Sci-Fi Cover -- The Light at the End of the Wormhole

Brandon Stephens, independent author

My novel, The Light at the End of the Wormhole, is a character-driven sci-fi thriller with mystery elements. It is aimed at an adult audience (18+) and is the first in my Infinite Charter series. Its sequel, The Gallery of God’s Wrath, is due in Spring 2015 and I’ll likely be back for another cover around that time. The description is as follows:

Alien invasions don’t always end with London in flames or New York in ruins. Sometimes, they end with the stroke of a pen.

Humans had no idea "the Light" existed until it was dragged from their bodies, as tribute to the Solarans. Giving up something they knew nothing about seemed a small price to pay, but signing the Infinite Charter ensured they would pay it until the end of time.

Clyde Evans has reluctantly served Solaran interests all his life. He is a scion -- a human transformed by Light -- and the Charter makes him Solaran property. But when his lukewarm performance finally lands him in hot water, Clyde is given one final assignment to prove his loyalty: he must capture Claire Eisenholm, a.k.a. “The Chronomancer,” a legendary scion with the gift of time travel.

He is joined by a spunky, foul-mouthed computer hacker; an ill-tempered, disgraced gladiator; a slick-talking hustler turned quantum physicist; and a holy woman hell bent on ending the Solaran regime. Together, they face enemy scions, hostile worlds, and a half-insane time traveler who is constantly two steps ahead of them, all while under the thumb of a faceless master and the omniscient gaze of the Solarans.

The Light at the End of the Wormhole weaves a 23rd century sci-fi world with the magic of fantasy and the intensity of a thriller, told through the eyes of a crew of misfits on an interstellar roadtrip to break a deal with the devil.

I need a cover design (front, back, and spine) for a Createspace
paperback, which will also be used for an ebook. The concept I have in
mind plays on the light and dark duality, with Clyde (dark) on the
front cover and Claire (light) on the back, with a soft fade between
the two. The back cover should somewhat mirror the front.

Front Cover:
I am not picky about Clyde’s appearance; he gets very little
description in the novel. 29-year old Caucasian male, brunette, brown
eyes, probably about 5’10” and 170lbs or so. Very average.
Clothing is up to you, but nothing too futuristic; in my mind’s eye,
I’m picturing cargo pants, a collared shirt, and some kind of coat
or jacket, possibly with a bulletproof vest. He tracks down bad guys
for a living, but isn’t an “action hero” kind of guy, if that
makes any sense.

In this scene, Clyde is sitting on the floor of a room. The room is
dark and dusty; there might be a table or chair, but it should look
uninhabited. It is an abandoned tenement in New York. He is depicted
from the side and is positioned as if he has put his back to the wall
and slid down. The vibe should be that of a man who has hit bottom and
is contemplating giving up or reflecting on the things he has done.

In front of him is a lightkeeper, a device used to harvest and store
Light. It is a glass cylinder, about 2 feet long and about 6-8 inches
in diameter, with a metal cap/handle at either end. It is sitting on
the floor of the apartment a few feet from Clyde and he seems to be
fixated on it. The Light is stored in the glass part and is
illuminating the room. The Light is a wispy, amorphous entity of
glowing pure energy. The Light changes color at will, but is always
all one color at a time (i.e. no rainbow).

Back Cover:
The back mirrors the front cover, only it is Claire instead of Clyde,
with no lightkeeper, and she is in a white room. The room should look
“pure” or “sterile,” like a hospital clean room. She is
positioned the same way (back to the wall, probably with her knees
pulled up to her chest). Instead of the lightkeeper, there is a large
knife lying on the floor in front of her.* Claire is mentally unstable
and violent, so her appearance should reflect the mental state of
someone who has cracked.

Frequent use of her powers has made Claire very ill and her appearance
reflects this. She suffers from “blacklight,” a disease that
plagues scions who overuse their abilities. The most visible symptom
is a total loss of color; she is completely white (skin, hair, even
her eyes), but there are faint black lines, like veins, emanating from
her chest, near her heart. These can be seen creeping up her neck. She
wears glasses with square black frames and usually wears black (plain
clothes, no dresses).

(*If the knife can't fit, due to the ISBN barcode, that's fine. I'd
rather leave it out than try to cram it in.)

>>> No hard line at the spine. I would like a gradual fade from the dark front cover to the light back cover. Also, there is a symbol featured in the book which I’d like to see on the spine, along with the title. It is a silver twelve-pointed star, which is the symbol of the Solaran High Council and sort of looks like a sun. (Four equilateral triangles centered/layered over one another at 90 degree angles. If you want to stylize it and add extra details, please don’t hesitate to do so. The basic shape is all that matters.)
>>> Back cover must have the blurb, which I’ve included in an attached .doc. There should also be room for the ISBN and barcode; the attached template indicates where those will placed. For now, just leave the space white or, at the very least, make sure nothing important is there, because it’ll get covered.
>>> For the final product, I need to be able to edit any text. I would like a pdf, as well as a format that allows me to edit, in case something needs to be changed before going to the printers. Only image modification program I have is GIMP (and I know virtually nothing about how to use it) so a format that can be altered there is a must.
>>> This novel is the first in a series. I will likely run another contest (or work directly with the winner of this contest) early next year when I need cover art for the sequel.