Second on the ghost hand. I spent a while trying to figure out what the mountain/smoke/wraith, thing Is in the background. Is it something, or just a whisky design?

Either way the gloved hand and 1911 is badass.

Keep on.

Still here and glad to see progress. Good luck D.C.

I like the "hand" cover as well.

Both covers look great, I like them both.  I think that i like this one better if it is going to have the 1911 and gloved hand too. If not I'm all for the one with the creepy smoke swirl...

Well, I finished it.  Found this work six days ago, really enjoyed it.  Bought your IR, will read it soon.

Looking forward to this story being published: I'll buy it for sure.

Ah yes, the Norinco 1911.  I bought fifteen because I'd heard about their quality . . . yea sure I did.  I could have, though, and Hindsight tells me I shouda.

Thanks for your hard work.


Cat

GENERAL NOTE: very very very close.  Shaving close.  See cover evolution below.  A few more adjustments,
some co-ordination with other forum, a countdown.  Long long long haul.  A big creepy dense story.  A new
"theme/layer/complication" perfectly fits recent, and future, events.  Unfortunately.

--StimpsonJ--"Smashticate"...unbeatable.  Claw/dragon claw--it suggests/hints/and sometimes that is all we can do, given
size/media/medium constraints.  This is big issue with cover, hard copy 'aritifact' books, and coin, and other artifacts for
the future.  In a future book the protagonist uses a heavily Gehr customized CZ 550 .375 Weatherby, coins are set in the carbon
fiber stock, I have spent....many hours arranging coins on stocks for alignment, and etc./.....you understand.

--"all other options moving forward/collapse"---EXACTLY. Because there can be only one....FFFFF.  Paleo man--want
to meet that guy.  Then I remember: I can.  He is still drifting through the Amazon, catching pneumonia from tourists
and blowing darts and poisoning fish.  He is a tough tough dude.  And he would trade it all, and does, for a Chinese
machete, a t-shirt, and a Coke.  Cabelas would totally fry his brain.

--agree on image.  That one is my favorite.  More below--color, contrast, why and what.  Good to see you, StJ.

--StJ more knife please.  Pretty please.

--PFfunkk good to see you, time is warped/warping--is it already almost April?????  Just FFFF.  Yes on yes on
the hand and weapon.  The background figure--a very fine accident of tools and time and fiddling, the Audrey
Hepburn you will see is a grand fiddler in all things computational, she knows themes/tones, I asked her to
play with concept fire/smoke/death/devil and this is what happened--more on cover below--almost there, PF.
What was once Christmas, now imagine, June.

--Zoe17 good to see you and more progress soon.  Just....so....close.  And a hard copy.  And one for your son.
No, I will not forget.

--DFarm good to see you and....almost there.

--greyguy I have tried to combine stars/flag/background and gun hand--with text it becomes very...busy.  If all goes
well I will have to take time to become cover artist as well.  Very very long process, to learn the tools.  But I don't see
covers that match the images in my mind.  Ever.  We shall see.

--Catshooter, very good to see you and tell your friends.  You are looking at the singular pre=occupation of my last
three/four years--this and the world in which it exists, and thousands of pages of notes/designs/blueprints for future
stories in this world.  Very difficult.  Threading needles by candlelight.  I hope to see you here again.

GENERAL NOTE: ON THIS COVER EVOLUTION (SEE BELOW) cover image. Recall that nobody else knows this story/contents/themes/history/everything. A cover is intended to 1. STOP
a new reader 2. Make them 'take one more look'--hopefully at A. Reviews
B. "look inside" or text sample 3. NOT REJECT STORY because of
'unprofessional/amateur/cheap' appearance. Many more issues, but that is
enough for now and 4. THE COVER EXISTS IN THE CONTEXT OF OTHER COVERS.
The new reader is scanning dozens/hundreds of other covers, in seconds.
So the cover must perform all these functions in context of all those
other covers, and etc. The following cover is intended to "Pop" on a
page showing many other covers, and so on. There are many
variations/colors/sizes of this cover.  Here is one.  With some mods to text size this will probably go first.

Attached File

That will definitely "pop".  It looks great.  It reminds me a bit of the covers that you used to see near cash registers at the store, not in a cheap or bad way. The bright colors and bold font with a "strong" image all seem to work to grab your eye.



So, can we buy it yet? Lol

I dig it but I would change the flavor text to be all the same font.  I think it distracts from the image a bit.

ETA: Not the title/author font, that looks great. Just the subtitle.

New belts finally showed up...so, soon.

so sad that you need to put misleading key words in the cover to get hits but that is the world we made....

looking forward to reading the finished product...

---DFarm much thanks and hopefully yes on popping, and yes exactly on 'drug store'/airport visual for cover.
But it yet not yet but closer than I want to say here given exogenous events....very close.

--DesignatedM can you expand on your concerns .re font/color/type and etc.?  MIght be a solution.  Have
many versions/colors of this cover.

--StimpsonJ more belts=more knives soon?  Very nice.  Also StJ have version cover in grey with 'demon/cloud' but
have no satisfoactory font/text/color yet.

---heron understood on text/meaning--try this out: this book is intended as a "genre expander"/written against
the existing genre of prepper/survival/EMP/plague and etc.--this would include "a play"/purposeful distortion/expansion of--
the meanings of "Post-Apocalyptic"/Survival/Revenge"==very long ago there are several statements/language saying
"the apocalypse already happened. It happened when we lost our values, lost our culture, lost our courage" and etc.--
"This is our Great Reckoning"/"Our Apocalypse has already happened"--and so on.  I am twisting/expanding meaning of "apocalypse"--
Same Same "Survival"--the survival here is one of "values/history/language"--not just walking through a dead zone.  Make sense?
Revenge--on the people/systems/mindset who made this all happen.  Use of language relative to story serving many purposes:
satisfy genre convention, then EXPAND the common meaning.  And so on.  By design.

