Putting book 4 of the Life Among the Dead series out as an independent release meant I would have to make the cover myself. I tried to make it fit in with the other three put out by Permuted Press. Back when book 1 was a free agent I was very happy with my design, I fought the publisher a bit when they decided to change it. The bloody handprint wasn't exactly original, they certainly didn't want to use my cover since they had another title coming out with a similar idea. They sent me a cover to consider that was awful, it featured a quartet of zombies that I just didn't like.
In my opinion, using actual photos of people with crisp clear resolution makes a book look cheap, like a movie shot with a camcorder rather than on film. I much prefer abstract covers, or covers that contain an object of significance. Permuted showed me the red cover for book 1 and I accepted it. I still would have liked to have had my original but I had to compromise, take the one we know now over the awful one. I actually shouldn't refer to it as 'the awful one', someone worked hard to make it and a Permuted writer did use a modified version of that exact image for one of their books. It just wasn't this book.
The books that followed matched the first, abstract smudges on canvas. But, they too were not what I had intended. My cover for book 2 when I had released it indy wasn't the best. I'll admit I now do prefer what the series looks like. The sandcastle idea was the best I could do at the time and I liked. I never released book three, but had an idea. Those of you that have read it can weigh in on how good this concept was. Picture a black background, from the bottom of the cover up, a large pile of spent brass casings.
So, this bring us to book 4. I made it myself. It matches, perhaps not perfectly, but it's mine and I get my bloody handprint. I had to search for a font that looked similar to the Permuted release. You will understand my original concept for this book once you read it, I wanted it to look like a two-toned flyer, more than likely black and green. It would have had a roller derby girl, instead of the text saying where and when the event is would be the title and my name of course. This will make sense once you read the book and meet Rocky Roadkill of Man's Ruin.
Get it on Kindle: http://getbook.at/LATD4
In my opinion, using actual photos of people with crisp clear resolution makes a book look cheap, like a movie shot with a camcorder rather than on film. I much prefer abstract covers, or covers that contain an object of significance. Permuted showed me the red cover for book 1 and I accepted it. I still would have liked to have had my original but I had to compromise, take the one we know now over the awful one. I actually shouldn't refer to it as 'the awful one', someone worked hard to make it and a Permuted writer did use a modified version of that exact image for one of their books. It just wasn't this book.
The books that followed matched the first, abstract smudges on canvas. But, they too were not what I had intended. My cover for book 2 when I had released it indy wasn't the best. I'll admit I now do prefer what the series looks like. The sandcastle idea was the best I could do at the time and I liked. I never released book three, but had an idea. Those of you that have read it can weigh in on how good this concept was. Picture a black background, from the bottom of the cover up, a large pile of spent brass casings.
So, this bring us to book 4. I made it myself. It matches, perhaps not perfectly, but it's mine and I get my bloody handprint. I had to search for a font that looked similar to the Permuted release. You will understand my original concept for this book once you read it, I wanted it to look like a two-toned flyer, more than likely black and green. It would have had a roller derby girl, instead of the text saying where and when the event is would be the title and my name of course. This will make sense once you read the book and meet Rocky Roadkill of Man's Ruin.
Get it on Kindle: http://getbook.at/LATD4