Tag : Indie author

This is one of the most challenging covers I’ve ever done, not because of the difficulty, but because the author oversaw every detail. I mocked up more than 20 fonts for the title, all very time consuming, which made it go way over budget. I don’t deal with the money since I sub-contract with Brian Schwartz at ePub Conversions. With all of the hassle, the end result was actually very pleasing.

Hikes in the mountains here in Colorado often afford such shots, although once again this has been composited in Photoshop. The path was the main attraction. This is one of those covers that went quite easily, but it not what I call eye catching. In design, more often than not it’s just satisfying the client.

Here is a case where the author paid good money for a shot of the milky way and was adamant about using it. I prefer my own renditions of the sky, but that’s because I create space art. The foreground image was one of mine. The overall effect is stunning, however I wasn’t fond of the title font, but these aren’t always a choice the designer gets to make.

This was a setting in the everglades. Since I’d never been there I didn’t have any images, but they types of trees were easy enough to find, and then I did some photoshop magic with a favorite sunset. I then used a filter, watercolor I think, and thus I created my scene. Since it wasn’t a wrap around, I just took one of the colors from the sky to create the rest of the jacket.

This is a winter scene I concocted by compositing a frozen lake, some frosty trees, a background, and a wintery sky. The author and his dog were added, and the shadow was painted in. Thus another one of my images being used for a book cover.

I have to admit saints are a big thing with me, but St. Malo’s was a favorite shot of mine while conducting a fieldtrip south of Estes Park, Colorado. It’s always nice when your photography pays off and you can actually put an image to use.

This is one of the images supplied by the author. The colors pop, and the title fits surprisingly well in the layout, like it was meant to be. It’s always nice when that happens.

Because of subject matter, you don’t just automatically get permission to use a product. Manufacturers weigh the consequences. So it was with finding a revolver for the front cover of Donnell Wilson’s Hypocrites In His Midst. The solution, make your own make and model. Is it any wonder that authors that think they might be sued opt for solutions where no one can point a finger. The more you are aware of copyright and liability, the more you see big […]

Sometime you’re lucky enough to do a series. In such cases you already have established a look and a theme, and more often than not, even fonts stay the same. In this series I got to spend my time on artwork, which is always my favorite part. Maybe one of these days I’ll be adding more.

Some designs are more of a challenge than you can ever anticipate. I Walter was just my first with author Mike Hartner, who had visions I think of Hollywood productions. Book covers don’t have access to set designs and actors and actresses, or multi-million dollar budgets. But still you do what you can do, and often with a little compromising a compelling cover comes out of the process. Not so with several other attempts on subsequent novels, although Mike was […]

Sometimes you just have to be crafty. There are so many titles that authors get lost in the melee. A good cover design can make a difference. Of course as I’ve learned, that’s only the beginning when it comes to marketing, and ultimately, marketing is often more important than content. This composite for Jon Gregory was fun because his vision required some ingenuity so as not to go over budget on artwork. Using the tools in Photoshop made a difficult […]

Fortunately I’m a photographer and have been enough places that I could find a road in country that could pass for the high desert. This is a story that rings American Graffiti, and thus the hot rod. The intense sun is an indication it’s summer. The sky is intentionally blended so that the text shows. In design, there are numerous elements to consider.

Not often do I get to be so creative. The background is from my space art, and then the brain was one of those experiments with blending modes that turned out far more compelling than I ever hoped for. The people in the bubble are all connected. I’m always hoping one of my covers will make it to a top one-hundred seller. I’m sure the authors I do covers for wish much the same. I always design as though the […]

This is another instance where the author supplied the background image. The chopper and the drone are images from royalty free sources. They are both altered from the original. This is where compositing is very critical to make the images look like they fit. If I hadn’t composted this myself, I couldn’t say for sure that it was composited.

It is not unusual to go through a number of iterations to reach a final product. So it goes with creating book covers that will help sell a book and give the reader something to ponder. I like book covers that help tell the story, and so many covers out there do nothing but give you the title and the author. Sometimes that’s enough if you’re James Patterson or Clive Cussler. Still, I’d rather see a scene from the novel […]

With a little luck the aliens would have abandoned Earth, but to our trios dismay, a mothership crashes and aliens survive. Eventually they have no choice but to deal with the aliens as they began to recover and build a city while dismantling their mothership. The alien toil night and day, and soon hatch their offspring, increasing their numbers and seemingly begin to transform Earth back to a humid, highly oxygenated subtropical environment suitable to their liking. Not all is […]

If aliens have the technology to colonize worlds, what worlds will have the defenses to stop them? Tavis Hunter is convinced Earth does not as the harvesting begins, and he out of sheer luck becomes one of a handful of survivors. All oxygen breathing organisms are vacuumed from the surface, and Earth transmogrifies into a sea of purple plants that quickly alter the ecosystem. Tavis meets up with Dana and Bree, and they soon come to the realization that survival […]

What lurks in the universe? For the moment we can only pray that the dice are in our favor, for there is no escape from Earth, and no means of survival if the ecosystem is destroyed. Astronomers have an eye on the cosmos, and although there are some concerns of an astroid impact, no one has envisioned a passing planet that will drag the moon into an elliptical orbit so radical that its return will wreck havoc on the world, […]

The illustrated version of Silent Wave, Silent Rising, and Silent Landing is now available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes in a single download at a substantial savings. With 51 photo realistic illustrations, visit the world of Michael Atman in a new and exciting way, and be sure to enjoy the preview at Fiction with Foresight Home Page.  

Trecking into space and searching out a new beginning is a risk Justin Larson never fathomed as the inventor of force fields, but leaps in technology have given him the tools, and a hope for survival has given him the fortitude. As luck would play out, he and his crew are given directions to a habitable world they name Viridian. Creating a new sanctuary and starting over with an idealistic vision of preserving the world they are given proves to […]

Life on the run was never something Justin envisioned, but having his wavecraft has given him and his family a distinct advantage. He realizes that once the technology is fully developed that no threat on Earth can ever put them at risk as long as they are airborne. They have the ultimate escape vehicle, and soon enough they will have the ultimate fighting machine. It was never something he hoped for, but he is a realist and a visionary, and […]

Independence is ingrained is some authors. Lexi Revellian didn’t set out to be a rebel, but being an Indie author suits her just fine. While the publishing industry is roiling in turmoil, Indie authors are taking advantage. Amazon, take a bow, not that Amazon set out to destroy the big publishers. (Or are they?) With as few as 120 new fiction authors being published each year by U.S. publishing houses, is it any wonder that fiction authors are writing eBooks […]

Facebook seems to be a new force in marketing. Kristen James is banking on it. It’s part of her strategy to get fans to purchase her eBooks. She only just started her Facebook campaign the 1st of March and is already getting positive feedback. Another strategy is giving away eBooks through Amazon in hopes of getting good reviews. It’s the spark all writers hope for that haven’t landed a big publisher. It’s the way Amanda Hocking got her start, and […]