We’re chugging along and about to finish the seventh month of my book cover of the year competition.
The winner of the third week of October is …
Dragon Bond by Ursula Visser had perfect composition! Every single element was placed exactly where it needed to be while avoiding any overlap, which can cause tension in the eyes. That means it joins Gutter Mage and You Give Magic A Bad Name in the overall October competition. This week’s winner will round out the poll, and you can vote for Week 4’s cover right here.
I’d appreciate it if you’d head over to my YouTube channel and give it a like and a subscribe. It really does help me out.
First, it’s important to note that the 2021 July Book Cover of the Month Poll is still live. You can choose from four best covers from July and pick one cover to rule them all. Please vote for that cover here.
August is still going, so that means I get to announce Week One’s winner, which is…
Of Glass and Ashes by Elle Madison and Robin D. Mahle was just too clean and hit too many Disney buttons to be denied. It was a clean concept with strong visuals, and those traits always come out ahead.
Please take a few minutes to head on over to my YouTube channel. Give it a like and subscribe. That’s where I talk about these covers and why I choose them. You can also leave comments there and recommend new scifi and fantasy covers (has to be published within the last 90 days).
Still on vacation, so I just want to post these quickly.
Congratulations to the following Week for 2021 June Book Cover of the Month. The winner is …
Honestly, there wasn’t even a close second in my personal opinion. Animal Farm by George Orwell (which I’ve read by the way) was just an amazing cover. That means it’s Animal Farm against Tournaments of Thaw, Angel of Armageddon, and A Clash of Fates for the title of 2021 M.L.S. Weech June Book Cover of the Month. You can vote for your favorite here.
I’d be much obliged if you’d check out my YouTube channel, where I talk about these covers and what I like about them. It’d mean a lot if you subscribed and clicked that bell notification. It’s a free way to support me.
Today marks the official end of May’s Book Cover competition. June is still ongoing, but the voting for May’s winner-take-all poll ended Friday, and that means I get to announce a new winner! The 2021 M.L.S. Weech Book Cover of May is …
Betrayed by me! This is the first time one of my covers has ever actually won Book Cover of the Month! I really think this is one of my stronger covers. Carlos really outdid himself. The stats still aren’t flattering at all, but I won fair and square (100 percent of three votes). I still need your help to get this contest going the way it was before I took that break. The more votes the competition gets, the more legitimized it is. I’ve always been a fan of book covers, and I truly want this award to become meaningful, but I need your help to do that. Please take moment to vote when you see the new poll come up. Please share it with readers you know. Just taking the time to do that will go a long way.
That means Betrayed has found its place in the 2021 Book Cover of the Year poll, which will begin in another 10 months.
That’s not the only other winner to announce! The 2021 June Book Cover of the Week polls have been going on for two weeks now, and I have have the pleasure of announcing the winner for week two.
I’d be grateful if you would be so kind as to watch my channel, where I talk about all seven of the covers and why I think they were so cool.
Remember to vote for your favorite through the link I provided above! This means that A Clash of Fates is the second book to make it in the finals for the 2021 June Book Cover of the Month! You guys can choose who wins the title and then support your favorite in the yearly competition (obviously next year)! I hope you’ll participate.
Before we get into June’s news, would you please take a moment to vote for the 2021 May Book Cover of the Month? There’s only about six days left to vote, so please show these covers some support.
Now we can move on to announce the winner of last week’s Book Cover of the Week poll. Seven covers were nominated, but only one cover could win and advance to the Book Cover of the Month poll.
Without further delay, here is the winner for Week 1 of June.
The cover for Angel of Armageddon by Michael Anderle is a great example of composition. Look at how everything in the scene has its own unique space.
I’d be grateful if you would be so kind as to watch my channel, where I talk about all seven of the covers and why I think they were so cool.
Remember to vote for your favorite through the link I provided above! This means that Angel of Armageddon is the first cover to earn a spot in the finals for the 2021 June Book Cover of the Month! You guys can choose who wins the title and then support your favorite in the yearly competition (obviously next year)! I hope you’ll participate.
My Book Cover of the Month contest is back in the swing of things. Things have picked up a bit, but we still aren’t getting a ton of votes. I’d be much obliged if you took a few moments to let your voice be heard. Once again, I had to break a tie. I had eight votes, and, sure enough, two books each had two votes. I need your help to get this back to the level of support it had a few years ago before I went on hiatus regarding book covers.
