Tag Archives: cover art

Whistle Switch final approach

I think this is it: the book may finally be ready for publishing. I received an author’s proof, and remembered that Amazon tends to print a little dark. I punched up the brightness of the cover image, which is a slight shame, as some subtleties in the details get lost this way. After a bitContinue reading “Whistle Switch final approach”

Cover Art for Novel: Complete

I ended up working on the design from the rough, more and more, until I started liking the way it popped against a sharp, digitized background. I decided not to have the original artist take it any further, and I finished the cover using the rough. Here is the completed design image, with the titleContinue reading “Cover Art for Novel: Complete”

Cover Art for Novel: Photo Shoot and Artist’s Rough

The first thing to understand about taking reference pictures with a model is that you take a LOT of pictures, in all kinds of lighting, positions, and angles. Even with a pretty clear idea in your head of what you want, the process has a mind of its own (similar to writing the character!), andContinue reading “Cover Art for Novel: Photo Shoot and Artist’s Rough”

Cover Art for Novel: Concept

Once I had the initial idea, I used generative AI (I can’t remember which, but it was free) to create some concept images to give to the artist. The following are some cherry-picked results: This (above) was pretty dang good. This is literally how I imagine Alexis looks in my head, and the blood-soaked bottomContinue reading “Cover Art for Novel: Concept”

Cover Art for Novel: Inspiration

It’s been a bit but there has been a significant amount of progress made in the effort to create an original piece of artwork for my new novel, Whistle Switch. I had an idea for Alexis on the cover, looking just as bad-ass as you expect. My first thought was to have an image thatContinue reading “Cover Art for Novel: Inspiration”

Withdrawing from “traditional” publishing

I’ve decided to withdraw my manuscript from querying agents, as I am going to self-publish this novel. There are a variety of reasons for this decision, that I’ll explore below. The biggest is that I had an idea of collaborating with my father, a semi-retired professional artist, on the cover design and art. I don’tContinue reading “Withdrawing from “traditional” publishing”