A New Cover for Angst!
The 2nd cover (but not the last) for my first fantasy novel, Angst.
When I finished writing my first fantasy novel, Angst, I wasn’t sure what to do next. I threw together a cover so I could print copies to thank the friends and family who helped get me this far. Shortly after publishing, I realized that I needed a new cover for Angst.
The Original
I really wanted a traditional fantasy cover with heroes in armor fighting bad guys…yeah, unfortunately I’m not an artist at all. No matter how hard I tried, everything I put together with people looked awful. After removing humans from the equation, I drew out the map, took a picture of an old sword and wrapped some lightning around it, and voila, I had a serviceable fantasy cover for friends.
Good Timing
In spite of some gracious compliments, the book was live and needed a new cover. As I get closer to finishing Buried in Angst, I felt now was a good time to make the change. Not only to improve the look of the first book, but for consistency with the second book.
Vuk Kostik
After some research, I found Vuk Kostic. Vuk, a student in Serbia, has some amazing work on his Deviant Art page. In spite of a few language barriers, he was extremely patient with me as he worked through my requests to produce this new cover.
Artist Interpretation
There are a few things in this new book cover I left to artistic interpretation. The monster at the end of Angst is different than on the cover, but he is so bad-ass-looking that I felt it best stick with Vuk’s interpretation. The grey men in the ‘pit’ with pole arms are shadowy, which is very much Vuk’s style and I feel they add some action without distracting from Angst, Rose, or the giant monster. I love Chryslaenor, and the red cloak Angst is wearing.
Fun Project
This has been an incredibly fun project, and one of several things I’m doing to ramp up marketing. I already have some great ideas for the cover of Buried in Angst and look forward to the day I can share that cover too. Let me know what you think, and be sure to check out Vuk’s other work: http://chevsy.deviantart.com/
