More on covers - how about some sketches?

I spoke with my cover artist, Betsy, today to see if she minded me posting her concept art for my cover. She said to go for it! So here goes, but please keep a few things in mind: 1- These are very rough concept sketches, intended to explore layout and ideas. 2- They are very small (thumbnails) 3- They were taken with an iPhone camera, so not the best quality, but you'll get the idea. 4- These drawings belong to Betsy - any use of them must be done with her explicit permission first. Now for Betsy's sketches/concepts (very mild book spoilers in the text): So here are some ideas I've got flying around. I really think we should focus on the tree. So many trilogies have important knives on the cover (...) I think you really have an interesting thing going with the tree. Images that also resonated with me: Morrigann's fiddle Faerie Ring the rocks where Morrigann met Story. The cave with the portal - 1 aspen tree at the mouth The painting of the tree in the cave The fairy lights Morrigann's wooden throne I don't want to pull too much imagery from the second half of the book, because there's nothing I hate more than reading a story and all I can think about is how the cover art depicts a scene that hasn't happened yet. Thumbnail 1: Wraparound cover. Includes the tree on the spine, overlapping to front & back covers. On the back on the left is the cave with the aspen tree. On the cover you've got Morrigann's fiddle leaning up against the rock he kept sitting on. That swirl you see starting at the bottom left cover and curling around the front up to the title is just a path the fairy lights would take. The fairies themselves would have no distinct character faces, just a few lines and sparkly lights. Thumbnail 2: More art Nouveau graphics. Cover: Tree front and center, but a less literal d [...]

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