So first, let’s announce the winner for week 2.
The cover for The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner has wonderful color and texture. It really stood out to me from the moment I first saw it.
I’d be grateful if you would be so kind as to watch my channel, where I talk about all seven of the covers and why I think they were so cool. My middle son joined me for this episode, so that was nice of him.
Remember to vote for your favorite through the link I provided above! This means that The Lost Apothecary joins Spellmaker in the finals for the 2021 April Book Cover of the Month! You guys can choose who wins the title and then support your favorite in the yearly competition (obviously next year)! I hope you’ll participate.
With just seven days left in this month’s bracket, it’s time to update you all on how things have been progressing.
As I type this, we have 517 votes so far. That’s not a typo. That’s unfortunately the actual number of votes. To put this into perspective, last month’s winning book had more than that number of votes all by itself. We really need some help here. Please put the word out. Please vote. I know this is the last month, but we’re still going to do the Book Cover of the Year, and I truly would like it to support these authors. I’m praying you’ll help me get these designers the credit they deserve.
The Clock Strikes by Sean Cunningham is in first place.
Most Voted on so far: Cunningham has 54 total votes. But it’s honestly anyone’s game at this point. One book getting a solid burst of support gets it all the way to the Book Cover of the Year bracket.
Least Voted for: Deprecated by Michael Karr has 3 votes. My hope is someone will spread the word and let all of these authors know to put out the call for support.
There’s still a week left, and this month’s winner is in. Also, the runner up will get into the Wild Card round of the Book Cover of the Year bracket.
This is the current runner up. If it stays there, it’ll have a shot at the Book Cover of the Year Trophy (The Weech!)
A quick reminder of how the tournament works. The easiest way to win is to have the most people vote for you in every round. The trick is you have to have the most people vote you through in each round, all the way to the final. As an example, 100 people could vote someone through to the finals, but that doesn’t do a cover any good if he doesn’t win the first round. It’s not total votes. It’s not simple championship votes. The winning cover has to have the most votes in each round of the competition.
This will be the only update for this type of bracket. I hope the record does get broken and that I see voters lining up to support their authors by voting, liking, and sharing the bracket with as many people as possible. You can vote at this address!
But first, an announcement. The Power of Words is officially live! I’m thrilled at it’s early success. I sold out of physical editions during the Baltimore ComicCon (I’ll talk more about that on Saturday), and I had more preorders for that book than any other I’ve ever had. It’s live, but it’s still only 99 cents! It will be until Oct. 14, when it goes to its regular price of $3.99. All four of us (TW Iain, Richard T. Drake, Heidi Angell, and myself) are so proud of this. I hope you’ll preorder a copy.
Now, it’s time to start a new book cover of the month competition.
Born to the Blade by Michael Underwood, Marie Brennan, and Cassandra Khaw, and White Mind by Emma Stallings join 30 brand new covers this month.
You can vote all the way through the tournament, supporting the covers you like best through each round. I like to make sure people get the credit they deserve, so please show your support. Please vote and share as much as possible to get people a chance to pick their favorite.
As always, I’d appreciate it if you tag the authors and artists if you know them. I try to tag or friend every author I can, but sometimes it’s hard to track someone down. Max participation is a huge deal to me. The more people who vote, the more recognition these authors and artists receive, and I want this to be as legitimate as possible.
Image taken from Pixabay.
If you are the author, let’s remember to be good sports! 1) Please feel free to message or contact me at any time. 2) Please feel free to like, share, text, ask for support, and call everyone you know. I absolutely want max participation. However, if you’re going to offer giveaways or prizes, please offer them for voting, not just voting for you.
Also, while your summoning your army of voting soldiers, please make sure you ask them to vote in every match. Part of the idea of this is to get exposure to as many artists and authors as possible. By all means, if you can get 1,000 people to vote for your book, do it. Just please also send some eyeballs to the other matches.
A final note to authors and artists: I currently have links to the books’ Amazon pages. If you’d prefer I switch that link to sign up for your newsletter or like your social media page or whatever, just send me the link and let me know. I want this to help you. I want this to be as helpful as possible, so whatever you need me to do to facilitate that, just let me know.
I hope you keep having fun. Please, vote, share, and discuss as much as possible.
We’ve just wrapped up another month. This was a solid month with an amazing (and possibly the most historic) comeback.
We had 5,885 votes this month.
The competition was pretty close up until about the halfway point. Then one book stopped playing around and took off. That was some amazing support to be honest.
