ATV: the evolution of a book cover and giveaway

In between writing (apparently, I’m randomly working on an Opal short story that falls after Amplifier 4) I’ve been thinking about branding because it’s a topic I’m discussing with my SFWA mentee, Natasha. We’ve been chatting about book covers and finding something simple but evocative to convey the genre and tone of your story in a single image. Which made me think about my very first novel, After The Virus.

So … here is the evolution of the book covers for After The Virus with some thoughts on each and why I rebranded at each stage. At the bottom of the post I’ve made some copies of After The Virus free via BookFunnel just in case you haven’t had a chance to give it a read. I’ve capped the giveaway at 50 copies.

Late-Spring 2011. Self-designed. My first foray into self-publishing,

This was the first cover for the ebook. I designed it myself, which I’m sure you can tell at a glance. Lots of mistakes here, including that I didn’t need the ‘by’ (a holdover from writing screenplays for 12 years prior to writing a novel). My author name is WAY too small. And overall the cover isn’t dynamic enough.

Summer 2011. Designed by Scott Fitzgerald Gray.

My absolutely brilliant editor Scott Fitzgerald Gray asked if he could take a stab at the cover and he came up with this tweak. Instantly, so much more dynamic. And the lighter colour really popped whenever ATV was grouped/listed with other post-apoc or horror novels. But still not really conveying the themes of the novel itself …

Summer 2012. Designed by Irene Langholm.

Then I commissioned an original book cover from Irene Langholm. And I absolutely, utterly adored it. The art/photo manipulation is outstanding. But, in hindsight, my name and the title of the book are far too small. It definitely conveys genre, but it doesn’t ultimately fully express the main aspect of the book – that it’s a love story. If you happen to have (a typo-ridden) paperback of After the Virus from way back when it had this cover.

Fast forward to January 2017. Designed by Elizabeth Mackey.

I decided I wanted to refresh a bunch of my older book covers in early 2017, and I asked Elizabeth Mackey to take a crack at After the Virus, adding in the tag ‘a post-apocalyptic love story’. This cover is much simpler and utterly evocative. It nails genre and tone. The title and my name are much more prominent. Readers know exactly what they are getting when they buy based on this cover. And, in my opinion, fulfilling expectations (while entertaining) is a writer’s ultimate goal.

After The Virus. The evolution of a book cover, from 2011 to 2017.

So there you go!

Interested in reading After The Virus? Yes? Well, that is cool because I’m giving away 50 copies!

>> Grab After The Virus for free from BookFunnel <<

Synopsis: “Plunge headlong into a decaying world of ruined cites, ruined lives, and ruined aspirations.” After the virus decimates 99.9% of the world’s population and all traces of humanity along with it, Rhiannon and Will are forced to move beyond their past fame, fortune, and personal demons to rescue a mute girl from the clutches of two warring cults.

Unleashing Echoes: KWL book cover of the year contest

I’m exceedingly pleased to announce that Kobo Writing Life has selected the book cover for Unleashing Echoes (Reconstructionist 3) as one of their top ten sci-fi and fantasy covers of 2017.

YAY!

All three Reconstructionist covers were designed by damonza.com

And now KWL would like you to vote on your favourite for the top spot.

The other book covers are breathtaking and it’s an honour to have Unleashing Echoes (Reconstructionist 3), designed by damonza.com, included among them. Clicking on the screenshot below will take you to the voting page, where you can click to enlarge the individual covers, and then vote.

Kobo Writing Life Cover Contest: vote for your favourite sci-fi and fantasy cover

Thank you to Kobo Writing Life for including Unleashing Echoes in your top ten sci-fi and fantasy book covers of 2017!!

Please take a moment to vote for your favourite. 🙂

Dowser Series: new book covers

I contacted Elizabeth Mackey about doing a book cover for the upcoming Dowser 7 last week. At same time, I mentioned that I’d been thinking about revamping or rebranding all the covers, but that I was hesitant to do so because the books had done really well with the lighter, simple covers.

Then I just left it with her – no guidance or specific image ideas or anything. And Elizabeth, with her killer eye and sense of all things graphic design, decided that an extreme rebranding probably wasn’t necessary but maybe the series just need a tweak, a freshening. A bit more depth and little more magic.

This is what she came up with. And I love it.

You know my favourite part? Well, of course you do … MORE CHOCOLATE!!

I’ll be rolling out all six covers over the next couple of days. And soon … so soon now, it will be time for the cover (and title) reveal for Dowser 7!!

Dowser Series Cover Reveals

I’d been thinking about rebranding the Dowser series for awhile, and knowing I was about to publish the third book in the series this seemed like the perfect timing. I adore Irene Langholm, who has done ALL of my book covers up to this point, but together we thought another cover designer might bring some lightness or playfulness to the covers.

And so entered Elizabeth Mackey.

We went with simple, strong branding – chocolate hues, of course – and I really, really love them.

I know, I know you want to see the third book!! How about a teaser and a cover reveal date to tide you over?

Please feel feel to share, share, share!!

Good Book Covers

Gertie, the moderator of the Apocalypse Whenever group over on Goodreads, started a topic about the importance of good book covers a few days ago, which I’d missed seeing until this morning. In the post, Gertie gives a huge shout out to my covers by Irene Langholm, which reminded me of this fun post Irene did for the After The Virus cover release last year. (Phew, that is a lot of links for two sentences!)

Here’s just the image for all of you who don’t want to click through to the full post:

The Anatomy of a Book Cover, by Irene Langholm

What are some of your favourite book covers? Do you think that a great book cover helps bring the story alive for you? Have you ever read a book for its cover alone?

Alternate Book Cover: After The Virus

So I have received some feedback that the current ebook cover I am using for After The Virus is a little dark (aka doesn’t “pop” enough) and not as genre specific as it could be, but I find that I’m a little concerned about making a change when I have already begun branding the book with this cover (see right-hand side bar).

Scott Fitzgerald Gray, after he read and reviewed the book, volunteered to mock up an alternate cover, because he wasn’t sure the current one sold the book strongly enough, and this (above) is what he came up with – I think there is something really visually compelling about the white background and etched background lettering and, obviously, the bloody handprint really does pop in this version, but I am also not too sure that I like it any better than the current darker version.

Is different better in this case?

I am, however, seriously toying with the idea of keeping the current cover for the ebook and using Scott’s version for the print version, for which I have actually gotten a few requests. Side note: I might try to have a POD version out for September/October.

Do you prefer the current cover or this new version? Why or why not? Feedback is welcomed and appreciated.