Run, Spaceman, Run! Full Book Cover

Right after I posted my Run, Spaceman, Run! paperback cover, several readers of my blog said they wished it was a real book.

Well, I don't have time for any authorin' these days, but it got me to thinking that there was nothing to stop me from completing my hypothetical book cover. So here it is all laid out: back cover, spine and front cover.

I had a lot of fun writing the back cover copy and the critic blurbs, trying to make them read as authentic as possible.

After I got it all laid out, I printed out the cover, cut it out, then dug through the garage and found a suitable old paperback. I carefully glued my cover to the real one and created my own one of a kind sci-fi novel. Just don't open it and expect to read about Zok.

Once it was finished I showed it to my smartypants 12 year old nephew who pointed out that Earth is actually in the Orion arm of the galaxy, not in the Sagittarius arm as I've indicated on the back cover. Whoops! Too late to change it now! I thanked him for the correction and then punched him hard in the gut. That's what you get for embarrassing your elders with your fancy book learnin'!

Here's a shot of the finished faux paperback. It really does look like one you'd find in a used book store, if I do say so myself. It even fooled my smartypants nephew when he first saw it.

Here's a shot of the back cover and spine.

It's a compelling read! I couldn't put it down! Maybe because the glue was still wet.

 

My pal KW Monster does this all the time on his blog, so here's a shot of my fake book next to special guest star Lucy, for scale. Judging by Lucy's expression, it appears she found the book lackluster and derivative.

Run, Spaceman, Run!

A rare copy of Run, Spaceman, Run! by noted sci-fi author Cadwallander Jones.

As always, this illustration started out as a simple little doodle. I sketch an alien in a business suit running, and scrawled the title above him. The original intent was to make it sort of a poster, I guess. Then for a while I thought I'd turn it into a movie poster. Then I scrapped that idea and turned it into a paperback book cover.

The background was originally much different; it was a cityscape with a central vanishing point. I couldn't get that to work, so I gave up for the night and went to bed. As I dozed off my mind said, "Hey, stupid, make the city just a row of buildings, then tilt it for more visual interest." That was a pretty good idea, so the next morning I heeded my brain's advice.

The title was hand-lettered.

There was a real sci-fi author named Cordwainer Smith, hence the name Cadwallander Jones on my cover. And Morton Sci-Fi... say, aren't they the people who publish Morty The Friendly Corpse comics?

Drawn in Photoshop on the graphic tablet. I did the Morton logo in InDesign, because I haven't quite figured out rounded corners in Photoshop yet.

 Here's the original sketch, with the vague poster design idea.

Here's a more refined digital sketch of the alien. His mouth kind of reminds me of Steve Buscemi's.