Everyone’s Suffering Child is Finally Here!

Everyone’s Child is a high fantasy story which takes place in a secondary world (completely made up). I originally started writing it back in college. But since I had no plan, the work fizzled out after a mere 11,000 words.

In August of 2022, after I finished my Eternity’s Empire series, I chose to revive Everyone’s Child to replace it. I like switching off between more sci-fi and more fantasy oriented worlds, and I had just finished working in a massive galactic empire.

I also thought it would be fun to chronicle the development of an entire project on stream. So the entire first book of Everyone’s Child (Someone’s Suffering Child) was outlined, developed and written on stream. (The VoDs have also been preserved on Youtube for posterity.) Sadly, I wasn’t able to do all of the edits for the first book on stream due to time constraints. But there’s still a fairly complete record of the first book’s development.

Though I have continued to work on Everyone’s Child on stream, I haven’t prioritized streaming all of its development. (It would sadly never get finished otherwise.) I have been greatly pleased with the project’s development, however. And I’m pleased that the story has reached its 5th installment!

There will be 6 books in the Everyone’s Child series all together. (I had that planned from the start.) Which means the series is more than half over! And since that means it’s going to be troublesome for new readers to catch up, that also means it’s time for a brand new box set!

Packaging is Important

In some ways, writing the story is the easy part. At least for me. I’ve got my writing process down to a smoothly oiled machine. But once the story is polished and ready for the rest of the world, the hard work begins.

Everyone’s Child is one of my smaller projects, which means I don’t have the budget to buy covers for the series. I don’t mind making my own covers. It keeps me grounded in visual art creation, which is something I’ve always enjoyed. But, I’m keenly aware that my skills are limited. So my cover design ideas need to be fairly simple.

Unfortunately, not every concept lands the first time around. And although I tried my best to simplify the covers I wanted to create for Everyone’s Child, my initial plan didn’t work. I pivoted on the fly to account for the complication. And I did manage to create a few covers I’m proud of. But they didn’t quite hit the mark I was aiming for. And since I’m reaching the point in this series’ development where it’s time to start paying for promotions, I want to make up for what feels like a deficit. And since the box set needs a cover anyway, now is the perfect time to revisit my original concept.

I spent a lot of time thinking about what I originally wanted to do and why it went wrong. And I think it amounts to overcomplicating my own concept. I thought I needed to have fancy, photo-quality images for every aspect of the design. But it turns out what the covers lacked was a set of clear, simple, clean lines.

The Series Needed a Refresh

This was my first time designing a cover template on my own. When I designed the covers for Eternity’s Empire, a friend helped put it together. She used her cover design magic to give me a template I could slot images into. Then I played around with the finishing effects until everything looked the way I wanted.

When I asked where I went wrong with the Everyone’s Child covers, I thought of the magic circle I used for the Eternity’s Empire covers. I used the same asset for every single one, though I changed the colors. And I can’t help thinking that simple center point brought everything together.

I needed something similar for the Everyone’s Child covers. The plan, after all, was to have two backgrounds and a small, simple outline that served as the gateway between the two.

Where I went wrong the first time was not having a clear, solid outline.

Redesigning or rebranding the covers for a series is pretty common. Especially if they aren’t selling. Everyone’s Child hasn’t seen a lot of promotion yet, since there are only a few books currently available. But having made a few banners for the series, I can see how the design isn’t as eye-catching as I hoped. On a large scale, it works. But on the smaller scale, the images get lost in the mix.

I don’t think the original covers stand out in the sea of other books available in Amazon’s Fantasy section.

I’m pretty sure the new covers will. Especially since I made sure to test the smaller images when I made them. Tada!

I did love the very first Everyone’s Child cover, however. Even though it didn’t go according to plan. So even though I refreshed the series, I decided to keep it.

Everyone’s Suffering Child is Available Now!

Thousands of years ago, Everyone’s Mother – the ancient goddess of creation – vanished.
But not before she spoke a prophecy.

With her final words, the goddess promised her daughter would one day complete a holy journey that would change the face of the world forever. Unfortunately, she failed to mention how the world will change – and whether it will be for better or worse.

Elayith, daughter of the goddess come at last to the mortal world, has never wanted to fulfill her mother’s prophecy. But as the power of the old church fades, its leaders force her ever closer to the undesired path. Only by fulfilling her stated purpose can she escape her mother’s shadow and gain control over her fate.

Two factions watch from the shadows as she departs, each hoping to interfere in their own way.

First is the powerful council of mages, who control all mage craft in the modern world. They fear a return to the old ways of divine magic and wish to maintain their dominance.

Second is the Watchers, a group of rogue mages who hope to lead the world to a destiny of their choosing – a divine quest they believe grants them the right to interfere with any and all individuals.

Can Elayith overcome the challenges of her mother’s prophecy? And what will happen if she does?

Grab your copy now!