag Hi Mag. I used to work in web & UI design. Here's my feedback.

Positives:
Clean, simple, easy to navigate. It will allow potential agents / publishers to quickly browse through your work without any fuss. Clean background doesn't detract from your work. Works well on a mobile as well as desktop / laptop. All links pointing to the right info.

Negatives:
Like some others have pointed out, some information about who you are, what you have done in the past and what led you to do what you're doing. Or may be something about how long you've been in the industry and your accomplishments thus far. I was at a recent SCBWI conference and they recommended that our About section is written in from a third person perspective. This allows agents / publishers to cut and paste when they need to promote you or talk about you.

I think this can flesh out your Contact page. So no need to add an additional page and further complicate a beautifully succinct site.

I personally feel a recent photo of yourself on that page is a good idea. This is not comfortable for me either but people like having a face to put to a name.

I hope this was helpful. Best wishes for everything
Cindy