Book Cover Art Odyssey Part Three: In the Land of the Everything-Eaters

The last post covered the work of Mr. Brian Peterka as he ironed out some font issues. Once the winning font was chosen, I could go back to Kristopher (aka Kpolly) and get the covers for both books done.

Both books? Yes. Remember that the challenge was for him to create an image that could represent not only the four-story collection, but also a specific story from it, which I'm selling as a literary appetizer. Previously, we had talked about what type of illustration could work for both, and what could be done to each version to make it clear that these were two different products (apart from the different titles and prices).

Kristopher came up with the notion of simply altering the color elements in each version, using the analogy of the cover art for Use Your Illusion I and II.

After I chortled for a full minute on hearing Use Your Illusion being brought into any discussion involving my own work, I fully agreed with the plan.

So Kristopher got all Guns 'n' Roses, and made a second cover by flipping the image and changing the colors. Behold:

I think that the differences between the covers are clear, so that potential readers know that these are separate but related works. As a budding indie writer, I think it's important that I focus on developing a consistent look and feel for my publications. "Branding" is probably too strong a term for what I'm doing, but I'd like to build a recognizable and distinct platform so that readers can find my work more easily. In terms of book cover design, that means working with a limited number of artists, adhering to a particular style for linked works, and not chasing trends.

An upside to this plan is that it gives me guidelines to follow. This meant that everything went much easier (and faster) the second time Kristopher worked on the covers, because the art was already done, the typography issue was understood, and nothing had to be done from scratch.

Obviously, I'm still in the very early stages of publishing. As I start getting feedback regarding the books, my approach to cover designs may change. But I am optimistic that these first few adventures in cover creation have given me a good sense of how to work in the future.

(Next time, I will relate how I worked with another artist, Aaron Boyd, to prepare a piece of microfiction for publication.)