# Images as marketing. Here's mine. Anyone else?



## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

People are supposed to be visual creatures, right? Well, I made a thread before (http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,91953.msg1434757.html), regarding 99c price points, and posted up a flyer type thing that I'd made, and said flyers - one of a bunch - resulted in the best month of sales I've had up to this point. For the new release, I hopped right aboard the minimalist grindhouse movie poster bandwagon, and went even further, resulting in these:





































They're super simple and obtuse, but that totally ties in with the look of my previous titles, and the current one they're promoting. Plus that's a good way of cheating around having the drawing ability of a cat.

This kinda thing is still pretty much a strictly online way of promoting, so you probably need an outlet to be sharing the pictures on first; a blog, Twitter, Tumbler etc. I have used actual printed posters before, but you really want to catch people while they're within clicking distance of Amazon. Anyone else tried this? How'd it work out?


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

dcr said:


> Aren't there legal issues with using a celebrity's name and/or likeness to promote your books?


Eh, maybe, but it's not like I'm insinuating they're endorsing it. Anyway, I'm not plastering them around everywhere, it was just something for my various social networking sites.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

Pretty snazzy, I like it. Looks like a videogame.


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## mwhetzel (Dec 14, 2011)

Here are a few I did for my first novel:










and










I like using images to promote. They are like movie posters to a degree.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

Those are _awesome_. Just fantastic.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

Sneeky bump for this, because I'm at it again, for the free promo that's currently running. What do we think?










I'm actually liking this better than the cover right now.


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## Colin (Aug 6, 2011)

I'm getting sued by Burger King for using this cover:










And because the book's full of whoppers!


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

I hope nobody's fussed by me bumping this with another one of my own, but I can't help doing these. I have an addiction to knocking them out right now.


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## teashopgirl (Dec 8, 2011)

I like your images. What do you do with them once you have them?

I do love Pinterest, but I wonder if pinning images is really that effective for marketing. People are pinning so fast that your image only stays at the top of the page for about two seconds...


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

teashopgirl said:


> I like your images. What do you do with them once you have them?


Thanks. And I tweet them, stick them up on my Facebook fan page, or collate enough to do a blog post. I doubt they're hugely influential, but I know I've had some sales solely off the back of them.

Doing them is also a nice way of feeling like I'm working but without my nose buried in more words.


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## Edward W. Robertson (May 18, 2010)

You should totally use that Dirt Baby poster as the book's cover. It's great.


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## Guest (May 3, 2012)

You kids may think it's cool, but if I see Courier font on anything, I run.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

Edward W. Robertson said:


> You should totally use that Dirt Baby poster as the book's cover. It's great.


Yeah, I'm kinda torn on that myself actually. As much as I'm loathe to do another cover change (it took three covers apiece for both Frantic Planets until I was happy), I can't help but think that I prefer it to the original.



MikeAngel said:


> You kids may think it's cool, but if I see Courier font on anything, I run.


No Courier there - Travelling_typewriter, baby. Just be thankful I don't use Comic Sans. Possibly NWS for bad comic strip language: http://achewood.com/index.php?date=07052007


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## Jo Clendening (Apr 9, 2011)

These are excellent! The font is great!! And even if it were Courier, that would be bold because it's so "taboo".


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## R.A.Library (Mar 23, 2012)

Your posts are excellent, Millard. Inspirational even. Rock on.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

jclendening said:


> These are excellent! The font is great!! And even if it were Courier, that would be bold because it's so "taboo".


Cheers. The frustrated screenwriter in me has a soft spot for Courier anyway, so maybe I will bust that out one day, when I'm feeling particularly anarchic. SMASH THE SYSTEM!



R.A.Library said:


> Your posts are excellent, Millard. Inspirational even. Rock on.


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## RuthMadison (Jul 9, 2011)

mwhetzel said:


> Here are a few I did for my first novel:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I LOVE how they look like movie posters. Oh man, now I want to do this.


