X-Calibur book 2

Been hard at work on the second book in my new X-Calibur series. This follows on from book one, approximately 8 months later with the arrival of some unwelcome visitors! Battle ensues and results in our fresh-faced knights taking Merlin's advice, sending them on a planet hopping quest in search of allies...

 

I am about half way through my first draft, and I thought I would share a proposed cover for this book, titled The Descent!

 

What do people think?

The bulk of the story takes place on a frozen ice world, or at least some way beneath its surface (hence the title!). And, by having the sword on the cover, I am essentially putting it on every cover from now on. What are people's thoughts on that? Votes for the first cover were overwhelmingly SWORD, so is that still the case?

 

My Logo

Penguin books. Harper Collins. Random House. Bloomsbury.

 

Big publishing houses that print books by some of my favourite authors. As I returned the latest Skulduggery Pleasant book to my shelf, I noticed the logo at the base of the spine and realised I recognised it without having to be told who it belonged to (Harper Collins in this case).

 

Logo's give brand recognition and say something about quality (in general, of course). If you go to MacDonalds, you recognise the big M logo and expect a particular type and quality of food, wherever you are in the world. You buy a computer with 'Intel inside', listen to music on your 'Apple' ipod, and now probably use your 'Beats' headphones. If you were shown flash cards of company logos, you'd recognise more than you think.

 

With this in mind, I have designed my own logo. This will be applied to my books, on the spine on paperbacks and on the title page on the ebook. I hope this will link my titles together, and if people see and recognise it, remind them of another book of mine they may have read, even if it was in a different series.

 

Brand recognition, again.

 

Here it is. Let me know what you think?

 

The first book to bear this logo on the spine is X-Calibur: The Return.