I’ve spent the last week crashing on a short story that was very stubborn. I finally figured out what direction it was supposed to go and got it out on the last day of the deadline.

So I zoomed through some cover refreshes on Saturday. It looks like all the sites are still publishing. I’d thought they’re suspended that (due to a software change in the user interface). So some have already gone up, and more are coming.

First up:

Healer’s Tent

Cover on the left is the original. Cover on the right is the new one.

This was a piece that published four years ago. It was only four years ago, but it feels like a lifetime in how the image styles have changed.

At the time, there weren’t as many that could be used for a book cover. Many of the images were too busy or didn’t have enough contrast to sample colors for the titles. Some were even too simple (i.e., no setting background).

So I think the artists realized their big business is in covers. The images have better settings and aren’t as busy. There’s always more contrast.

Words of Rain and Shadows

Left is the original. Right is the new.

Looking at this one, I can see why I chose the original. But it defitely needed the refresh.

Note the placement of the titles on the left one, versus the right. When I create this, I was thinking: “PowerPoint presentation.”

I used to do PowerPoints and you can get right up against the edge. The program has a built-in gutter around each slide that you can’t see. But in a cover, this is the bleed area.

A bleed area is a little margin for printing in case the paper moves around. If this had gone to print, I’d probably have lost the bottom and left side of my title! Also the the top of my name.

My new template has guides around all the edges that mark the bleed areas. The guides also help make the covers look more consistent overall.

More to come. I was making a list and am shocked at how many I still have.