Thread: Book Covers

Has anyone else gone so far as to make a cover for their nanonovel? I did...here it is:

I haven't done any covers for my nanonovels, I did make one for a story I originally wrote during Nanowrimo, then later redrafted into a 120K word novel that I'm going to publish through Infinity...



Well, I've been trying to get it ready for publication, but every time I think I'm done with the editing, I find more stuff wrong with it. For now, the upload date will be in January (hopefully).

Redid mine for clarity, scale, and size:

Designed by Selorian

Nice! Love the blurb and the black/green scheme. Cool font too.

?

I'm not designing a book cover until I've got a book to put it on.

And I never will if I don't get off this dam forum!!!

ETA: Sorry about the double post. It took so long for the first to show up, I thought it had got lost.

Here's this year's cover:

The visual fx and degradation are intentional

Stupid question, but I'm sure you could answer if for me: how do you make covers? Paint, or is there an online program that's free that can be used?

There are some free programs-GIMP and ImageForge are both good. I use PSP and/or Photoshop.
Some of the graphics are from GrSites, and I use Gifworks for some manipulations and stock graphics.

Nice Covers!

Where did you get the clip art?

Originally Posted by Ungood

Nice Covers!

Where did you get the clip art?

Thanks...and I haven't a clue. Google images for the ants, I think. The other pic I've had since the mid90s.

The second one, while at first glance seems kind of cheesy and cheap looking, is actually pretty badass. I left it on my screen while kind of dazing off in my chair, and it really grew on me. Lots of little things I didn't see at first glance. Very much a visualization of a psilocybin experience. Very much. What's that symbol in the center of the page? I thought maybe it was a "carcosa" but google says that's a sci fi book reference.


On the first one, I'd cut "a novel by" as it distracts the eye from the cool background. Maybe make your name smaller too. Just a personal opinion, I'm certainly no artist. It definitely made me want to check out the book.

Val, yours is awesome too. Nice work, Selorian. I'd definitely pick that book up. My only nit is that the green outline around the guy isn't uniform. I'd make it thinner, around the size it is on the outsides of his knees areas. Or maybe just an outer glow instead of the expansion. Like around the people in the picture.

The gradient work on the text of the title and Val's name is very nice.

Originally Posted by Dr. Malone

The second one, while at first glance seems kind of cheesy and cheap looking, is actually pretty badass. I left it on my screen while kind of dazing off in my chair, and it really grew on me. Lots of little things I didn't see at first glance. Very much a visualization of a psilocybin experience. Very much. What's that symbol in the center of the page? I thought maybe it was a "carcosa" but google says that's a sci fi book reference.


On the first one, I'd cut "a novel by" as it distracts the eye from the cool background. Maybe make your name smaller too. Just a personal opinion, I'm certainly no artist. It definitely made me want to check out the book.

Carcosa is the planet the action takes place on. The sigil in the center is the Yellow Sign. You should look up Chambers' work, I bet you'd enjoy it. You might also enjoy Aaron Vanek's film of the same.
Very psychedelic, hallucinatory work.
The mc in the Carcosa book doesn't see very well-the "cheapness" is an approximation of its visual field.
Thanks much for taking the time to look and comment. I appreciate that.