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## mwhetzel (Dec 14, 2011)

"I LOVE how they look like movie posters. Oh man, now I want to do this."



That was the general idea. To make movie teasers leading up to the release. I had a lot of great feedback. Would you believe both are stock images I found and played with? 

Millard, I'm digging the images a lot. They remind me a bit of the movie posters MONDO does for a lot of old movies. Keep it up.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

mwhetzel said:


> Millard, I'm digging the images a lot. They remind me a bit of the movie posters MONDO does for a lot of old movies. Keep it up.


Your wish is my command (And I LOVE the Mondo stuff, so thanks for the comparison. Olly Moss in particular was a big inspiration on these).

Here's an image I just did relating to the Frantic Planet: Volume II story 'The Diary of Blue Horse'


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

These are interesting. I've never done it quite like that before, but it looks cool.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

balaspa said:


> These are interesting. I've never done it quite like that before, but it looks cool.


Thanks, chief.

Here's the latest one, based on the story 'The Ostrich and the Insects'


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## amiblackwelder (Mar 19, 2010)

Those are really great and you've inspired me to do my own poster promotions:0-


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

amiblackwelder said:


> Those are really great and you've inspired me to do my own poster promotions:0-


Awesome. It's always good to inspire something other than blind rage 

Don't forget to post them here when you're done.


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## 41352 (Apr 4, 2011)

Oh no! Another form of wonderful procrastination with a valid excuse!   I have to make some too!!!


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## bhealey (May 14, 2012)

mwhetzel said:


> super-awesome posters


Just thought you should know: I'm buying your book solely on these posters. Absolutely amazing!


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

Chrystalla said:


> Oh no! Another form of wonderful procrastination with a valid excuse!  I have to make some too!!!


Heh, kind of. I'm not in the headspace to be writing anything right now, so losing myself in Photoshop for a little while isn't a bad compromise.



bhealey said:


> Just thought you should know: I'm buying your book solely on these posters. Absolutely amazing!


See, this post is great. You've officially turned time-wasting into actual paying work. So, thanks!

Now I just need to figure out how I can sell books while playing Battlefield 3.


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## dalya (Jul 26, 2011)

Oooh, I love all these!

You putting them inside your existing books too?

I did up a cover-size image and have put it inside all my books, between the cover and the first chapter, as well as repeated at the end, along with links to my other books.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

D. said:


> You putting them inside your existing books too?


That never crossed my mind, but it might be something to think about.


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## R.A. Hobbs (Jun 6, 2011)

I love them too. Make me more drawerings! Make them now!


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## Ty Johnston (Jun 19, 2009)

I love the movie poster idea, and the notion of a graphic that would inform readers about an author's other works. I could see this working well on Facebook and Pinterest, maybe twitter and blogs, too.

But, just throwing this out there, could the movie poster notion confuse some readers? Maybe make them think it's the actual book cover?

There are ways around this, obviously, such as using the actual cover in the graphic. Other ideas?


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

M.F. Poppins said:


> I love them too. Make me more drawerings! Make them now!


I'm sure they're coming. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's procrastinating.



Ty Johnston said:


> But, just throwing this out there, could the movie poster notion confuse some readers? Maybe make them think it's the actual book cover?
> 
> There are ways around this, obviously, such as using the actual cover in the graphic. Other ideas?


I wondered this at the beginning, but if they've gone so far as to put the title and my name into Amazon and pull up the book, it's not like they'd see a different picture for the cover and think "Damn. Must be an entirely different Frantic Planet: Volume II by another Stuart Millard..." and close the page. There's no way around it -- sticking a cover inside the graphic defeats the minimalist vibe -- but there's no negative to making people aware of you either.


