As I mentioned in my last post, SPFBO 9 is underway and my book, Angel from the Rust, is in the running. The objective of the contest is to find great stories that might have otherwise become lost in the great slush pile that is Amazon.
Along with judging stories (the main event), there’s also the SPFBO cover contest. The judges and the public get to select their favorite covers from the 300 books entered into the contest. Something fun to have on the side. (You can check out the cover contest results here.)
But thanks to the growing presence of AI art, what should have been fun turned into a scandal. As author Mark Lawrence, creator of SPFBO, stated on his blog, “We’re at the stage in civilisation where an artist can be called upon to prove they really created an image.” As a result of the confusion and possible dishonesty, he’s decided to cancel future book cover contests for SPFBO.
Top covers…according to me
That doesn’t mean I can’t have an unofficial contest of my own. So I looked over all the covers myself (huge thanks to author Zack Argyle who compiled all the books on one page) and selected the ones I think are best. It was a tough decision since so many of them are well done. (Self-published books have really upped their game in the cover department in the last few years.)
For me, there are 2 categories (my favorite kinds of covers): scene-setting covers and object/symbol-based covers. Personally, I lean towards symbol/object-based covers (i.e. Angel from the Rust has this design); it gives the impression that the book you’re holding comes out of the world of the story. But I also enjoy the mood a scene-setting cover presents and the small slice of the story it tells.
Here are my favorites in each category…
My Top 5 Scene-Setting Covers
Sealed Empire by Norbert Zsivicz
Fortress of the Lost Amulet by Michael Webb
The Outside by Jack Batchen
Shadow of the Winter Moon by Cam Sinclair
Salt in the Wound by Benjamin Aeveryn
My Top 5 Object/Symbol Based Covers
Ring Breaker by Jean Gill
Last Fang of God by Ryan Kirk
The Way of Renegades by Steve D. Wall
Warlock of Muscovey by Brien Feathers
Legacy of the Vermillion Blade by Jay Tallsquall
Honorable mentions go to Sul by J. Davis and K. Grierson and The Hand of God by Yuval Cordov whose covers kind of landed outside my categories.
Not all of my favorites made it to the finals in the official contest. This goes to show everyone has different tastes when it comes to book covers.
Which of the SPFBO 9 covers do you think is best? Please reply in the comments below.