Friday, March 06, 2009

Cover Art

My editor sent me the cover for Crystal Healer, StarDoc book nine:



Like the cover for Omega Games, this is the hip new look they're giving my latest SF novels, and it isn't pink. I'm not a fan of changing cover art styles in mid-series, and I prefer the former unhip look, but it isn't pink. The art seems interesting, it isn't pink, and the scene depicted is appropriate to the story. The echoing font and no uppercase letters on the title must be a SF art trend, but they aren't pink and I can sacrifice a couple of capital letters for the illusion of hipness. The angle is a bit weird; makes me wonder if the ship (which is not pink) is being sucked into a gravity well or something. I don't remember writing that.

Did I mention it isn't pink?

32 comments:

  1. It would look better in pink.

    me: ducks to avoid projectiles thrown at me by PBW

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congratulations on the non-pinkness--always a cause for celebration. Looking forward to reading it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That looks great!!! I do agree about changing the artwork mid-series though. How much say do you have in the matter of the cover anyways? I've always wanted to know that. Any chance of changing things in it at this point...like the color that you so clearly are in love with. Haha kiding. I'm a photographer, and all i can think of about the angle is that they were trying to show more detail in some parts of the image while keeping it at a good aesthetically pleasing size.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous12:28 AM

    You are so funny...It's not pink.......I bought the "PINK" book (which was very good, could not put it down and was tired at work the next day good) and you know, im not really a pink fan but I have little girls and guess what they want everything to be pink so I just look the other way. The cover of Crystal Healer is a bit weird.... maybe the crystal is a bit heavy or the the artist who did the cover art couldn't find their left shoe... huh? Anyway can't wait to read it. Thanks for finishing the series. StarDoc got me into a different genra and your recomendations got me into other authors I really like and never knew existed. So thank you for everyting you post. I'm not a writter but a reader. I come here every day or so to see what you posted. Thank you LD

    ReplyDelete
  5. I see some lovely purple and blue, but fortunately, no pink.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm not crazy about Uncanny Valley people (rendered), although it makes more sense for sf than, say, erotic romance, where I've seen the worst examples.

    This is a fine cover. It would lure me.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I still have dial-up, so when I read the first line about new cover art and waited for the picture to download, I swear I found myself holding my breath.
    Nice cover. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yay for non-pinkness! But I loved the pink book, for all that it's colour-challenged.

    This one...hmm...the angle of tilt combined with the double font is giving me a headache.

    But more importantly, your name is bigger than the title. Nevermind about the lower case title, your NAME is in uppercase! Surely that is a sign of greatness, O Chosen One. Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I does look nice...but yes what is up with that freakish angle?

    ReplyDelete
  10. ....so she's going to figure out how to get rid of all the black stuff flying about infecting planets? huh.

    ReplyDelete
  11. There is a little purple type glow there on the right. You never know...myabe it'll turn pink.

    I don't know...it doesn't look too bad. I kinda like it.

    ReplyDelete
  12. great cover! I'm looking forward to the read!

    ReplyDelete
  13. maybe the art department ran out of pink on some other book.

    Maybe next time = )

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous8:23 AM

    "Did I mention it isn't pink?"

    Why no...I don't believe you did...Which is odd, considring t's so totally not pink! :P

    Looks very sci-fi. I like it and can't wait to get my grubby paws on it! :D

    ReplyDelete
  15. Where's my pink ink?

    *ducks*

    ReplyDelete
  16. It looks great in it's non-pinkness. I can't wait to read the book.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm at the point with your books where I don't even look at the cover art before I buy the book. I want what's between the covers. Since I'm working through your backlist right now, I'll have to see what the earlier StarDoc covers look like and compare.

    ReplyDelete
  18. No, it isn't pink, but neither was Robin's book cover when you first saw it.

    Don't worry. I'm sure that pink lightning never strikes the same author twice. On the other hand, you might have just jinxed yourself.

    *ducking*

    Hmm. My word verification is permunic which just bets to be an adjective for something. "The pink tinge to Robin's cover gave off a permunic glow."

    ReplyDelete
  19. I don't know, the lavender tint was cutting it pretty close...

    When ever I check out Vinay Vikram Singh's blog I keep thinking he would make great aliens for your SL Viehl book covers but he mainly does game animation. Can't you put it in your contract that you have control over the cover art? or would that put too much power in the writer's court, so to speak.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous10:27 AM

    I agree with you -- I like all my series books to have the same art. But, I do like the faint all-caps echo of the title. I didn't notice it at first.
    Overall, I think it goes in the nice-cove pile. :)
    JulieB

    ReplyDelete
  21. But...but...it isn't pink!

    :D

    *ducks and runs*

    ReplyDelete
  22. I think the cover looks great...of course I have yet to check out the other StarDoc books. I am going to be doing that soon, though. Pink or not, I've loved all of Darkyn stories, and I'm going to move on to your SF books simply because you wrote them. I'm only a reader, but I love your blog and read it daily. I've never been big on SciFi, but I have high hopes because it's you. So thanks for all of the great writing...and never fear, pink will never be a deterrent from your stuff :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. I love the non-pinkness of your new cover. :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous3:20 PM

    One thing stands out...there is no pink. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  25. You know what I just noticed? It isn't pink. Isn't that weird? Did you notice that?

    *tongue firmly inserted into cheek*

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous4:27 PM

    No the cover is not pink but the contents are "red hot". It's a great read with a 100% wow factor at the end. Great Job!

    Marie

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous4:35 PM

    Is it my computer screen or do I see some pink in there in the background? Looks like it to me... :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. I like the cover. I've read all the Star Doc novels, and thoroughly enjoyed them.

    At least she's not wearing pink spandex which happened to another author who is a friend of mine. Oh, was she upset!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hmm, a newcomer to your blog might think you have a prejudice against the color pink...or an obsession with it ;).

    The cover looks good though the tilt is odd. To double check you saying the covers are so different, I clicked back some of the older covers. Oddly, though not as dramatic, Plague of Memory shows the same tilt. But if you lay them out in order, there's a slow cover change through the whole series with the artwork becoming more crisp and defined. The big change with this one and Omega Games is the box with the title, though even that changed from the first.

    Anyway, cover change or not, it's on my list :).

    ReplyDelete
  30. Sounds like you are tickled pink with the new book cover! : )

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous5:51 PM

    I like the new cover. It is nice to keep the same cover art styles but I have noticed lately that many authors don't seem to be able to maintain that continuity.
    Davida

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.