Tag Archive: Image


Designing Your Own Bookcover: Not As Easy As You Might Think – Part III

Filed under: About Writing, Uncategorized — 2 Comments
February 1, 2019

     As usual I started experimenting with a basic quick sketch of what I had in mind. I knew right from the start that I wanted to incorporate the title into the image for this one, especially since it was our more traditional two word titles. Naturally I aimed for an actual door, knowing it would be fairly easy to incorporate the word “door” into the wood grain.

       From there I started testing out different color schemes for the wood grain itself. But then I started asking myself, how would a door that had been exposed to the elements for almost two centuries look? So I did some Googling, to find images to get a better idea of what such a door might look like. Here’s a few of the examples I found:

       So now I had a basis to build upon. Yet I also felt that whatever I created should have good strong colors that still gave that weathered yet somewhat foreboding feel. So I pulled out my soft pastels and started laying down some colors in order to start forming the palette I would use in the actual piece.  Of course I also incorporated lettering into the grain of the wood in order to help me build towards the full effect I was aiming for.

      Dark, sinister, ancient-looking yet eye-catching. Satisfied that this was what I want to aim for in the final rendition, I set about putting down the first layers for the actual cover.

       As things have progressed I added some stonework as well as ivy/vegetation to help add contrast as well as frame our sinister portal.  I also experimented with some photo-shopped lettering to get an idea of what the final product might look like on the actual book.

       And since the actual door was intended to open into a family crypt built into a hillside, I decided to get clever and incorporate the letters T. H. E. along with a date to represent the first of the Elliott family who passed through the door (still alive at the time) but never came out. In fact, his body was never found by those who came to investigate… mwahahahah.

       Um… sorry about that. I’m supposed to be talking about book covers not promoting the story.

       Anyway, using the initials this way I managed to get the words “The Door” clearly incorporated into the artwork, with room for our names. Though I may have to extend the bottom a bit more to keep within the restrictions about lettering getting too close to the edges.

       Clearly the above image is not nearly finished. The door itself still needs to be more weathered, and the vegetation needs to be made to look more sinister and eerie. Plus the door itself could use a hand and a lock, don’t you think? But you get the general idea from this and where it’s headed.

        So to clarify, if you set out to try and design your own book cover be prepared.  You’ll need to know the image requirements of whatever self-publishing company you’re using. Test the image out on prospective readers, get feedback. You may also need to do some or as much research as you did for your manuscript for accurate details to incorporate into the cover. And of course, make it eye-catching, intriguing, and alluring. Remember your cover is part of that first introduction to the reader. give them something that makes them want to pick up your book and start leafing through it. Because you may have one of the best stories in town, but if the package doesn’t promise what your story can deliver, it won’t even get a second glance.

       Until next time, take care and keep writing.

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Designing Your Own Bookcover: Not As Easy As You Might Think — Part I

Filed under: About Writing, Uncategorized — 2 Comments
January 5, 2019

As some of you may or may not know, besides being an author I’m also an artist.  I work mainly with soft pastels and charcoal, and have designed and painted the covers for three of our books. Now I  do not consider myself a ‘professional’ cover designer, but I’ve also seen artwork on books that many times had very little to do with what goes on in the story. And as one of the two authors who knows the story inside and out, and as an artist who had taken awards in various art shows over the years, I felt I was qualified enough to give it a shot. Especially when I had a specific image in mind that would incorporate the title of the book into the artwork itself. “It should be a piece of cake,” I told myself.

I suspect a number of you already have an idea of what came next. Our old friend the “Learning Curve” decided to make his presence known.

First there were the experimental designs

I knew right from the start that I liked the title being part of the bridge’s stonework, but the upper half was not quite right. After getting feedback from friends and prospective readers I refined the design into a scene that was straight from the story itself.

This early version with some of the coloring added was well-received by viewers and I continued to flesh out the design.

At this point I found myself at a loss as to what to put in for the background in the distance. Again I drew upon the story itself and added a storm and some shadowy trees which surround the bridge on all sides.

This image was very popular among those polled and of course became the cover for the book. But not before Mr. Learning Curve made his presence known once more. After all my efforts of finding the right image and getting it committed to paper, I still needed to get it photographed and submitted to not one but three different self-publishing routes (Createspace, Smashwords, and Kindle).

To make matters worse, I did not have the money to hire a professional photographer who would already know how to light the image, keep the colors true and rich, and finally format it for submission. Instead I had to do all the photographing, cropping, and then get an image program called GIMP which allowed me to do some serious touching up of the image. It also allowed me to resize and rework the pixels of the piece so that the final image to meet the requirements of  Createspace, Smashwords, and Kindle.

But even then there was a few more things to do. For one thing I had to put my name and whatnot on the image, which I did through GIMP.

