jon contino – K. M. Alexander

August 27, 2020November 10, 2020

Gleam Upon the Waves Cover Reveal

As it was foretold in bygone days of yore, August 27th has arrived. As prophesied, the cover for Gleam Upon the Waves will be revealed. Let’s begin, shall we?

You can see a bigger version below. Click on the image to view it larger.

The Gleam Upon the Waves cover — The cover for Gleam Upon the Waves

In the lower depths of the city of Lovat, a King Tide rises. On the mantle of this aberration rides a vile stench that permeates the city from root to crown. When a job comes along for Caravan Master Waldo Bell and his crew offering a chance to slip away, it’s easy to be interested. When it comes from the city’s newly elected mayor, it’s impossible to ignore.

Outward bound on an enormous floating casino Wal finds himself out of his element. This won’t be routine caravan work. This job is more diplomacy than delivery, taking Bell Caravans out of the shadowed warrens and off dusty trails to the canals of Empress, the mysterious capital of the hermit-nation Victory.

But, things are never simple in the Territories. As the situation grows increasingly complicated and sinister forces begin to circle, Wal will discover darkness runs deeper than he ever thought possible; reality is not what it seems, and a new apocalypse is closer than anyone predicted.

I’m sure you noticed that like all the previous Bell Forging Cycle covers, the background image was another piece by the late 19th-century French artist, Gustav Doré. I love Doré’s work. Here I used the Plate I engraving from Doré’s illustrations for La Grande Bible de Tours entitled: The Deluge it depicts a scene from the story of Noah’s Ark as humans and animals struggle to save themselves as floodwaters rise. Tides. Floodwaters. Waves. Boats. Lots of nautical themes happening here. Wonder what that means? Hmmm.

Funny enough, Jon Contino nailed down the lettering for this cover years ago—way back when we were locking down the look for Red Litten World. I fell in love immediately, and it’s been hard to stay quiet. Jon’s distinctive approach to typography has always worked perfectly for the Bell Forging Cycle. His visceral and emotional approach to design has helped capture the sense of unease in the series and solidify the tone in a way that helps it stand out. He outdid himself with this one.

From a design perspective, I think it settles perfectly within the series as a whole while maintaining a unique voice of its own. Look how great it looks in the lineup:

Huge thank you once again to Jon for helping me out with this. (Also, he’s got his own book out now and you should go buy it.) There will be more to come in the future. Gleam Upon the Waves is due out later this year (hopefully!), so expect more announcements with launch dates and the like and a sample chapter for you to read. I cannot wait to get this one into your hands. It’s been a long time coming, and I think you’re going to love it.

What do you think of the new cover? Which cover is your favorite? Why? Leave a comment. Let me know!

Need to Get Caught Up?

If you’ve only read a few of my novels, now is the perfect time to nab my previous books and catch up on the series before Gleam Upon the Waves drops. Order from any of the retailers below or support your local indie book shop and have them order it for you.

• Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Kobo • iBooks • GooglePlay •

Did you know you could have gotten a sneak peek early? It’s true! Sign up for Dead Drop, my elusive newsletter. Subscribers get news, previews, and notices on my books before anyone else delivered directly to their inbox. It’s not spammy and full of interesting and relevant information. SIGN UP TODAY →

August 10, 2020August 10, 2020

Gleam Upon the Waves Cover Reveal Coming August 27th

Howdy, roaders. This has been a long time coming. So, set your watches and mark your calendars. I am excited to announce that on August 27th, 2020, I will reveal the cover for Gleam Upon the Waves, Book IV in the Bell Forging Cycle.

“The sea can bind us to her many moods, whispering to us by the subtle token of a shadow or a gleam upon the waves, and hinting in these ways of her mournfulness or rejoicing.”

— H. P. Lovecraft & R. H. Barlow, The Night Ocean

I can’t wait to show you. Once again, Jon Contino lent his incredible lettering skills, and while Gleam Upon the Waves aesthetically fits within the series as a whole, it’s got something a little different going on that sets it apart. I think you’ll dig it.

Remember, those who subscribe to Dead Drop (my email newsletter I rarely send out) will get to see it a few days early. Join their distinguished ranks and subscribe here. In the meantime, the teaser site is still teasing (headphones make it better.) And you can see the inspiration board over on Pinterest.

More details to come.

