Bloodfrost Cover History

Bloodfrost was released in June 2012, the first book in The Bloodline Trilogy.

The book cover history has been varied. While writing the story, I toyed with two reddish designs that were meant to signify blood as it relates to the trilogy. This was the first go-round:

 

 

And this was the second, which over time I found to be too dark:

 

 

The second cover was built around a model photograph taken by Anton Belovodchenko, a contributing member to Stock Xchng (of which I'm also a member).

For the third (and hopefully final) cover of Bloodfrost, I built the design around another model photograph, this time taken by an artist named Tomas Bobrus from Poland (also a contributor to Stock Xchng).

 

 

I felt the white backdrop was more effective in displaying the blood drops and trails. The main character in Bloodfrost is sickly pale (at first), and has blue-eyes with graying hair. I'm not fond of the color pink, but it seems to work on the final cover (see lips and author name).

Both images from Stock Xchng were used according to their standard restrictions license. I'm careful about following usage guidelines because I also create my own images, so I know how much hard work goes into the process. Whether it's an image based on a photograph, sketch or a graphic created from scratch, it's important to give credit where credit is due (including one's self). It's as essential as respecting copyrights on other media such as books and sound.

I'm grateful to be a part of places like Blur Designs, Logopond, RGB Stock Photos, Shutterstock and Stock Xchng, where artists share their work and sometimes learn a thing or two from each other. I'm an amateur at best, so I stand in admiration of many stunning and unique images.