This post is about covers. And is just for fun.
I just started the e-mail list for the “Think Like a Publisher” workshop to join up the writers from around the country who are planning to attend. And at the same point, all of us at WMG Publishing Inc. have been working at upgrading everything and doing new covers for most every title we have up.
And that’s over 240 titles, so that’s going to take us some time, meaning into August before we are only working forward completely again. 
At the “Think Like a Publisher” workshop in July and at the “POD Workshop” in early October, we are going to be helping the writers attend do covers and start the process of understanding what makes a professional cover and what makes your book look like an indie-published book. (Still room in both workshops. Write me with “Workshop” as the only thing in your subject line if interested.)
So that said, here are a few covers we have done or are working on.
To start off with, this fall I have two original books coming out of WMG Publishing. “Dead Money by Dean Edwards. That’s a large thriller set in the world of professional poker and will be the first book in an ongoing series.
The second novel I have coming out this fall is a Poker Boy novel called “The Slots of Saturn.” This is the origin story of Poker Boy’s team. And you also get to see their new “office/clubhouse” that Stan helped them build in the sky above Vegas. All the Poker Boy stories and collections will be redone to follow the look and brand of the novel.
Coming out now is the reissue of the Kris Nelscott Smokey Dalton series. All six will be in electronic editions by the end of next week and in trade paper soon after. Here are five of the six covers to show you what we did with them. I think they are pretty nifty.
Along with everything else, we are redoing the nine stand-alone parts of the “Freelancer’s Guide” with new covers, new uploaded editions to hold formatting, and putting them all into $6.99 trade paperbacks. Just for fun and contrast, here are five of those covers.
Also we are working like mad to redo all the short fiction and short novel covers, as well as a bunch of backlist novels we already had up. That is the process that is taking a lot of time since they all need new covers and new uploads. Here are five of those covers.
Anyhow, all if this was to show you what we are doing at WMG Publishing Inc these days. Allyson Longueira (WMG’s publisher) is also slowly working on the web site and doing a weekly blog. Later in the summer or early fall we will also have Ella Distribution Inc. up and running and going out to indie bookstores with WMG Publishing books and other indie publisher’s books as well. (We will announce on the WMG Publishing web site and the Ella Distribution website when we open up submissions from other indie publishers for the distribution system.) Stay tuned this fall. Lots of fun here on the coast.
And if you like what we are doing with covers and want to learn how we do some of what we do, sign up for either the “Think Like a Publisher” workshop this July or the “POD Workshop” this September/October. On the workshop tab above.
And note, the covers down the right side of this blog are older covers that have not been redone yet. But they all will be in the next month or so. (grin)
I like these new covers so much better. Very professional. I hope you’ll report back on any affect they had on your sales. Would love to know if they cause an uptick in numbers.
Monica, sales are already ticking up on the items with new covers. We didn’t expect to see that so fast, but I have to admit, some of our old covers really were bad (and still are) and putting on these new, professional-level covers has already kicked up sales on those titles.
Geesh! I realize you two have been at this much longer than I have, but I was feeling comfortable and happy about having published 4 new stories since December (3 under my pen name, C.R. Byron). Looking at what you guys have in the works could either motivate me or depress me. Okay, fine. I’m off to write!
Great, great covers! I’ve had the good fortune to see some of these covers full-size over at the WMG offices, and they look even better full-sized, especially the POD front/spine/back cover flats. Some serious branding going on there, Dean and Kris and Allyson.
Dean, I’m really loving the new covers. Awesome looks.
Konrath’s latest post (JA Konrath vs Stephen King) shows several examples of “animated covers”, i.e., .gif animations of eBook covers.
Your thoughts?
Todd
http://www.toddtrumpet.com
P.S. I’m sure everybody is going to chime in on their favorites of your new refurbished covers, so I’ll add my own ting-a-lings: I actually like them ALL (which surprises me), but I’m particularly fond of two very different styles: “The Spires of Denon” and “Forest For The Trees”. Nicely done.
Todd, not interested either as a publisher or a reader on animated covers. Just another trick that honestly, has already been tried through the last thirty years of publishing. Doesn’t anyone remember the 3-D holographic covers publishers tried to put on books? They turned off readers first off, and second, you don’t sell a book BECAUSE of it’s cover, you get people to pick a book up or look at it electronically because of a good cover, then the book must sell itself. If the cover is the main attraction, what is the point?
