“The Skull in the Tree” Cover Reveal

Wednesday turned out more chaotic than expected, so I didn’t get this post out yesterday, but here it is now: the cover reveal for the new standalone edition of The Skull in the Tree!

Art by Rachel Bowdler

Better late than never, right?

I had some doubts with this one. The titular skull inscribed with curses and tucked into the tree branches offered a really striking image perfect for cover art. It screams dark fantasy. But it’s also a lot more complicated than the silhouette-based covers Rachel did for Hanging at Crosbhothar and The Gale at Quiet Cove. Did Canva have the right assets to pull this off? Could we execute it well without looking too different from the first two novelettes?

As you can see, the answer to those two questions was a resounding yes! Once again, she (@RachelBowdler_ over on Twitter) aced the dark fantasy vibe of this story, and she went above and beyond in getting there; I think she showed me around half a dozen different mock-ups based on the ideas I laid out for her? All of them were pretty good, but this one immediately stood out to me. Head and shoulders above the rest, and I couldn’t be prouder to have it on my book.

Again, if you’re in the market excellent covers–especially on a budget–I wholeheartedly recommend checking out Rachel. Her services offered over on Ko-fi are fantastic!

Same as the other two, I can’t upload the full wraparound because it’s a PDF, so I’ll share a snip of the back cover.

We’re in the home stretch with these novelettes! I still need to order proofs of the paperbacks for The Gale at Quiet Cove and The Skull in the Tree, but I’m not expecting any issues from either of them. From there, it’s all down to finalizing release dates and prices for all three books. Right now, I’m aiming for releases in October, November, and December. But who knows what the future holds?