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## joeyjoejoejr (Apr 19, 2012)

Love these, especially the one for The Ostrich and the Insects but you can probably tell by my cover for The Body that I'm biased towards the minimalist look.  Someone on these boards turned me on to the Saul Bass movie posters of the 60's after seeing my cover and now I'm obsessed.  Check him out if you haven't already.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

joeyjoejoejr said:


> Love these, especially the one for The Ostrich and the Insects but you can probably tell by my cover for The Body that I'm biased towards the minimalist look. Someone on these boards turned me on to the Saul Bass movie posters of the 60's after seeing my cover and now I'm obsessed. Check him out if you haven't already.


Saul Bass is in fact a big influence on these, and in the whole retro poster fad in general, I think. I can definitely see that in your cover, which is great.


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## CDChristian (Jun 4, 2010)

M.F. Poppins said:


> I love them too. Make me more drawerings! Make them now!


I second this. These are brilliant and oh, so inspiring. I want to do my own now.


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## valeriec80 (Feb 24, 2011)

Here's an ad I made for Breathless. I ran it on some webcomic sites on PW, with okay-ish results.


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## Incognita (Apr 3, 2011)

Why didn't I think of this before? I'll take any excuse to goof around in Photoshop.

I just put this one together for my latest:


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## Ben White (Feb 11, 2011)

I'm making 'eyecatches' for an episodic project I'm working on, each vaguely thematic to the episode it features in:




























Gallery of a few more:


http://imgur.com/iaybA


Not really promotional, mostly just fun. Especially good if I've just found a nice new font I want to muck around with.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

There's a nice mix of stuff in this thread now. Even if you don't plan on using them, it's always good to stretch your artistic legs.


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## AithneJarretta (Jul 13, 2011)

Coming out of Lurkdom to ask... 

Do you suppose images like this can be placed on the Amazon book page where there's a link to post "Share Your Own Customer Images"?

I like the posters you've created and yes, I'm looking for ways to procrastinate... (character Sam is being elusive lol)

~ Aithne


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## Incognita (Apr 3, 2011)

AithneJarretta said:


> Coming out of Lurkdom to ask...
> 
> Do you suppose images like this can be placed on the Amazon book page where there's a link to post "Share Your Own Customer Images"?
> 
> ...


I just did this with _Blood Will Tell_, no problem (and I have to hope they won't notice the URL for my website in small letters at the bottom...I guess that's a no-no, but you have to really look for it).


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

AithneJarretta said:


> Coming out of Lurkdom to ask...
> 
> Do you suppose images like this can be placed on the Amazon book page where there's a link to post "Share Your Own Customer Images"?


Absolutely. Although the last time I went to actually do that, I got as far as the terms and conditions, and ended up closing the tab and not bothering.


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## Guest (May 20, 2012)

I'm planning on using pornographic images watermarked with my URL that re-directs to my Kindle store, posted on adult sites. Will it convert to sales? We will see, I will be able to get my book's title in front of hundreds and hundreds of thousands of eyes per day.


Also thinking of using PG rated photos and media posted on Facebook, Twitter, etc, to promote my book once it's out.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

sicklove said:


> I'm planning on using pornographic images watermarked with my URL that re-directs to my Kindle store, posted on adult sites. Will it convert to sales?


Depends if the women in the pictures are bootylicious or not.


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## Guest (May 20, 2012)

Millard said:


> Depends if the women in the pictures are bootylicious or not.


I am considering posting all the stats and _hard data_ on my experiments with getting adult traffic to convert into book sales!


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

jljarvis said:


> (Except the green one kinda scared me.)


BOOM - mission accomplished! And thanks.

This kinda ties in, as it's an image to plug a series of blog posts which'll act as an eventual sequel to one of my books (which started out as something that went up on the blog).










Would it be terrible of me to link to the post in question? If not then I wo...

OOPS - http://franticplanet.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/the-beach-diaries-2012-1/


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## KateEllison (Jul 9, 2011)

I love this idea SO MUCH. I regularly play around in photoshop instead of writing as a form of procrastination, so I will definitely have to do this with subsequent books.


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## T.K. (Mar 8, 2011)

I love this idea, too. In fact I'd gladly pay Dalya to make one for me.   (I have zero photoshop skills.)


