Book Cover Illustrations

Reading my post from last Friday about literary snobs and snobbish critics, I became a bit worried that readers might think perhaps I was prejudiced toward such folks. I am. Of course I refuse to take personal responsibility (and hereby place full blame on society). Perhaps some of my anger stems from to the review […]

Author Jack Eason recently posted an excellent article about Literary Snobs. Any writer — especially a beginning writer — would do well to read his post. Ditto for artists, musicians, or others in creative fields who often face such critics. Sadly, snobs often become critics, both professional and amateur. And unlike those critics who do […]

Barnes and Noble as well as Books-A-Million fired warning shots across the bow of Amazon.com. It appears that since Amazon.com blocked sales of Nook titles, Barnes and Noble returned the favor by blocking sales of Amazon.com titles, with Books-A-Million jumping into the fray as well. What’s a little unclear is what all is banned by […]

Another slew of original illustrations from the flying monkeys at the Duncan Long Studio, each looking for a home on a book or magazine cover. Horror, science fiction, and fantasy all looking for the right home on a novel or with a short story. And currently all rights are available for each of these illustrations. […]

Rounded up the illustration and layout for the cover of Mary Maddox’s Talion novel. This paranormal thriller is a good read and when the book with this cover becomes available, I’ll be posting a link to it. And, yes, the book is already in print (and can be ordered here), Why the new cover? The […]

Piracy is becoming the greatest obstacle for those wanting to make a living in the publishing industry, especially with ebooks. According to NewsCore, in 2011 one in five ebooks were illegally downloaded — twice the number seen during 2010. It’s likely the rates of piracy are even higher for popular books. A publisher I recently […]

Here’s a novel written for those wanting to know what it’s like to have a sociopath in your love life. Yes, I did the cover illustration. Perhaps the book’s author knew about my sociopathic tendencies. A Life Lived Ridiculously can be purchased from the author’s website www.ridiculouslife.net, or through Amazon or through Barnes & Noble. […]

From time to time, I create new illustrations “just for fun” with the hope that eventually they’ll find a buyer. This generally proves a good investment of my time with most such pictures eventually finding a home on a book or magazine cover. The plus of these self-directed illustrations is that they’re produced more quickly […]

I’ve been working in the publishing business for several decades. While I’m now making my living mostly as a book illustrator, I’ve had the good fortune to see over 100 of my own books go to print, including 12 novels with HarperCollins and another with Avon, and a slew of technical books and how-to manuals […]

Good book layout is partly an art but mostly a craft. This is especially true of the inner pages where things have been done pretty much the same way since Gutenberg cranked out his first books. If a designer knows and applies the rules, the reward is book text that “looks right.” If the rules […]