A Thursday Rant On Book Covers...

We've all done it.  We've all judged a book by its cover.  It's hard not to.  When you're shopping for a book, the cover is the first thing you see.  It's what makes you reach out, take it off the shelf and read the blurb to see if the story is for you.  The cover sells the book.

This is I why think the front cover for any book is important.  It needs to be stunning; it needs to catch the eye, and it needs to capture the essence of the story that lies behind it. 

Since I've been designing front covers, this fact has started screaming at me, and I find myself taking note of other book covers, studying the detail and the message they portray - and there is some stunning cover art out there.   

However, I've also found I'm now rather critical when it comes to this subject too.  I can't help it.  I find myself looking at a mediocre book cover and shaking my head, tutting and thinking 'I wouldn't have done it like that', or 'it would have worked better if...'.  Does this make me a bad person?  No, it's just my opinion, and I know my covers are far from perfect but it nerks me when someone is presented with a huge opportunity to do something great and spectacular, but instead comes away with a 'that'll do' attitude.  What a waste.

I have a little example here that's been bugging me.  Prepare yourselves for a little rant: 

I'm currently reading 'The Emperor's Knife' by Mazarkis Williams.  It's the first book of a new fantasy series and I have to say I'm enjoying every word.  And what made me find this book?  Why, the cover of course.  It's stunning, it really is.  It speaks of mystery, of hidden secrets and dark shadows.  It really does stand out from its genre and was the reason why I picked it up in the first place.

Then I got it home and I studied the cover.  I'm being VERY picky here (that's actually an understatement), but here's a copy of the cover.  See if you can see where I'm coming from.

Do you see it?  I think this little detail may be hidden by the cover's overall magnificence.  So let me point it out to you.

There, now you see it?  A saggy chin.  A god-damn saggy chin!  The hooded figure should resemble a man of mystery, a man who is dangerous and full of adventures.  For any romantic they should be tall, muscular and strong, handsome and rugged - not someone with a double chin.  This isn't how the character is portrayed in the story.  He's someone who's battled their way across desert, forest and city to fulfil his role as an assassin.  These people are lean and fit.  They wouldn't have saggy chins.  

Here's another version of the cliched hooded figure.  This version is from Jon Sprunk's first instalment, Shadow's Son.  Now this is a man of fantasy.  He's handsome, rugged, dangerous - and LEAN!  

So to all you book cover designers out there, come on!!!  You have a chance to create something spectacular.  Why ruin it with a 'make do' attitude and let the whole thing down by a tiny detail that could have easily been remedied (photoshop works wonders lol ).  I'm not saying there's anything wrong with saggy chins, but when the picture on the front inaccurately describes the character from the story, it deserves a rant.

This is just a little thing that has bugged me since picking up this book and thought it needed to be aired.  This is in no way a review of the book itself.  So far, in my opinion, it's making for a fantastic read that I'm finding hard to put down.  This is Williams' debut novel and he's an author who has made it on to my 'look out for' list.  He doesn't mess aorund with his use of writing, which is good and I will be sure to check out his next instalment.  In fact, both the books mentioned here are worth your attention.  Go check them out if you haven't already.

Rant over.

That is all...

Pic of the Week . . . A Bribe For The Ferryman

Last week I published the front cover for an up and coming novel, 'Warrior Heart'.  This week I thought I'd go along the same lines and publish the cover for my own work, 'A Bribe For The Ferryman'.  It consists of 5 short tales of the macabre, the blood-thirsty, the terrifying and the down-right wrong.  More details of each individual tale will follow nearer the time. 

'A Bribe For The Ferryman' will be published at the end of November under StarfishPC, along with other titles such as 'Apollo the Thirteenth' by Willaby, 'Book 1 of the Mad Worlds Trilogy' by L Godsave, and not forgeting, 'Warrior Heart' by Belle Noire.  Check out my new 'Book Covers' page to see all the book covers I've done to date.

It's all happening and you heard it here first :)

Enjoy and have a grand weekend...

Pic of the Week . . . Book Covers

Something slightly different today...

For those who were around last year, you may remember that we, as in our Writers' Group, formed a small Publishing Cooperative - Starfish PC - and held a book launch.  We launched three novels out into the great wide yonder they call Amazon.  It's been a learning curve, but since then we've learnt a lot more and are now planning a second launch this coming November (weekend of the 24th).

So far we have three more novels that will be set loose, a possible forth, and a collection of short horror stories (by yours truly :D )  It's all very exciting, and now the ball has just starting to move in regards to preparation.  Some of the preparations include finding a venue to hold the launch - something that is a must - and then the fiddly bits that follow.  These include book marks, fliers, adverts, yada yada, etc etc, but none of these can really be done until we have the all important book covers ready. 

This task is down to me. 

So I've put my thinking cap on.  I have provisional ideas for most of the books that are due to be launched, and these will be finalised in due course.  However, on Wednesday, I completed the first cover.  It's been given the go ahead by the author, and now the marketing for this book can really begin - starting with the book trailer that is also down to yours truly :) .

So here it is, a little teaser to wet the appetite and to feed the hoards that will be waiting for the stampede to buy it.  This weeks Pic of the Week is the book cover for the up and coming novel, 'Warrior Heart', by Belle Noire, a historical romance set around the era of the Knights Templar.

Enjoy and have an awesome weekend.

2012

They say that the world is to end this year, that Nibiru is already stalking us behind our moon and that it will collide with us on the 21st December (the day before my birthday!  How inconsiderate!); or that we will have used up all our natural resources and the world will retaliate; that a huge climate shift will kill us all; or maybe some man made disaster in the form of WW3 will wipe us out.

For those who believe this, I can only imagine what is going on inside their head, of the panic and the fear.  I'm not a believer, but if I don't reach my 32nd birthday then I'll eat my words and be proven wrong.  In the mean time I'll simply believe that the Mayan society run out of stone when carving their calender and could go no further than 2012.

However, this year does seem to be having a negative effect on me so far, and the biggest change to come about is the fact that I lost my job just over a week ago.  I was made redundant after seven years.  I understand completely, from a business point of view, why this needed to happen, but I can't deny the fact that I'm gutted.  I loved my job.  I'm also the sort of person who likes stability, and when I get settled into something I'm there for good.  The thought of having to look for a new job and then settle in somewhere new isn't really doing me any favours and I have a whirlwind of emotions running through my mind at the moment.  I am at unease.

Still, one good thing to come out of this is the realisation that I should go off and do something that I want as opposed to something that I need to do for the wage.  Obviously any job will be taken if needs must (and becoming a full-time writer just isn't viable at present), but I've also decided to put myself through a course to learn all there is to know about the Adobe Creative Suite.  I'm pretty nifty with photoshop already, but there's still a lot it can do that I don't know about.  Then I'm going to freelance myself in my spare time and do book covers and book trailers for all those wonderful writers out there who have reached the exciting point of publishing their work.  It'll be something that I love doing and something I'll enjoy.

Another little thing I saw that shed some light into my surrounding 2012 darkness was a review on Amazon for my book, 'Son of Jack'.  It came just when I needed it and put a well needed smile on my face:

"This is an excellent psychological thriller about what happens when a town is plagued by a serial killer. We see the different reactions of the four main characters and their various spirals into madness. Although the killer is a constant presence, he is kept "off stage", which in my opinion only made events more chilling and added to the suspense. The pace was not too rushed, which allowed the drama to build nicely. I was gripped by this book and this author is one to watch!"

 

Thank you, Nick Wilford.