Time to Vote for the Week Two August 2021 M.L.S. Weech Book Cover of the Month

Greetings all,

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.

Glass is the first book to gain a spot in the August poll, and you can vote for Week Two’s cover right here.

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).

The 2021 M.L.S. Weech July Book Cover of the Month Poll Is Live! Vote for the First Week of August.

Greetings all,

The 2021 July M.L.S. Weech Book Cover of the Month Week Four poll has wrapped up. We’re ready to start August, but we also need an overall winner for the month of July, and I’d like your help.

So the Week 4 winner is …

A Desert Torn Asunder by Bradleuy P. Beaulieu was actually knee-deep in a three way tie until a helpful voter came and saved the day. I can see why. That use of color and detail is amazing.

Desert rounds out our Final Four (Sorry Suns! Get ’em next year). You can vote for the 2021 M.L.S. Weech July Book Cover of the Month right here. August is up and running as well, and you can vote for Week 1’s cover right 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.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Announcing the 2018 M.L.S. Weech Book Cover of the Year!

Greetings all,

It was a great year filled with a lot of great covers, great authors, and some amazing books.  Thanks to this idea, I got to read my favorite fiction book of the year. I got to make some amazing connections, but this is really all about the covers.

We had 3,023 votes for this bracket. That’s not as many as last year, but it’s still pretty great considering the size of this bracket. In the monthly brackets, we started with 32, and that ads 16 more votes per voter. These numbers mean we had at least 755 unique voters, and that’s awesome if you ask me. The winner of this contest can say more than 700 people looked at all 16 covers, and thought his or hers was best. (I have to TRY and keep some drama don’t I?)

There were three different leaders at different points of the contest. It was a close fight between the last two (came within ten voters, which would be less than one percent for those math people out there). However, I’m proud to say we have an undisputed champion.

The 2018 M.L.S. Weech Book Cover of the Year is…

 

 

Metal and Stone: The Awakening by Kevin Potter! This was a Wild Card Round Cover. Just check out that link for a book blurb and more info on how his cover did.

Let’s look at the stats!  The closest fight was between Potter and Asunder by L. Steinworth. These two traded off the lead, battling for their metaphorical lives in the Final Four. Steinworth took the lead on the last day, but then Potter surged ahead by a mere eight votes, and that turned out to be the difference maker. None of the covers on the other side of the bracket provided much of a fight, but that semifinal round was worth watching!

Since Metal and Stone: The Awakening was a wild card winner, that means it never won a monthly competition, so let’s show the book blurb so readers can see if they might be interested.

 

(START BLURB)

DRAGONS.
They exist, but have been in a state of hibernation for millennia. Will mankind survive their violent awakening?

Dauria was young and idealistic when she helped create the pact to force all dragons to withdraw from the world of Man in Earth’s distant past.

When she awakens unexpectedly after a millennia-long slumber, she finds those carefully laid plans unraveling. Someone is plotting a new war against humanity, and this time words may not be enough to stop it.

In her desperation to reunite with old allies, she finds herself separated from her draconic nature. If she can’t get it back, the nightmarish horrors of the past could return worse than ever…

(END BLURB)

Potter received 474 total votes. It’s sort of cool because he came into the tournament ranked twelfth (the wild card round lead vote earner). .

That means the Weech goes to Potter’s cover designer, which means I need him to tell me who that designer is so I can engrave The Weech and send it over to him.

I hope you all had fun this year. I really am pleased with how things turned out. That concludes the year, and, as I’ve discussed, the bracket is officially over at least for a year. With the marriage and release schedule I’m trying to maintain, it’s honestly a challenge to look at covers every day and provide the deep feedback I think it deserves. If I start again next year, I hope the authors and artists who were involved spread the word so other authors and artists can get exposure. That’s the whole point of the tournament.

For now, I’m honored to have the chance to give all these covers some attention. I will still read all the winners (including Potter’s) and review them. I’ll also find another way to give authors some purchases and reviews.  For now, I hope you’ll continue stopping by my blog.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Book Cover of the Year! Announcing the November Book Cover of the Month and kicking off the 2018 Book Cover of the Year Wild Card Round!

Hello everyone,

There’s a lot to this post, but we want to give everyone their due.