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## Guest (May 21, 2012)

Few marketing images what I created about _Crystal Shade's_ daydreaming winged lady, the strange world of Eecrys Aredia and few other things. This time without any titles, labels or slogens;


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

Are those 100% originals? Because they're pretty spectacular.


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## AithneJarretta (Jul 13, 2011)

ChristinePope said:


> I just did this with _Blood Will Tell_, no problem (and I have to hope they won't notice the URL for my website in small letters at the bottom...I guess that's a no-no, but you have to really look for it).


Thank you for sharing! I noticed that we can pin these awesome images...so naturally I pinned you. 

~ Aithne
(Now I must get to work and create a few of these book posters.)


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## Guest (May 22, 2012)

Millard said:


> Are those 100% originals? Because they're pretty spectacular.


Glad you like them. My second profession is professional graphic artist / designer... or something like that.  Here's few more _Crystal Shade_ character, world and weapon sketches. I created these ones prior the color ones. That folded-fan winged eagle, the Anshara, and its other bird versions, and the 11 in 1 aura weapon, the elegant, graceful, but so deadly Eecrys Suria, a.k.a. the Crystal Blade, and its other versions is also one of the trademark elements of this world. You won't find these in any other fantasy worlds. So I believe I can say for sure, they're 100% originals as I designed them, just as I designed everything else for this world.


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## Sergio (May 17, 2012)

Wow... inspiring posters (and idea). If I had to promote a book, I'd do exactly what you're doing, Millard. 

I say these posters are worth a thousand words. I'd rather have people grasp the feel of the book that way.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

Spaceman said:


> I say these posters are worth a thousand words. I'd rather have people grasp the feel of the book that way.


Oddly, it feels easier to encapsulate the tone and feel of a story in a single image than it does in a 150 word blurb.

And Guardian, those are tremendous.


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## Guest (May 22, 2012)

Millard said:


> And Guardian, those are tremendous.


Glad you like them. Here's few more. These are the marketing pictures of my science fiction work in progress, _Nightfall_. I took down the logos, texts, slogens as they may change. As always, I designed and made every thingy on these pictures, be it ship, character, logos, etc, etc...


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## bnapier (Apr 26, 2010)

Just curious, but where do you place these as a form of marketing? Facebook seems obvious, but if you post something like this under your own name, it seems like it would kill some of the mystery behind it.

I have made a few for my Everything Theory series but have no idea how to go about using them properly.


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## Guest (May 22, 2012)

bnapier said:


> Just curious, but where do you place these as a form of marketing? Facebook seems obvious, but if you post something like this under your own name, it seems like it would kill some of the mystery behind it.


I used to present them on the actual book's website. If you check the website of *Crystal Shade*, you'll see how I use them. I also use them in PDF promo materials like this *Downloadable PDF* (I use this PDF in torrent advertisements as well.). Plus I used to present these pictures via Facebook and various forums. They're pretty efficient. Plus in Crystal Shade I also connected the arts to the storyline as there the heroine used to draw them in the story (Some of the black and white arts, see them few posts earlier, were the prototype for many of those arts.). This is how I use these two arts in the book, but all these arts, created in the story by the heroine, will appear only in the last volume to do not spoil few things;










First art description in Chapter 1;
She got her first pamphlet scroll when she was four and contained her first attempts, mostly little stick figures. Her personal favourite was also in that pamphlet; the very first self-portrait where she imagined herself with wings.

Second art description in Chapter 4;
Thunderclouds rumbled to silence and ceased their heavenly battle. The last of the cheery raindrops slid from the leaves and the top of the temple to join the others that gathered like great family puddles. The determined and icy eyes of a young beautiful Aserian woman watched Angeni from the mirror as she looked into it. The large white wings rose a little behind her back as she sat on the bright and dry side of the temple balcony. Her eyes studied her mirror image while her soul tried to capture the moment and every little detail. Her silky white skin was like poured cream, the blond hair shone in the dim sapphire light, the look of her icy yet cheeky eyes, the shape of her soft curved lips to the tip of her nose and its shape that was not so sharp, but not round either. The woman first raised her thick eyebrow in the mirror, a sympathetic smile played on her lips. Then she tried a perfect cheery smile. Her face shape seemed transformed from square to heart shaped, and then back to rigid square as she reverted back to cool and serious; so serious, likely for the first time in her life. A serious moment required complete seriousness from her this time, or so as she thought.


