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A Review of MiblArt

I have to say, I lucked out. Once I finished the manuscript of Rags and Muffin and finished the interior formatting, I faced the prospect of finding and hiring a cover artist. The artists who worked on Jake and the Dynamo had been recommended to me by others, and while their art is great for that particular series, Rags and Muffin demands something less cartoonish.

I went to the internet and found several obviously talented artists, most of whom cost more than I could reasonably put down up front. At some point in my searching, I came across MiblArt, and though they did good work for a reasonable price, I initially passed them by because their cover designs appeared to be shopped versions of stock photos, a style that does not appeal to me: I find that real people look fake when they appear on book covers, perhaps because they’re too obviously models wearing makeup. Also, any design for Rags and Muffin would call for children on the cover, and given the amount of violence and abuse depicted in the book, I would prefer if no real children were involved, however tangentially.

As I continued my search, I came across MiblArt a second time and looked at their offerings more thoroughly. Then I discovered that they not only did the photo-based covers but completely original compositions as well, albeit for a higher price.

I have been quite pleased with the entire process and its results. It began with a form that is analogous to an interview, asking a great deal of information about the book in question and what a writer wants on the cover. The staff at MiblArt contacted me repeatedly for elaborations and clarifications to make sure they understood what I wanted. I sent reference photos, including goofy pictures of Japanese models in gothic lolita and a screenshot from Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, both of which they incorporated creatively into the final design without complaint or comment.

They sent me initial and rough sketches, followed by a preliminary final draft, and allowed me to request changes on each. I sent back a few designs for revision and received no complaints when I did so.

The final design is quite striking and captures the concept of the book, and I got it for considerably less money than I might have spent elsewhere.

My interaction with the MiblArt staff has been professional, if impersonal. Certainly, the relationship has been less warm than what I had with the previous cover artists, whom I worked one-on-one with, but it has been entirely cordial. Their turn-around time has also been fast.

I would recommend MiblArt to other indie authors. Their portfolio displays consistent quality, and my own experience confirms that they can deliver.

(This post contains affiliate links.)

Rags and Muffin Go Hard

As I’ve previously mentioned, Amazon has recently added a hardcover option to Amazon KDP. This isn’t really a possibility (or, probably, a desireability) for Jake and the Dynamo, but I decided I wanted to make it an option for Rags and Muffin.

To that end, I updated my order with MiblArt and got a cover for a hardback edition. The image you see above is from Amazon’s previewer, which has okayed the cover art. Everything else in the sample seems to be good as well, so we’ll offer this alongside the eBook and paperback on the release date, which is still December 10^th.

I’ve seen some other authors show off their Amazon hardcovers; they look good and have the cover art printed directly onto the hard surface, with no dust jacket.

(This post contains affiliate links.)

Final Cover Art for ‘Rags and Muffin’

And in this image, you can see the final art for the cover of Rags and Muffin. I’m quite pleased with it, even if it’s not what I envisioned. This comes from Miblart, which makes a lot of book covers for a competitive price, but I’m afraid I don’t know the specific artist.

Although I’m impressed, my wife dislikes it. She says it looks like the cover of a horror novel. Interestingly, although the book is not out yet, it already affects different readers differently: My editor viewed it as a horror novel and said she found some of the content disturbing, even difficult to read. My wife, however, views it as a fun adventure novel.

Myself, I think the cover beautifully captures some of the book’s ideas and tone but not others. Rags and Muffin are supposed to be threatening characters, dangerous and forbidding. But what the cover does not capture is that they are also attractive, drawing people into their circle and rendering them unable to escape. In appearance and personality, Rags is similar to Fancy Nancy except with Kung fu, handguns, and questionable morality—but had we attempted to go that route with the cover art, the result would be deceptive and probably ineffective.

What I’m most happy with is that it turned out well despite the absence of guns. My original vision had Rags pointing a gun in your face, ready to pull the trigger—because you, in a way, are the villain of Rags and Muffin. Perhaps, even without the guns, the cover captures that anyway: This may be how Rags and Muffin look to a criminal, someone they are about to attack. Rags is looking right at you and means to kill you.

So the cover captures my original idea even without the guns.

Seeking Book Covers

I’m currently hunting, bewilderdly, for a cover designer for Rags and Muffin. Everything else is ready to go on that book (I have a guy making a few extra interior illustrations, but it’s otherwise complete). Although I certainly considered using the same guys who did Jake and the Dynamo, and whom I’m more than happy with, I think this particular novel needs a different design style.

But this is all new to me still, so I’m hunting around, stumbling and wandering. I’m also limited by price range: I am not a bestselling author and don’t expect to be in the foreseeable future, even if I’m turning them out at a reasonably good rate (for the moment). Some guys do some really, really cool stuff … for $1500. Quite reasonable if you can reasonably expect to move a lot of copies.

Realistically, this will probably delay the release.

Also, it doesn’t help that we are in a cover-design dark age right now. For “literary” fiction, minimalism is all the rage. And in fantasy, almost every cover is a slight variation on the “attractive woman stares at reader with glowy lighting effects” motif. This is one time I can’t even favorably compare Japanese publications to American ones since manga and light-novel covers nowadays are all slight variations on the “cute girl stares at reader with legs up in the air” motif.

‘Jake and the Dynamo,’ the Paperback

We have here the paperback edition of Jake and the Dynamo, currently available both at Amazon and at Barnes & Noble, with additional buying options forthcoming.

Jake and the Dynamo paperback spine. — A view of the spine.

