In Memory Of Shane Willis: A Silent Auction - Contributors Welcome

On the 31st of August 2013, Shane Willis, owner and photographic visionary of RadAct Photo and book cover artist for Naughty Nights Press, passed away at the young age of 43.

Shane was a huge inspiration for so many people.

Gina Kincade, CEO of Naughty Nights Press and its authors are putting together a silent auction of eBooks to help raise money in honor of Shane for a donation to his family.

We are asking all fellow authors and publishers we know or who belong to other groups, if they would be willing to donate one or two eBooks or print books (more if you would like) that we can auction off through our blogs/websites.

These books don’t need to be of an adult nature, we are looking for ALL genres to offer to the reading community. (YA, Romance, Children’s, Sci-Fi, Horror, Fantasy etc) If you are donating a print book, please advise what country you can send it to or if it is international.

Once we know who is involved, a post will be written up with all the details on it and we ask that you help to advertise it via your own blogs, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr or whatever other social network you belong to.

Direct donations are also welcome if people prefer.

A PayPal account in the name of Shane Willis will be created purely for this purpose.

An online auction site has been sourced out and a link will be provided with the information post.

If you choose to be involved, please email me at pennyp@naughtynightspress.com with the name of the book, author, genre, publishing house and most of all book cover.

The auction will be run for one month from September 15th to October 15th 2013

Thank you to everyone who participates. You will all be acknowledged for your help.

Naughty Nights Press speaks to Cover Artist, Shane Willis from Rad Act Photo…

Today our special guest is the witty and charmingly wicked, cover artist extraordinaire Shane Willis from Rad Act Photo. Shane is the last in our series of month long interviews with cover artists and for Naughty Nights Press, he holds a very special place amongst our family as he is also the same person who has made the covers of our authors books, bringing their stories to life.

Thank you so much for being here today Shane, we do appreciate it and truly understand how busy you are at the moment. I can honestly say I can hear echoes of some authors asking where their covers are and are they finished yet. My response to them at the moment is “Back off, Shane is taking some well deserved time out to spend it on NNP’s blog with me.”

So that said, lets waste no time and get started on learning about Shane Willis.

NNP: How long have you been creating book covers for?

Shane: I have all ways been a graphic artist, but I was first published as a book cover artist in 2002 when I did a book cover for Pathfinding by Patricia Raskin , it was a illustration, and it was about 2 years before I started my photography. There was bit of gap due to other projects I was involved in, so my next cover came in 2008. I began doing many more over the subsequent years, and have done the bulk of them in 2010 and 2011.

NNP: What got you into creating book covers?

Shane: In my world, graphic design and photography went together like milk and cookies. My other projects lead me to poster design, CD cover design, and billboard design. All of that took me away from book covers for a while, but the book covers still slowly trickled in. Over the past 2 years I have done several for local authors and publishers. But with the help of this little thing called the World Wide Web, well… it was only a matter of time before my work would spread. My photography has been used for, or I have designed book covers for publishers in Korea, Italy, Argentina, Canada and Great Britain, not to mention all over the US. Today I think I have about 25 or so covers that bare my name.

NNP: Is there a certain medium you prefer to work with?

Shane: Now, I prefer photography. I have illustrated a few covers, but as I have fallen in love with photography and photo editing. I have come to realize that it can portray a very intimate story. They say a photo is worth a thousand words, and since you can’t put a thousand words on a cover… one photo (the right photo) can do the trick and do it exceptionally well.

NNP: How closely do you work with the Author and Publisher when it comes to creating a book cover?

Shane: How closely I work with the Author and Publisher on a cover is a variable. Some have just been a few emails, and a brief description. Some can be extensive phone calls and conversations getting all the aspects of the story or the desired look of the cover. Sometimes it’s just a request to license my photography for a cover. They design the cover in house, but just want to use my photography. That is the interesting part. Let’s say I created a photo a year ago… then someone see’s that photo, and wants to use it for their cover because it captured the essence or the spirit of the story they wrote. I believe that is part of a mass consciousness. I imagine that the moment they where writing their story and I was thinking of a shot to take, or a message I wanted to convey with my photograph. Perhaps that was the moment we where synchronized. Now, they see my work, and it all fits together. But maybe that’s just me.

NNP: Do you find that it can be frustrating at times trying to get the cover exactly right?

