Tag Archives: cover design

REMO Crowd-Sourced Editing

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Ooooor, what do you think of the following goodies.  First is my proposed back/sale page copy for REMO.  Then are my finalists for the cover.  Lemme know whatcha think in the comments below, or on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, or by email.  Looking forward to your suggestions!

Back Copy Draft:

Man and Machine. Soldier and Drone. Where does One end and the Other begin? 

With the advent of reliable AI, the UAVs of today will only become more ubiquitous, more autonomous . . . but would Man ever allow himself to be totally removed from the equation? Enter the world of the REMO, Remote Operators leading squads of autonomous, intelligent combat units in the air . . . on the ground . . . beneath the waves . . . and to the furthest reaches of outer space.

War is hell, even if you’re not pulling the trigger directly . . . .

From the acclaimed author of  A Sword Into Darkness  comes five tales of military and AI science fiction that will remain on your mind long after the pages are done. Includes:

“Tinker Bell Unbound”
“Strategic Deployment”
“Dogcatcher Blues”
“Identity Crash”
and “ILYAMY”

REMO Finalists

The Art World vs. Tom Mays

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Damn you, Jeff Edwards, you insidious voice of reason, you.

So, if you’ve been following, you know I’m launching an ebook anthology with a bunch of my military AI short stories, called REMO.  And since the last cover I did was 96-ish % successful, I started off doing my own for this one as well.  And I’ve got a cover I like, but Jeff reasoned that hey, it turns out you are NOT a graphic designer, so you MIGHT just wanna get some options rather than commit to something developed on the fly, with a kind of art you’re unfamiliar with, and which is not necessarily evocative of a military SF anthology.

Damn correct bastard . . . .

So, on advice, I’m opening up the cover design for REMO to some actual graphic artists via the 99Designs website.  I’ve offered up a $200 bounty to the designer that can beat what I already have:

REMO Cover 1

We’re looking for a cover that is more immediately recognizable as military SF, and which looks more compelling as a thumbnail image.  All the subtle sci-fi-isms of my design seem to vanish at that size.

If you’re a graphic artist and want to compete for the bounty, go HERE.  You’ve got four days to present a proposal, so no dawdling!

The Horror . . . The Funny, Funny Horror . . . .

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As I finalize my “A Sword Into Darkness” cover design, back-cover copy, and polish off my mad Photoshop skillzzz, I was keen to look around for advice on how to do it right, and — more importantly — how to do it wrong.  Thus, I discovered the following hilarious and frightening treasure trove:

http://lousybookcovers.com/

You’ll lose at least a day browsing.  Now, I’m off to completely re-design EVERYTHING!