Brackify is shutting down, so we’re on a crunched schedule because we want to award a Book Cover of the Year.

First order of business, let’s wrap up November.

We’ve just wrapped up the last month

We had 2,444 votes this month. This was almost a record-setting bad month for us, but a couple authors showed out and got us to at least more than the least ever.

The November Book Cover of the Month is…

 

All the Lonely People by Jason Nelson! 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.

Let’s look at the stats!

Nelson  received 253 total votes!

Blackwoods: The Beginning by Teressa J. Martin and Adaline McMillan was the runner up, so it’s an automatic bid into the 2018 Book Cover of the Year Wild Card round (as the sixth seed, but more on that in another post that dropped today).

But for now, let’s look at this month’s winner!

Amazon:

(START BLURB)

All the Lonely People is based on the podcast by the same name (available on your favorite podcast player).

After his wife dies, our protagonist is faced with the internal struggle of loss and grief while trying to raise his three-year old daughter. It’s an exploration of love, family, death, and what comes after.

(END BLURB)

I’ve added All the Lonely People 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 October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February, January, and December’s book.

Here’s Nelson’s Facebook page. Give it a like if you’re curious about her and her work.

So that ends another fun year of the bracket. This is the last year for a while at least, but that’s no reason to stop working hard to make this a great year. So, let’s get the 2018 Book Cover of the Year Wild Card Round kicked off! (See the other post)

 

Thanks for reading

Matt

The November Book Cover of the Month Update!

Greetings all,

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!

I’ll announce the winner is just seven days!

Thanks for reading,

Matt

The November Book Cover of the Month Begins!

I’m a bit sad as this is the last Book Cover of the Month (at least for a year).  It’s well timed as Brackify is being sold if it isn’t being shut down.  It’s been fun, and I like the idea that I’ll bring it back once I get more of my life in order, but it doesn’t mean I won’t miss this part. We will still do the Wild Card Round and then the 2018 Book Cover of the Year, but that will be it for an undetermined amount of time.

 

For now, let’s send this contest off with a bang!

Unrelenting Tide by Alexa Dare and Into the Fire by K. Gorman 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.

The runner up from this month gets an automatic bid into the 2018 Wild Card Round. So even finishing in the top two helps you out.

All you have to do now is head over here to vote!

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Announcing the October Book Cover of the Month

Hello everyone,

We’ve just wrapped up another month. We’re now one bracket away from the Book Cover of the Year Wild Card Round!

We had 4,983 votes this month. This was one of the stronger months, and that was because one author came out with a much stronger following. It’s still great to see anyone get so much support. It was a run-away month to be honest, but that just means the bracket for the Book Cover of the Year should be amazing!

The October Book Cover of the Month is…

 

Until Nothing Remains by C.A. Rudolph! 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.

Let’s look at the stats!

Rudolph  received 786 total votes!

As runners up, Unrelenting Tide by Alexa Dare and Into the Fire by K. Gorman get a second chance to claim the title in November’s bracket.

But for now, let’s look at this month’s winner!

Amazon:

(START BLURB)

The United States has experienced its share of turmoil over the years.

Although not particularly war-torn or stricken with genocide and violent crime as other nations, over time, gun violence and terror attacks have become commonplace on American soil.

Never before has the United States been subjected to widespread, coordinated terrorist attacks, devastating enough to bring the entire nation to its knees. Until now.

In this first volume of his Gun Play series, post-apocalyptic author C.A. Rudolph will engage you with the tale of two families from wholly diverse walks of life: a husband and wife immersed in a clandestine existence of murder-for-hire, espionage, and intrigue, and a mainstream middle-class family of six.

Each will find themselves affected by an onslaught of terror attacks the likes of which the world has never seen. Each must learn to survive…or succumb.

A silent enemy lurks among them, and no one knows when they plan to strike. When they do, it will only be a matter of time Until Nothing Remains.

(END BLURB)

I’ve added Until Nothing Remains 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 September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February, January, and December’s book.

Here’s Rudolph’s Facebook page. Give it a like if you’re curious about her and her work.

The October Book Cover of the Month is coming along, and that contest will launch Nov. 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 Facebook page, you can see what covers will make the bracket.

Thanks for reading

Matt

The October Book Cover of the Month Begins!

It’s been a fun two years, but at the moment, running this contest takes more out of me than I have to give. So with that said, I want to announce that I will finish this year’s bracket, but after that, I’m going to, at the very least, take some time to enjoy being married and figuring out what normal looks like. This can be fun, and most of the time it is, but there are times when I fall behind, and catching up takes time from writing, editing, or even marketing. These are all things I have to do. We’ll see how things go, but at the moment I feel like I’m taking a break once I finish this year.

Speaking of finishing this year, this month is one of only two months left. That means November will have two brackets: the normal Book Cover of the Month bracket and the Wild Card round for the Book Cover of the Year bracket.  Be on the lookout for those.

For now, let’s send this contest off with a bang!

Sorcerers’ Web by Lucia Ashta joins 31 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.

All you have to do now is head over here to vote!

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Announcing the September Book Cover of the Month!

Hello everyone,

We’ve just wrapped up another month. It was great to see a new cover bracket happen!

We had 2,520 votes this month. It was another slower month, but part of that is because I didn’t have the time I normally have to get word out. For that, I’m sorry. Still, it was decent month, and the winning cover stood out before I ran out of time.

The September Book Cover of the Month is…

 

Of Fire and Storm by D.G. Swank! 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.

Let’s look at the stats!

Swank  received 181 total votes.

As runner up, Sorcerers’ Web by Lucia Ashta gets a second chance to claim the title in October’s bracket.

But for now, let’s look at this month’s winner!

Amazon:

(START BLURB)

Book two in the Piper Lancaster series in the Curse Keepers world.

Just when Piper begins to accept her new role as demon slayer, a fresh threat rises.

People are disappearing, and Piper is sure a sinister, otherworldly force is at play.

Add to that ghosts who show up out of thin air, warning her of a danger she won’t be able to outrun, and a freaking bevy of supernatural creatures hiding in the background, and Piper suddenly has her hands full. Especially when the new creatures aren’t demons, or ghosts and she has no idea how to deal with them.

Or whether or not they be good little monsters, or bad.

There is one man who has the knowledge she needs to survive but she can’t even count on him. Why? The bastard left town.

One thing is certain: a big bad demon’s come to town and Piper has to stop him—but she needs help to do it.

If only she could figure out whom to trust…

(END BLURB)

I’ve added Of Fire and Storm 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 August, July, June, May, April, March, February, January, and December’s book.

Here’s Swank’s Facebook page. Give it a like if you’re curious about her and her work.

The October Book Cover of the Month is coming along, and that contest will launch Nov. 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 Facebook page, you can see what covers will make the bracket.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Announcing the August Book Cover of the Month!

Hello everyone,

We’ve just wrapped up another month. It was great to see a new cover bracket happen!

We had 2,433 votes this month. It’s below average, but at least it’s not the new record holder for fewest votes ever.

In this slow of a month, it’s common for one cover to sort of surge and then defend the leader spot, and that’s what happened this month.

The August Book Cover of the Month is…

 

Pipe of Wings by Sarah K. L. Wilson! 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.

Let’s look at the stats!

Wilson received 160 total votes.

September only has 30 days, so that means Born to the Blade by Michael Underwood, Marie Brennan, and Cassandra Khaw, and White Mind by Emma Stallings (this month’s runners up) get a second chance to claim the title in September’s bracket.

But for now, let’s look at this month’s winner!

Amazon:

(START BLURB)

A new story from USA TODAY bestselling author, Sarah K. L. Wilson.
Tricked and forced to do the will of the new Prince of Baojang, Amel returns to the Dominion. But things have changed in her homeland. Will she be able to turn old friends into new allies as she continues to fight against the Dusk Covenant and the Ifrit scourge?

Fans of Anne McCaffrey’s DRAGON RIDERS OF PERN and Christopher Paolini’s ERAGON will love DRAGON SCHOOL.

Pipe of Wings is episode fifteen of Dragon School – expect a new episode every eighteen days!

(END BLURB)

I’ve added Pipe of Wings 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 July, June, May, April, March, February, January, and December’s book.

Here’s Wilson’s Facebook page. Give it a like if you’re curious about her and her work.

The September Book Cover of the Month is coming along, and that contest will launch Oct. 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 Facebook page, you can see what covers will make the bracket.

Thanks for reading

Matt