--"All the inspiration you will ever need as a science fiction writer can come from a bottle of Scotch." -- Larry Niven to the Author, E3 Con, Greensboro, NC 1987
I think it would look better if the sky faded naturally into dark brown rather than the block of color at the top that the title is printed across. I know MageLord needs to stand out, but I feel it detracts from the art. Outside of that it's a nice cover.
Well, the tower could use a little more contrast to the background to make it stand out more, but the art is decent. Full size you can easily tell it's a castle with a snowy background, but when it's shrunk down to an Amazon thumbnail, it will be a whitish blur against a brown blur.
LOL! I'm pretty sure that is not the dead god. It's a mage tower, and that is, I'm hoping, the artists rendition of Mins sorcery. I see where you're coming from though, and its an unfortunate color choice on the artists part if that isn't supposed to be the dead god.
I agree with flakes. Terry your books are awesome but your covers are terrible. Spellmonger was okay but warmage? Atrocious! People always judge books by there covers. Why not have a wizard with gleaming sword holding a glowing green orb? Look at the cover of Anthony Ryan's blood song-remember when he first brought it out? So so so bad (admittedly I still bought it) but look at it now!
Either on the front end or the back end, but it costs money. Trying to find an artist who can capture human figures decently these days can be difficult, and while I'm interviewing artists for a Spellmonger graphic novel, in the mean time I have to make do with what I have. I can either focus on the story within or put my efforts into a pretty picture on the cover.
While I can understand why some people don't buy books because of their covers, with the limited resources I have I need to prioritize. When the series has been established adequately enough for second editions, perhaps I can re-visit it.
But the other side of that is that I prefer for my readers to supply specific details about the characters from their own imaginations. The Wheel of Time covers kind of ruined the books for me, they were so detailed and specific about the characters. The Jhereg covers, while well-done, did not adequately reflect the characters within, and that detracted from my enjoyment of the book.
So I picked castles, for a few good reasons. First, the series has an awful lot to do with castles. Secondly, many pictures of castles are in the public domain. Hiring a real cover artist would cost me -- minimum -- of $3000. I've looked into it. To make that kind of investment for a book that doesn't have that many paper copies just isn't a wise move. I don't want anything lurid -- each of the covers shows the exterior of a castle during a particularly important plot point, and for now that's just going to have to work. Perhaps after I secure an artist for the graphic novels, I can have the covers re-done as part of the bargain.
But for now, this (with a few refinements) are what I have to work with.
Terry I hear you. Those costs are ridiculous. I must admit though Will Wight's house of blades looks awesome I wonder how much he paid.... Could you just get an amateur artist to design something for cheap? Or does that cause probs with copyright and registration and all that?
I know where you're coming from, but I would recommend looking up and talking to some of the artists on
http://www.deviantart.com/
I'm fairly certain you can find someone who can meet your needs at a price you can afford for future novels. There are a lot of student graphic art majors who post artwork there who are very good, but aren't established in the field. Artists always want to keep the rights to art they create, it allows them to make additional money selling prints. Allowing the artist to retain the rights to the artwork with perhaps a stipulation they won't resell the artwork as a book cover should allow you to talk down the price as well.
That being said, the proposed artwork can work well enough with alterations as noted in the previous posts. A key thing with covers these days is ensuring it is still defined when reduced to the size of an amazon thumbnail. I have no problem with castles, Morgan Rice has some pretty neat castle covers.
Lol! That's what I did. Let's hope by Book 4 or 5 I'm successful enough to develop a good relationship with someone I like and can work with, and they can er-do all the covers.
Not sure if this will help, but I know another indie author (Will Wight) recently gave credit to his artistic team for a cover they did for him. You can find them at:
Web Site: http://designosaurus.ca/
They have a pretty large selection of work they have completed on their site. You can check out Wills cover by looking him up on Amazon, or at his website
http://www.willwight.com/
Here is what they say about their pricing.
Average for commissions (estimated):
$20-50 for digital sketches and rough speed paints.
$60-100 for digital paintings with simple backgrounds.
$150-500 for digital painting with complex backgrounds. The likelihood of it being 500 dollars is very low, unless you want this intricate masterpiece.
Hey Terry i'm a big fan of your books. I loved both Spellmonger and Warmage. I hate to ask but is there a solid release date for Magelord? Anyway best of luck and keep doing ur thing.
Also the cover isn't that bad, though I would take B.P Swanson's advice in the matter. Though if changing the cover is that big a deal then you could always do that after releasing the book. (I really wana read the book). Best of luck.
does that mean we are really close to release? by the way I like it although maybe less stars in the castle
ReplyDeleteI believe that's snow
DeleteI'm pretty sure that's snow
ReplyDeleteIt's snow. A major plot point. No, really.
Deleteah. my mistake. honestly thought the black and white was a contrast issue, now I can see its snow
ReplyDeleteNP. I'll speak to the artist.
Delete--"All the inspiration you will ever need as a science fiction writer can come from a bottle of Scotch." -- Larry Niven to the Author, E3 Con, Greensboro, NC 1987
I think it would look better if the sky faded naturally into dark brown rather than the block of color at the top that the title is printed across. I know MageLord needs to stand out, but I feel it detracts from the art. Outside of that it's a nice cover.
