How much do I love the planetary map that Jack Kotz is working on for me for The Stars Change? I asked him to do a map that showed Jump (hyperspace) connections between the systems in the book, and he exceeded my expectations. This is just a draft, but here's a sneak peek at the artwork -- it's so old-school! I have to figure out if I can afford to use a printer (instead of POD) so I can maybe get this as endpapers in the hardcover. That would be SO COOL.
Any recommendations for affordable printers very welcome. I haven't started researching this yet, but I need to get moving on it if I hope to have the book ready for Christmas. (The text is almost done; just a few more hours of work from me, and it's ready to send to the copyeditor/proofreader. Possibly might even finish it tomorrow, if the gods smile.)
Very cool and nicely done. But watch out for those thin lines and bits of cloud against that dark background — you will have dot gain on press that may swallow them up a bit. What is the actual size and resolution of the piece?
I am not sure you would want to use it for endpapers — you’d need a spread for that, and this looks like it’s just a single page. Plus then you wouldn’t have the map in the paperback. You could do a frontispiece.
How many copies are you thinking of printing right out the door? Is this something you anticipate printing just once in a big amount, or would you go back and reprint? If the latter, in what quantities? These are some of the factors to consider when considering printers.
I’ll pass on the lines/cloud bit to my artist, thanks. 🙂 He said he’ll send me a 600 resolution image, and said something about bit maps? I wasn’t sure what he meant. But he’s in school studying art, so I’m guessing he knows about the technical aspects. I hope!
I did ask him about a spread version for endpapers — we’ll see what he says.
The paperback and hardcover are limited signed editions (250 and 100 respectively). That’s part of the whole Kickstarter-funded plan. There’s also an eBook edition.
If it ever became popular and a lot of people wanted it in print, we could eventually do a larger print run in a new edition, I suppose. But that’s not the plan right now. 🙂