Book Cover Design

I’m a long way from being any kind of artist. In fact I can’t draw for toffee - at least, not without a set square and drawing board (do they still use those in schools?). Any image work I do, I do by the muddle method on a computer – ie I muddle about until I get something that works.

I have a few friends who are writers and self publishing, and while Alex makes a great job of doing his own covers, a couple of others have asked me to help out with that side of things.

The basic method of working is to start with a simple base image from stock, which is then post-worked in an excellent bit of software called Postworkshop (and I can’t recommend this one enough!). I also have Photoshop Elements 8 on my laptop, along with a selection of brushes and backgrounds that have proved very handy indeed (and that’s where I created the images for this blog).

As I’ve said, I won’t claim to be any kind of artist but I like to think that these get the job done and are largely what I have been asked for. I do like to work with a natural media effect, even when working with stock (if only because popular stock images can often become familar when used by many people). Filters (and filter software like Postworkshop) can do an excellent job of it, but I have also been known to over-paint an image in my old Painter IX or Artrage.

It does seem to me that a lot of books, strangely a lot of self published ones that are only intended for sale via the likes of Amazon, Smashwords, or Kobo, very badly fail the thumbnail test. If you are going to sell a book these days, the cover has to be enough to attract the eye as a thumbnail and the title has to be clearly visible. One went so far as to forgo both his own name and the issue title altogether, trusting the series title and images to do the job. Although there is a lot more going on in Robyn's covers, they proved easier for placing her name and title into by keeping the detail bold.

Anywho, Robyn Cain’s Goods By Hand and A Fine Balance are both available to buy now, while Footsteps Of Galatea should be out a little later this year.

I dare say that I may post more of the covers I do here and there, if only to amuse myself and keep the blog going.

As a closing aside, my friend Alex Shaw has now found a publisher - so look out for Cold Black in the coming months with a look.