As I work on the re-write of the second book in my Leonidas trilogy, I have reached the stage where I am trying to select the best cover design for “A Peerless Peer.”
This book covers Leonidas’ life from the age of 21 to 35, the period in which he was a Spartan citizen but not yet a king. It is the book in which Gorgo first plays a significant role as she grows up from a child of 6 to become a young woman, wife and mother at 20. In this book, Leonidas marries and has children, but he also goes to war more than once.
Compared to the third book in the trilogy that will describe Leonidas’ rise to power, his reign and follow him to Thermopylae, this book is more focused on domestic affairs and domestic policy. Hence I have consciously opted for an image that does not invoke warriors and war. Also, because Gorgo plays such an important part, I wanted the image of a woman on the cover as well.
To the right are two cover designs that fullfill my personal criteria, and I would like your opinon of which you think is best. Which of these covers is more likely to attract readers? Which is most appealing? Please take a moment to take part in the survey and give me your opinion.
A year from now you could then have the fun of holding the finished product in your hands and say “I helped choose this cover.” Or, “I liked the other better - most people must have bad taste!” Either way, I hope you’ll enjoy putting in your two-cents worth and giving me your opinion.
Thank you for your time!
It seems to me that my comment about covers was lost somewhere,too bad.
ReplyDeleteI looked at covers Helena,and voted,and honestly it was a very hard decision since both are good.
I was leaning toward the man and woman one, since time period of this book is late 20's early 30's..Time when Gorgo played the biggest role in his life,but not in a political sense of the later 'wax tablet anecdote',but in a sense of the foundations of their relationship that will later expand and maybe save Greek world.
And family as we see it in the now chosen cover is something that Leonidas did not experience until later,in 30's at best,if ever.And his childhood as we know was not exactly a fairytale it terms of family relations.Now we can speculate on how much free time kings in Sparta had, but I am sure warm family moments was something they yearned for.
You really can make no mistake here,except...
...Red figure style pottery?
I think honestly it is not a good choice.Red figured pottery is something more of a Classical era when it saw expansion,Attic trademark..Laconian pottery was black figured,with recognizable style and more authoritative,glorious,strong,and frankly more...epic.
I think,since I am sure book is very dedicated to authenticity,covers should be also.
And red figured picture is all but Lakonian,and all but late Archaic Dorian Spartan king Leonidas.