The making of the EXTRACTED , (The Lost Imperials Book One) cover and cover reveal

The Making of the EXTRACTED cover.

 

What you're about to watch below is a sped up version of the full cover for EXTRACTED taking shape before your eyes. It is composed of about 25 high resolution images on 57 different layers put together in the program Photoshop. In Photoshop a layer interacts with the layer below in very specific ways, sometimes blending or inverting and sometimes masking parts of the image you want to hide. I am continually learning new tricks! Working in Photoshop is a little like being a wizard as you can make almost anything your mind can dream up a reality--and create something that surprises even you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that you'd watched the cover unfold, want to know a little about the amazing EXTRACTED? 

 

The Tesla Institute is a premier academy that trains young time travelers called Rifters. Created by Nicola Tesla, the Institute seeks special individuals who can help preserve the time stream against those who try to alter it.

 

The Hollows is a rogue band of Rifters who tear through time with little care for the consequences. Armed with their own group of lost teens--their only desire to find Tesla and put an end to his corruption of the time stream.

 

Torn between them are Lex and Ember, two Rifters with no memories of their life before joining the time war.

 

When Lex’s girlfriend dies during a mission, the only way he can save her is to retrieve the Dox, a piece of tech which allows Rifters to re-enter their own timeline without collapsing the time stream. But the Dox is hidden deep within the Telsa Institute, which means Lex must go into the enemy camp. It’s there he meets Ember, and the past that was stolen from them both comes flooding back.

 

Now armed with the truth of who they are, Lex and Ember must work together to save the future before the battle for time destroys them both…again.

 

Extracted: The Lost Imperials (Book One)

by Sherry D. Ficklin & Tyler H. Jolley

to be released by Spencer Hill Press (www.spencerhillpress.com)

on 11/12/13 (cool date for a time-travel book, eh?)

Formats: Paper, e-book

Here are all the EXTRACTED links you'll ever want:

 

Visit the Lost Imperials Facebook page at:

http://www.facebook.com/thelostimperials 

 

website:

http://thelostimperials.com

 

and find Sherry Ficklin on Goodreads at:

http://www.goodreads.com/Author_Sherry

 

 

Now, you may think I'm silly, but my cover even makes me want to read this more. 

 

A cover designer strives to encapsulate the essence of the book into a memorable design combining distinctive images and typography. To do this, the artist must take the time to try and understand the atmosphere and style of the book as well as the target audience's tastes (since this is a marketing essential). A good cover creates a sort of "brand" for the book and constructs a framework for the reader to immerse themselves in. Authors understand this instinctively, and if the result is to their liking, are happy to embrace the artist's work as representative of their own creation. As an author myself, it is the greatest honor when another writer feels my design exemplifies their work.

 

If you want to learn more about my cover designs and follow new releases as they are revealed, you can visit my Facebook cover designer page at:

 

http://www.facebook.com/LisaAmowitzCoverDesigns

 

If you are interested in my forthcoming books from Spencer Hill Press,

BREAKING GLASS, July 2013 and VISION, May 2014 you can visit my Facebook author page at:

http://www.facebook.com/AuthorLisaAmowitz 

 

or my Goodreads author page at:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5815435.Lisa_Amowitz

 

You can add BREAKING GLASS to your reading list on Goodreads, too. (and hopefully EXTRACTED will be on there soon as well).

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13597760-breaking-glass

 

 

 

My adventures in book cover design

I've been a graphic designer for many, many years. As a matter of fact, my day job is teaching graphic design at Bronx Community College where I have my students create their own cover designs. But it's only been recently that I've delved into the world of cover design myself. After getting the the amazing opportunity from my publisher, SPENCER HILL PRESS, to design my own cover, I've gone on to do quite a few more for them. The above cover for the forthcoming book, AWOKEN, is the first of the SHP covers to be revealed. Expect more to come.

Cover design, the way we do it at SHP, is a fascinating process.  At SHP, it's a collaboration between the editor, the author and me. We really listen to what the author wants and try to represent the spirit of the book as authentically as possible. It's an incredibly exciting process. In some cases, I've only been given the blurb, as in the case with AWOKEN. In other cases, I've read the whole manuscript. It really depends on how long it takes me to grasp the fundamentals of the book.

It took a lot of comps for me to get this book right. I really had no idea how to portray this rather complex tale. Below, I've posted the final comp that became the cover you see above. What we do is find low rez images from stock photography houses and play around with them until we capture the right mojo. I've yet to set up a photo shoot, though SHP is open to that possibility. I guess it's my roots as an illustrator that drives me to combine multiple images to get the effect I am looking for. And of course, the final touch is the typography, something all my students at BCC know I am absolutely adamant and exacting about. (I give some of them type nightmares). For the final, the high rez images are purchased, and then the cover has to be rebuilt from scratch to look as similar to the comp as possible, and of course, cleaner, crisper and better.

If you want to see more of my cover designs, and keep up to date with new work as it is released, you can check out my page on here, or visit my Facebook designer page at:

http://www.facebook.com/LisaAmowitzCoverDesigns?fref=ts

This is the final rough comp made of low rez images.
You can even see the stock houses watermark if you look closely enough.

AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Artists: Exhibition Opening; 50 Books 50 Covers

50 Books/50 Covers

This exhibition opens on December 10. All of you New Yorkers who are interested in design or publishing (or like me, both) should make it their business to get down there. I am, so maybe I'll see you there!

There's an art to this cover design thing! It does not simply occur as if by magic (ask my students). Here's the link to the show info. You can also link to the AIGA website and view previous shows on bookcover art (and all kinds of other award-winning graphic design).

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/exhibit-fifty-fifty-2008