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## bnapier (Apr 26, 2010)

This isn't nearly done (I think it's too wordy) but this is what I was talking about for my series...tried to blend brief back-cover blurb with movie poster styling.


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## Guest (Jun 6, 2012)

The next art of mine is actually from a short animation and this snapshot is a work in progress as I'm just finishing a small CGI animation about the first flight of my world's famous craft, the Anshara™ (While Crystal Shade is an epic fantasy, it has some unique sci-fi elements. This aura controlled, folded-fan winged craft, designed, modelled and animated by humble me, is one of them.). Hopefully the after effecting of this short animation will be done by tomorrow. But she looks beautiful, especially in motion. You'll see.


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## Guest (Jun 6, 2012)

Istvan Szabo said:


> The next art of mine is actually from a short animation and this snapshot is a work in progress as I'm just finishing a small CGI animation about the first flight of my world's famous craft, the Anshara™ (While Crystal Shade is an epic fantasy, it has some unique sci-fi elements. This aura controlled, folded-fan winged craft, designed, modelled and animated by humble me, is one of them.). Hopefully the after effecting of this short animation will be done by tomorrow. But she looks beautiful, especially in motion. You'll see.


Rad. Love it.

If you wanted even more exposure, hire someone to code it into a video game like Skyrim, GTA:IV, or whatever that other open world sim is. If you can get someone to do it cheap, it will give you a ton of exposure.


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## Phyllis Lily Jules (Dec 5, 2011)

As always, Istvan, your images are stunning!


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## Guest (Jun 7, 2012)

sicklove said:


> Rad. Love it.. If you wanted even more exposure, hire someone to code it into a video game like Skyrim, GTA:IV, or whatever that other open world sim is. If you can get someone to do it cheap, it will give you a ton of exposure.


Glad you like it. It looks beautiful in motion. You'll see.  And yes, that's one of my plans. I would gladly see this beauty as a game unit mod or in a Crystal Shade fantasy RPG. 



Phyllis Lily Jules said:


> As always, Istvan, your images are stunning!


Thank you very much. And as the Anshara video is still not finished as I always want to add just one more thing, here is another snapshot from my silver birdie's soon-to-be-ready promo video. Whoever read the book that one will recognize the silhouettes too.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

Here's a new one. The whole time I've been doing these, I was completely blanking on an image for Frantic Planet: Volume I, so it's a relief to finally get this one down.


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## mwhetzel (Dec 14, 2011)

I like it. This one is almost still minimalistic in its unminimalism. 

I don't even know if that even makes any sense.  

Either way, good work. 

I got a new book coming soon, so I guess I better think of some new images/taglines.


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## thesmallprint (May 25, 2012)

I have trouble even drawing a box. Stuart, those posters are among the most creative work I've ever seen - I'd happily buy a framed copy in an art gallery.

If you ever have a brain scan, ask if they'll let you post the image - your creative side must be a kaleidoscope compared to 99% of the population's standard RGB.

Brilliant stuff

Joe


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## jesrphoto (Aug 7, 2012)

I really love these!  Thanks for sharing.  I'm a big fan of the color pallets you chose.


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## Ciye Cho (Jun 22, 2011)

I'd never actually thought about doing this, but it seems like a great idea! 

Do you folks find that a lot of people reblog book posters? And if so, what was the most common arena? Twitter or facebook or something else?


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

Thanks for all the feedback on these, I really appreciate the comments. If I ever did post a scan of what was inside my brain, I'd probably have to pixelate it to make it worksafe. It's mostly filth up there 



Ciye Cho said:


> Do you folks find that a lot of people reblog book posters? And if so, what was the most common arena? Twitter or facebook or something else?


