Penric's Progress cover view
Here's a look at the Baen cover for Penric's Progress upcoming in January, as detailed in the prior post. Art by Dan Dos Santos.
https://www.dandossantos.com/
Ta, L.
https://www.dandossantos.com/
Ta, L.
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Oh, that is a nice cover! I hope it functions well on the marketing front, too!
That's super creepy looking. If I wasn't already a fan I wouldn't read a book with a cover like that. Just telling the truth. Sorry.
Melody wrote: "That's super creepy looking. If I wasn't already a fan I wouldn't read a book with a cover like that. Just telling the truth. Sorry."From Pen's pose, I'm pretty sure the artist used a reference photo of a male ballet dancer -- someone with more ballet-fu than mine could probably name the leap.
I've been looking at this image for a while, and still can't guess for sure whether the artist read any of the stories, or was just working from art direction. The latter is frequently the case, time being what it is for working artists.
Cover art is very divisive, I've learned over the years, and what repels one reader may work just fine for another, so I try not to get too wired about it. (With mixed success.) The advantage of purchasing the hardcover is that anyone who doesn't like the art can readily dispose of the dust jacket. (The disadvantage is that someone who doesn't like the design may not pick up the book at all.)
What's most important is that the cover design should steer the book into the hands of readers who would like the content, and not mislead those who wouldn't and would react ill to its apparent tacit promise not kept.
Ta, L.
Umpf...covers.... I am inclined to sort people by theirs, for fun. The not so few surprises are even more gratifying. Really like the Dan Dos Santos' (Dan dos Santos?) cover!
Lovely cover but I would have liked to have seen at least one older lady there... When Penric inherited his Demon it was from a priestess of the Bastard whose white hair was in plaits and who died from heart failure... Wouldn't it be good to see a little, well, "lived" female experience portrayed as well?
Julia wrote: "Where is his long flowing blond hair?"It seems to be in that long, tight braid.
L.
Clariana wrote: "Lovely cover but I would have liked to have seen at least one older lady there... When Penric inherited his Demon it was from a priestess of the Bastard whose white hair was in plaits and who died ..."Male artist. Thus we get a harem of naked succubi, not an array of Bertie Wooster's medieval aunts. Not that the clothing, dress, and appearance of an entirely invisible being isn't arguable from the get-go. A problem artists of religions have faced for centuries, I suppose.
I cannot guess what a new reader buying the book on the basis of this cover will be expecting from the stories, but, from the entire history of visual advertising (and, as my artist friend Ron keeps telling me, covers are little billboards), I expect young naked ladies must sell better.
Beautifully painted, though, which has its own impact separately from content.
Ta, L.
Since I've never met the guy, I can't pretend to speak for him in any sense. That said, I've been a fan of his work for more than a few years as he does lots of it for my other favorite author, Patricia Briggs. Like most artists, he takes some liberties with the subject matter as he does in Briggs' work where he adds and changes tattoos on the main character. In the end he's a very talented artist in his own right and, though I agree with the complaint about the ladies all being a tad young as well as adding that Pen looks awfully "2018 Hipster @ Renfaire", I do like the cover as art. The tone is a bit spooky for the subject matter but that may, as LMB pointed out, be a product of someone's (DDS or an Art Director) very perfunctory scan of a synopsis; "Oh, young guy gets possessed by a demon who is actually a dozen women". Knowing that he's very interested in communicating with Briggs on her work, I suspect the Art Director even though Dos Santos has a penchant for "Dark & Dramatic". Either way, I like it even if I don't think it's a perfect fit for the material. It should sell well. Congrats!
I've been reading for quite some time now and I must say, I never buy a book on the basis of the cover. It's usually the Author that interests me and then the teaser on the back or vice versa. As covers go, at first glance this one seems a little dark, which would not stop ME from buying it because I am familiar with the author's work and I like Penric.
I love the cover. I find it intriguing. I remembered picking up "Shards of Honor" in the library back when it first came out (in paperback). And what drew me to it was that first cover and the word "Honor" in the title, and the fact that the library thought it was worthwhile putting in a paperback.
Will the Baen print version be hardcover?
B wrote: "I love the cover. I find it intriguing. I remembered picking up "Shards of Honor" in the library back when it first came out (in paperback). And what drew me to it was that first cover and the wo..."
The January edition will be a hardcover. I expect paperback edition/s will follow at the usual time-remove.
Ta, L.
Lois wrote: "The January edition will be a hardcover. I expect paperback edition/s will follow at the usual time-remove." So glad for the hardcover coming as I now have problems with the small print of mass market paperbacks.
I enjoy Penric!! The ladies are good....the guy...just doesn't seem like Penric to me....but that's just me. Penric just seems like a really nice guy.
You've been having very good luck, if luck it is, with your covers lately. If only the same had been true of the early work.