Here are the before and after files.

Next fall is my aim to have the first novel. I plan to merge the fantasy series with my Raven Universe stories.

A black backdrop is my preferred way to photograph models for book covers. I think it easier to blend the lighting with colors of the design than a white or green backdrop. At least with my style.

Two to three strobe lights for key lights and accent lights. I like using either blue or red gels for the strobes, since blue is the color I use most on my covers.

A little bit of Lightroom to fix the exposure then on to Photoshop. The process of design starts.

I decided to give Raven’s cover a face lift.

So far getting some good results.

I’m building up a large pool of editions and versions on Amazon, I think I’m up to 7 editions there. So lets see how long this version sticks around.

So far I like the way matte cover feel, but from Amazon I notice they always have spots of glue all over the cover, so they don’t have good quality look to them when they arrive. I’d hate to order 30 of these for a book signing and most are riddled with these glue spots. Not sure what is going on with the printers, but maybe they should look into it.

Hoping Lulu does better, but they don’t have an 8 by 5 size, which I have switched all my amazon books too. Ingram does. I plan to see how their books hold up with matte covers.

I’ve been watching videos on Youtube saying that Barns and Noble do really good with their matte prints, so I want to try them out too. But I’m still happy with these prints from Amazon, I might just have to go back to gloss for Amazon only.

I have a couple I tweaks to do on the interior, but pretty good thus far from what I’m seeing.

The Umbra is a paranormal group of hunters that have crossed paths with Andrus. While Andrus is a lone wolf that hunts the undead, I’ll play around with his interactions with the Umbra.

My buddy Will agreed to pose and represent Andrus and I’ll be using the images for future novels cover designs.

You can find Andrus in West Texas Blood and The Umbra short story out on kindle now.

Andreea will have her own series with elements of thriller and dark fantasy in the mix. Through her story I’ll expand the Raven Universe and add other beings and delve into the sci-fi genre a bit.

US government and the Order of the Sons of Light will also be a backdrop in her stories.

Andrea was the perfect model to capture the essence of Andreea, not to mention that her name was very similar. It’s much easier when I can photography my own models and design the covers to the books. Having a background in graphic design and photography helps.

Hopefully for future book covers Andrea will be interested in shooting for the novel series.

The novella is out now which you can find on Amazon and soon other platforms.