Not mine. In fact, as fun as they are, I can't deny they've never been more than a welcome pseudo-working break from actual writing. Over the last couple of months, I've had literally two sales from all four titles combined, so I can't claim they've had any effect whatsoever. As of now, the promo pics go into the enormous pile of stuff marked "Maybe someday _this _will catch on and people will buy my stuff."


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## Guest (Aug 24, 2012)

As I reworked *Crystal Shade's website*, I also created some new wallpapers with this new design. Each of them has blue, gold and red version. I link only the gold ones now, but all the wallpapers are available *here* in four different resolution.




























And as I haven't linked this one here, here is the concept animation of Crystal Shade's flying machine / battle bird what I presented above in two stills. Watch it in 720p.


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## Guest (Sep 9, 2012)

This one is not really a marketing image, but I had some boring moments today as I wasn't in the mood to write, so I made my Crystal Shade's main character as a 16bit RPG character. Maybe someday I'll make a tiny pixel warrior RPG for Crystal Shade.


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2012)

And here is another Crystal Shade character in 16bit RPG style; the cheeky little rascal, Aurora.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

To revive this from the dead, here's a semi-interesting thing. The style of the posters ended up both helping the next cover, and informing the style. A year ago, I probably wouldn't have attempted something like this -- not that it's super complicated, but I wasn't wildly confident in Photoshop at that point -- nor had the idea for the image, but the cover for the sequel has completely taken the tone and style of the posters for the previous book. That's a good thing, obviously, because it gives everything a uniform, identifiable look, right across the board. And because I've created a better cover than I would have had I not perused the posters idea between books.

What do we think?


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## Ell (Mar 4, 2013)

We think YES. The thing it's quirky enough to work.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

Ell said:


> We think YES. The thing it's quirky enough to work.


Eeeexcellent *tents fingers*

With the new book out yesterday, I'll be producing a whole new series of these to help spread the word. Here's the first one.










Apes 'n' guns. Who could resist?


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## Ell (Mar 4, 2013)

This is some good  stuff you got here. I like that you don't try to be "sensitive" and get a larger audience. I just got back from looking inside your stuff on Amazon and yeah, they really work with your writing. Let me know if you ever decide to put these on t-shirts.


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## Kwalker (Aug 23, 2012)

I love doing these and have quite a few.


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## Jonathan C. Gillespie (Aug 9, 2012)

Ignore the black borders, which are so this fits in my website's banner slideshow, but:


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## ToniD (May 3, 2011)

I missed this thread the first time around. Glad you bumped. Millard, your posters are spectacular.

And inspiring me to procrastinate with Gimp...


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## ellendominick (Feb 27, 2013)

I love love love this idea! Now to resist the procrastination temptation...


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## Jackal Lantern Books (Aug 30, 2011)

Love these! I've been thinking about doing something similar and now that I've seen it done, I'm definitely going to give it a try


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

Some nice stuff in here, keep 'em coming. And thanks for the positive comments, they only serve to encourage my ceaseless procrastination vitally important graphic design work.



Ell said:


> Let me know if you ever decide to put these on t-shirts.


Now there's an idea. I'll have to think on that one.


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## KGorman (Feb 6, 2011)

Funny this thread came up. I've been working on some fake "Newscast Screenshots" for my world with subtle links to my website. I'll post some when they're done.


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

I got inspired last night and had a play around in GIMP


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

sarahdalton said:


> I got inspired last night and had a play around in GIMP


Excellent stuff, Sarah. And more power to you for being able to crank out something decent with GIMP. I was Photoshop-less for a while, and GIMP just made me weep with frustration.


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## KGorman (Feb 6, 2011)

Here's an idea of that mine are going to look like, though I'd like to get some snappier text in on it. And I imagine I'll have to remove any visible company logos in the picture (It's Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour).


