This particular commission has been awarded and is no longer available; however, we are actively seeking other excellent artists for future projects. You may email portfolio links to Please query before sending portfolios by mail.
Per Aspera is seeking to commission original cover art for our next hardcover novel. We’re looking for artists whose portfolios exhibit the following:
- full color art (traditional, digital, or combination)
- strong use of human figures and faces
- science fiction themes
- photorealistic qualities
- use of backgrounds and setting
Artists will be expected to read the work they will be illustrating (either selected chapters and passages, or preferably the entire novel), and discuss concept and execution with both the author and the art director. Sketches and roughs will be approved before production of the final piece begins.
We will begin work May 1, or as soon as we’ve found a suitable candidate.
Email portfolio links to Please query before sending portfolios by mail.
We will need reproduction rights in all media for the commissioned piece. Artists will have a choice of a one-time payment upon delivery, or a smaller advance against a royalty percentage. Be advised, however, that though we will pay as well as we can, we can’t afford Michael Whelan ... and therefore, newer artists looking to build a reputation are encouraged to apply.
A major benefit to this commission will be public exposure. This cover will appear on our lead hardcover title for Spring 2006, which will be distributed to chain and independent bookstores throughout the United States and Canada, as well as appearing in catalogs and all promotional and advertising material associated with the book. We will be promoting the book directly to booksellers, to readers at major sf conventions, and through the media. In addition, we may choose to submit the cover for awards (our most recent hardcover, Singularity, has just been named one of three finalists for a Benjamin Franklin Award in Cover Design).