And the Winners Are

[deacsoft]

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Mason,

I have to say that I'm thoroughly disappointed you did not pick BusterStacks' cover. I hope you consider this eye-catching design for a future book.

Regards,
Sam

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I think it rules that he's hooking him up with a shirt!

[ethan]

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I just wanted everyone to know that I am a professional.

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We're all shocked, I assure you [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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I’m a little surprised at the design that was chosen, I really think illunious cover was one of the only ones that had a real design sense and nice typography to it(besides mine of course [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] ). But hey, I cant complain.


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These are pretty much my thoughts, too. I really thought the illunious and traceone covers were significantly better than the rest of the entries. The winner here is just too "busy" for my tastes. Between the drop shadows, the 3d suits, the grid background, and the text running from the background to the suits there's just way too much going on. The illunious entry seems cleaner and more coherent, and and I find it much more appealing.

I hope the cover gets simplified some before the book's published.

edit - I should add that with the text/shadows/cards/etc cleaned up, the winning cover could be one I'd like. It just feels like less of a finished product right now.

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Everyone:

Let me make a general comment on this. In our business we have a reputation for being somewhat difficult to work with. That's because when we accept a manuscript we don't print it and we're not done. What happens is that our acceptance starts a process to make the book better, and it can be a very difficult process for the author. But when we're done and the book is released, our authors are quite happy we and they did the additional work.

Related to this I just watched someone from Forbes magazine state on Fox's O'Riely that while thousands of books get published each year, very few even cover their expenses. I can't help but think part of the reason for that is simply the effort to make the final product the best book possible is not there.

The same thing will happen with the covers that we have accepted. This includes the Akmoose and the three Traceones. What you currently see is only the initial product, not the final.

Best wishes,
Mason