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## Michael_J_Sullivan (Aug 3, 2011)

mwhetzel said:


> Here are a few I did for my first novel:
> They are like movie posters to a degree.


I love the first one - and you have an exceptional tagline "Everyone heard. Few survived." - It got my attention immediately.


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## Michael_J_Sullivan (Aug 3, 2011)

My current inspiration:


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## vrabinec (May 19, 2011)

Where are you guys posting these for people to see them? I mean, they're cool, but I don't ever remember seeing book posters except on the side of a bus or someolace like that, that you have to pay for. I wouldn't mind puting one together, but just for the internet.


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## KGorman (Feb 6, 2011)

I was just going to post mine on Facebook. I was mainly doing it for fun, since I don't have a following yet.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

Michael, that's awesome.



vrabinec said:


> Where are you guys posting these for people to see them? I mean, they're cool, but I don't ever remember seeing book posters except on the side of a bus or someolace like that, that you have to pay for. I wouldn't mind puting one together, but just for the internet.


All the social networking places, really. Twitter, my Facebook Page; I even made a gallery on Pinterest. On a small scale like this, they're not going to bring in hundreds of sales, but they snag the occasional piece of interest, or push someone into buying, but you never know what might spark something. Plus, it's never bad to just be creative for a bit, and it's a nice break from hammering at the keyboard.


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## Michael_J_Sullivan (Aug 3, 2011)

vrabinec said:


> Where are you guys posting these for people to see them? I mean, they're cool, but I don't ever remember seeing book posters except on the side of a bus or someolace like that, that you have to pay for. I wouldn't mind puting one together, but just for the internet.


I'm using mine on my blog and really just as a personal inspiration.



Millard said:


> Michael, that's awesome.


Thanks, I really am enjoying it.


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## Jonathan C. Gillespie (Aug 9, 2012)

They go up on slideshows on my blog \ official site, and also on Facebook.


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## Aaron Pogue (Feb 18, 2011)

I really love the idea, even though I've never had a chance to put it into practice. I first encountered it (along with some great tips on how to make use of it) at Benjamin Wallace's blog:

http://benjaminwallacebooks.com/using-my-words-find-a-designer/

Here's one of his:


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## KGorman (Feb 6, 2011)

Just finished these:
















And now I better get back to editing.

Michael: Love yours!


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

Nice work! Now we're cooking. We've got a little thing going here. I hope to get another one done before the end of the week.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

Here's the latest.


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## A.A (Mar 30, 2012)

Ahhh, I've been waiting for the last cover of my series to be designed so that I can totally redesign my author website, but this thread has made me want to do that redesign with a movie-style poster.

Loved all the poster/promos posted - they look extremely enticing.

Millard - your posters are so inventive, I'd love to see some of them reworked into your book covers!


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## M T McGuire (Dec 6, 2010)

Some cracking stuff here...

For what it's worth, I'll offer mine. this isn't my own work. I get a designer to do them. When I spec the covers for my stuff, I make sure that there's something on the back that could appeal on its own as a promotional post card. Then I get it printed on business cards with details of the book the other side and slip it into similar books in supermarkets and bookshops.

Here are the promotional images - I add text as appropriate..

This is the first book...










and this is the second one.










I have them on fridge magnets (with my website address) and T-shirts... they raise far more interest than the covers of the books - even though I reckon those are pretty cool too.

Cheers

MTM


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

I have two alternative covers I had made for my latest book. They don't say, "non-fiction," so I'm not using them for the cover, but you all have given me some ideas on ways I could use them! Thanks! I'll post them to my blog and link here, once my paperback is out.


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## J. I. Keaton (Mar 11, 2013)

So this is my first post on kboards! This thread reeled me in and I spent way too long on this- I didn't even write today! 










I need to learn how to make proper vectors.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

M T McGuire said:


>


So cool. They've got that retro-futurism vibe that I really dig.



J. I. Keaton said:


> So this is my first post on kboards! This thread reeled me in and I spent way too long on this- I didn't even write today!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Forget your vectors, I LOVE the handpainted look. This is great.