Nice. Those all tell me a little story of what I might be getting if I open them up. I hope the stories match the covers!
Just kidding. I know they do. That’s one of the challenges I have as a reader when a cover looks nice, though. (Obviously, if it doesn’t look nice, or says nothing, my only hope is that it doesn’t match the contents).
There was a book years ago (can’t remember it well, but I did like it at the time) that annoyed me because the hero was dressed in black and red (I think), which were the bad guy’s army colors. At no point in the story did the hero ever disguise himself as a bad guy. It drove me nuts! Of course, that “error” obviously didn’t stop me from buying or liking the book! Other than that, though, it was a nice looking cover.
Nice job, WMG. Those are swell covers.
Thanks Dean–just the kick in the pants I needed. I get back from vacation tomorrow, and need to start focusing on my cover design. The new covers look great–will you be updating the how-to “covers” post at some point? If only we could be so lucky! Thanks again for all of your excellent advice, Dean–it’s very much appreciated!
Wow, those look great. I really like the continuity in the Freelancer’s Guides. These really pop.
Thanks, everyone, for the kind words on the covers. We’re pretty happy with them and it seems like every day someone in the office learns a new trick or method to help a cover look even better. It’s great fun. Thanks!
Really like all the covers, but I especially like the Forest for the Trees cover! Nice work (and great branding).
I really like your new covers. Your old covers were okay for short fiction — they have a magazine-y look — but these are really on top of it. I especially like the font work. Also the white covers for non-fiction really suits.
I myself am going to redo all my covers when I finally lock down a style. Since I’m trying to create something of my own brand, I decided that the cover artwork will have to reflect that.
This summer I’m doing a twice-a-week serial on my blog — very short episodes, but every ep has a different banner heading. I’m using both the art and writing to push some boundaries for myself and I’m having a ball.
These are excellent, really sharp and professional. Covers is an area I struggle with – I can’t count how many hours I’ve spent googling the subject. I have figured out how to do very basic powerpoint covers but I still can’t layer anything so I waste a lot of time searching for stockphotos that fit just right. I have paid a designer for my novel’s cover but I’d like to do my own for short stories.
It would be wonderful if you could give us some more info (but I know you’re very busy), or if someone out there could post a few links for the non-Photoshop users.
Fingers crossed! Thank you.
Lovely job. Are you doing these in house or with a designer? If in house, I’m really impressed at the learning curve from your old to new.
Either way, they’re good looking’.
Thom, everything is in house. Allyson has a fantastic eye and a degree in graphic design. Plus she had edited newspapers and knows how to work clearly and quickly in InDesign. That’s the fun of learning. After 240 covers now, we are getting better. There are so many small details that make all the difference in a look or a design, details readers will never actually see, but will understand that the cover is not professional-looking if a detail is out of place.
Thanks!
I really like the look of the new covers, Dean and everyone at WMG! 240 titles done for the second time is a *lot* of practice, and it shows. (bg)
Very nice! I like the similarity for branding purposes.
Dean – I think the new cover designs are great – but, the Kris Nelscott ones have a fine white outline around both the author’s name and the dropshadow of the author name. Those fine white lines that close together look quite bad (noisy) on my screen at thumbnail (and a bit larger as well) sizes.
Thanks for the continued inspiration and advice.
Hiya Pen,
For my short story cover design, I use GIMP – a free graphics program that’s like a super-stripped down version of Photoshop. I buy artwork from the stock sites at $3-6 an image, use free fonts, and have been pretty happy with the effect. The covers are on the side at my website if you want to check them out. Very romance-y, however.
Dean,
I know you’ve been in the game a long time and I’m sure you sell a nice amount of books, but I’ve got to be honest… to me your covers are poor. I’m not sure if you and Kris do your own, but I think you’re hurting your sales by not hiring someone. I’m not a cover artist, either, just a reader and sometimes writer.
Scott, and each of us have an opinion, which is great. I wish you would say why you don’t like any of them. Lots of different styles there, and honestly, we do have a professional cover designer working with WMG Publishing. A professional with not only years of training in design, but with a masters degree in it. Her name is Allyson and she is now the publisher and approves everything we do. Not sure how much more professional you can get.
However, if you mean our old covers, not the ones in this post, then I would agree with you. I did a lot of the older ones and they, honestly, suck. We are switching them out slowly over the next two months.
Just remember, there is a huge difference between personal taste and professional quality. I hate some professional designed covers because they are not to my taste, but I have learned to see why the cover might still work.