Tag Archives: Fiction

The Redemption of Erâth: Consolation Book Cover Concept

It seems like it was ages ago that I said I was working on the ‘final’ edits for The Redemption of Erâth: Consolation, but the truth is I’m still sweating away at it. Every time I read it I see something new. Largely they’re things that could be left, like a few commas too many (I love my commas), but even so I’m still finding the odd spelling or grammar mistake, and it’s driving me nuts. I’ve edited it myself a dozen times, had it edited by a good friend, and I’m starting to consider whether or not I might want to outsource before publishing, just in case. The big problem is being able to afford it.

Anyway, along with the text editing comes a second difficulty, and that’s the cover artwork. I was discussing this with a friend who thought she might be able to whip something up, but in the end she was a little too busy, which I understand completely. I am by no means an artist, but I’ve done my best to come up with something passable. I’d really like some feedback on this, and/or advice on where and how to get a really good cover illustration. My publishing company will offer cover design, but I’m restricted to two stock photos, and I’m not impressed with the selection they have to choose from.

Here’s what I’ve created so far, with my meagre Photoshop skills:

Rough draft for the front cover of The Redemption of Erâth: Consolation

Rough draft for the front cover of The Redemption of Erâth: Consolation

It’s essentially two photos of my own, with a hand-drawn sketch of a wolf with red eyes layered on top. I threw a watercolor filter over the top of it all to try and gel it together so it’s not so obviously fudged. For me it’s pretty damn good, but I think it’s a far sight from being publishable.

Ultimately the cover wouldn’t even have to be in this form of layout; the key elements are moorland, dark clouds and a fierund from the book (huge beast wolves with glowing red eyes). This is simply the best my limited imagination and skill can come up with.

What do you think? Would you buy that if you saw it on the shelf, or would you pass it by as something utterly amateurish?

And if you laughed at the cover, just wait until you read my dust jacket blurb!

The Redemption of Erâth: Map of Consolation – Updated

Based on feedback I received on the map of Consolation, I’ve updated it to improve both the layout and the shading. One of the things that was pointed out was that the shading of the map of Thaeìn was very austere and minimal – more or less black and white. I updated the mountains on the map of Consolation to match this, as well as repositioning them to match up with the position of the mountains on the larger-scale map of Thaeìn. I also cleared some of the unnecessary detail like hills (that I didn’t think looked particularly convincing anyway) and trees, leaving just the main forests behind.

I’d love your further feedback on this again!

Map of Consolation

Map of Consolation

The Redemption of Erâth: New Maps of Erâth!

I’ve completely neglected to review my edits for The Redemption of Erâth: Consolation for the past few days, but it’s okay because I’ve been working on updating two of my maps of Erâth. It’s been a long process and I’m a little nervous because I’m no artist, but I felt that I needed something with a more…handcrafted feel to it. I actually printed out (in black and white) the computer-created maps, and then traced landmarks – rivers, mountains, cities – first in pencil, and then again in ink. I rescanned these into my iMac and brushed them up a little in Photoshop (I’m terrible at keeping the paper clean). They’re intended to look a little two-tone-ish, but I’m not sure how it came off.

Either way, both maps are here for you to enjoy, and I would love your feedback – both positive and negative. Bear in mind, these are ultimately destined for professional publication, and I really need to know if they’re good enough, or if I need to look at getting some outside illustration help for this.

Thank you!

Map of the land of Thaeìn, one of the major continents of Erâth.

Map of the land of Thaeìn, one of the major continents of Erâth.

~

Map of Consolation, homeland of Brandyé and setting for Book One.

Map of Consolation, homeland of Brandyé and setting for Book One.

~

Incidentally, the fonts used are Porcelain by Misprinted Type and Freebooter Script by Apostrophic Labs. Both are available with a free license from http://www.dafont.com, but if anyone knows different please let me know. They are gorgeous fonts and I would love to use them.