Cover Design

Ooh! Is that the one sparked by the Jessie Stone books? A telling assortment of objects there, Al.

Ann

That one pops, Al!

BTW, remove the extra "by"

Shelagh wrote:

That one pops, Al!

BTW, remove the extra "by"

Yes it does.

alj wrote:

Ooh! Is that the one sparked by the Jessie Stone books? A telling assortment of objects there, Al.

Ann

That's the one. The writing is about a third of the way finished. I have four potential perpetrators of the murder. I haven't learned which one dunnit yet.

Judy said I have only two. The most likely murderer can't be the one. Too obvious. The least likely can't either. The reader will decide that's the one because he or she is least likely. One of the other two has to be the one.

Congrats - you are getting close.

Bye-bye "by"

I added the detective's wimpy name just for the heck of it. I might add a pair of glasses. Bentworth is a "soft-boiled" detective.

cc

Cover looks great, Al! Looks like you're having fun with it.



What is the status of your books, anyhow? Are you still shopping them around?

I'm under contract with Musa Publishing for "The Shadow on the Grassy Knoll." "Nursing Home Invasion" is being considered now by Carina Press. Haven't heard yet, but they take about three months and they've had it less than two. I have a short story (7000 words) being considered for an anthology to be published by the AW folks. They said they like it and it will depend on all the others they are looking at.

This one is a WIP. If one of the others generates a following, I might self-publish it. Or offer it to one of the other publishers, in which case this cover project is just for grins. They'll do their own cover if they accept the project.

Here's the latest cover. The story is written. It has to get past Judy before I let anyone else see it.



That's Judy in the snapshot. Apparently cheesecake on the cover sells books. Had to get her permission. She fits one of the characters. Well, in that picture anyway. It's about 25 years old.

I took all the pictures except for the ashtray. I don't have one. Used Photoshop to put it together.

Nicely balanced - the cover placement, but Judy is, too. It's amazing how a slight change can make a big difference. I liked the earlier cover, but this one is even better. That's obviously bourbon in the glass, for instance.

Not having an ashtray is a good thing.

Ann

Thanks, Ann. It's tea in the glass. The bourbon didn't last until I got the shot I wanted. Both ways. I decided not to use the bottle on the cover to avoid trademark issues. The protag drinks too much and it puts bourbon in a bad light. The guy spends a lot of the story with a hangover. Not the same one, either.

I'm really enjoying the project. I have some chapter one issues. Things don't get rolling fast enough for today's instant gratification market. Nobody gets killed until chapter nine.

I watch some of the cop shows on TV. The killing aways happens and the cops are on the scene before the credits are done and they cut to commercial. I can't knock off my vic that quickly. He has to justify it first. That's how Murder She Wrote always did it. But that's not on anymore.

This is definitely a character-driven piece of fiction.

Judy's 70th birthday was Thursday. She still looks like that. To me, anyway. I got old.

Al Stevens wrote:

I'm under contract with Musa Publishing for "The Shadow on the Grassy Knoll." "Nursing Home Invasion" is being considered now by Carina Press. Haven't heard yet, but they take about three months and they've had it less than two. I have a short story (7000 words) being considered for an anthology to be published by the AW folks. They said they like it and it will depend on all the others they are looking at.

Update: I broke off the contract with Musa. I mentioned that in another thread. The short story didn't make it into the anthology. Didn't fit their theme. Not spooky enough, I'm guessing. No vampires, ghosts, or psychics. Our only criteria were that it be "speculative fiction," whatever that is, and less than 10,000 words. I mostly write about real people.

The cover is very nice, and the b/w picture goes with the retro ashtray. Is the time period of the book the 60's or so?

Where is the thread about your break off with Musa?

LC wrote:

The cover is very nice, and the b/w picture goes with the retro ashtray. Is the time period of the book the 60's or so?

Modern times. The guy just doesn't have much new stuff.

LC wrote:

Where is the thread about your break off with Musa?

http://www.publishedauthors.org/t7771-musa-publishing-et-al

I talked about it some in my blog, too, but I didn't specify who the publisher is. It starts in the Nov 12 article.

I read the thread and your blog, but all I saw was that you didn't see eye-to-eye on some things. Did they want revisions you didn't agree with?

Or maybe you're just difficult?

Love the cover Al, ashtray and all.

It's a long story that shouldn't be told publicly. You'd get different versions depending on who's telling it. I've put it behind me.

Here's the latest cover for my spy novel. The one in the trunk. I might self-publish it.

I did this one after finding a Photoshop tutorial on making shadows. The next step is to bend the shadow to give the illusion of a knoll. I haven't had a lot of luck with that. And maybe make the shadow a little darker.

The buildings aren't sharp, so why not fade the whole of the sky with the buildings to merge the two together? Sharpen the shadow and put a watermark (rifle sight) around the head of the shadow.

Two works in progress. As usual, I work some on the cover before the book is written:

And here's one almost ready to go:

Oh, I like that one!

Me too.

Who's the publisher? Print or ebooks? Congrats. Covers are my downfall.