Shane: I haven’t had too much frustration in getting a cover the way it needed to be. In a word… I have an uncanny “gift” to image an image from the minutest of detailed descriptions. Sort of like a police sketch artist I guess. The other part is the ability to create or recreate that image, either in illustration or photography. Yes the more info the better, but like I said my communications with Author and Publisher can be slight to in depth. It all depends on the project. My biggest frustration is FONTS. Getting the right font to convey the feel or that fits the genre can be difficult. I have nearly 3000 fonts in my repertoire and there are Millions more on the web. It’s a matter of keeping it simple, while being noticeable and a little different than everyone else.

NNP: If you are a photographer, do you use only certain models or do you try and match the models to the characters in the book?

Shane: I do have a group of select models that I work best with and yes if the character has long dark hair, or short blond hair or green eyes or blue eyes, I try to make it match. Sometimes character description is left up to the reader, so I feel a little freer to take my artistic license. With photo editing tools however, changing things, such as eye color, to match a character is easy. So if my long hair brunette has brown eyes in reality and the character has blue…it’s a quick and easy touch up. I try doing most of my cover as impressions, so the reader can make up their own visualizations. Only showing the face from the nose down for example, or not showing a face at all, or showing only a silhouetted profile, or something along those lines. This gives the impression to the reader, but leaves the details up to the author.

Sometimes a face is needed. That’s when I have to start looking for a descriptive match… or something pretty darn close.

In setting up a cover, if I have a good synopsis of a book, or a good idea of certain object that are crucial to the story, then I try to incorporate them into the image.

Let’s say I was doing cover for a story about a strip poker game between two or three couples that gets carried away and turns into a steamy “full house” of “Kings over Queens” and “Aces High”.

Then I would defiantly incorporate a deck of playing cards in the image. Maybe show a seminude woman lying on a poker table, from say her neck or chin, down to her lower waist, with playing cards and poker chips spread all over her body (hiding certain parts) and several other hands reaching from off scene, caressing her from either side of the table. I think the message is impressed to the reader as to what the story is about.

Posted by Penny Peterssen

http://vampiriquedezire.blogspot.com

http://vampiriquedezireauthor.blogspot.com

Personal Executive Assistant

Director of Marketing and Research

Naughty Nights Press (NNP) Team

http://naughtynightspress.com

http://naughtynightspress.blogspot.com

Naughty Nights Press Interviews Cover Artist Dan “TheDanimal” Skinner!

 

Today on Naughty Nights Press, we have the incredible and talented cover artist, Dan “TheDanimal” Skinner. Some of you may know him through his book covers, others may know of Dan’s work through the Deviant Art website. Either way, Dan photographs the most decadent eye candy anyone would want to see.

Thank you so much for joining us today on Naughty Nights Press blog Dan and answering some questions about your job as a cover artist. We appreciate how busy you are and it’s wonderful that you have taken time out of your busy schedule.

NNP: How long have you been creating covers?

DS: I believe I am into my 11th year of creating covers. But since then I have
also branched off into doing magazine features and creating stock
photography for other artists to use. I very rarely sit down now to do
actual covers because the shoots take up most of my time.

NNP: What got you into creating covers?

DS: I had been doing fitness photography and some publishers saw my work and
asked me to work for them. I have since then quit doing fitness shots and
been specializing in particular brands of romance photography that are not
widely available to other artists, such as m/m romance. I wanted to do
something that did not exists in the market, and do it well enough to
compare to what had been in the m/f romance market since..well..forever.
Real people in real contact. I wanted that physical connection that the
simple cut and paste of male figures in a shot could not give. In one word:
Intimacy. Real people touching real people.

NNP: Is there a certain medium you prefer to work with?

DS: I am staying pretty much with photography at the moment. I am having fun
creating real moments between living human beings for the covers. I think it
delivers so much more. I may drift off and do some fantasy manipulations
when the mood and inspiration strikes, but right now I think the need for
intimate romance shots of the type I am doing is more vital to the market. I
am wanting to add as many variations to the theme as possible so the
publishing world has access to shots that are realistically romantic.

NNP: How closely do you work with author and Publisher when it comes to creating
a book cover?

DS: It is an equal exchange of ideas. The authors are brilliant at giving me the
exact ideas of what to convey in a shot, and the publisher gives me the
parameters.

NNP: Do you find that it can be frustrating at times trying to get the cover
exactly right?

DS: Since I work mainly now in the medium of photography it's the job of the
models to convey the emotions. I am always impressed when you put two actual
people together how the emotion can exceed even the highest of expectations.

NNP: If you are a photographer, do you only use certain models, or do you try to
match to match the characters in the book?

