Josh Lanyon's Blog, page 72
March 21, 2014
And the winner is...A SHOT IN THE DARK
Again, so many wonderful submissions. If you're not all getting commissions for covers now, I don't know why not. These were terrific.
The vote was very close, and I liked both leading contenders very much. I decided that we would go with #4, KB Smith's cover for the A Shot in the Dark collection.
Congratulations, KB!
And with a title change and some tweaking of dimensions, #7 by Minu will work perfectly for the audio book cover for The Dark Farewell.
Congratulations yet again!
The vote was very close, and I liked both leading contenders very much. I decided that we would go with #4, KB Smith's cover for the A Shot in the Dark collection.

Congratulations, KB!
And with a title change and some tweaking of dimensions, #7 by Minu will work perfectly for the audio book cover for The Dark Farewell.

Published on March 21, 2014 01:00
And the winner is...WHAT'S LEFT OF KISSES?
This had to be the toughest of all the projects in that the cover had to somehow convey something of each story (one of which doesn't even exist yet!). It had to be romantic AND somehow advertise "historical."
In other words, good luck with that!
But again, so many inventive and even gorgeous covers. So many covers that could work for a number of projects. But in the end I went with my favorite concept -- after speaking to the artist about the possibility of potentially tweaking it to make it more vintage/retro/aged.
Therefore the commission goes to KB Smith for #5. I love the idea of the snapshot fading out into nothing.
But two of the overwhelming reader favorites really have to be pulled up and shared because they're so good, and I keep trying to think of other projects I might have coming up that I could use them on!
Those covers were both by Johanna: #7 & #11
And in fact, I believe that the typewriter cover could work very well for an audio book cover, though I haven't quite figured out which one. So I started out commissioning four covers and I think I'm already up to seven. :-)
In other words, good luck with that!
But again, so many inventive and even gorgeous covers. So many covers that could work for a number of projects. But in the end I went with my favorite concept -- after speaking to the artist about the possibility of potentially tweaking it to make it more vintage/retro/aged.
Therefore the commission goes to KB Smith for #5. I love the idea of the snapshot fading out into nothing.

But two of the overwhelming reader favorites really have to be pulled up and shared because they're so good, and I keep trying to think of other projects I might have coming up that I could use them on!
Those covers were both by Johanna: #7 & #11


Published on March 21, 2014 01:00
And the winner is...EVERYTHING I KNOW
Um...so pretty much every single cover in this category was a winner. I mean, just one perfect cover after another popped into my mailbox. From bunnies to black boards, these were all I-want-that-one! However, we can only have one cover -- and the girl with the votes is Catherine Dair (again!) for #7.
This category in particular was flooded with great submissions. It's amazing to me that there were so many inventive spins on such a simple description.
I especially liked #2 by Stuu. It's a bit too dark in tone for the story, but it's really wonderful -- as so many of you noted.

This category in particular was flooded with great submissions. It's amazing to me that there were so many inventive spins on such a simple description.
I especially liked #2 by Stuu. It's a bit too dark in tone for the story, but it's really wonderful -- as so many of you noted.

Published on March 21, 2014 01:00
And the winners are....

Choosing between so many wonderful covers and talented artists was difficult. No, let's be honest, it was insane. There were just too many great choices. As warned, I did overrule the popular vote in two cases because, well, it turns out I'm not as easy-going as I think.
Anyway, the to-be-commissioned art and the runners up are listed in the posts below. I truly appreciate everyone who took part in this contest, whether contributing art or taking the time to vote (seriously, your votes were very helpful) you made this a creative and entertaining endeavor.
Thank you, all!
Published on March 21, 2014 01:00
March 17, 2014
EVERYTHING I KNOW PART 2 (IF YOU WEREN'T ABLE TO VOTE)
If you already voted on the earlier large post, don't vote again -- I am collecting those votes. But if you weren't able to "see" that post, I've split it up into two smaller posts, so you may vote once each on those.
#11
#12
#13
#14
#11

#12

#13

#14

Published on March 17, 2014 09:33
EVERYTHING I KNOW - if you weren't able to vote
Okay! Here are the cover submissions for EVERYTHING I KNOW. They're all wonderful! Vote for your favorite in the comment section below.
#1 -
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#1 -

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

Published on March 17, 2014 09:17
Cover Contest Submission - SLAY RIDE
Here are the submissions for SLAY RIDE. Vote for your favorite in the comments below.
#1

#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#13
#14
#15
#16
#17
#18
#19
#20
#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15

#16

#17

#18

#19

#20

Published on March 17, 2014 01:00
Cover Contest Submissions - A SHOT IN THE DARK
Here are the submissions -- please vote in the comments below!
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

Published on March 17, 2014 01:00
Cover Contest WHAT'S LEFT OF KISSES
Lovely offerings for the historical collection of novellas -- this was a tough one, so I am really impressed by the submissions. Vote below in the comment section for your favorite.
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#13
#14
#15
#16
#17
#18
#19
#20
#21
#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15

#16

#17

#18

#19

#20

#21

Published on March 17, 2014 01:00
Here we go!

It's very simple. Vote for your favorite cover for each project in the individual project's comment section. If you want to go so far as to explaining why you like a particular cover, that's fine too.
Ultimately I reserve the right to choose the winning cover, but I am genuinely interested in your voting choices.
The covers are anonymous to keep the voting process objective. However, once the voting is in and covers have been chosen, I will list the names of all the artists who took part (unless instructed otherwise).

I hope you all had fun. I certainly did! **PLEASE NOTE: Just vote once per project. :-)
Published on March 17, 2014 01:00