The first annual ''Cli-Fi Novel Cover Art Awards,'' for the best book cover for a cli-fi novel in 2015. (winners list)

ANNOUNCING: The  first annual ''Cli-Fi Novel Cover Art Awards,'' for the best book cover illustration for a cli-fi novel in 2015. [Official Announcement on December 15th]

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The fiction winner for 2015 is Emma Podietz, illustrator for THE HEATSTROKE LINE, written by Edward L. Rubin and published by Sunbury Press in Pennsylvania.

SEE ACTUAL BOOK COVER HERE:

We chose this book cover for the 2015 Cli-Fi Novel Cover Art Awards because of its design based on the characters in the book AND MOST IMPORTANTLY for the cover awards, the Yellow and Orange colors in the SKY above the horizon makes this book title STAND OUT on online book sites, even when it is a small thumb print picture on Amazon.com. Book covers in the Internet Age need to stand out from the crowded market on Amazon and this Podietz cover does stand out, both for the illustration itseld and for its savvy use of COLORS on the actual cover of the print book and on Internet sites from Goodreads to Amazon and blogs and websites. Congratuatlions, Emma Podietz!

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* The winner for 2014 (belatedly) was Elaine Franks for STORMTELLER, written by David Thorpe in Wales.

Here is a link to a YouTube video showing the making of the 2014 cover of ''Stormteller'' by the artist Elaine Franks:





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SPECIAL MENTION for a non-fiction climate-themed book in 2015 goes to ''WHILE GLACIERS SLEPT: Being Human in a Time of Climate Change,'' by M. Jackson (pen name of Jerilynn Emily Jackson - link), from Green Writers Press in Vermont
 
Congratulations to M. Jackson, - link - M.S. 2011, on publication of ''While Glaciers Slept,'' a book she wrote for her EVST Thesis, that was published by Green Writers Press in Vermont. It’s about climate change, life, death, loss, grief and hope! Check it out on Amazon!

The artist who did the beautiful cover is Ani Pendergast.






https://books.google.com.tw/books/about/While_Glaciers_Slept.html?id=KmAynQEACAAJ&redir_esc=y

http://www.amazon.com/While-Glaciers-Slept-Climate-Change/dp/0996087265

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So what makes a good cover design?

W.H. CHONG, a noted book designer in Australia, writes on his blog:

''If you are going to design a book cover, then you are going to take the trouble to read it.
Then the question arises am I going to design this book for me, or am I thinking about the people we think are going to want to read this book? So, there is a certain amount of projection required, partly to do with whom the author thinks they are writing for, presuming they are writing for someone. Then there is the commercial aspect, the people the publisher thinks they can find to buy the book. But the pure answer to the question is: If I have read the book, will I design it how I like it or how I think people who will be interested in the book might like it?''

''Sometimes the question arises: am I the same kind of reader as the likely readers of this book? If I am, it’s easy. If I’m not, then you need to think about who these people are. Book cover designers are like defence counsels, you don’t care whether the client is guilty, you are just trying to pitch the best defence and, to do that, you have to know who your pitching that too. You have to work out the jury and judges. It is not my business whether people think the book is good or bad, just to do the best cover.''