Seeking an eye-catching cover for a young adult supernatural modern fantasy novel, "Breath of Life"

David Snider

Author of The Breather Series, a young adult modern supernatural fantasy book series.

Book Title: Breath of Life
Subtitle: Book One of The Breather Series
Author: David Snider

Breath of Life is a young adult supernatural modern fantasy in need of a book cover for print (Createspace, 6"x9") and ebook (Kindle, Nook, iPad) editions.

The story contains two best friends, Chrystopher Brannon and Jonathan Wright. Each friend is unaware of their families' pasts. Chrys is a decedent of a powerful family of Breathers, a human with with the supernatural capability to procure another being's breath of life, its entire life's memories in a single breath. Jon is a decedent from a family of Hunters, humans who had once trained and fought alongside Breathers against evil beings that fed upon humanity. A Hunter's weapon of choice is a Reaver, a blade with the capabilities to consume and store its victim's breath of life.

Four years after the deaths of their parents and the disappearance of Chrys's twin sister, Chrys respires a fateful breath that opens his eyes to a world brimming with fantasy and intrigue. While grappling with a new found power and his head swimming with memories not of his own, Chrys and his best friend Jon are forced to face a new world where the boogie man was once real and those who helped the Hunters have now become the hunted. As they dig deeper into each others' family heritages, will Chrys become like the heroes of their past or become the monster they all once feared?

The book cover should focus on Chrystopher and the breath of life concept. I originally envisioned to have Chrys in a side profile at the bottom of the cover breathing in a breath of life that consisted of title at the top and a stream of "memories" in smoke. I am open to ideas and other artists' interpretations.

Update # 1 27JUN14

I've uploaded a few stock photos I've purchased a while back of what I imagine Chrys to look like. I also uploaded the promotional tee shirt design currently in use for the series (one for a dark/black background, one for a light/white background). If you think you can incorporate it into the back cover, that would be great but not required.

Update #2 27JUN14

I've been asked if I would accept covers that included both Chrys and Jon with a sense of suspense and action. I am not set strictly on my idea. I would wholeheartedly accept covers that differ from my original idea if you think it would suit the book better.

Jonathan Wright is a blonde haired, blue eyed, all-American Marine. Within the story, we will find the two friends become at odds with each other as Chrys finds and follows the path of his breather heritage and Jon follows his family's past as hunters. This split will take them to opposing sides of the story's struggle, with a hidden shadow element that has turned hunters and breathers against each other. This causes internal tension with each character as they fight their life-long brotherly bond to be able to follow their new found cause.

The Breather Series is projected to be a four book series. In order to keep a consistent throughout the covers, I'm hoping to find an artist who would be interested in not only this book, but the also work with me on the remaining three in the future.
As well as covers, I will be launching contests in the future for character illustrations and graphic designs to represent the four classes of breathers and the main characters that the reader will experience throughout the book. If I find a multi-talented artist I work well together with, they will receive first shot to work on these as projects.

If you like read some preview chapters to get a better idea on what the book, they are available here http://www.filesnack.com/files/cdnadijt. If you would like to find more about the book and author, you can find it on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/breatherseries.

Please be aware that I am currently on deployment with the United States Navy. Please be patient if you do not receive immediate responses to queries or submissions. I do not plan for this to be much of an issue, as I will have assistance with the administration of the contest, but I wanted to make all participants aware of the situation.