Book Cover Illustrations

Author Rosanne Dingli recently pointed out that Novelrank can become a useful tool for tracking Amazon sales of an author’s books.

And Novelrank is free for authors.

Dingli writes, “You register each of your titles (they must have had at least one sale to be registered) and create a “user page” that lists all the books you register. Check it once a day, to determine whether any sales have been recorded. Sales come up about 6 – 10 hours after Amazon changes the ranking. Although Amazon says they refresh every hour, rankings do not change until about 6 hours a sale takes place – I’ve checked this and tested it with other authors.”

Try it, you’ll like it: Novelrank.

In keeping with the season, I created a new illustration that perhaps will inspire a few goosebumps. I’ll also be wearing the same funny face I wore last year. And almost every other day of the year as well.

For those wanting to be truly horrified by something other than my face, please visit my two galleries of horror artwork I’ve created for as book illustrations (as well as for entertaining visitors to my website): Duncan’s Horror Illustration Gallery and Pre-Made Horror Book Cover Gallery.

I received word that Brandon J. Huckabay’s science fiction novel Dawn of the Mad is now available in paperback and Kindle formats.

Yes, that is a zombie soldier on the cover. (And, yes, I did the illustration.) These guys figure in the story.

The novel is a real page-turner. Here’s the blurb:

Awakening of the Mad… Lying in apathetic slumber for a thousand years, an ancient race of reclusive clairvoyants suddenly awakens. The elder leader seeks to alter the tides of war by introducing a super weapon: a soldier that can be recycled on the field of battle, negating wounds …and even death itself.

While research is being conducted on a remote planet, the weapon escapes creating a collision between worlds. In the path of the Mad… Recently promoted police homicide detective Johnny Roman thinks he has reached the pinnacle of his law enforcement career until his investigation into a bizarre array of murders gripping the city threatens not only his career, but his life as well.

Finding himself in over his head, Detective Roman attains the help of unlikely allies in the form of a timid coroner technician and an enigmatic group of elite soldiers. Detective Roman is quickly thrust into the front lines trying to contain a spreading epidemic and a crazed alien killer in his own backyard: Earth

In addition to creating the illustration for the front of the book cover, I also did the cover layout for the author. Since the top of his helmet created a nice arch pattern, I altered the title lettering to match the curve, then flipped the last “D” to create a little lettering madness to match the title:

I also created a logo for the company address and spine to match the insignia elements of the soldier/zombies in the story. This logo also appears in the illustration as well (to the left of the grenades on the zombie’s chest).

If you’re a science fiction fan, check out this book. (There’s a free preview through the “look inside” feature at Amazon.)

===============================
Duncan Long is a book illustrator who’s done work for HarperCollins, Amazing Stories, Pocket Books, ILEX, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Moonstone Books, and many indie presses and self-publishing authors. You can see more of his artwork for science fiction novels at Duncan Long’s Gallery of Science Fiction Artwork and Pre-Made Science Fiction Book Covers.

I was happy to learn several of my illustrations have been featured in the “For Writers: Publishing Tips and News” section at EveryWriterSource.com. The pictures are also slated to appear in its magazine.

(If you’re an author, note that the electronic version of the magazine is available for free, and is a great source of tips and tricks for writers.)

While I create a variety of book cover artwork for genres other than horror, the horror illustrations angle fit into the Halloween season, and so the editor and I went with a small collection of what I think are some of my best horror artwork.

Of course I have lots more horror artwork, so whether you’re looking for some book cover art or just enjoy being a tad frightened by what you see, I have two large online galleries of the terrifying and macabre available for viewing: Duncan’s Horror Illustration Gallery and Pre-Made Horror Book Cover Gallery.

Warning: Visit these galleries only if you have a strong heart.

===============================
Illustrator Duncan Long has created horror artwork — as well as science fiction, fantasy, and adventure illustrations — for a number of self-publishing writers and indie presses as well as for HarperCollins, Amazing Stories, Pocket Books, Enslow Publishers, ILEX, Asimov’s Science Fiction, and Moonstone Books.

I was thrilled to see my illustration of a period-piece Greek helmet appearing at Amazing Stories in an excerpt from Janet and Chris Morris’ Sacred Band. You can find the excerpt here.

