MONSTERS is due for release on October 31 of this year, but I haven’t been able to settle on a cover yet and thought you might like to help choose one. Here’s the blurb for the novel.
The fallout from a passing comet carries a biological pathogen, not a virus or a living organism, just a collection of amino acids forming a simple helical structure, but one that causes animals to revert to the age of the mega-fauna, when monsters roamed Earth.
With the collapse of civilization, reading is lost. Superstitions prevail. Readers are persecuted like the witches and wizards of old. Bruce and his son James seek to overturn the prejudices of their day and restore the scientific knowledge central to their survival while teaching others the joy of reading, but monsters lurk in the dark.
And the results are in… the winner is the abandoned factory
Hi Peter,
My take on this is as follows. I think by choosing the paw, hanging bat or jaguar, you’ll give a shape and dimension to your monster. I think it’s best left to the reader’s mind. The folded bat wing is not very clear, I only came to understand that it was so when I read its caption on the poll form. The derelict buildings give me the feeling that the book is based on the post apocalyptic world or a depiction of the aftermath of a man-made/natural disaster.
The abandoned factory I believe, depicts ‘nothing’ and hence carries a sense of mysticism about it(more-so because the book is captioned ‘Monsters’ and you don’t know what they are). I for one would definitely pick up the book with this kinda cover in a bookstore having some kind of an alluring vacuum about it which tinkles your curiosity.
Hope it helps Peter.
– Sid
The paw print plays out really well with the story, but I get your point. There’s more of a haunting sense of suspense with the empty building. It’ll be interesting to see which cover is most popular.
I like a few of them. Here are my thoughts as a viewer of the book on a shelf/screen: Please take this as constructive thoughts, not a criticism.
The tagline font is too big, if it should be there at all. I like the line, but the title and imagry stands alone better. Maybe a stand alone tag line inside the book alone on a page prior to page one?
I rushed through some photoshops to visualize my thoughts to you.
The Pawprint is cool, maybe #2 in my mind, but the font needs to be more prominent across the page
The factory is an odd angle to the font and kind of looks skewed, if you made the picture in the font it would take the angle away
The buildings in the bottom is my favorite and the monsters logo is creative, you should move the title and the tag line into the opposing railings and where the MONSTERS is photoshop in a marquee sign to make it look like the sign with monsters is attached to the building
I think either the paw or the old buildings in the bottom row are your best covers by far.
cant wait to read.
Hey, the building cover looks really good with the name on the angle as though it were on a billboard. My only hesitation about this cover is that I think curious readers need a splash of colour to get them interested.
As for the paw print, well, your photoshop skills are better than mine 🙂 I do like the tag line, though, and would like to work it in if possible as it sets up the story quite well and, hopefully, raises some interest.
The abandoned factory has a beautiful blend of colours and tones within it, which I think makes it quite haunting. As for the angle, I could position the distant point to the left, right or middle, but thought the middle was a bit too symmetrical. The derelict buildings are from gunkanjima, and there’s some great images of that on the internet, but they might be hard to track down from a commercial reuse perspective, whereas the paw print and factory are royalty free images I can purchase outright (with my limited budget).
http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/photo/dog-paw-print-in-snow-royalty-free-image/136643882
http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/photo/ruined-factory-abandoned-industry-interior-royalty-free-image/153887262#p
Here’s the jaguar originals…
http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/photo/black-jaguar-snarling-close-up-royalty-free-image/200430025-001
http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/photo/jaguars-eye-dark-phase-close-up-royalty-free-image/10187595
The image I really like would cost $1600… but probably wouldn’t make that great a book cover anyway (at least, that’s what I’m telling myself)
http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/photo/black-jaguar-high-res-stock-photography/AV1280-001
Reblogged this on 88 mph to Roswell and commented:
Help Peter pick his new book cover!
thanks for the reblog, and for having a crack at reworking the covers. I’ve uploaded your images in the comments so others can see them easily
That would actually be the pitch for the book, the synopsis is a complete outline with all the secrets revealed. I really like the Eye.Good luck with your launch!.
Todd, thanks for that… yeah, it’s a cut down version of the synopsis, a teaser, the kind of thing you might find on the dust jacket
The paw print is cool although going by the synopsis, i can’t make a connection between the plot and the cover. Also, it sort of reminds me of Uncharted 2 (the PS3 game from Naughty Dog) what with the snow and all…
Keeping with the idea I have in my head after all that, just maybe… if the cover had some worn out book on that overgrown factory floor, the “Monsters” title on it with the paw print partially stained over that cover and the ground?
might be a bit much tho…
Thanks for the comment… all the covers tie into the story at some point, but probably the paw print more so as there’s a section where the protagonist tracks a mountain lion through the snow
The black one with the eye.