Shifter: A Zie and Dax novel will be available in e-book and paper-back in just two days and I wanted to share what the final cover will be!
I have to say that one of the best parts of this self-publishing process was collaborating with my husband to create and refine the cover. All the self-publishing advice I could find on cover-creation suggested hiring a professional cover designer. Unfortunately, this phase of my publishing adventure has low to no funding. Though it made me a little nervous to tackle the project ourselves, I had confidence that we could get it done with our combined creative talents and Kevin’s technical skills.
My husband exceeded my expectations and I couldn’t be happier with the way the cover came out. We used PowerPoint to mock-up the skeleton and then Kevin did the hard work in Photoshop, layering a variety of 100% free stock photos and fonts to create the final look. I’ve credited those artists below. Our goal for the second cover is to travel so Kevin can take our own pictures! 😊
We wanted the cover to portray a number of things in a single glance. Creating an inter-dimensional feel to hint at the sci-fi aspect of the book was essential, as was the duo of silhouettes on the cover to point to a partner-based adventure (and possibly a little romance). We went with an art-deco font scheme to relate to my main character Zie’s design sensibilities. I created the dragonfly that adorns both the front and back of the book. It is based on art-deco architecture and is the official logo/mascot of "Zie Charles Designs." The choices of the Denver skyline and mountain stream hint at two of the most important settings in the book. The gold tone of the front cover mirrors a recurring color in the book, which is also the unique hue of Zie’s eyes.
I hope you love the cover as much as we do and that it makes you want to read the book!
Shifter: A Zie and Dax Novel is currently available for pre-order in e-book form on Amazon and through other booksellers. When the novel goes live on Sunday, March 8th, a paper-back and hard-back version will also be available. You can find a few pieces of Zie Charles Design merchandise at my Zazzle store.
To learn more about it and my other projects, visit my website (and join my mailing list) at KCRyanAuthor.com.
A big thank you to the talented artists that made their images and fonts 100 percent free. Doing so enables so many of us to realize our creative visions!
Images:
· Mountain Stream image from Pixabayby Jacquelynne Kosmicki
· Denver Skyline image from Pixabay by snicky2290
· Dax (Male) Silhouette image from Pixabayby Mohamed Hassan
· Zie (female) Silhouette image from Pixabayby OpenClipart-Vectors
Fonts:
· Shifter Title Font - Raconteur nf from Fontspace by Nick’s Fonts
· Zie and Dax Subtitle Font - Poiret One from Fontspace by Denis Masharov
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