Book Cover Illustrations

The last ten years have seen a major shift in our business from creating illustrations for larger publishers toward clients who are self-publishing authors or small presses. And ebook covers have become a large part of that work (though generally these are generated from the print version of the covers we create). One of the […]

I’m no lawyer. But I have signed at least a thousand publishing contracts of one sort or another over the decades I’ve been working in the publishing business. And during that time I’ve dodged a few potential pitfalls that writers and artists can face in contracts. (Up front, let me say that before you sign […]

We recently completed the cover for Kenneth Fore’s action adventure novel The Wolf Tattoo. The Synopsis: A man’s impromptu journey into the Alaskan wilderness is life changing when he tangles with a grizzly and an Eskimo woman who thwarts his attempts to escape. She takes him on an unforgettable journey where they must fight wilderness […]

There’s often confusion as to what is being purchased when a publisher or author buys the rights to an illustration. Part of that confusion comes from the fact that rights to a picture can be divided up almost endlessly: Magazine, book, movie, poster, mouse pads, T-Shirts, mugs… The list can go on and on. And […]

Occasionally I see a writer agonize over which of two proposed book cover illustrations to place on his book. His fear is that one picture might be much better than the other for their title. And since there’s no way to know (short of trying both), it is a decision that’s hard to make. Or […]

This is the concept art I did to create the background for my Tree Clan illustration. Actually, it’s two or three sketches combines… First, I got the sky figured out, then a separate layer forming the tree-like structures and bridges, another for the small figures standing on the structure (useful for giving it some “scale” […]

Nothing is quite as sad as watching a quality book cover illustration be slowly butchered.