… sort of Art Friday. I’d start with the powerful ad that uses real google searches to show the scope of sexism worldwide – great pictures of women, and great message. And I thought I lived in the 21st century. Obviously not. I better move to Sylvania or Ypsilanti, LOL!
And then there’s Michelle’s “secret” life as a cover designer. I loved her cover for Cinders (which was done by her, with a friend as model, and it wasn’t a secret) and I know she’s a great photographer. Check what she did incognito and if you need a cover designer… try her! 🙂
As you know, I do most of my covers – except when I hire other artists like Phoenixlu, Silvano Beltramo or Cristina Fabris, but I’m still the one adding the lettering, trying not to ruin the artwork. That’s because I like illustrated covers on SFF stories.
When I do it all by myself, I’m not the best cover artist (in fact, I was featured on “lousy book covers” – thanks, Mr Rodent, for the link, although I wonder what those Google Alerts are for, since they don’t show results when things like this happen). I’m not an Artist – with capital A – and I freely admit it.
That’s why I’m as hobbyist on DeviantART, and don’t offer cover design, not even for other genres. I use mostly my own photos (not as good as Michelle’s) for the contemporary stories – or I use silhouettes, like on some B.G. Hope’s titles. Well, even Barbara Sangiorgio has a couple of drawn covers… but still, I’m not a real cover artist.
Now, the next cover will be…
Heh, just kidding. Won’t be the cover of the whole booklet, but it’s a start. Superdeformed Barb 2013 and the new muses (compare with the other two I posted last week). I’m working on it, but only in my spare time! 😉 I still have to do the lettering of SKYBAND 13… I know, I’m a sloth!
Have a great weekend! 😀
Barbara G.Tarn - writer 
Shafali
/ 25/10/2013Those creeps…if they can do a better job, why aren’t they in the business of making covers, instead of running such websites.
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Barb
/ 25/10/2013Aaah, I was waiting for a comment after the “like”! 😀
Yes, that’s what I told the kind gentlemen who sent me the link. If some people don’t have anything better to do, it’s their life that goes wasted, not mine… Besides I have sold a couple of copies with that cover (and still none with the better but much more expensive cover/edition), so… 😉
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Shafali
/ 27/10/2013I think a cover is important as it’s the first thing that a prospective reader sees. I’ve seen a link that has posted books that became extremely popular but had terrible covers…(how to kill a mocking bird was one of them.) I don’t think much of people who open their mouths only to spew venom.
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Barb
/ 27/10/2013Yes, the cover is important – the first eye-catcher – but this doesn’t mean bad books never have great covers and good books always have good covers… 😉
I guess sales are only going to be slower with bad covers – good books always rise to the surface anyway! 😀
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Shafali
/ 28/10/2013Right, Ma’am!
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