🎉 New Book Cover for Royal Arcanum and its Behind the Scene! 🎉

Horraayyyy 🎉🎉, I can finally announce a new edition of book cover for Royal Arcanum, the first book in the Royal Arcanum series. There are a lot to say in this; like how I came up with the idea, the history, and the meaning behind all the artwork... I love artsy stuff!

Here's the preview of Royal Arcanum official book cover:

[caption id="attachment_1582" width="200" align="aligncenter"] Royal Arcanum © 2018 Keefe R.D (New Official Cover)[/caption]

Yesss, I love it. And it was such a long time for the process to come to an end... there were a lot of struggling, trial, error, and was it this way of what people called as "Growing Pain" ? Ah, maybe...

It was the night where the inspiration whispered, and struck my mind like a thunder; I got this visionary vision, something came up again in the early September, I guess it was two days before my mom got into hospital... sad thing, struggling, suffering, all the pains that I felt during September that nobody knows except my family. It was the time after I finished with the hardcover illustrated printing of The Salt Prejudice, then this new vision came to me as something sparkling; the book cover. I've always knew something missing from the cover of this first book. Something wasn't there. Even the name was "Fallen Stars" before it was "Royal Arcanum". It takes a lot of process, the struggle, yeaaaah, just like Miley Cyrus's song, it's all about the climb..

Now, for the first time I want to write about behind the scene of Fallen Stars a.k.a Royal Arcanum book cover making, starts from zero...

Here's my trial and error in creating book cover for the first book in the series, when it was still called Fallen Stars;

⬅️I uploaded this cover in crowd funding site for books.

I created this cover on Canva editor, but never uploaded anywhere since the title changed as Royal Arcanum➡️

The cover on the left; I uploaded this cover in crowd funding site for books in 2013. I forgot what it called, but the site is similar to Inkitt. Then, after a day or two, I deleted my manuscript from the site, thinking it didn't look safe. The cover on the right; I thought it was gonna be the official cover, which I created on Canva editor, but eventually, I never uploaded anywhere since the title changed as Royal Arcanum.

So, how I found the right name for the book is "Royal Arcanum" ?

I guess it was destiny 😁^^

LOL, it's true. It's destiny. First time, I felt something was not there in the title, was not rich enough to convey the message of the story. But then, I didn't know what moved my mind and fingers to refer Google, and when the voice inside my head said, "search for the similar ancient word for mysterious secret." And that was it, I found it on Merriam-Webster online dictionary. The word sound inexplicable and yet so elegant, ARCANUM.

Definition of arcanum

1: mysterious or specialized knowledge, language, or information accessible or possessed only by the initiate —usually used in plural

The word arcanum (pluralized as "arcana") came from Latin arcanus, meaning "secret," and entered English as the Dark Ages gave way to the Renaissance. It was often used in reference to the mysteries of the physical and spiritual worlds, subjects of heavy scrutiny and rethinking at the time. Alchemists were commonly said to be pursuing the arcana of nature, and they sought elixirs for changing base metals into gold, prolonging life, and curing disease. The frequent association of the word with the alchemists' elixirs influenced the use of "arcanum" for "elixir."

Quoted from Merriam-Webster.com

Let's talk about the making of book cover again...

[caption id="attachment_904" width="200" align="alignleft"] Royal Arcanum © 2016 Keefe R.D[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1582" width="200" align="alignright"] Royal Arcanum © 2018 Keefe R.D (New Official Cover)[/caption]

See here, the process. From this to that, was not all easy. I show you now, what was the process like:

⬅️First published in 2016

Today in 2018, born as this➡️

But that's what you only see as the publication. What you don't know, there are a lot. yeah, let me tell you... so if there's anyone out there mocking and giving negative energy, or even trying to bring me down regarding this whole books with me.. they probably don't know what the meaning of struggling is. You gotta walking like a turtle, slow but steady progress.

From scratch to something, is a huge effort to undergo. That visionary vision I received at night, I needed to take a pencil and paper to draw the similar concept in order to get the idea of this new transformation... here's what I sketched:

It was a quick sketch, and looks really messy, well...

And I worked so hard for two days in row to realize the magical working in Adobe Photoshop CS5, and ta-da... the new face of front cover finally born in our world..

I hope whatever will be will be.. destiny in everything...

Everything happens for a reason, right?

🎉🎉, 🎉🎉, 🎉🎉, 🎉🎉,

Note 1: I think, soon, Royal Arcanum will be stopped publishing at Inkitt. When that day will arrive, don't worry, you can still read the book by purchasing it online via available retailers. Note 2: If you're following the latest news of my books, there will be upcoming giveaway, and this one will be different though! Stay tuned!