The March Book Cover of the Month is…
The Unlicensed Consciousness by Travis Borne! If you’re curious about how I felt about the book, check out the Facebook post that I posted when this book first landed on the bracket, here.
Siren’s Lure by Frost Kay managed to come in second, which means she gets a second shot at a Book Cover of the Month Award.
But for now, let’s look at this month’s winner!
Amazon:
(START BLURB)
When dreaming becomes an occupation…but it’s no picnic and what must be done is not for the faint of heart. Very few can do it successfully, or stomach it, until Amy comes along. She’s special, but not for any reason you’d imagine.
Jump twenty-five years into the future where the last of humanity survives in the last city, a quaint town surrounded by a great wall. Science is limited, except in the facility where technology stabilizes the world of dreams, where consciousness itself is harvested in exchange for protection.
When the unexpected happens Jim is faced with a gut-wrenching decision that could change everything. But it’s what his malcontent self had always wanted, right? Travel beyond the solar system, through wormholes, into The NOTHING—The SOMETHING as some call it, then explode out; to the edge of the universe, realms unrecognizable—and depending on his choice, possibly into a world of doom purposed for the unimaginable. But is this really just a dream, a MAP as labeled by Ted and the other scientists?
Journey into a vast desert with mezcal-drinking Felix in his clunker pickup where secrets run deep. Meet Mister Quain Renmore in a world unimaginable; he wants to disclose more than he’s allowed to—beware of his slaps and kicks. Push the boundaries of the system, testing its limits with newfound powers. Will it burst through causing the ultimate surge, or is it already too late? And will it even be enough to save them—the drone army has already punched through the defenses! Head to the safe room, pack in tight while Amy, Jim, and the lenders battle against all odds to pull off the impossible.
Experience the beginning where it all started, 25 years ago. Powerful companies race to develop AI, and one man with a prescience greater than your typical mortal manages something special by working nearly 20 hours per day. He’s rudely blunt and tells it like it is. But can he tear down the walls that hold him prisoner to a world of hate? Will he realize, he doesn’t have to go through this alone. Hatred forged from years of abuse and mockery, once a nerd but now a king, haunted by terrible speculations of a perspicacious mind he knows things will take a turn for the worse and decides to unfold a chair, pop open a beer and watch it all burn, but now…has everything changed? He finds someone special across the border in Mexico, but can newfound love assuage the demons raging war inside his mind. His immense mental capability is balanced by a terrible trio that bullies his rational and sanity.
With a select group of friends and a rescued heart, will he alter the plans? While there can be no stopping the coming destruction, could he and his team pull it off anyway? Maybe, with the assistance of another very special mind.
Horrific terrors delivered to your spine, encounter myriad dream worlds, learn lessons from goodhearted characters like old Nanny at the fair, laugh at red-headed Myron, Amy’s wacky chainsaw-wielding school buddy going ballistic on tourists in the canyon map. Cry when new love is born, also cry when trust is shattered.
A warning to all readers: attempt to retain your lucidity while things snowball for civilization, fires rage, and volcanoes vomit. Bear witness to mass destruction on a comprehensive scale—but just as the lights are about to go out for good: along comes Jim, Amy, Rico, and the lenders, assisted by head scientist Ted—in the future; Herald, the love of his life, and his friends—in the past. Can Herald and his team outrun the approaching nightmare in the hover-jet? Can Amy and Jim slip through where all others have failed? Will a species prove itself worthy? Will a beacon for intergalactic assistance be heard, and if so will it arrive in time to save the final stragglers?
(END BLURB)
I’ve added The Unlicensed Consciousness to my TBR. (For those who are new to the deal, I buy the Book Cover of the Month to read and review in the future. I buy all the winning covers. I’ve already bought March, February, January, December’s book.
Here’re Travis’s Facebook page. Give it a like if you’re curious about him and his work.
I’ll try to find out who did that cover. Truth is interviews are a bit hard to arrange on my end these days. I’ll try to get back on track, but things are looking a bit busy lately (in a good way).
The May Book Cover of the Month is almost set, and that contest will launch June 1.
I will continue to identify and select covers for each day from Amazon’s New Release section for fantasy and science fiction. If you follow and like my Facebookpage, you can see what covers will make the bracket.
The Clock Strikes by Sean Cunningham is in first place.
Now, it’s time to start a new book cover of the month competition.
M.L.S. Weech 