Every author knows the importance of a book cover. It’s discussed at length in forums and chats, as I suppose it should be because it’s the frontline of marketing, along with a captivating book description. A book is a product like any other product and a consumer won’t purchase something that seems crappy, unappealing, half-assed, or confusing. (Actually, I do it all the time. But I’m GenX and there is a certain subversiveness that guides my buying decisions.)
I’ve been asked if I have used AI to help generate artwork for the book covers of my Zoomarble trilogy, especially the Mona Lisa spoof for the third book, Scrapes the Nadir. I will state (confess? boast?) that I have not yet used AI for book cover art but I’m open to exploring it in the future. So far I have relied on the exceptional talents of my good friend, Ryan Blakely, and his endearing patience for my odd requests.
For the first book, Zoomarble, I asked Ryan if he could come up with a picture of a cartoonish cat who looks annoyed. Admittedly, that is not much to go on and he said that. So I got out my colored pencils and did this crude kindergarten mock-up.
“Like this,” I said.
He sent back his take on my hieroglyphic cave painting, noting, “You mean like this?”
So, yes, of course that is what I meant. Obviously.
For the second book, Meaner Monkeys, I asked him if he could do a monkey creature looking annoyed, much like the cat. Artistic types will appreciate that sometimes you get going in a wrong direction. His first draft was accompanied by an apology, “I don’t know what happened here.”
“What the fuck?” I responded. “Is that Ron DeSantis?”
He sent the following rebuttal. I was tempted to use this for the cover but I’m targeting an all-ages crowd with the trilogy.
For the third book, Scrapes the Nadir, I asked Ryan: “Can you do a Mona Lisa, but sticking out her tongue and holding an otter? It’s part of the narrative.”
Ryan asked the important, prying question, “Have you been drinking?”
So, again, I got out my kindergarten pencils and produced what I thought was an admirable conveyance, considering there really was day drinking involved.
“Got it,” said Ryan and sent back what I really meant.
I like that photo because you can still see his pens scattered around on the canvas.
So, why not just ask AI to do the artwork? Because you get the following nightmare-inducing images. What the hell?