June 28, 2016June 28, 2016

A Weird Fiction Cover Design Intervention

On Twitter this April, I went on a rant about cover design, specifically targeting indie authors and small press houses within the Lovecraftian and weird fiction genres. Both are genres of which I am proud to be a part, but as of late I’ve found myself disappointed when it comes to the quality of the book cover designs. Fellow author S. Lee Benedict suggested I expand on this topic here, and it’s a good idea…

This isn’t the first time I have written about cover design; you can read my previous post, ‘Building A Better Book Cover’ over here. Cover design is something of a passion for me. I’ve been a professional designer for 16 years working on everything from software, branding, advertising, book covers, and a variety of promotional materials. I believe good design is important, and I know it’s important to fans and readers.

So, here’s our situation. I feel like Lovecraftian and weird fiction literature needs a cover design intervention. Honestly, that statement could apply to much, much more than just those two categories; but these days I am closest to those genres, so they get the brunt of my focus. I’m not fond of publically shaming. So, don’t expect me to call out specific examples of bad design. However, with a little searching, you can easily see what I mean.

It’s not that indie authors or small publishers start out with a desire to make awful covers. Sit in on any self-publishing panel at a convention and every author will readily admit it’s worth spending the money on an illustration for your cover. And, many books with terrible covers start with a great illustration. They’re on point for tone and mood, and often a good step in the right direction, but they completely miss the mark when it comes to typography and design. Strange font choices abound, bad effects mar legibility, and bizarre distortions plague the shelves. At best it’s boring, at worst it’s completely illegible. (And it tends to skew towards the latter, unfortunately.) It’s like someone put all their effort into illustration and completely forgot that paying attention to the cover’s typography and design is just as important as having great art. Those three concepts are the pillars of good design. Everything in a book cover plays off of one another; bad typography can forever mar a beautiful illustration.

“…paying attention to the cover’s typography and design is just as important as having great art.”

If indie authors and small presses were more honest with themselves, they’d know when a cover is done vs. done right. It’s not hard to compare; solid examples are everywhere. And it wouldn’t take much to improve; basic typography operates under a set of rules, and a few typography classes at a local college would go a long way to learning the ins and outs. If that’s hard to swing, sit down with a Skillshare class. Jon Contino, the illustrator who did the lettering for my books, offers a Skillshare class on Illustration and Lettering: A Hands-on Approach to Label Design that is excellent. If you’re looking for books on the subject start with The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst. It’s commonly called “the Typographer’s Bible,” and it’s a good (if not dense) place to start. Also, look into Ellen Lupton’s fantastic Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students; it’s a practical guide on the rules of typography and how to break them effectively and creatively,

The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst

As I mentioned in my post, ‘Building a Better Book Cover,’ Chip Kidd, one of the greatest book cover designers living today, has said, “A book cover is a distillation. It is a haiku of the story.” I love that quote. He’s not wrong; bad cover design does a disservice to the writing it represents. It detracts when it should enhance, it lies when it should entice.

But there is a silver lining! I know quite a few authors who have taken the time and put in the effort and have made strides in cover design. Word Horde is a great weird fiction press that does wonderful work, and Laird Barron’s novels often have fantastic covers. Recent strides have been made by larger print houses as well; Victor laValle’s Ballad of Black Tom (Tor) and Matt Ruff’s Lovecraft County (Harper) were recent standouts in the genre. So well designed covers in weird fiction are out there. Publishers, designers, and authors should study what those books do right and strive towards emulating their successes.

I believe weird fiction is one of the most exciting and imaginative genres to be writing in today. It pushes at the edges of speculative fiction as a whole and continues to broaden its reach. It’s only reasonable to desire that the covers of the great work being produced should live up to the potential within the pages. We all want these books to continue to attract new readers for decades to come, and a well-designed cover goes a long way to doing just that.

Red Litten World arrives October 6th, 2015

September 24, 2015

First Look: Red Litten World Trade Paperback

Well, well, well, look what arrived in the mail last Friday… behold, the first look at the Red Litten World trade paperback! (Okay, technically, it’s the second look, since subscribers to my newsletter got the first look on Tuesday. You can join their illustrious ranks and get access to content early, just sign up here.)

Watch the Periscope capture above (apologies for the quiet-ish sound) or just check out the images with my commentary below. I’m so excited for everyone to see this. I couldn’t be more pleased with how well the trade paperback turned out. It feels so good in hand.

I’m super proud how well this turned out. Every time I start the arduous process of laying out a novel, I feel like I get better and better. Red Litten World is my biggest book yet, each tome is 400 pages on the dot. (For a comparison, Old Broken Road (the smallest) is 356 pages long and The Stars Were Right comes in at 364 pages.)

The Bell Forging Cycle series — The three books in the Bell Forging Cycle

The series is looking incredible, and I really have Jon Contino to thank for that. The consistency between covers is stunning, and as you can tell the three look absolutely wonderful sitting next to one another on the shelf. Jon’s lettering has a lot to do with that. As always the work is fabulous.