While the story is science fiction/fantasy, it is based on an actual period in Greece. So to create the picture, I had to do a little sleuthing in order to keep the design of the armor historically correct. Fortunately with the Internet this can be done in the privacy of my studio without the need to raid a library as would have been the case not that long ago. Plus the search yielded some photos to use as references for the painting.

Amazing times for writers and artists. And Amazing Stories.

================================
See more of Duncan Long’s artwork online at his Science Fiction Artwork Gallery and his Fantasy Illustration Gallery.

Three “free reads”…

My updated versions of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories with new, lavish illustrations:

“The Ravel“

“Masque of the Red Death”

“Eleonora”

I’ve been offering these through Scribd for several years now and the number of views/downloads is impressive. “The Raven” is the most popular with over 8,000 downloads; “Masque of the Red Death” has scored 5,454 views/downloads at last count; and “Eleonora” has seen 1,330. Hopefully these have brought a little enjoyment into people’s lives.

===============================
Illustrator Duncan Long has created artwork for a number of self-publishing writers and indie presses as well as for HarperCollins, Amazing Stories, Pocket Books, Asimov’s Science Fiction, and Moonstone Books. You can find more of his Halloween and horror artwork online at Duncan’s Horror Illustration Gallery and his Pre-Made Horror Book Cover Gallery.

Readers wanting an offbeat Halloween story should check out my graphic novel Witches and Fish which can be purchased in print of Kindle format at Amazon.com.

Need even more horror/Halloween “eye candy”? Then you’ll enjoy my Horror Gallery and my Pre-Made Horror Book Cover Gallery.

===============================
Duncan Long is a writer/illustrator who has created work for HarperCollins, Amazing Stories, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, ILEX, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Moonstone Books, Enslow Publishers, and many other presses and self-publishing authors. See more of Long’s artwork at Duncan Long’s Illustration Gallery.

Author Dora Machado reports that the first book in her award-wining fantasy trilogy is now available in audio book form.

And, yes, that’s my artwork on the cover…

If you’re looking for a riveting novel to listen to, you can buy the unabridged audio version of Stonewiser: The Heart of Stone at Amazon.

====================
Duncan Long loves creating the artwork for fantasy novels like Machado’s The Heart of Stone. You can see more of his fantasy artwork in his Fantasy Artwork Gallery.

I recently had the chance to create the cover artwork and layout for John Chadwell’s new science fiction novel Legends and Liars. It was a pretty straight-forward design job with an illustration that would reflect the idea that much of the story would take place in space. The lettering then “nailed” it as a science fiction novel. We used a “yellow” color scheme to give it a bit different look.

Chadwell’s sci-fi novel is a good read and available in both print and kindle formats.

=================
Duncan Long creates book covers for science fiction and fantasy novelists. You can see much more of his fantasy and science fiction artwork (as well as illustrations created for the covers of horror and action-adventure books) at Duncan Long’s Portfolio.

It’s official. Visitors to the Amazing Stories website were told Sunday: “Duncan Long recently joined the staff at Amazing Stories as its Art Director.”

Let me answer two questions (you may, or may not be asking):

Yes, it is a great honor. It’s also a childhood dream come true given the influence science fiction has had on my life through the years, both in terms of entertainment as well as helping me earn a living with both a few sci-fi novels as well as illustration work.

No, I won’t be ending my writing and illustration work. Until Amazing Stories transitions to its print format, everything at the site is pretty much automated as far as the artwork is concerned with only an occasional need for serious art directing on my part. So for the time being, if you have a book or magazine in need of an illustration, my services are still available and I’d be happy to get that attention-grabbing picture you need for the cover rounded up for you.

Partly as a way to celebrate, and with the help of Amazing Stories‘ editor and owner Steve Davidson, we’ve made my fantasy graphic novel Witches and Fish (in pdf format) available for download or online viewing. So I’m hoping you’ll help me celebrate by downloading a copy for yourself or friends.

Now — time to celebrate a little on my own! Yippee!

================================
Duncan Long is a long-time science fiction and fantasy fan — and now the new art director for Amazing Stories magazine. You can see more of his fantasy and sci-fi artwork and book illustrations at Duncan Long’s Online Gallery of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artwork.