As you can see, this edition has a wraparound cover. Amazon, for whatever reason, requires an upload of the cover as a single image even though other print-on-demand services will allow you to upload the cover piecemeal. So a wraparound works best anyway.

Comparison of the two covers of Jake and the Dynamo. — The first and second versions.

Here you can see a side-by-side comparison of the two versions. The first is the original from Superversive Press, now sadly defunct, and the second is the new, currently available edition from Girls at Work. Both cover illustrations have points to commend them, but I’m particularly fond of the second one because it captures the iconic image of Jake and Dana I’ve always had in my head. I think I’ve described that picture to three artists, and this guy finally got it right.

Comparison of the book interiors. — A comparison of the interiors.

Although we might weigh the pros and cons of the covers, the interior of the new version is unquestionably superior, as you can see in the image above if you will excuse my photography. I have provided a slightly larger font and a larger line height for improved readability. The font and line spacing are both bigger than the standard recommendations for Amazon print-on-demand paperbacks, similar to what you might expect in a traditionally published hardcover.

Jake and the Dynamo interior. — A full view of the interior.

Because this edition has gone through a final and thorough revision, the text is considerably shorter, but because of the improved layout, the page count is considerably larger. The original Jake and the Dynamo ran to 382 pages, but the new version is 412 pages. No material has been removed, only improved.

All of the interior illustrations from Roffles Lowell, including chapter headings and sections breaks, are present in the new version. I have no control over their final quality, of course, but they look to me to be comparable to, perhaps even slightly improved on, the original version. I have added captions to the full-page illustrations, something I always wanted them to have. I have also moved all of them to the chapter ends simply because it is next to impossible to prevent them from cutting the text off in odd places otherwise. The eBook version, of course, has full-color images.

Final Cover Art Is In!

I just got the final covers from the logo artist, so Jake and the Dynamo and Dead 2 Rites are almost ready to go out the door. I need to get some last ducks in a row, but it’s now for sure happening.

I’m really excited and also nervous. I’ve never done this before, so in my head, I’m envisioning getting the printed paperback and finding the cover all screwed up because I miscalculated something. I suppose if that does happen, I can probably (?) go back to the artists to fix it. Both were a pleasure to work with.

I’m currently finishing up my final work on Rags and Muffin, so commissioning the art for that is on my radar along with the launch of the two for which the art is complete. Considering my experience, I might go back to exactly the same people for the artwork.

With that in mind, my thanks to Barbusco Comics for the art and Nodsaibot for the logos. Their prices were reasonable, their demeanors upbeat and professional, and their turnaround times good. Barbusco, especially, is crazy fast.

One More Update

I know I haven’t posted much of anything lately that isn’t about my own projects, but I ask for your patience. I’ve put things together for a logo artist who does impressive work, and though I haven’t quite sealed the deal yet, I’m optimistic that this exchange will result in completed book covers

Once that’s done, we will have two books ready to go with a third on the way. The publication date will depend on the logo artist’s ETA, so I won’t presume to give that final date yet.

It’s coming, though, slowly but surely.

Jake and the Dynamo, Book 2 Cover

Here is a color version of the detail from the cover of Dead 2 Rites, which I previously posted in black and white. This is the sequel to Jake and the Dynamo, which will be available again soon in a newly revised text; when it goes up, Dead 2 Rites should simultaneously become available for pre-order.

The character featured here is Magical Girl Metal Huntress Vanessa Van Halensing, a vampire-hunting rock starlet who battles the forces of evil with her crucifix keytar. She plays, let us say, an instrumental role in the story that unfolds in this exciting second volume: Ancient conspiracies, alien gods, murderous cabals, and sugary foods come together in an effort to destroy the remnants of the human race—and only Jake and the Dynamo stand in the way!

Project Update with a First Peek

I know I don’t post enough these days; aside from my projects, I’m getting used to the new baby. But I have some good news: The cover art for Dead 2 Rites, the second book of Jake and the Dynamo, is well underway.

My plan is to get both covers completed at once; then I will re-release the first book and offer the second for pre-order. I will hire a logo artist to make the graphics to go over the cover art, but I want to have both covers in hand first so I can offer them to the logo artist to do all at once.

In the image on this post, you can see an initial sketch of Van Halensing, the vampire-hunting rock starlet who features prominently in Dead 2 Rites.

Since I’m new at this, I’m still not comfortable giving a projected release date because I’m unsure how long the logo art will take, or whether there might be some additional delays on the roll-out. But I am still hoping to release Jake and the Dynamo this month and Dead 2 Rites a month later.

In the meanwhile, I am still working on the manuscript of Rags and Muffin, tightening the prose and putting on the final polish before I generate the books. I like the work of my present artist but haven’t decided yet whether to use him for Rags and Muffin or to find someone with a more gritty, and perhaps photorealistic, style, which I think would be more appropriate for this particular book, which is less cartoonish. There are plenty of pro cover designers who would be interesting to work with but also more expensive.

Meet the ‘Jake and the Dynamo’ Paperback

Large, luxurious, very readable, and suitable for coffee tables.

I am really pleased and impressed by the paperback release of Jake and the Dynamo. As you can see here, Lee Madison’s cover art transferred beautifully.

Getting the physical copy in my hand, I was able to appreciate some of the art I’d not been able to get a good look at before, such as the spine:

I had assumed the spine would probably be unadorned, so I was pleased to see the title logo accompanied by Pretty Dynamo’s insignia and a lightning bolt. The back is also great: