The 2017 M.L.S. Weech Book Cover of the Year Wild Card Round Begins!

Greetings all,

I have to admit, I’m super excited about this project. I love tournaments, and I love book covers. I’m having a lot of fun with it, and I hope you all do as well.

In addition to giving you the link and some guidance, I wanted to give you some insight as to why these eight covers were chosen.  So here we go!

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab: This is one of only two covers to receive more than 1,000 total votes. Unfortunately, it face the OTHER cover. Schwab’s 1,091 votes didn’t carry it through. It was the runner up, but didn’t make on it’s second time up. I still think it’s an amazing cover, and with 1,000 people behind it, I felt it deserved a final try.

The Dragon Rider Vol. 1 by T.J. Weekes: This was November’s runner up, and since I always put the runner up in the next tournament, I felt this time should be no different.

Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan: This book was one of only two to finish as runner up in two different brackets. A lot of people liked this book cover. So if this was one of two books to be a runner up twice, it only stands to reason the other would get in too, right?

The Girl Who Could See by Kara Swanson: Your darn right it stands to reason.

Anaerfell by Joshua Robertson and J.C. Boyd: This doesn’t surprise anyone who follows my blog, but I had to make the announcement. This book was in a downright fight with Bentz Deyo, and it was just fun to watch. The cover also received a total of 574 votes.

The Other One by Amanda Jay: It finished as a runner up and received a total of 433 votes.

To Brave the End by Frank Dorrian: Another runner up to fall just short, it received 348 votes in it’s first try.

Fate of the Big Bad Wolf by Neo Edmund: It also received 348 votes. It was a runner up, and even performed pretty well on its second try.

Three hundred votes is an important benchmark. Since I went to the two-week, total voting style, the winners all received a maximum of 350 votes. So my thinking was people who earned enough votes to win under the old system deserved a chance with the new one.

Now that’s said, let’s go over the basics:

This bracket has eight books. The top four selected will move on to the 2017 M.L.S. Weech Book Cover of the Year Bracket. Winning is good (and I use vote totals to create the matches in the BCOTY bracket, but all you really want is to finish in the top four.

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

 

 

 

 

The April Book Cover of the Month Bracket Begins!

Happy first everyone! It’s time to kick off a new bracket.  If you’re curios or new, check out the Book Covers for December, January, February, and March.

April’s bracket has 30 new covers.  Age of Myth is fighting more than I’ve ever seen a cover fight. Michael J. Sullivan finished with the top most votes in the semifinals, which earned him yet another shot in this month’s bracket. Frank Dorrian’s To Brave the End was last month’s runner up, so he gets another crack at the bracket as well.

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.

If you are the author, I feel the need to let’s remember some basic guidelines.  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.

Since we’ve been going, I’ve been evaluating how the participation has been. A few authors mentioned that it can be pretty exhausting having a 22-day-long tournament.  So I’m going to try a few new things.  This month, I’m simply trying to reduce the amount of time in the tournament.  This torment will run from today to the 14th.  I’ll do something different next mont.  I’d like your thoughts and feedback as to which way is best.  My goal is to have a fun, honest, meaningful competition that helps everyone. Your feedback will make that possible.

Round 1 will go from today to May 4.

The Sweet 16 will run from then to the 7th.

The Elite 8 will take it from there until the 10th.

The Final 4 runs from the 18th to the 12.

The Finals will go from the 20th to the 14.

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

March BCOTM Finals!

The semifinals are over, and that means we’ve narrowed down our vote to the final 2!  We ended with 94 votes. This pushed us to 2,618 for the month. As always, I’m grateful to everyone who came out to support these covers, their designers, and the authors who wrote these books.

Let’s talk about it:

The Closest Contest:

 

I can honestly say they were both close depending on how you look at it.  The Door Keeper by Steen Jones beat The Burning World by Isaac Marion won by 10 votes (63 percent of the total). To Brave the End by Frank Dorrian only beat Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan by 60 percent (11 votes).

Most Voted On Contest:
Dorian’s match was the more voted on of the two with 55 total votes (more on that below).

Most Votes:
Dorrian’s book cover has taken every round since the Sweet 16. He’s rolling along, but I think Jones will give him a run for his money. I’m looking forward to seeing who wins.

As always, the top runner up for the round gets the chance to try again, and, for the first time, that lucky cover is once more Age of Myth. I’ve never had a book cover appear on more than two BCOTM brackets before. But Age just keeps hanging around. Age had 22 votes to Burning Wolrd’s 14, so is why Age gets the chance to try again.

A note on the tournament itself. I’ve spoken to a few authors, and it’s pretty demanding having a round-by-round that goes on for some three weeks. I’m going to try a few things in the next few months (the next few brackets) that I hope increases participation and limits how much these authors have to work to rally the troops.  I don’t want this to be work or annoying to anyone.

Next month, the first thing we’ll try is a shorter time period. It will still be a round by round, which is something I’m a fan of. It lets me highlight covers multiple times, and usually lets a different cover shine each day I do an update blog. I’m going to try a single-vote tournament in June, just to see how it goes.  What I want is the best blend between max participation and exposure for these artists and authors.  Once I try a few things, I’ll let the one I feel is best run for a while before I change things up.

But that’s all future stuff, and the Finals have just begun!

They last until midnight of April 22. (That’s about 48 hours).

Head over here and vote!

Thanks for reading,

Matt

March Book Cover of the Month Final 4!

We’re down to four, and I think it’ll be a tough round!

We picked things up a bit. This round had 314 votes, which brings us to 2,524 for the month. I’d love to see us break 4,000 for the month, but as long as you’re supporting the covers you love, that’s all that matters.

Let’s look at how this round broke down:

The Closest Contest:
Last month’s runner up, Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan, just finds a way to win every round. It’s always close, but Sullivan always comes through. He managed to beat Empress of the Fall by David Hair by just 10 votes (barely 57 percent of the votes in that match).  That was the closest match no matter which way you measured it.

The Largest Victor:
I’m not an odds man myself, but I’m thinking whoever wants to make it to the finals is going to need at least 65 votes.  And only two people have been hitting (and passing) that mark so far. This week The Burning World by Isaac Marion beat Gilded Cage by Vic James by a sound 44 votes, and at 79 percent of the votes, that takes the cake no matter how you slice it.

Most Voted On Contest:
As dominant as Marion’s victory was, his match didn’t garner the most support. That distinction goes to To Brave the End by Frank Dorrian vs Ahe’ey by Jamie Le Fay. That match was well ahead of the rest with 106 votes. I’ve seen Mr. Dorrian’s posts on FB and Twitter. I’m much obliged for your support, and your readers are doing a fine job of backing your outstanding cover.

This was still a slower than usual round. (Honestly, we’re only three months in, so it’s not like there’s a “usual” yet.) Still, all the contests had at least 60 votes, which is pretty respectable in my opinion.

Least Voted On Contest:
The Door Keeper by Steen Jones vs Asharielle by Kathryn Cook racked up 63 votes. It was a pretty close match, with Jones only wining by 14 votes.

Most Votes:
Marion came on strong, but Dorrian wins his second round of the tournament with the most votes.  He earned 64 for the round and is sitting at 232 for the tournament (That’s 16 votes more than Marion at the moment).  I hope this motivates Jones and Sullivan’s fans: It looks like an epic head to head between Dorrian and Marion unless someone pulls of an impressive upset. For those rooting for those underdogs, remember to share the tournament and ask your friends to support.

The Final 4 ends at the strike of Midnight, April 20. That’s only 2 days, so call your friends, share my posts, get your readers engaged!

The good news for those who made it into this round is that one of you is already guaranteed a bid in next month’s bracket if this month doesn’t work out for you. The top vote-earning runner up will automatically go in for the April bracket, so every vote counts in this round.

Get out there and vote!

Thanks for reading,

Matt

March Elite 8!

Hello everyone! The Elite 8 is here! The Sweet 16 had 457 votes, which puts us at a total of 2,210 votes so far!

Let’s go over some numbers:

 

The Closest Contest:

Empress of the Fall by David Hair narrowly defeated The Secret of Spellshadow Manor by Bella Forrest. It was the closest match both in terms of votes (only by 7) and percentage of votes (55).

The Largest Victor:
Frank Dorrian has thrown down the gauntlet. He racked up an impressive 82 votes.  His book, To Brave the End, defeated The Lich by Adam Vine by 55 votes (75%). In fact, Dorrian earned more votes than any single match. (So needless to say his match had the most votes, and Dorrian’s book received the most votes).

Least Voted On Contest:

Night Lights by Helen Harper vs Gilded Cage by Vic James only received 53 votes. This was a slower round than usual, but we were bound to level off after three consecutive record breaking months. Fifty votes in a contest isn’t anything to balk at, but, as always, I’m going to ask that when you rally your voters, please ask them to vote in each match.

 

To Brave the End is the current leader in total votes due to his amazing support. The Burning World isn’t far behind, but rest of the pack is.  The number three vote earner so far (Asharielle by Kathryn Cook) is 46 votes behind.

There’s still time to support your favorite book cover.

The Elite Eight lasts until April 18, so things should pick up with less time to vote between rounds.

Head over here and vote!

One last thing.  I’ve gotten a bit of feedback that says the tournament is too long. I want the authors to have enough time to drum up support, but I don’t want it to be taxing.  Do any of you have any ideas or recommendations? Is the tournament too long? How many days do you think you need?

Thanks for reading,

Matt

March BCOTM Sweet 16!

I keep feeling overwhelmed when these numbers are so high, but they just keep climbing.  This is another record-breaking round.  This month’s first round had 1,642, which is nearly 200 more than last month’s first round.

Let’s go over some numbers:

 

The Closest Contest:

Night Lights by Helen Harper beat Holding Their Own XIII Renegade by Joe Nobody only had a three vote difference.  Lights won the day. That match was a 52-48 percent split.  So was The Door Keeper by Steen Jones vs God of the Sun by Kimberly Loth. Keeper took that match.

The Largest Victor:
Hello Isaac Marion and his hoard of loyal voters! My goodness, his book The Burning World, beat The Front  by David Moody to the tune of 93 votes and 85 percent of the match.  Get this….HIS match wasn’t the most voted on contest!

Most Voted On Contest:
When matches are getting up there, it’s hard to notice how close they ar.  To Brave the End by Frank Dorrian vs Fade by Daniel Humphreys was only decided by 15 votes, but it had 155 votes total!

Least Voted On Contest:
I’m a little sad.  Most votes had more than 80.  Heck, a lot had more than 90 votes, so I’m sad that Betrayal by Dirk van den Boom vs Arkwright by Allen Steele only received 64 votes. If you could please ask your supporters to vote in each match, that will only increase the level of competition.  Let’s try to support each match.

Most Votes:
Marion is off to an amazing start. I’m pretty sure he broke the record for more first-round votes. He took 112 votes all by himself.  Perspective: All of December’s bracket only had a TOTAL of 144 votes. So Marion has staked his claim. Is anyone ready to take him on?

So now it’s on to the Sweet 16!  This round will last until April 15. That’s 7 days to pick which 8 will move on.

Head over here and vote!

Thanks for reading,

Matt

February

The March Book Cover of the Month Bracket Begins!

The dawn of a new month has become a bit of a present for me. It means I get to kick off a new bracket.  If you’re curios or new, check out the Book Covers for December, January, and February. 

I’m happy to say February was pretty darn successful. It only came a few hundred away from breaking a record! This month has 31 outstanding new covers and Age of Myth has another chance to seize the day! I’ve been tracking this set of books for a while, and I honestly think it’s the strongest so far. Look, I know I might say that every month, but isn’t that the point?

If you know the authors or the artists, please share this and tag 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.

If you are the author, I feel the need to establish a few guidelines.  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. I want your cover to win because it was the best, not because you had the most stuff to give away. When we get to the Final Four, I have a plan or two myself in that regard. Don’t take this to mean you can’t ask for support.

Even if this becomes nothing more than a popularity contest, that’s fine. Why not celebrate with your following? Why not be proud of the platform you have and the number of people who support you? But my biggest goal is to honestly reward the best cover. It’s about the artists. I see TONS of support for authors, and what I want is an honest way to give cover artists/designers credit. The only way that’s possible is to get as many people to vote as we can. Your fans will (and should) vote for you. Your opponent’s fans will vote for your opponent. But it’s when we get to their friends and their friends of friends that impartial voters can help the separate the field. This will ensure the winning cover was decided by the people.

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.

Round 1 will go from today to April 8.

The Sweet 16 will run from then to the 15th.

The Elite 8 will take it from there until the 18th.

The Final 4 runs from the 18th to the 20th.

The Finals will go from the 20th to the 22nd.

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