Book Cover Illustrations

When I stared creating the illustrations for the graphic novel The Werewolves of New Idria, we knew the final page count and approximately how many illustrations I’d need to create for John Chadwell’s story. That said, there’s always a little “wheel spinning” with an art project like this, so a few pieces were created that […]

I’ve posted these illustrations before, but thought they might bear repeating now that our graphic novel Werewolves of New Idria is in print (and available from Moonstone Books). Generally a cover project doesn’t go through so many renditions – but sometimes it does. And often these can be enlightening and perhaps serve as a cautionary […]

Before I created the cover illustration for Thomas D. Bryson’s Ouroh trilogy, the author asked me to read his book manuscript (and, yes, paid me a handsome sum for the task). It was a thick manuscript — actually three whole books — and a daunting read due to the marvelous word play that demands some […]

The Adventures of Dod fantasy series by Thomas R. Williams has been a smashing success — and so the news that book three is now slated to come out in a just few months is more good news for fans. An added bit of joy for me is that after creating the artwork for book […]

Normally the summer is a slow time for publishing. But with many authors now going the self-publishing route, this summer is proving to be an exception – busy, busy, busy. Which is just how I like it because I love my work — and there’s always a need for a little more money, right? This […]

I got word from reporter Ashley Fetters that she had several quotes from me in her article about book covers and publishing that appears at the Atlantic Magazine website. It wasn’t too much of a surprise given she’d interviewed me a few days ago. But I was happy to see I was quoted extensively in […]

A few days ago I listed my favor science fiction artwork I’d created over the years. This post will be some of my favorite fantasy artwork I’ve created for books and magazines — along with a few unpublished pictures as well. Again the caveat that a book illustrator is not necessarily the best judge of […]

Over my years of illustration, I’ve created quite a number of paintings. Some never really “grab” me. But others seem to have a place in my heart. Or nightmares. And I thought I’d take a blog to share those in the science fiction category, with the caveat that often a book cover illustrator (like any […]

Self publishing authors and indie press operators often wonder what the illustration rates paid by big publishers of books and magazines are. Fortunately the answer to that question isn’t a big dark secret these days. In fact the industry rates for magazine and book illustrators are pretty standard (and sadly have not gone up much […]

The “Great Raven” blog reprinted my article “How to Kill a Book Cover” — which also gives a few tips on how not to ruin a book cover. If you’re hiring an illustrator of graphic artist to design a book cover for you, you’d do well to read this article before investing your hard-earned cash.