Guest Entry by Jack Goodwin

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jack Goodwin (well, it’s not really, but I much prefer that to the one I actually got lumped with) I live in a small town in West Wales called Lampeter. You’re forgiven if you’ve never heard of it.

I’ve been doing cover art here at Gold Orchid Publishing for a number of months, but I still feel that I’m new to the subject. I’ve always loved art, more recently focusing on photography and image manipulation (jabbathejack on DeviantArt).

We’ve all heard the phrase ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, but lets face it, how many of us actually follow that rule? I remember being stuck in Newport, waiting a ridiculously long time for my passport to be completed. I had way too much time on my hands and sadly, not enough money to spend it properly. I happened to be browsing through ‘Stones and found one of their 3 for 2 deals on paperbacks. I freely admit, I chose those books based on the covers first and foremost, with only a cursory skim over the blurb on the back.

It was a pot luck decision, but that time, I got it right. I found out one of my favourite evil fantasy writers that way (Joe Abercrombie in case anyone’s interested). But it got me thinking; the design that you create can influence whether someone actually picks up a book or not. A good cover image should immediately catch a prospective reader’s attention, making them want to pick up the book and have a look inside.

With each cover I do, this is what I aim for. Hopefully creating the perfect design for the work whether it’s poetry or prose, fact or fiction.