Hey there!
So… as of yesterday I submitted the soon-to-be final draft of the Sandrunner to my line editor. This is a huge step! It’s the stage in the game where the editor looks through every sentence, every metaphor, every character voice, and lots more, in an effort to polish things up. It’s a large undertaking (for the editor!) and the final step before submitting the book to proofreaders.
In other words, the book will launch on October 23rd—on time!
The Sandrunner Cover Design
I began work with the cover designer for the Sandrunner this week! The process is a really fun collaboration that pulls from both my art and marketing backgrounds. I work with a stellar artist named Jeff Brown to first develop the concept, and then move toward the final piece.
To come up with ideas, Jeff and I hopped on zoom to discuss the book. We looked for scenes within the story with strong visuals and drama, then discussed how best they could be displayed.
We settled on a few requirements:
- The cover must stylistically match book one, The Broken Horn.
- It must feature a different character: Roan! (By the way, based on a recent informal poll, something like 65% of readers are more invested in Roan than Djeodi. How about you??)
- It should pull the viewer in with intrigue, while capturing the otherworldly nature of Nan’kadur.
- It must imply the story without giving away too many clues.
Of course there were other things as well, like it has to be book-sized, done in color, no nudity or swearing, etc. Nudity is for the other Don Elliott…
What is concept art?
The concept art is a rough sketch depicting what a cover could look like. Jeff is a badass, so we worked this out in about 2 hours. I’m going to show you the artwork here first, then keep scrolling to see the concept art and final design for The Broken Horn. It will give you an idea of how the process goes.
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