HERESY alternate cover 2

I will get to Zero G, I promise. It's just a big project and I'm getting my thoughts in order before I attack it. There's a great deal to think about and recall. In the meantime I have way too much work on my plate to blog about Zero G right now.

So I will first show you guys these two covers I did for a Spacedog book called HERESY.

My brief was that the book was about vampires but that they don't have fangs. Ok, no problem. I read the book, and tried to pick out the most interesting visual elements: the detective, the huge old Russian vampire, the vampire chick. Ok. Mix em all up in a pot, add a pinch of salt and play around with the elements. Bake at 400degrees and glaze with Photoshop.

I got the layout approved and got to the drawings.

Unfortunately, Annette was off rescuing captured troops in Iraq so I was on my own on a really tight deadline and had to colour it myself.

I did so and I was reasonably pleased with what was a rather generic cover. It just looks like your classic movie poster crap. Lots of floating dramatic heads and people looking insert [mean/cool/angry/intense].

Now, at no stage did anyone ever think to show me the original cover. It's over on the left here.

Notice anything?

Yeah, good work.. They're basically the same god damn cover! Now if there's anything I ever learned about alternate covers, is that if you want them to sell they have to look radically different to the original cover. That way the punter might be tempted to go for both if they both look cool. But they have to be different. If they're the same, then the prospective buyer is just going to pick the version that they like the best.

Not good enough. I begged my editor for more time and she said I had a day. I went back to the drawing board to produce something visually exciting and arresting.

Something that would catch people's eyes...

NEXT: HERESY version 2: Bondage, chains and chicks.