Tuesday 1 March 2011

Happy Dancing

One of the many joys of being a publisher - yay! that's me, now - is finding and snaffling incredibly talented people. And I'm not just talking writers - who are especially useful to a new publishing house; but also those other creative types who help make amazing books stand out on every shelf.
   You see, there's no denying that sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. Too often, however, the artistic talent behind even a truly-remarkable cover illustration goes unnamed; or just written in really little type on the imprint page.
   Well not at my joint. At Clan Destine Press everyone will get a mention; maybe even the editors. Woo, now there's a thing!
    Our cover illustrator will definitely be named and celebrated. Why? Because it's so rare that an author and their editor and their publisher is so excited by a cover illo... that no changes, at all, whatsover are necessary.
   The artworks - for this is what they are - for Out of the Black Land and Redback were done by one Ran Valerhon.
   Ran is awesome. Ok, so he might be American - one who actually lives in America, I mean - which might be odd for an Australian genre fiction specialist, but ppfftt.
   It was kismet that led me to Ran Valerhon... Okay, it was actually facebook serendipity; but find him I did.
   And now I am thrilled right down to my little cotton socks to offer a preview of Ran's next illustration for Clan Destine Press.
   It's just a sneaky look, just a section, just a hint of the cover for Medea, the first in the Delphic Women trilogy by Kerry Greenwood. Enjoy!