I’ve been working with my long-time collaborator Garry Staines on the book cover. I’m going to post some of his original pencil sketches over the next few days.
I originally sent Gal the Amazon Tech Spec for cover requirements on their site and then a brief on what I was looking for. Garry has not read the book so I gave him some of the descriptive passages and a quick outline. I also looked at lots and lots of SF book covers to see what I thought would work well in the genre. It’s a slippery task as to start with no-one knows me or the story. I don’t want to give too much away on the cover but I do need it to excite and entice. Since the initial scamps, Garry has started to work ou a few alternatives. I think he’s going to use another previous collaborator, Dean Winch, to help with getting the designs on a Mac.
Once I start selling, I’ll try a few covers to see what works best. Just ’cause I prefer one over others doesn’t mean it’s going to do the job. I’ll test the market.