Song of Insects: Cover

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

It'll be free, just like everything I plan on releasing

Well I'll pay for it anyway

[zelda_pinwheel]

(edit : oops, should have refreshed the page before i posted...)

about the 2nd version of the Song of Insects cover :
i like this one better as well, although i might suggest inversing the wings so that the little curl on the bottom of the clef makes a swallow tail. i agree the font is better. out of curiosity, have you tried it without the decorative lines ? or maybe with just one instead of both (i would remove the top one) ? it's hard to say but they might be drawing attention away from the butterfly.

about the new ghosts cover : gorgeous ! i don't know if i would want to read it (i don't like scary stories. i'm a big baby that way.) but if the title didn't have "ghosts" in it it definitely would.

[Moejoe]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

(edit : oops, should have refreshed the page before i posted...)

about the 2nd version of the Song of Insects cover :
i like this one better as well, although i might suggest inversing the wings so that the little curl on the bottom of the clef makes a swallow tail. i agree the font is better. out of curiosity, have you tried it without the decorative lines ? or maybe with just one instead of both (i would remove the top one) ? it's hard to say but they might be drawing attention away from the butterfly.

about the new ghosts cover : gorgeous ! i don't know if i would want to read it (i don't like scary stories. i'm a big baby that way.) but if the title didn't have "ghosts" in it it definitely would.

Your points on the second cover are exactly what I was thinking, I'll give it a shot and post the results

As to the Ghosts thing, I don't write out-and-out horror even when I'm writing horror - I have no stomach for gore and violence in my own writing. In the sense of this particular story the Ghosts title it's more metaphorical than anything else. I'd go further, but I'll let you decide when it's finished

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

(i don't like scary stories. i'm a big baby that way.) but if the title didn't have "ghosts" in it it definitely would.

Oh... you didn't read Four and Twenty Blackbirds? One of the Tor freebees. It was very good!

BOb

[Moejoe]

Tried the swallow-tail as suggested but it just never came out looking right. Here's the latest version, furthering the musical notation motif.

[dreams]

Moejoe, I like this latest version of the musical notation motif.

Couple of things: for some reason the word "The" above "Song of Insects" strikes me as off (Maybe the type of font used? A need to be centered?) and the design below the center graphic should be directly below the the overlap of the clefs.

What is genre of the book? The color of the cover leads me to believe that the story is something stark. The title makes me want to know what is beyond the cover.....

[Moejoe]

Originally Posted by dreams

Moejoe, I like this latest version of the musical notation motif.

Couple of things: for some reason the word "The" above "Song of Insects" strikes me as off (Maybe the type of font used? A need to be centered?) and the design below the center graphic should be directly below the the overlap of the clefs.

What is genre of the book? The color of the cover leads me to believe that the story is something stark. The title makes me want to know what is beyond the cover.....

You're right on both counts, the "the" is off completely, just doesn't fit and in my rush I forgot to re-position the divider. Thanks for pointing those out

The story is science-fiction... it takes place on the back of a walking city as its progresses from winter to spring and involves a young girl on the eve of her sixteen birthday searching for the spirit of her mother - which in this universe is trapped, like all the memories of the dead, in a holographic insect body. It's a journey story, a transition from youth into adulthood. And also, there's an intelligent bicycle

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

...
And also, there's an intelligent bicycle

Well, thank the gods for that then! Up until that point I was getting bored at the sheer normality of it.

Cheers,
Marc

[dreams]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

The story is science-fiction... it takes place on the back of a walking city as its progresses from winter to spring and involves a young girl on the eve of her sixteen birthday searching for the spirit of her mother - which in this universe is trapped, like all the memories of the dead, in a holographic insect body. It's a journey story, a transition from youth into adulthood. And also, there's an intelligent bicycle

Sounds all the more interesting...The holographic insect body makes me think how cool it would be to see that in the cover-- or at least a beautiful butterfly (or maybe it's colorless until released or saved - then becomes beautiful?)

Also, maybe something besides muted brown for the cover? Spring and butterflies make me think of color (yeah, some of us are suckers for "pretty" and will be drawn into picking / checking out a book just because it's "pretty").

for being so generous in sharing your work with us.

[Moejoe]

Originally Posted by dreams

Sounds all the more interesting...The holographic insect body makes me think how cool it would be to see that in the cover-- or at least a beautiful butterfly (or maybe it's colorless until released or saved - then becomes beautiful?)

Also, maybe something besides muted brown for the cover? Spring and butterflies make me think of color (yeah, some of us are suckers for "pretty" and will be drawn into picking / checking out a book just because it's "pretty").

for being so generous in sharing your work with us.

I'll be working on alternative covers for everything I do, and probably post up the variants and have a poll or something here on Mobileread before I put the books out there. So far I have a loose schedule (subject to drastic change)

Mid-March Release -- Small Victories (short story collection)
End of March -- The Song of Insects
Mid-April - The Mortgage of Ghosts

The website should be up around the same time as Small Victories is released. I'm still toying around with the idea of releasing a standard version on Feedbooks and a special-edition for Mobile Read (with extra stories and the like).

Lots to think about, and all of it fun

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

You're right on both counts, the "the" is off completely, just doesn't fit and in my rush I forgot to re-position the divider. Thanks for pointing those out

The story is science-fiction... it takes place on the back of a walking city as its progresses from winter to spring and involves a young girl on the eve of her sixteen birthday searching for the spirit of her mother - which in this universe is trapped, like all the memories of the dead, in a holographic insect body. It's a journey story, a transition from youth into adulthood. And also, there's an intelligent bicycle

an intelligent bicycle !!!! well, now you've got me.

i like this new version (minor details already mentioned aside). i think it works much better using only the musical notations, and taking out the top divider line really lightens the design.

Originally Posted by Moejoe

I'll be working on alternative covers for everything I do, and probably post up the variants and have a poll or something here on Mobileread before I put the books out there. So far I have a loose schedule (subject to drastic change)

Mid-March Release -- Small Victories (short story collection)
End of March -- The Song of Insects
Mid-April - The Mortgage of Ghosts

The website should be up around the same time as Small Victories is released. I'm still toying around with the idea of releasing a standard version on Feedbooks and a special-edition for Mobile Read (with extra stories and the like).

Lots to think about, and all of it fun

those sound like some excellent projects. i don't usually like science fiction much but i'm looking forward to these. i might even try the ghost story, since you've promised me no gore. of course, if it's too spooky i'll have to come find you and beat you up for all the sleep i'll be losing while i huddle terrified in my bed, jumping at the slightest sound.

[dreams]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

I'll be working on alternative covers for everything I do, and probably post up the variants and have a poll or something here on Mobileread before I put the books out there. So far I have a loose schedule (subject to drastic change)

Mid-March Release -- Small Victories (short story collection)
End of March -- The Song of Insects
Mid-April - The Mortgage of Ghosts

Yes, yes, we looove polls around here

Originally Posted by Moejoe

The website should be up around the same time as Small Victories is released. I'm still toying around with the idea of releasing a standard version on Feedbooks and a special-edition for Mobile Read (with extra stories and the like).

Lots to think about, and all of it fun

Oh YEAH!! That would be soooo great!

Keep us informed on what is happening

[europas_ice]

I liked the cover with the insect/butterfly head/body on it, with the clefs as the wings.

[DixieGal]

Both covers are beautiful. In fact, a framed print of Song of Insects would look nice in my dining room. May I steal it?

[DixieGal]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

Mid-April - The Mortgage of Ghosts

You should release this one sooner, what with the housing market collapse and mortgage banking industry in chaos.