Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The Book of Shaldu: Cover Art!

That sounds really exciting, right?  No, I'm not getting it published just yet: but my sister and I have composed some cover art for The Book of Shaldu proof copy that I'll be getting from CreateSpace; as soon as I get my edit finished.

Want to see? 

Really?

Here it is.  Don't criticize it too much. ;)


(Click for a bigger size.)

I'll post the entire cover on here sometime; back, spine, and all.  And then you'll get to read the official blurb for The Book of Shaldu. 

Farewell for now, folks!  Tell me what you think of the cover!


16 comments:

She Will Move Mountains said...

Nice. I love the font and the vignette! =)

Mackenzie A. Lockhart said...

Love it Jake! That's an awesome cover :) I hope I'll get to read your book some day :D

Squeaks.

Jessica Greyson said...

That is really cool! Awesome! I love the black and white then that small splash of color. So nice and creative...and intriguing.

Have fun with your createspace copy...I need to work on mine. :)

Jake said...

Thank you, all! I'll definitely post pictures of the actual copy, when I get it.

Anonymous said...

The cover looks awesome. If I saw that cover in a library, I'd go get it no matter the cost (which usually is rather great, probably tripping over my own feet).

By the way, I'm new and I like your blog.

Jake said...

That's really encouraging, Anonymous. :) Thanks so much!

Welcome to the blog, then. Glad to have you! Thanks for stopping by!

Hannah Joy said...

Great job, Jake! I like it, and can't wait to actually read The Book of Shaldu. :-) I wish I could get my book finished. :-P Soon...

I hope.

Christopher said...

Looks great!! I'm really looking forward to reading a copy of it (hopefully!). Could you give me a little information on a create space copy? Using my e-mail will be fine.

Once again, great job!

Chris

RED~Scribe said...

Whoa! That's awesome! There's something... mysterious about the cover. Can't wait to read it!

whisper said...

Eeek! Eeek! It's so cool! It's so wonderful! XD A splendid, splendid job, Sir Jake. And I await that blurb with eagerness.

-whisper

Jake said...

@Christopher!
Will do! Thanks!

@Hannah Joy
Keep on keepin' on! You can do it! :)

@Eldra
Yup, that's the point. ;) Thank you!

@Whisper
Thank you muchly! I shall do my best to deliver in a punctual fashion.

Pathfinder said...

Absolutely spiffin', old chap!

Anonymous said...

My genuine desire in leaving a comment regarding your cover design is to help you. I'm a professional designer and I find the cover art rather dull. There are some nice things about it, but much room for improvement.
1. The cover of the book on the grass is blank. There is nothing intriguing about it. Nothing mysterious. Adding some kind of embossed symbol or design would add a lot.
-- Another option would be to make your book cover the actual cover of "the book of shaldu". (Which is probably the approach I would take.)
2. Another thing: It seems odd that it's just lying in the grass.
3. It would help if the text had a drop shadow to help separate it from the background.
4. If you're going to use just a splash of color, it's best to use it on something that is important -- something that you want to draw attention to -- like the title.
Best wishes!

Jake said...

@Pathfinder
Thank you. :)

@Anonymous
Hey, thanks for your opinion. I appreciate it.

I'm actually glad that it turned out the way it did. I and my siblings are, by no means, professional designers like yourself. :) All we had was a computer, a camera, and an old Bible—-hardly the materials to create a professional cover, especially since we have no techy people in our family to do anything besides stuff you'd find on Picnik.

Naturally, if I were actually publishing it (which I am not), I would go for such an approach as you described. But this is just for a free proof copy I was able to get, via coupon. I have a lot of ground to cover before actual publication. :)

Thank you for your comment.

"Pathathingy" said...

;p

Andrew Y. said...

Nice cover. I think its original, and actually mysterious enough (and considering its simply a proof cover its fine).

But. If you are using Picnik, I think GIMP would be better. You can do more with GIMP and its free.