tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post7328431027554898971..comments2023-10-17T04:56:38.303-04:00Comments on Cherie Reich - Author: What Is in a Cover #IWSG | Bookworm News #SpecFicCherie Reichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16663147386014122939noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-47339793647665939432017-02-28T21:24:14.144-05:002017-02-28T21:24:14.144-05:00Oh, and don't underestimate using a partial bo...Oh, and don't underestimate using a partial body shot, maybe something from behind with less detail on the dress (if you decide to use a person).alexiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07122487552931794871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-90062940506634141892017-02-28T21:22:45.816-05:002017-02-28T21:22:45.816-05:00I like plenty of covers both ways. The Grisha tril...I like plenty of covers both ways. The Grisha trilogy is a good example of a high fantasy cover without a person on it. You'll find the right designer, don't worry!<br /><br />As for reading as a writer, I've definitely gotten more picky. Mostly it's just that I'm so busy, if something doesn't really hook me, I don't continue. It doesn't even mean it's not well written, it just may not connect with me in the way I'm wanting it to. alexiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07122487552931794871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-68360982472013037722017-02-24T15:31:27.151-05:002017-02-24T15:31:27.151-05:00I like cover art with symbols, but find that a lot...I like cover art with symbols, but find that a lot of people prefer an image of a person. So long as the first page is good though, I think you're all good:)Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01793077012143289985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-82115906817876159672017-02-14T01:21:31.194-05:002017-02-14T01:21:31.194-05:00Look at the covers of the top sellers. It should g...Look at the covers of the top sellers. It should give you some ideas. Plus, it's more about creating the right feel than accurate details. You want someone to understand what kind of book it is by glancing at the cover. You want the cover to deliver the expectations they'll have about the book.<br /><br />You'll find something great. How exciting that you're closer to getting the books out there.<br /><br />I wish I had more writing time. I did not meet my goals yet. Siiigh. I've gotten a lot of business done.M Paxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14096697282530998519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-49320347374338351112017-02-13T11:08:18.513-05:002017-02-13T11:08:18.513-05:00I have struggled with cover art decisions, too.
M...I have struggled with cover art decisions, too. <br />My niece, who created the covers for my Champion Trilogy, has continued to take art classes, and I keep enjoying her art work - she created the new banner for my blog in less than a hour and considered making it more complex, but I like things simple.<br />I've also used various free media and then tweaked it on my own to create cover art - but it's time consuming and I don't know that I'm all that talented. That cover art is the kind that's on my writing books and Seedling - my short story.<br /><br />Tyrean Martinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15356604721537744361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-91005046338775731612017-02-10T23:25:16.429-05:002017-02-10T23:25:16.429-05:00This is such a great topic, Cherie. Book covers ar...This is such a great topic, Cherie. Book covers are a tough thing indeed. Thank you for sharing your experience with it and I'm wishing you lots of luck. All of yours have been great so far, so I'm sure future ones will be too. :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10656368340547599511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-67033090126703738932017-02-07T12:18:43.408-05:002017-02-07T12:18:43.408-05:00Good luck with your cover search! I guess I prefer...Good luck with your cover search! I guess I prefer people on the covers for your type of genre. Covers are something I don't have to worry about. The illustrator for the picture books I write takes care of that. Sherry Ellishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07844837212122243321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-61907706927077499582017-02-06T12:01:24.114-05:002017-02-06T12:01:24.114-05:00Crystal's suggestion of using silhouettes is a...Crystal's suggestion of using silhouettes is an excellent idea. Personally, I'm not keen on symbolic imagery on covers, but it does work well for fantasy. A lot to think about!Ellie Garratthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03731071128348213067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-8086749430321251932017-02-05T11:36:57.466-05:002017-02-05T11:36:57.466-05:00Congrats on achieving your goals Cherie. Good for ...Congrats on achieving your goals Cherie. Good for you!! I'm sure you'll find the perfect solution to your cover art. You always do - a woman of many talents and resource. Take care and have a great week!!!Nicolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14674648154579013578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-42366949056304896862017-02-03T19:43:01.010-05:002017-02-03T19:43:01.010-05:00I like all kinds of covers and am not partial to a...I like all kinds of covers and am not partial to any one type for fantasy. I hope you find what you are looking for and have an epiphany about the covers. :) Good luck!<br /><br />Awesome that you are doing so well with your goals! I made my deadline and plan to start working on the next book in the series this month. I have some sketches I want to do from the last book first. :)<br />~JessDMShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04202502753961748992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-2534077368237795422017-02-03T09:36:40.753-05:002017-02-03T09:36:40.753-05:00Thank you for the awesome review! :) And yes, cove...Thank you for the awesome review! :) And yes, covers are hard. Oh to be able to have an artist like Laura do all of them. She is so talented. I do prefer people on covers, but the people do have to represent the characters very well. I've seen covers that have people that are wearing something or have nothing in common with the protagonists. You're doing awesome with your goals. Me... well, good thing I didn't make any deadlines for these last three Totem books! =PChristine Rainshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08263694662585963900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-48818329938374081142017-02-03T01:20:20.732-05:002017-02-03T01:20:20.732-05:00When it comes to any book - but especially fantasy...When it comes to any book - but especially fantasy - I prefer covers that depict something about the story, not just a portrait or silhouette of the MC. I understand about the lack of finances to hire a specific artist, but so many authors are using stock photos that all the covers are looking the same.<br /><br />Good luck with your photo search.