I haven't had a lot of feedback on the cover yet from the betas. Just a couple of missives. I thought I'd put it here so everyone can get a peek.
The ships are a mix of my own and stuff from Renderosity and Daz 3D. The characters are all Daz3d. The set was made with Stonemason's Sci-fi kit 1-2 and his interior lab set. Sharp eyes will notice I borrowed elements from the Pirates Bane set as well. (I'm lazy) :)
The rear admiral is the fuzzball with his back to the camera. In the foreground is Lieutenant Kelly Guadino his Neogorilla Intelligence officer, and Lieutenant Garfield, his TO. (yes I got lazy and used the tiger material) In the background are Lieutenant Jojo, Kyle, Alec, and the rest down below are various ratings and noncoms. :)
Now that the cover art is done I'm catching up on my To-Do list one item at a time. I don't know if I'll hit them all, I doubt it, I never do. I'm feeling lost when I'm not in write mode, like I'm floundering around without purpose. It is hard for me to just kick back and relax I guess... though I should. I have a ton of movies to watch (Jurassic World and The Force Awakens are 2) plus a DVR that needs clearing out, plus Mike Kotcher's books to read, and other books to read... ugh. Then there are all the projects, Duncan and Jory have been assisting me with the Wiki, Mike Boos has been working on star system maps, (very cool ones, better than mine!) and Tom is waiting patiently for me to get my act together to re-start the website. Then there are all the other projects I've had on back burners. Character bios and images, ship images, Smashwords, Google books, the wiki, the 3d map I started, fixing books... buying and trying StarCraft II Nova... Mario Maker... finding a house...
See? It's more work 'relaxing' than it is to write! ROFL
Anyway, I am not sure if Mike Boos or one of the other Betas put the 'Galactic Sector Map' up on the wiki or Facebook group yet or not. The background was 'borrowed' from Galaxymap.org I think. I'm considering using it to map out the Tau and a few of the other sectors so they are rooted in 'reality'. The map gives a rough idea on what I intended for the galactic sectors and will play a larger role once I get into the bigger stage. The sectors are roughly aligned along the galactic arms. There are No Go areas that are marked.
If he hasn't I think it is okay to post it now. I think. Maybe.... Ah heck, go for it Mike or Jory!'
EDIT: I finally got around to uploading my books to Smashwords now that they are offering free ISBN's. I have 10 up so far. I am holding off on the rest until some are edited by Rea and reformatted by Goodlifeguide.com. That may take some time however. I'm trying to figure out their 'free' ISBN premier package now.
Not a bad cover. Could use a little more lighting in the background. I would suggest if you prefer to write that you think of the character bio's as short story's with there images. Now this part is off the wall but package it for sale with ship images and info, system maps with basic information and sector maps as a companion book.maybe call it: A New Federation Galactic Encyclopedia
ReplyDeleteHey Chris, just posted up the Galactic Map on facebook. I wasn't sure if you wanted it up before and I am taking the stance of not posting till you say to lol. Much safer that way.
ReplyDeleteSame here. That way I don't accidently give away spoilers. Not that I think I have anything in that category but I am not the author.
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ReplyDeleteThank you Julie.
DeleteIf you look in the background of the Retribution cover you'll see the starships. :) I couldn't resist.
I had intended to do a space scene for this book. One with a station and other stuff I bought, but I thought it was too impersonal.
You aren't the first to suggest short stories at the end of a book. I've done it once or twice before. I've been tempted to do it some more. But there are a lot of them! Dozens in each time period! Some play into the main storyline and shift things too.
Duncan is posting stuff on the Wiki off and on. I've got a couple more characters for him to post. Once I do the write ups I may switch to rendering some of the ships. :)
Hi, i think that the cover will appeal manly to those already in the story. Maybe a more eye caching cover will help bring in new readers. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteWaiting for the book!!!!
Hmm...
DeleteYeah, it is a consideration. I'm going to run with it though. I've already shifted gears to work on supporting material for Duncan and the Wiki. I'm going to try to get into the next book later this week.
It is true that you can't judge a book by it's cover but when there are so many available most of them not so original or good at all then the covers has a big job in my opinion at least.
DeleteAlways a concern. I thought about doing another space battle. I've done several. I was trying to move away from another black and dark cover again though.
DeleteMaybe try one over or blacklight by a planet with a ship breaking up and a ship flying over shooting missile or beams. I can tell you books with big cool impressive ships on the cover draw my eye pretty quickly.
ReplyDeleteAlso the post from Julie was me. I was on vacation and accidentally responded from wife account.
Hmmm... I've got a couple space covers planned for some of the books. That one sounds good for Shelby's book.
DeleteJulie: lol, okay. :)
Nice, though I like the covers with ships on them better. But hey its all good.
ReplyDeleteI do too. If you look in the background, you'll see ships. :)
DeleteI love this cover, best one yet!
ReplyDelete