ReplyDeleteMight want to try using the dark brown as an outline for the text instead of blotting out part of the artwork. Should still make the title pop.
DeleteTo be honest, I haven't liked any of your covers, so at least theme-wise this one fits.
ReplyDeleteWell, the tower could use a little more contrast to the background to make it stand out more, but the art is decent. Full size you can easily tell it's a castle with a snowy background, but when it's shrunk down to an Amazon thumbnail, it will be a whitish blur against a brown blur.
DeleteSorry, I'm a graphic designer. Terry's covers sort of offend my sense of aesthetics.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhy is (what I assume to be) the Dead God in the picture, hovering over that turret?
ReplyDeleteLOL! I'm pretty sure that is not the dead god. It's a mage tower, and that is, I'm hoping, the artists rendition of Mins sorcery. I see where you're coming from though, and its an unfortunate color choice on the artists part if that isn't supposed to be the dead god.
ReplyDeleteI agree with flakes. Terry your books are awesome but your covers are terrible. Spellmonger was okay but warmage? Atrocious! People always judge books by there covers. Why not have a wizard with gleaming sword holding a glowing green orb? Look at the cover of Anthony Ryan's blood song-remember when he first brought it out? So so so bad (admittedly I still bought it) but look at it now!
ReplyDeleteA couple of things . . . art costs money.
DeleteEither on the front end or the back end, but it costs money. Trying to find an artist who can capture human figures decently these days can be difficult, and while I'm interviewing artists for a Spellmonger graphic novel, in the mean time I have to make do with what I have. I can either focus on the story within or put my efforts into a pretty picture on the cover.
While I can understand why some people don't buy books because of their covers, with the limited resources I have I need to prioritize. When the series has been established adequately enough for second editions, perhaps I can re-visit it.
But the other side of that is that I prefer for my readers to supply specific details about the characters from their own imaginations. The Wheel of Time covers kind of ruined the books for me, they were so detailed and specific about the characters. The Jhereg covers, while well-done, did not adequately reflect the characters within, and that detracted from my enjoyment of the book.
So I picked castles, for a few good reasons. First, the series has an awful lot to do with castles. Secondly, many pictures of castles are in the public domain. Hiring a real cover artist would cost me -- minimum -- of $3000. I've looked into it. To make that kind of investment for a book that doesn't have that many paper copies just isn't a wise move. I don't want anything lurid -- each of the covers shows the exterior of a castle during a particularly important plot point, and for now that's just going to have to work. Perhaps after I secure an artist for the graphic novels, I can have the covers re-done as part of the bargain.
But for now, this (with a few refinements) are what I have to work with.
Terry I hear you. Those costs are ridiculous.
DeleteI must admit though Will Wight's house of blades looks awesome I wonder how much he paid.... Could you just get an amateur artist to design something for cheap? Or does that cause probs with copyright and registration and all that?
I know where you're coming from, but I would recommend looking up and talking to some of the artists on
ReplyDeletehttp://www.deviantart.com/
I'm fairly certain you can find someone who can meet your needs at a price you can afford for future novels.
There are a lot of student graphic art majors who post artwork there who are very good, but aren't established in the field. Artists always want to keep the rights to art they create, it allows them to make additional money selling prints. Allowing the artist to retain the rights to the artwork with perhaps a stipulation they won't resell the artwork as a book cover should allow you to talk down the price as well.
That being said, the proposed artwork can work well enough with alterations as noted in the previous posts. A key thing with covers these days is ensuring it is still defined when reduced to the size of an amazon thumbnail. I have no problem with castles, Morgan Rice has some pretty neat castle covers.
Lol! That's what I did. Let's hope by Book 4 or 5 I'm successful enough to develop a good relationship with someone I like and can work with, and they can er-do all the covers.
DeleteNot sure if this will help, but I know another indie author (Will Wight) recently gave credit to his artistic team for a cover they did for him. You can find them at:
DeleteWeb Site: http://designosaurus.ca/
They have a pretty large selection of work they have completed on their site. You can check out Wills cover by looking him up on Amazon, or at his website
http://www.willwight.com/
Here is what they say about their pricing.
Average for commissions (estimated):
$20-50 for digital sketches and rough speed paints.
$60-100 for digital paintings with simple backgrounds.
$150-500 for digital painting with complex backgrounds. The likelihood of it being 500 dollars is very low, unless you want this intricate masterpiece.
Hmmm, I suppose I could have just given you their link on deviantart.com and saved myself some time...Oh well.
ReplyDeletehttp://sandedfaceless.deviantart.com/
Hey Terry i'm a big fan of your books. I loved both Spellmonger and Warmage. I hate to ask but is there a solid release date for Magelord? Anyway best of luck and keep doing ur thing.
ReplyDeleteAlso the cover isn't that bad, though I would take B.P Swanson's advice in the matter. Though if changing the cover is that big a deal then you could always do that after releasing the book. (I really wana read the book). Best of luck.