Hi everyone. This is Isaac again. There has been lots of activity around here for the last twenty-hours. As you may know from my last post, we launched a book cover contest at 99 Designs for an updated cover for my book Our Daughter. Well, it has been very successful in my opinion. We’ve had over 30 submissions in just one day and there are some clear covers that are rising to the top of the contest. I thought I would share those with you guys and give you an opportunity to vote on which one you like best before I make my final decision. Please comment at the bottom, tell us which ones you like best, why you like them, and which one you think we should ultimately choose as the winner.
The Contest So Far
So far the contest has been going great. Better than I could have expected. We’ve had over 30 submissions by multiple artists, and they have all been leaps and bounds better than anything we’ve gotten in the past from Fiverr or 100 Covers . Many of the submissions have simply been the wrong genre or too “kid looking” (because, well, its about a daughter). Some were really good but just didn’t match what we were looking at for Our Daughter. But, we’ve narrowed down the field to just three as of this morning and about 24 hours into the contest.
By the end we’re hoping to get a hardcover and paperback cover (ebook/kindle can be pulled by us from these covers) from the contest. And, remember, we already have updated hardcover, paperback, and kindle/epub editions for In the Meadow, Seeking Light Aurora, and Ashen Monk Mountain, so, if you are patiently waiting for the new release of Our Daughter and haven’t read one or more of these titles, I would highly suggest grabbing a copy and dig in. You won’t regret it!
Submissions Thus Far (24 Hours In)
These covers are in no particular order. They have been created by different artists with minimal feedback from me so far, but one or two have made some changes I’ve asked for. There are six currently in the running at this point. Most I’ve had to decline due to mismatched genres or it just didn’t have the right feeling to it. Number these from Top left to right, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 when you are voting and/or commenting. Please let me know which ones are your favorites and which one you think should win. Once we have made a decision and end the contest I will post the winner on the blog.
!! Post below in the comments which cover you like the best !!
Please consider supporting my writing and efforts to reach people wherever they are by purchasing one or more of my books. I am a full-time author, and any support you choose to provide is GREATLY appreciated.
Excerpt from Our Daughter:
“Okay, mom,” Randy said.
“You behave yourself and be nice. You’re lucky to have company while you wait for the doctors.”
The woman turned and started back the way she came.
“The nurse said it would be twenty or thirty more minutes, so we’ll eat quick and be back up here before they take you in, okay?”
“Okay, mom.”
“Sorry for him,” the woman said to Katie as she walked by.
“He’s funny.”
Katie grinned.
As the woman left, Katie noticed the boy moving around again on the bed. Before she realized what was happening, the tiny lump disappeared and she could hear the faint sound of bare hands and feet on the tile floor.
He was low crawling under the beds toward her.
A moment later, Randy popped his head out from under the nearest hospital bed, craning his neck around to look up at her.
“Hello, there,” Katie said.
Randy disappeared back under the bed, the bed sheet draping down almost to the floor. Katie could still see three little fingers pressed to the tile.
“What are you here for?” Katie asked, readjusting her seat in the chair, trying to get the ache in her chest to lessen.
For whatever reason, the wheelchair was really uncomfortable.
“Why are – “
Randy’s voice trailed off for a moment as he looked around.
“Why are you here?”
“I’m getting my leg fixed,” Katie said. “See?”
Randy poked his head back out from under the bed and looked at the leg she was pointing to.
“What’s wrong with it?”
“The doctor said it’s broken,” Katie said. “Shattered.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. Ouch.”
“Can you feel it?” Randy asked, able to stay out from his hiding place.
“I can feel it, but it’s not too bad,” Katie said, then tapped the IV in her arm. “This thing is giving me medicine of some kind for the pain. At least that’s what the nurses said.”
“Why are you – “
Randy stopped mid-sentence.
He scooted out from under the bed entirely and slowly crept over to er on all fours.
“What are you, some kind of spider?” Katie asked, giggling a little.
“What are you?” Randy echoed.
He was now only about a foot away from her chair and sat there, his legs folded up under him, gawking up at her.
“What are you staring at me for?”
“I’ve never – “
Randy put out a hesitant hand and ever so gently touched her arm.
“Are you some kind of ghost?”
He looked around again.
“Are you – ”
He leaned in, talking in a whisper.
“Are you dead?”
A nurse came around the corner and stopped abruptly, spotting the empty bed in the far corner where Randy should have been.
“Randy Andrews,” the nurse said, her hands now on her hips. “You get right back into the bed and you stop playing around, please. They are ready for you in surgery.”
Katie watched as Randy scrambled on all fours under the beds and back up onto his, pulling the sheet back over top of himself again.
She started to ask him about his question, but couldn’t get the words out before his parents appeared at the door.
Katie sat there quietly, watching Randy stare back at her from under his sheet. She glanced over at his parents and the nurse, noticed Randy’s dad had no hair on the top of his head.
Are you dead?
What kind of question was that?
The snap of the wheel locks being disengaged on Randy’s hospital bed jarred Katie out of the confusion she was in.
The doctor she’d first seen was now at the door, waiting for Randy.
He was his surgeon.
They wheeled Randy out of the room, his parents following right behind, disappearing to the left, heading for his operating room.
The pre-op room was empty again.
Dead.
Are you dead?
What kind of crazy question was that?
The nurse came back through the double doors.
“It won’t be long now,” she said.
“Okay.”
Katie tried not to think about the dull ache growing just behind her sternum.
The nurse disappeared around the corner as Katie watched the double doors to the operating rooms slowly shut.
Buy my book Our Daughter and begin the adventure of a lifetime, as you uncover the mysteries behind Katie Cadora’s new life after the horrible accident that stole her mother away from her. Will she find sure footing again? Will the pain ever stop? Will she discover the secrets her new foster family are keeping from her? Is the boy’s question right? Is Katie Cadora actually dead?
Click here and grab your copy today and jump into this Witch Gnostic Heresy trilogy with both feet!
But, trust me when I tell you, there are deceivers in our midsts! Get started in this bone chilling suspense novel right away and find out why….sometimes….you’re just better off DEAD!
What do you think?