<br /><br />Unreal Encounters looks like my kind of book. Be great to listen to on Kindle with my long drives.dolorahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08715849844092553699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-16639540229768798192017-02-02T22:35:01.123-05:002017-02-02T22:35:01.123-05:00I like symbolic or least I'm drawn to those mo...I like symbolic or least I'm drawn to those more often. Great post. <br />Happy IWSG Day!<br /><a href="http://www.junetakey.com/posts/category/blog-life-happens/" rel="nofollow"> Juneta @ Writer's Gambit </a><br /><br />Juneta keyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08815758043024184034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-81101170529402017092017-02-02T14:14:51.966-05:002017-02-02T14:14:51.966-05:00Sometimes I prefer symbolic, especially if the peo...Sometimes I prefer symbolic, especially if the people don't match the vision in my head. Elizabeth Seckmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00045076826326574984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-54464664398705965702017-02-02T11:02:56.492-05:002017-02-02T11:02:56.492-05:00The best cover art, in my opinion, tells the poten...The best cover art, in my opinion, tells the potential reader about the story inside without them knowing a thing about it first. I hope that made sense. :-)<br /><br /><a href="https://emaginette.wordpress.com/2017/01/31/iwsg-33-why-avoid-writing-devices-recipes" rel="nofollow"> Anna from elements of emaginette</a>emaginettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03324981140248692448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-30708074273987341452017-02-01T22:08:27.175-05:002017-02-01T22:08:27.175-05:00Hi Cherie. Yes hiring an illustrator would be exor...Hi Cherie. Yes hiring an illustrator would be exorbitant for that many books. Good luck with that. Yes who can understand bad formatting these days. No excuse!Denise Covey https://www.blogger.com/profile/07106490051555233439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-85885646974744687452017-02-01T22:01:58.250-05:002017-02-01T22:01:58.250-05:00Best of luck figuring out the cover art for your F...Best of luck figuring out the cover art for your <i>Fate Challenges</i> series! I've always found that aspect of publishing difficult, too. (Even though I don't have to worry about hiring someone, or browsing photo sites, for the comics I'll be publishing, figuring out something engaging and marketable to draw is hard.) Hope you're ultimately able to come up with something that pleases you, even if they don't perfectly match what you currently envision!Heather R. Holdenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04309060285955963459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-90645359641015961862017-02-01T20:37:54.087-05:002017-02-01T20:37:54.087-05:00The thing I've learned when hiring a cover art...The thing I've learned when hiring a cover artist is I have to make some concessions. The end result is usually something that is 95% of what I imagined.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-74910188420098589782017-02-01T18:24:17.477-05:002017-02-01T18:24:17.477-05:00I'd generally prefer symbolic images to photos...I'd generally prefer symbolic images to photos of people. Everyone uses stock model pictures these days and they all begin to blend together after a while, especially when you see the same model on books by different authors. <br /><br />One of things being a reader has taught me is that most readers don't care nearly as much about the rules of writing as editors do, so I count that as a valuable piece of information.Chemist Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09738272332470397248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-53455014789639303312017-02-01T17:59:38.901-05:002017-02-01T17:59:38.901-05:00Good luck figuring out the cover! I don't thin...Good luck figuring out the cover! I don't think it has to have a person, or I like Alex's idea--maybe it doesn't have to show the whole body and so the dress wouldn't be seen. Sarah Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09481750127533816819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-16110585698465442902017-02-01T16:41:58.653-05:002017-02-01T16:41:58.653-05:00Have you considered silhouettes for the human elem...Have you considered silhouettes for the human element overlayed by a symbol? Honestly, if you get some of that pretty border stuff going that's come into fashion, you don't need much for the main image of your cover.Crystal Collierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03912469552483168148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-10889486898934037052017-02-01T14:35:38.473-05:002017-02-01T14:35:38.473-05:00I think having a protagonist on a cover helps the ...I think having a protagonist on a cover helps the reader identify more with the book. Covers that are all symbols can be somewhat generic and/or put distance between the reader and the character(s). But that's a generalization, of course. I look at the covers of Ben Aaronovitch's books, or Tana French's, or Kate Morton's, and they are all images and no people. So the genre probably matters, too.Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13464393340517511305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-40758565227496896082017-02-01T13:11:02.766-05:002017-02-01T13:11:02.766-05:00Bad formatting will definitely throw me out of a s...Bad formatting will definitely throw me out of a story, too. My thoughts on the subject is if I can figure out how to do it properly, then they should be able to do it too. <br /><br />I don't mind epic fantasy covers that feature symbolic images. There have been some really lovely covers that don't feature people. Leah Bardugo (both of her series), Marie Lu (the Legend series), Kristin Cashore (the Graceling series), Stephen Lawhead (Song of Albion series), and even George R.R. Martin have all had really gorgeous covers featuring symbolic images. (I'm sure there are others, too, but those are ones I could think of off the top of my head.)<br /><br />It can most definitely work.<br /><br />Best of luck with your February goals!M.J. Fifieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15626475963328519693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-83543406072095614202017-02-01T12:43:35.704-05:002017-02-01T12:43:35.704-05:00Best of luck finding the digital images you'd ...Best of luck finding the digital images you'd like! Looks like you've gotten some great advice in the comments above. S.A. Larsenッhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06241633272588383935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552707317670752823.post-38882306721051867892017-02-01T12:21:21.571-05:002017-02-01T12:21:21.571-05:00That's right - no reason for poorly formatted ...That's right - no reason for poorly formatted books.<br /><br />Using digital art is challenging and for numerous reasons. (Which is why most of our covers are original art.) Christine Rains and Lexa Cain know how to find good digital art though.L. Diane Wolfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06425864276166334896noreply@blogger.com