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## M T McGuire (Dec 6, 2010)

Millard said:


> So cool. They've got that retro-futurism vibe that I really dig.
> 
> Forget your vectors, I LOVE the handpainted look. This is great.


Millard, thanks, I wanted something that was like old 50s and 60s sci-fi b-movie posters. I sent them loads of examples, flagged up two I liked and they produced, pretty much, the kind of thing I could see in my head. I think yours are pretty cool, too.

J I Keaton, Millard got there before I did with the vectors comment, I think the circles are really eerie.

Cheers

MTM


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

Pun not intended, I am super pleased with how this turned out -- all aging comic booky, and, without tooting on my horn, a nicely evocative image mined from a single line of text.


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## M T McGuire (Dec 6, 2010)

Yes, that's funny. ;-)


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## J. I. Keaton (Mar 11, 2013)

Millard said:


> Pun not intended, I am super pleased with how this turned out -- all aging comic booky, and, without tooting on my horn, a nicely evocative image mined from a single line of text.


Your covers kill me, they're hilarious!
Also, thank you guys for commenting on my teaser, I'm so in the dark about how I'm doing with all of my writing that it's nice to get positive feedback.


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## J. I. Keaton (Mar 11, 2013)

This is definitely not going to help with my procrastination.


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## Zoe Cannon (Sep 2, 2012)

I made a bunch of fake propaganda posters for my dystopia a while back. Here's one:


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## M T McGuire (Dec 6, 2010)

Zoe Cannon said:


> I made a bunch of fake propaganda posters for my dystopia a while back. Here's one:


Blimey! I bet there are people who've seen that and think it's real!

JI Keaton, that's also very cool and very professional looking.

Cheers

MTM


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

Nice work, guys. Finite's one of those those great simple, stark images that immediately asks a question of the viewer, while Zoe, you've nailed that perfect blend of cute and totally sinister.

Okay, a couple of new ones from me. Which is best -- me with my crown, or without? Bonus points for spotting the movie reference.


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## J. I. Keaton (Mar 11, 2013)

Millard said:


> Nice work, guys. Finite's one of those those great simple, stark images that immediately asks a question of the viewer, while Zoe, you've nailed that perfect blend of cute and totally sinister.
> 
> Okay, a couple of new ones from me. Which is best -- me with my crown, or without? Bonus points for spotting the movie reference.


I like the one with the crown!  Unfortunately, I'm terrible with movie references, so no bonus for me.


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## Alan Petersen (May 20, 2011)

Cool stuff.

Marketing images for my book (for online marketing)...


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

J. I. Keaton said:


> I like the one with the crown!  Unfortunately, I'm terrible with movie references, so no bonus for me.


Mad Max 3! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xetonjc3M8


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

Glad I had the idea to knock this up last night, because I am sick as a dog right now.

Inspired by a line from an Amazon review, and those post-911 posters of eagles weeping over Old Glory, here's the latest image...


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## SEAN H. ROBERTSON (Mar 14, 2011)

mwhetzel said:


> Here are a few I did for my first novel:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


So cool! Neat work!!


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

Special festive Easter promo.


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## joanhallhovey (Nov 7, 2010)

'Canada's Mistress of Suspense..." James Anderson, author of Scorpion.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

It's free promo time, so...










Mildly interesting fact -- if you scroll back through this thread, you'll see Dirt Baby's cover showing up as a promo poster a year ago. I liked it so much, I ended up switching it out for the old one and making it the actual cover.


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

America loved this show, right?!


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## GM Barlean (Oct 12, 2011)

I read the Abduction of Mary Rose. It was really good!


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## Millard (Jun 13, 2011)

In trying to reenact a real-life event for this, it was hard to capture the exact mixture of amusement and disgust emanating from those girls in silhouette, but I gave it a go.










NOTE: I did not see said man, said bucket, or said bum. So don't wait for the poster of that.


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