Book Cover for "As a Black Prince on Bloody Fields"

Thomas Jensen

This is a book cover project for an historical adventure novel. The main character is young and so the book should have appeal to young adult readers, 14-25. It is also historically accurate and so should be of interest to any readers of historical fiction, particularly those interested in the late medieval period.

An uncertain sixteen year-old in black armor readies himself to lead the vanguard of his father’s army on a muddy battlefield. It is a stormy day in August, 1346. He is Edward Plantagenet, called “the Black Prince,” and the place is “The Valley of the Clerks,” near the town of Crecy, France. This is a seminal scene from the novel entitled As a Black Prince on Bloody Fields and it needs a trade paperback cover and an eBook cover. The trade paperback cover includes the front cover, spine and back cover. The eBook cover is just the front cover alone. The book tells of the childhood, adolescence and early adulthood of Edward Plantagenet, the Black Prince, who won the battles of Crecy and Poitiers and his long courtship and love for Joan the Fair Maid of Kent, one of the greatest beauties of the age.

An uncertain sixteen year-old in black armor steels himself to lead
the vanguard of his father’s army on a muddy battlefield. It is a
stormy day in August, 1346. He is Edward Plantagenet, called “the
Black Prince.” The place is “The Valley of the Clerks,” near the
town of Crecy, France.

This is the story of his youth and adulthood as he tells it, from a
childhood among lions in the Tower of London to his love for a woman
whose life is as wild and exceptional as his own. She is Joan, called
“the Fair Maid of Kent,” renowned for her beauty.

There is never a more tumultuous time to grow up. War is intimate,
immediate, never far away. It causes vast changes of wealth and
culture, as well as life and death. It is the time of the worst
epidemic of disease the world has ever known. Edward learns to lead
and to rule in a world changing constantly.

At 26, Edward returns to France in another desperate gambit to save
his father’s kingdom and discover who he truly is. Before Henry V
and Agincourt there was Edward and Crecy and Poitiers. And Joan.

AS A BLACK PRINCE ON BLOODY FIELDS is an imagined personal memoir
written from primary historical sources. It won the Utah Arts Council
First Prize for Novel (under the title “Edward and Joan”).

…

d. Technical information:

i. Two PDFs are required. One for the eBook and one for the trade
paperback. The eBook Cover is just the front cover of the trade
paperback cover.

1. eBook Cover:

a. Media: Full color PDF.

b. Resolution: 600 dpi

c. Cover size: 5.5” X 8””

ii. Trade paperback book cover.

1. Media: Full color PDF.

2. Resolution: 600 dpi

3. Finished Book Format: 5.5 X 8

4. Bleed: 0.125”

5. Minimum Cover Height (including Bleed): 8.25”

6. Spine Width: 1.1425”

7. Total Minimum Cover Width (Bleed+Front Cover+Spine+Back
Cover+Bleed): 12.395”

iii. The back cover will need to include the blurb as well as a
possible quote from Kirkus. (The book is currently under review.)

iv. The book will be published through CreateSpace. Here is a pointer
to their general book cover reference:
https://www.createspace.com/Product…verPDF.jsp

v. CreateSpace bar code generation reference:
http://www.createspace.com/Help/Boo…gCover.jsp

vi. ISBN numbers: ISBN-10: 0692268790, ISBN-13: 978-0692268797

vii. The back cover will need to include the blurb cited above and
possibly a quote from a Kirkus review.

viii. The book's category will need to appear on the back cover. The
category is "FICTION / Historical." I suggest it appear on the upper
left corner.

ix. The cover finish will be glossy.

e. Criteria for Competition Judgment.

i. The cover must conform to the technical specifications above.

ii. If the cover is an illustration that portrays characters from the
book, they must be portrayed in historically accurate clothing and
armor.

iii. The cover may be the single most important marketing tools for
the book. It needs to claim a prospective reader’s curiosity and
interest at multiple scales. It’s appearance at the various
resolutions on the Amazon web site is particularly important and will
be one of the top selection criteria. The title must be readable and
the cover art interesting even at the smallest book cover size.

f. Recognition: the cover artist will be credited in the front matter.

Design Suggestions. I have a preference for a full front cover
illustration of a single incident from the book or a visceral,
suggestive abstract design properly integrated with essential text:
title, author’s name, and “A Novel.” An obvious candidate is
Edward, in black armor, amidst English bowmen and knights facing the
charge of the French armored cavalry including a another knight in
black armor with 3 ostrich plumes surmounting his helmet. Another
possibility might be an abstract design incorporating portions of
heraldic elements. Nevertheless, neither preference would preclude
serious consideration of and entirely different design approach. As
for text, the title needs to be prominent but, as I am far from a
well-known author, the author’s name need not be large.