Hey, check this out:
The artist is Aidana at WillowRaven, whom I hired to do the cover because I really liked the artwork she has front and center on the linked page, so click through and view it. She’s a pro with lots of experience with SFF covers, I knew she could do a good job with a landscape-heavy cover, and she did, didn’t she?
Also this, the front cover with the design and text and everything:
Now, naturally, after I had already settled the contract with the artist, I immediately started hearing about publishing options in which the service you hire includes a cover, or third-way publishers who for a percentage manage things (including the cover), or whatever. There are more options out there than I thought, and I already knew there were options! I may well be exploring multiple options this very year, since I will be dealing with the Black Dog short stories more piecemeal, not going through a publisher of any kind.
I figure probably anybody would approve this cover, though, so whether I do things piecemeal myself or go with a publishing company of some sort, I expect this will be the cover that you all see on the finished product.
Now, timing, or, when will this book actually be born?
This is a good question! I don’t know. It depends on whether I go with one service or another and how long they take, or wind up doing CreateSpace and Smashwords and whatever and how long that takes. It depends on whether I want to make copies available to bloggers and other reviewers for three months prior to release or whether I think releasing it and then doing promotion is fine or what. Aargh, lots of decisions! And I’m trying to write a different book at the same time as deal with this!
Ah, well, it will all be easier by this time next year, when I’ll know a lot more about what I’m doing. Or, shoot, the year after that, when I’ve done the self-publishing thing three different ways and have a MUCH better idea of what I’m doing. THIS year is for experimentation. Here’s hoping none of the experiments blow up in my face!
Please Feel Free to Share:
Looks good!
And fits the actual contents of the book, as a bonus (he said, teasing the other blog readers).
Here’s hoping none of the experiments blow up in my face!
Shoot, I’ll go ahead and hope that at least one of your experiments is unexpectedly, amazingly successful. Hopes are free, right?
The artist and I had a long conversation about what to show, and she got snippets of description about the mountain and the golem (spider thing). Ah, the luxury of having actual *conversations* with the artist and getting to *approve* the cover!
I love the cover creation process! It’s so much fun.
[BTW, I recommend staying away from any publishing service that wants a percentage instead of a flat fee. You may find the Kboards Yellowpages useful: http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=123703.0 ]
Thanks, for the link, Andrea!
I had a lot of fun with this cover, and Rachel is a joy to work with. I really enjoy the planning process with my authors. I get to understand the characters and worlds from their POV, stuff that isn’t fully portrayed in the text.
I look forward to our next project together :D
Aidana WillowRaven