Ok, some fiddling tonight.  Soon.  Very soon.

DCB

Good to see you, DCB. Hard to believe the end (or new beginning?) is so near. Waiting anxiously....

I like the cover.

The yellow stands out.
Why purple? I guess it has something to do with the effect it has on the yellow?

I'm sure you tested a million other colors, and that one works best.

It seems to take away from the seriousness of the tone.

Or I'm wrong about that, and psychologists say purple over yellow induces overwhelming feelings of awesomeness.

Regardless, It's a badass cover.

Good job.

Keep on.

So I would change the words "Post Apocalyptic" "Survival" and "Revenge" to be the same font/color as the words "A" "Story Of" & "And".  As it is I think the type distracts from the actual title a bit.  The actual title/author text block look great!

I look forward to re-reading the published version. I've mostly lurked on this thread, but certainly have enjoyed the ride.

I like the yellow cover a lot.  I think that the new font is great.  Overall the new cover just seems more polished and professional to me. Great job!

The yellow cover is the best yet.

As a frequent browser of the Kindle Store, I would darken the outline of the hand and rear of the pistol so it is more visible in thumbnail size on the mobile app. I'd also keep the header text in the same color.


Maybe consider eliminating the "Post-Apocalyptic" from the cover entirely. The story so far is dystopian but not much more of a PAW than we are currently living in, and keeping it to "A story of survival and revenge" will avoid turning off the readers who generally don't go for PAW fiction but would still love this. This could have happened a year ago, or a year from now. That's part of the appeal.

I agree with all of this.  

Thanks DCB!

Seconded. And patiently waiting. ??

Umm, Thirded??

I just checked Amazon.  Still no book.


Any updates on the knife/knives Stimpson?

I have my yearly FAL match to run this weekend, so all available clock-cycles are on that.

Hopefully new stuff next week(end).

Wow, I don't read a lot of fiction, but I couldn't get enough of this.
I'm a little late to the party here, but one thing I'd like to point out is that Sic Semper Tyrannis doesn't mean Death to Tyrants.  It means Thus Always to Tyrants.  It is used in reference to killing tyrants, but the direct translation is Thus Always to Tyrants.

You made it in before publishing, you're still early...

Checking in.

Hoping you're alive and well DC.

I'd like to read the entire book some time soon.  

Any ideas as to when that may happen?

You've one more weeked us for the past year. There'll never be a perfect time. You're fully capable, make it happen.

After the realease of TSS, maybe you can start with the second installment... ??

No pressure though; just bang out another masterpiece and release it in perfect form very quickly. Sounds easy enough.

Keep on.

DC has had a quite long absence. Did he poke to close to the truth and "they" got him?I hope not. I want to read this book.

Hope all is wel D.C.

On the other forum someone got in contact with DC. All is well, he's been busy "putting out fires elsewhere" Just thought I'd share

Thanks for the update.

Yeah. Thanks.

Still waiting . . .

Since DC isn't responding I'll start my own story.
(Deleted for the well being of society)

I am so glad I got to virtually piss on your mailbox...you deserve much worse.

Stimpson, the rare and elusive creature known as "DC" appears to be attracted to videos of knife making. Perhaps if you post some more he may be lured in and treat us with a chapter, or book?

We're all irritated the DC has seemingly disappeared but...

Wtf
No just no.

Alas, I have been as remiss in my work as the man himself.  I have been suffering a head-cold for a week now and it does not make me want to do grinding work.

Tomorrow I am driving several hours to hopefully purchase a 'grail-tool'.  Perhaps that will peak his interest.

Waiting to hear from DC.

Bought the tool!




I will admit that getting this into the shed may derail my grinding plans a bit.  Need to pour a form for it, then get it on it.

I'm not really up to speed on forging tools, but I do read on blade forums from time to time.  Is that a power hammer?  Is it air powered?  I bet those things save a bunch of labor vs. Swinging a hammer.

I think I may have been watching "forged in fire" too much, but I've been very tempted to push a bunch of projects to the side and grind a couple of knives lately.

Yep, mechanical power hammer, uses a 3/4hp motor not mounted in that picture.

This should let me finally move into some damascus.

Power hammer is in the forge!

Let the Smashtication Begin!!  Hopefully, new edged weapon making / hot steel Smashtication videos will draw DCB back from whatever minor distraction is keeping him away from more important things like THIS STORY! 

Is anything else going to happen here?

I'm beginning to think that this story and the other one are going to sit for a while.

I'm hoping DCB's next post is something like "sorry, life has been "interesting", but check Amazon"

Ditto.

Ditto.

Captains log, May 28, 2017.

No report from the creator of the thread.

Rations are diminishing.

There have been unconfirmed reports of the authors well-being.

Morale is suffering.

A ship mate has purchased a power hammer, and posted evidence.

It looks pretty cool.

Previous updates from the author spoke of a comma hammer.

Has the author found the legendary hammer of commas?

It was once believed such a thing did not exist.

The authors absence brings fear that his quest was succesful.

Was the power more than he could bare?

Has the machine now become the master?

There is a rift in the force. Only time will tell the true cause.

End of report.

In for a status check. DC wake up.

Also in for a status check.

It is now feared that the author, who mastered the Mighty Automatic Comma Hammer, may have become wrapped about the spindle of the Pneumatic Cover Buffer. 
If this is indeed true, we may all be lost. 
Another possibility, even worse than Cover Buffer Entanglement, is that the Great DCB has been consumed or assimilated into the Great Collective known as Life and has forgotten and forsaken us all!

Unless, of course, THEY got him!