Sunday, June 5, 2011

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.

7 comments:

  1. This is a wonderful project. I loved the first critic blurb. It brought back memories of my teenage years reading old, somewhat trashy sci fi novels. You nailed it from colours to alien design to story summary. Thanks for the Monday morning smile!

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  2. SImply fantastic!! To bad you don't have time for the authorin' I think you have a knack for it! Great synopsis and the critic reviews are hilarious!

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  3. Oh wow, that looks GREAT! I love how the printed colors turned out. I wish this kind of spacepulp was still being written and published in this form!

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  4. Lucy!! Nothing spices up a site like the weiner dog!

    It's a beautiful cover, and like many others, I wish this were a real book.

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  5. Pauls: Thanks and you're welcome!

    Dawn: Thanks!

    R64: Thanks. I hadn't really thought about it, but I guess they probably don't make sci-fi books like this anymore. I have a bunch of boxes full of sci-fi novels in the garage that are probably out of print.

    Mykal: Yes, Lucy makes a special guest appearance on my blog.

    I guess with digital publishing I probably could make it a real book, if I had time to write the insides.

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