Book Cover Design Goals

Book details

• Title: Aliens of Our Creation

• Subtitle: TBD

• Sample, with outline: Teaser/Sample

• US Trade 6 x 9 in (152 x 229 mm) 377 Pages (approximately)

• Standard Black & White, 60# White, Paperback, Glossy Cover

• Front cover size: 6.25 x 9.25 in (158.75 x 234.95 mm)

• Full cover size: 13.159 x 9.25 in (334.24 x 234.95 mm) (approximately)

• Spine width: 0.909 in (23.09 mm) (for 377 pages)

Examples that I like

consuming-the-earth-2b-wide.png

Things I like in the image:

• I like the misty part, with the landscape in the background
• A small individual in the foreground
• The fire is ominous
• The large structures that seems to be alive
• The image is photo-realistic

Generated with NightCafe prompt: "monsters consuming the earth." Weighted prompt: "detailed matte painting, deep color, fantastical, intricate detail, splash screen, complementary colors, fantasy concept art, 8k resolution trending on Artstation Unreal Engine 5"

consuming-the-earth.jpg

Things I like in the image:

• It looks like there might be small people in the rocky area
• The red areas look like undefined mouths
• The eyes are not symmetrical, and they seem to be everywhere
• This almost looks like a cartoon, but the details make the entities look like bark. Also the rocky ground, and the misty background gives it depth.

Examples that I don't like

consuming-the-earth-3.jpg

Things I don't like in the image:

• The entity looks too human, with arms and bilateral symmetry.

consuming-the-earth-4.jpg

Things I don't like in the image:

• The spiky entity looks evil.
• Some spikes are OK, but the entities shouldn't look totally evil, because they do have useful purposes

Possible elements

• combine the best elements of consuming-the-earth-2b-wide.png and consuming-the-earth.jpg
• large confusing entities with tentacles in the Earth and tendrils in the sky emitting smoke. Maybe the tentacles look look a little like oil rig towers.
• the entities have no human characteristics
• lush forests turning into desert behind the entities
• GMO Frankenstein plants taking over
• maybe poor shanty towns next to ultra-modern mega structures, clear domes
• the image should be photo-realistic, not a cartoon

Size, placement

The book will be trade size: 6" wide x 9" tall. Also I plan on making an EBook (epub format), and a PDF file.

Ideally an image would have an aspect ratio of 2:3 for a front cover.

File image (photo of a physical work) has to be at least 300dpi (600dpi max)

Since the cover image will likely be dark, I will add the book title and author name with white or a light color text. Color suggestions?

Hopefully the image will have room at the top or bottom for the book's title, subtitle, and author name. There should be no text in the image.

Lulu has templates for images that span the front, spine, and back, but I'm planning on just using only a front cover image. For the background, the spine, and the back, I'll pick a solid color that is similar to the image. Color suggestions?

Front Cover Example

Aspect: 2:3

Half-Front Cover Example

Aspect: 1:1

Back cover blurb

~130 words max.

Example 1

131 words:

We are in the middle of a Sixth Extinction event. Millions of species on this planet are disappearing. Humans could be included. The equatorial region of the planet could become almost uninhabitable for most humans by 2060. More than 15 minutes of exposure to temperatures above 87.8^oF (31^oC), with 100% humidity, is fatal for humans. At 0% humidity 122^oF (50^oC) is likely fatal. That is our upper range of habitability.

Our human institutions seem unwilling to address the climate problem with real solutions. And there seems to be nothing that individuals can do; are we helpless under the powerful entities that "we" have created?

This book is not about solving the climate problem; it is about how to get control of the entities who are causing the problems.

Example 2

146 words:

Our culture has allowed corporations and other organizations to become increasingly powerful. Theologian Walter Wink calls them "powers." These "powers" are not human, and their motivations are not humane, so I call them "alien." If we want to survive, we must return these organizations (including governments) to their original purposes: serving and promoting human well-being.

But how can we do that? Individuals cannot control these "alien entities." Only healthy communities can exert the necessary power over the "powers." But functioning communities have become rare in our modern American culture, which stresses individual values, success, and happiness above community values.

So, how do we form healthy and resilient communities in this hostile environment? I have gathered and presented tools that could be of practical use to any humans who want to create a functioning community for themselves and to try taming and humanizing the "powers that be.

Full Cover Example

I'm not interested in a full cover. This was done just for fun.

Aspect: 1.4:1

Version

$Revision: 1.6 $ $Date: 2025/04/26 22:44:52 $ GMT

Source: draft/cover/index.org