Then I tried uploading things and… got rejected. The lettering of the words “The Bridge” was too close to the edge and could wind up being cut off. What to do? Simple, I went back to GIMP and added a black border all around the image. I made sure it was wide enough to protect the image.

This met not only the requirements of the publishing programs, but also helped the image to really pop out at the reader.  In fact I was told by more than one person that the unique artwork and style were big reasons why they picked the book up in the first place. They also told me, they had not been disappointed with the story.

So with all this experience the next book should have been easy, right? Actually it was.  Once more I started with a rough idea, making sure to incorporate the title into the image…

Developed it some more…

Started fine-tuning it…

Too busy in the middle area, so I revised it some more…

Then finalized, with matching computer lettering…

Of course once again, the lettering was too close to the edges so a border was required.

Again, I used GIMP for get the pixels to the right level as well as enhancing colors.

So by now I was an old pro at this right? WRONG! Up until now I’d been able to incorporate the title into the cover image. But now I  began work on a new book “The Vampyre Blogs: Coming Home”, and there was no way I was going to be able to fit all that into the image. Or could I?

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Preview Of The Cover For My Next Book “THE SHIP”

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March 17, 2013

Here is the cover I’ve created for my 2nd novel in the Para-Earth Series, which will be coming this Summer.  I’m aiming for late-May or June for the release.

This story takes place during the one month lapse of time mentioned at the end of the first book “The Bridge”. It follows the adventures of Cassandra and Julie out on the west coast. Where they learn that not only is the evil they fought back in the first book truly gone, but a new threat has arisen from the depths of the Pacific. A threat known to Cassandra’s family and which is now hunting her…

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Creating A Cover For “THE BRIDGE”…

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December 19, 2012

By now,  you all know I’ve been working on the book cover for my Paranormal/Mystery/Sci-Fi novel “THE BRIDGE”.   It’s been an interesting experience, which I do not recommend it for everyone unless you’re an artist yourself.  It has it’s pros and cons.  In my case I love having way more control over the creation of the image that is going to basically be my “Introductory Handshake” to the world.  Remember, this is going to be my debut novel and I want to catch peoples attention who have no idea what to expect when they first see the cover.

Now, I’ve seen images used on books that I thought were interesting but did not always have all that much to do with what actually happened in the story itself.  In fact, I’m sad to say, there were a few where the image was more interesting looking than the story.  But what really got me on occasion was where there was some kind of really cool scene on the cover that never appears in the story.  I felt cheated in a way.  Oh the story might have been a good one, but part of me really felt frustrated by that ‘missing scene’.  Now, I know we all want to capture the audiences imagination and interest, but I want to make sure I’m being fair about it.

Now in my case, since the title of my novel is “THE BRIDGE” I could’ve just gone with a bridge from around the right time-frame as the one in that appears in my story.  But while picturesque, I wanted to add some clues as to what or who the reader may encounter on that bridge.   So I decided to add a figure and one in particular stood out in my mind, the “White Lady”.   She is a ghostly figure who haunts the bridge, supposedly searching for the baby she lost from it many years ago.   But by the same token I wanted to raise some questions in the viewer’s eyes.  Why does her hair seem to flow and move like Medusa’s?  Is she even human?  Are we seeing some kind of Gorgon?  Or is she something much more unique and different?

We all need to get  the viewers attention by capturing their interest in some subtle or intriguing manner with our book covers.  Mind you, not all covers have to be like the old movie posters of Star Wars where we see the tall and impressive Darth Vader looming in the background while Luke and company (who appear much smaller at the bottom) are racing to meet the HUGE threat overshadowing them.  It depends on the story itself.  It can be subtle with an intriguing character who somehow catches our interest with their good looks or pose.  Or can be even more subtle, a building or structure that evokes emotions or a memory that draws the audience towards it.

I’m learning that a lot goes into the creation of a book cover.  Luckily I’ve had years of artistic training to draw upon to help me reason out what kind of image I wanted to use.  Who or what the ‘star’ of the image was going to be and what kind of backdrop or stage would be helping frame it.

Well, the cover is nearing what I hope will be the final stages.  Here’s where it stands now, I hope you enjoy it and that this entry has given you all some good ideas of what to keep in mind when making or getting someone else to make the cover of your book.   Take care.

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Rough Sketch Idea For Cover Of My Book “THE BRIDGE”

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November 30, 2012

Here is a rough vine charcoal sketch/design for the cover of my first novel “THE BRIDGE”. I’m not happy with the top half so I’m going to have another go and put in a figure of a woman with incredibly long flowing hair. Like in this image, her hair will stretch down to ground and further down the stonework to create the the words of the title. The other words will be put in during editing of the image. A dark stormy sky will be her backdrop. And all of this happens in the book itself. I like to be honest with my image content.

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