For the record: I am not being paid by anyone to make this list and promote their book. These selections are entirely my own. I know I missed some good covers and would love for you to point them out. In all honesty, I found the pickings slim the last few months. There are SO many Historical covers out there that look SO much the same. Anyway, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Agree with these selections? Are there some I missed?
The Chair, James Rubart, B&H Books
A Stand-up Guy, Michael Snyder, Zondervan
Winter Keven Newsome, Splashdown Darkwater
The Opposite of Art, Athol Dickson, Howard Books
Vigilante, Robin Parrish, Bethany House
Kiss of Night, Debbie Viguie, FaithWords
Hero in Hiding, Mitchell Bonds, Marcher Lord Press
Water's Edge, Robert Whitlow, Thomas Nelson
Night of the Living Dead Christian, Matt Mikalatos, SaltRiver
Protection for Hire, Camy Tang, Zondervan
If you’re interested in Sci-Fi cover art, we feature some pretty amazing works. This one was the cover for June:
http://aksu.deviantart.com/art/The-Awakening-183183534
http://www.raygunrevival.com/featured-artist-alexandru-popescu/
Johne, you’re right. Raygun Revival has some GREAT cover art. I’m just not sure your publication fits into the CF novel genre I’m highlighting. Perhaps CF publishers would do well to employ some of the artists RGR does.
Agreed – RGR isn’t expressly Christian, and is an online magazine, not a novel. But we do sensawunda covers like nobody’s business! 😉
I think it’s interesting that only 2 books shown here are written by women, but that’s not surprising since most of the books in CF written by women have pictures of white women’s faces on the cover and therefore are not very interesting because they are pretty much all in the same pose. I’ve been thinking for months that Johnny Depp is the cover model on Kiss of Night.
Deb, that is very interesting. I did not realize I’d made selections that gravitated toward male authors. Interesting. I’ve heard that suggestion elsewhere about Mr. Depp being used as the template for Kiss of Night. Intentional? Also, I’m in the blog tour for that book. Aren’t you?
ye s i am! I am a big fan of Debbie’s books and I know she’s written a lot of YA paranormal stuff for the general market so i’m hoping that her take on vampires in Christian fiction will be better than some I’ve read.
Johne, what exactly is it you are publishing? Your first link was blocked by my network for “incidental nudity”. Heh heh.
Mike, these covers have a different flavor than the covers you’ve posted in the past. I think I find Vigilante and Protection for Hire the most compelling. They both make me wonder how Christianity might be portrayed within them. I don’t know about the artistry of Night of the Living Dead Christian, but it’s definitely eye catching and the title makes me laugh, which means I’m intrigued.
Hi, Jessica,
The first link (at DeviantArt.com) is the source for the second link (at my site). It’s a popular clearinghouse for all manner of digital art and photography. Yeah, that’s a fair description – there’s more than a little ‘incidental nudity’ there, and it’s not always clearly labeled. I’m only interested in the Sci-Fi digital art, but it’s the wild, wild west there. I’m forever averting my eyes while clicking to the next page to find the diamonds in the rough that I use for the covers of our magazine.
Wow, those are some great covers! Makes me excited to read them. I’m pretty partial to the covers of my YA time travel books, the River of Time (WATERFALL, CASCADE, TORRENT). I think they’re unique in CBA or ABA. But then, I’m biased!
Yep, I like those covers, Lisa. Thanks for stopping by!
I love all of these, especially the Athol Dickson cover. I’m glad Deborah already made the point I was going to make, about all the homogenous Thin,Young,Pretty White Women covers out there.
I think that fact also plays into the Echo Chamber conversation of earlier in the week. When all your stories have covers featuring the only type of victim that CNN & FoxNews think is worthy of round-the-clock coverage….
So that brings me to my favorite CF cover in recent years, the cover for my friend Carole McDonnell’s novel ‘Wind Follower.’ It’s a bold, brave cover featuring a woman who is neither homogenous, thin, or white. (Or clothed, but that’s beside the point.) “Kidnapped and enslaved, Satha strives to retain her autonomy.” The cover depicts a defiant woman of color asserting her value and identity in the midst of a very challenging life. It’s a magnificent CF cover for an equally magnificent novel.
http://www.juno-books.com/windfollower.html
I like this cover artwork:
http://flamingpen.blogspot.com/2011/09/update.html
Wow! I love the Offspring cover design, Lewinna. But I wasn’t clear: Did AMG design it?
So glad to see you have Winter by Keven Newsome in here. Love that cover. Even more gorgeous in person.
These are some great covers. I especially like the cover for Water’s Edge.
Aw, sweet! My book made the list! I was really proud of the Tyndale design team, I thought they did an amazing job.
These other book covers look great, also. The Parrish and Newsome books look particularly great to me.
These are beautiful covers, and I agree with Deborah about the widespread ‘white pretty girl face’ covers. YA is rife with that problem, especially when I’ve seen some of my favorite YA books reissued with the awful ‘pretty face’ for the new cover! When ‘Enna Burning’ and the other s from Shannon Hale went into other printings, it changed to a face. Also, there’s the torso covers, where it’s just from the chin to the hips. Urg. Holly Black’s books have also had their covers changed from fantasy to ‘pretty face’ covers that might appeal to a teen girl reader. Anyway, sorry for the rant.
And I loved the ‘Living Dead Christian’ cover!! I laughed out loud!
The Camy Tang cover is an interesting change from her Wasabi series (which have pretty Asian faces, ha!). It looks a little groovy to me. But she’s an excellent Christian author and her faith shines through every ms. I haven’t read it but it’s got to be good!
That Kiss of Night cover is pretty spectacular.
Of all the books in all the publishers of the world, and you had to include mine. (Humphrey Bogart accent.)
Thanks for the inclusion Mike! Though I must give a shout out to Holly Heisey, the designer who put it all together, and my wife DeAnna who was responsible for the subject photography. And I don’t want to forget the talented Mary, who not only posed for the cover but also acted in the live action trailer.
Winter was very good. I reviewed that one thanks to the publisher. It’s worth rereading and it’s worth buying
What a great idea! All are very cool, my two favorites–ones that made me want to read the books–were The Chair and The Opposite of Art. thanks for sharing these–going book shopping now!!