Cover art beauty contest!

Last weekend I was at EasterCon in Belfast, a topic I may blog about later if I can squeeze the time in (April is a bit mad this year). I'm very new to the world of conventions, so I only did two panels and spent quite a lot of time hanging out in the Dealers' Room, and specifically at the Swan River Press stand. 

SWP produced my two short story collections, The Sea Change (2013) and Atmospheric Disturbances (2024). I was particularly thrilled with the AD cover, designed by John Coulthart and featuring little cameos from all the stories. Brian, who runs SWP, had rolled his eyes a little over my design input; I wanted something 'clean and crisp', he recalled, but, he said, "What does 'crisp' even mean?" Well, whatever it means, I think the design nailed it. 

Anyway, while I was at the Con I naturally had a lot of time to look at the books on display, and to talk about them with passers-by. The funny thing was, nobody could agree about which was the most beautiful one. The covers are all strikingly different and so were all the opinions. 

My personal favourite (apart from Atmospheric Disturbances) is the cover for Old Albert, created by Jason Zerrillo. Apparently the original photo couldn't be used - wrong dimensions or something - so Jason recreated it. I absolutely love the way the strong, almost toxic yellow of the birds stands out against the grey background. I kept picking the book up and admiring it, until someone very unreasonably bought it! 

Take a look at some of the Swan River covers (below) and see what you think! I'd love to know which cover appeals to you the most. 

Of course, these are not all the books that SWP has produced. You can see them all on https://swanriverpress.ie/titles/ - perhaps you'll like one of the other covers even better!

Left to right: Atmospheric Disturbances by Helen Grant, cover art by John Coulthart; 

The Dark Return of Time by R.B.Russell, cover art by Jason Zerrillo; 

Old Albert by Brian J. Showers, cover art by Jason Zerrillo. 

Left to right: Friends and Spectres, ed. Robert Lloyd Parry, cover art by John Coulthart; Longsword by Thomas Leland, cover art by Ellen McDermott; Uncertainties 6, ed. Brian J. Showers, cover art by David Tibet.

Left to right: The Ruins of Contracoeur by Joyce Carole Oates, cover art by Meggan Kehrli; Treatises on Dust by Timothy J. Jarvis, cover art by øjeRum; Selected Stories by Mark Valentine, cover art by Jason Zerrillo. 

Left to right: A Flowering Wound by John Howard, cover art by Jason Zerrillo; Now It's Dark by Lynda E.Rucker, cover art by John Coulthart; Sparks From The Fire by Rosalie Parker, cover art by R.B.Russell.