DS: I shoot such a wide ranges of models and scenes I am privileged to be able
to offer publishers and authors a wide selection of realistic romantic shots
and let them choose what fits their personal vision. I have had many authors
buy particular shots, in fact, to create stories that the photo, itself,
inspired. I love when that happens!
Thanx so much for giving me your time, I am so appreciative!
Dan

Thank you Dan for being here and sharing these incredible photos with our readers.

Posted by Penny Peterssen

http://vampiriquedezireauthor.blogspot.com

http://vampiriquedezire.blogspot.com

Personal Executive Assistant, Director of Marketing and Research

Naughty Nights Press (NNP) Team

http://naughtynightspress.com

http://naughtynightspress.blogspot.com

Naughty Nights Press presents Cover Artist Valerie Tibbs!

In keeping with our month long interviews with cover artists,Naughty Nights Press is very fortunate in having the lovely and artistic Valerie Tibbs as our guest today.

NNP: How long have you been creating book covers for?

VT: I started in August 2008. But I have been a graphic designer for about fifteen years.

NNP:What got you into creating book covers?

VT: I was impressed by many of the covers out there and I was dismayed at others out there and thought I could do a better job. I applied to several publishers, got rejected, and kept trying until Aspen Mountain gave me my big break.

NNP: Is there a certain medium you prefer to work with?

VT: I use Photoshop 99% of the time. Occasionally I need to use Adobe Illustrator for vector images, but I still go back into Photoshop to finish the project.

NNP: How closely do you work with the Author and Publisher when it comes to creating a book cover?

VT: This depends on the publisher. Most of the time I work with the art director and they work with the author. At a particular publisher, I work with the editor, who works with the authors. Then it goes to the art director, then to the EIC. At another publisher, it’s strictly me and the publisher. So it does vary.

NNP: Do you find that it can be frustrating at times trying to get the cover exactly right?

VT: Yes, on many occasions no matter what the author has described in the cover art request, it is impossible to comply. So, we have to make concessions and we end up going back and forth several times. As an example, for one publisher/cover I ended up doing seventeen different mockups for a cover before everyone was happy. This is not the norm, and most other cover artists would have refused to do that many, but I really wanted to make everyone happy, even if it was a financial loss to me.

NNP: If you are a photographer, do you use only certain models or do you try and match the models to the characters in the book?

VT: I’m not a professional photographer, but I have taken pictures of scenery that I’ve been fortunate enough to use in a couple of covers.

Thank you Valerie for being here today. It has been lovely learning about your craft and giving our readers a chance to understand what goes on behind the scenes so to speak in preparing the covers of books that jump out at us, screaming “Buy Me”.

To view more of Valerie’s work go to http://tibbsdesign.com

 

Posted by Ms. Penny Peterssen

Personal Executive Assistant, Director of Marketing and Research

Naughty Nights Press (NNP) Team

http://naughtynightspress.com

http://vampiriquedezire.blogspot.com

http://vampiriquedezireauthor.blogspot.com

Naughty Nights Press Interviews Cover Artist, Willsin Rowe!

It is with great delight that we have with us today on Naughty Nights Press, not only a talented scribe but an artist that is making his name synonymous with book covers and trailers,  Mr. Willsin Rowe.

Thank you Willsin, for taking time out of your busy schedule and answering these questions.

How long have you been creating book covers for?

It’s around 2 years since I made my first cover, but it’s only been about 18 months since I realized it was something I could actually do as a professional enterprise.

What got you into creating book covers?

My publisher put out a call among their authors to see if anyone had the ability and willingness to create covers. Since I’ve been working in and around graphic design for nearly 25 years, I figured I could put my hand up for that.

 

Is there a certain medium you prefer to work with?

I definitely prefer pixels over all others these days. The flexibility and power are phenomenal, and I am so totally in love with “Undo” option! This is especially true now that I’ve been branching out into making trailers. In the real world, I used to be quite a dab hand with pencil sketching, but always in a reproductive sense (heh). I could reproduce just about any picture that I liked. But I haven’t done it for a long time.

How closely do you work with the Author and Publisher when it comes to creating a book cover?

I’ve not had to deal with a publisher for cover content so far. I’ve been doing a lot of work for indie authors, and my publisher has always been “hands-off”, happy to accept the author’s choice of artwork. I always work very closely with the author. After all, it’s their baby. My philosophy is that a cover should be a two-line blurb for the story, represented graphically.

 

Do you find that it can be frustrating at times trying to get the cover exactly right?