Just like in the interior of Old Broken Road there are stars illustrations breaking up paragraph breaks. These are the same hand-drawn stars done by Illustrator Sean Cumiskey for the Bell Caravans patch. They look great in the book, I love seeing them in print. Returning to form, the glyph atop the chapter titles was drawn by Lovecraft himself, just like the elder sign we saw on The Stars Were Right. Like the titles themselves, this will be a motif that will continue through the rest of the series.

Red Litten World interior — Left – title page, Right Top – chapter titles, Right Bottom – paragraph breaks

There’s a special surprise inside for paperback owners only, but I’m not going to go into details about it here. I’m going to keep that under wrap for now, that said, I’m sure it’ll leak eventually. As with everything in the Bell Forging Cycle it’s always layers upon layers, often the biggest secrets are hidden in the background.

I can’t wait for this to get into everyone’s hands! Red Litten World arrives Tuesday, October 6th, 2015. EBook readers, you can pre-order it today for Kindle, Kobo, or Apple iBooks and have it delivered on launch day!

Hold onto your butts. We’re getting close!

June 4, 2015June 4, 2015

The Red Litten World Cover Reveal

Hooray! It is June 4th! As I promised it’s time to reveal the cover of my next novel: The Bell Forging Cycle, Book III: Red Litten World. Let’s get to it:

The city of Lovat is dying. It just doesn’t know it yet. Trapped behind blockades, its citizens starve. Only the wealthiest can afford to snatch up what food does slip through, leaving the poor jostling for scraps. But money only goes so far. Inside their gleaming towers, the well-fed elevated are being killed off one-by-one.

Caravan Master Waldo Bell—only a few months removed from the harrowing events along the Broken Road—just wants to keep his head down and be left alone while he waits for the blockades to break. But when familiar symbols written in blood appear at a crime scene and an old debt comes calling, Wal finds himself thrust into chaos.

Now, forced onto Lovat’s blood-soaked upper levels, Wal faces his most dangerous challenge yet: within a city on the verge of self-destruction, he must fight to save not only his own life—but the life of every Lovatine struggling below.

Isn’t it lovely? Once again, Jon Contino returned to lend his considerable talents by creating the lettering for Red Litten World. I’ve always been an admirer and fan of Jon’s work and there is something with his focused Arts and Crafts approach that captures the feel of the Bell Forging series. He nails that looming sense of unease prevalent throughout but adds an undercurrent of approachability which I really appreciate. As always, I am honored to have his help. Thanks a ton, Jon.

The background image comes once again from the late 19th-century french artist, Gustav Doré. (Sensing a theme, perhaps?) I love Dore’s work, and I’ve used his illustrations on the last two covers as well. This time the engraving was selected from Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, in this case, Inferno. There Minos stands, centers on the lounging former Cretan king, Minos, now judge of the damned at the gates of hell. As with the previous books in the series, this illustration was selected specifically for Red Litten World. There’s a hint on the cover at what lies inside the pages.

I like scattering Easter Eggs throughout my work, and not only in prose. Each of these little details add to the overall experience when a reader picks up one of the Bell Forging Cycle novels. From the choice of the background image, to the little symbols I place along the spine. Everything is selected to give readers a little more depth should they go looking.

So there it is! The cover for Red Litten World is revealed! I think it fits perfectly within the series while bringing its own unique look. Check out how great Red Litten World looks in a lineup with the other two books:

Perfect right? Red Litten World is due out later this year and there will be a launch announcement coming soon along with a sample chapter. I cannot wait to get this into your hands. I think you’re going to love this one.

What do you think of the new cover? Which cover is you favorite of the series so far and why? Leave a comment. Let me know!

May 14, 2015

Red Litten World Cover Reveal Is Coming June 4th

The date has been set, the stars have aligned, and it is time. The cover reveal for Red Litten World, book three of The Bell Forging Cycle, is coming June 4th, 2015. One again the incredibly talented Jon Contino is back with some beautiful hand lettering. After seeing his incredible work for the covers of The Stars Were Right and Old Broken Road, you’ve probably detected a theme beginning to form for the series. I’d wager you can sorta guess what this cover will look like… or can you. [Cue dramatic music.]

“…legend said that it had come from a mysterious inner realm beneath the red-litten world—a black realm of peculiar-sensed beings which had no light at all, but which had great civilisations and mighty gods…”

—H. P. Lovecraft & Zealia Bishop, The Mound

As with all big announcements and cover reveals, folks who subscribe to my newsletter will be the first people who get a glimpse at the new cover. Why not join those brave and noble few and… sign up today →.