Oh, indeed it can. I’ve had next to no trouble from authors, though. It’s the search for appropriate imagery that can have me tearing my hair out. Because there can be so many factors which determine which stock image would be correct. In the case of a model, there’s any number of potential roadblocks: hair color, eye color, skin color, ethnicity, age, clothing (or lack thereof!). Some of those factors are reasonably easy to adjust digitally, but some are not. And all of that’s before you work out exactly what expression the person needs to have, or what pose they should be in. The possibilities are mind-numbing!

 

My blog page (which is my website): http://willsinrowe.blogspot.com/

My Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001049565188

Well there we go folks, Mr. Willsin Rowe. I do hope everyone goes and has a look at his blog and view some of the spectacular trailers he has posted, not to mention the amazing book covers he has produced.

Posted on behalf of Naughty Nights Press for our month of interviews with Editors and Cover Artists.

 

Naughty Nights Press Interviews With a Twist, Cover Artist, Dara England!

 

Today marks the first day of our series of interviews with cover artists, those talented extraordinary people who paint the words that the Author’s write.

With us today would be the extremely gorgeous and talented Dara England but as she is being a busy girl making lots of Author’s and Publishers happy by producing top notch book covers, Dara was unable to actually be interviewed.

But with a twist of fate, Dara had written a blog post on her blog, WELCOME TO LFD DESIGNS,  back in July 2010 about what it is she does and was very happy for us to use her post in lieu of an actual interview.

So with many thanks to Dara England we give you her blog post:

Cover Design: How It Works

Hi all. It’s been suggested that I blog about the process of cover design and, since I’m often asked how it works, maybe this is a good time to stop and talk about it. 

The following isn’t a photoshop tutorial but rather a simple walk-through of how the basic design process works for me. Of course every artist is different and not every artist designs covers by manipulating stock photos, as I do. Photo manipulation is chiefly popular among small presses, epublishers, and self-publishers. It keeps the cost of cover design affordable yet still provides an appealing and professional quality product.

So here’s how it works (for me):

I have a standard form that I ask all authors to fill out. This form has alot of questions like, “Description of Hero (please list hair color, eye color, age, any facial hair or tattoos, etc)”. You get the idea.  The author types in their responses, returns the sheet to me (or sometimes to their publisher who passes it on to me), and I get to work.

I drop by one of my usual stock photo sites and do a search for a model who fits the author’s description. I have a dozen “lightboxes” crammed full of hot men, cute children, eerie scenery, etc that I’ve stumbled across at different times, so I usually start by sifting through those and seeing if any of them will work.

Once I’ve selected my photos I purchase them, open my design program, and get to work. If the author hasn’t requested anything terribly specific, I play around a little, positioning the photos  in different ways and seeing what appeals to the eye. Once I’ve formed   a mental picture of what I want to do and how I want the photos positioned, I can get down to the details. I crop, resize, splice, and adjust hues and lighting. I fade some layers for a “ghosted” look. I blur or smudge out anything I don’t like. I add the title and author name of course and occasionally swirly scrollwork or floral sprays. Sometimes a publisher might ask me to add their logo to the cover or an author might want a brief review snippet or blurb on their cover.

Below is a fairly simple cover I recently did for DECADENT PUBLISHING. The title of the book is THE SWEATER CURSE by Leanne Dyck. The author indicated in her cover art form (remember I send these to the author before I start making the cover?) that she’d like the cover to depict a man removing a blue sweater.

So I selected a photo of a man who matched the author’s physical description and changed his sweater to blue (it was white in the original photo). I cropped and resized him and set him on a white background. Still we needed something more. Since the author indicated in her cover form that the book was about the birth, life, death, and possible redemption of an artist, I immediately thought of placing a clock somewhere on the cover to suggest the passage of time.  There were numerous tweaks but in the end what we’ve got is a pretty straight forward cover that appeals to the eye and matches the feel of the book.

I originally created two mock-ups (rough, early versions) of this cover and emailed both to the publisher, who sent them on to the author for her thoughts. The first option was this cover, the second was one of a bare-chested man in the act of actually pulling his sweater off. This second version was more in keeping with what the author had originally suggested but in the end I think we all felt that the first option, the cover you see above, presented a more striking picture. And of course that’s what artist, author, and publisher all really want. A cover that will catch the eye of readers while suggesting the flavor of the book.

And that wraps us up for now. Next time I’ll post about what you can do to help your cover artist in creating the ideal cover for your book. Until then, happy writing.

Naughty Nights Press would like to thank Dara England for the use of her blog post. If you would like to check out more of Dara’s work or get in touch with Dara, please go to LFD Designs.

This article was posted on behalf of Ms. Gina Kincade of Naughty Nights Press.