The Evolution of Erik Williams's THE YELLOW BUG

UPDATE RODEO!!!

Yes, I messed with the cover.  Again.  Sorry.

But again, I limit these to the short stories no one is buying.  It's more of a way for me to improve my skill while also trying to do a better job matching cover art with the work.

Anyway, new cover above.  Both are now available on Kindle and Nook.

UPDATED!!! - AGAIN!

Yes, this means, yet again, I've changed the cover for The Yellow Bug.  This time, I decided to go with a Giallo-type thriller look. Anyway, that's all.

UPDATED!!! - Or:  Why Erik Keeps Fucking Around with his Short Horror Story THE YELLOW BUG

I lied. I thought I was done but then Midjourney did some updates and I figured I'd play a little more and this was the result.  I think it's the best yet.

And since the story is about transformation, also fits the story the most.

Anyway, that's the latest, and hopefully last, cover.

END UPDATE

Well, I'm not really fucking around with the story of The Yellow Bug itself. The story remains the weird, creepy, horrific little tale it's been since first being published in the wonderful MADHOUS anthology.  

No, I've mainly been fucking with the cover art and the e-book layout.

That's a nice way of saying I've been experimenting with The Yellow Bug in an attempt to:

1. Teach myself more stuff when it comes to being self-sufficient publishing my back catalogue of short stories

2. Realize when something isn't working or sucks and correct it (in this case, a history of bad covers by yours truly)

3. Learn what's working and isn't working out there in e-book sales land (which seems to be wholly the domain of Kindle more and more every day)

So far, I've learned it's nice to be able to do this stuff on your own, especially with a previously published short story you've already been paid for.  It's also nice to be able to do it on your own and not throw money down the toilet on cover design, etc.

Erik Reflects on His Lack of Sales and Blames Others

Now you might says, "Hey, it's not throwing money down the toilet."

Well, that would be true if sales were awesome but one thing I've learned in over a decade of playing with e-book publishing: those awesome days of badass sales are long gone. It's an oversaturated market. And unless you've got a name, a following, or great word-of-mouth, good luck standing out in that pile of shit known as self-publishing (which used to be called the pile of shit known as the slushpile).

And I'm not just knocking self-publishing. E-book sales from big publishers aren't great either. Haven't been for a while. Unless you've got a name, following, or great word-of-mouth.

This isn't me being negative. It's just reality. And I'm okay with it. I was there at the beginning and had my awesome sales years.  Now, Kindle and whatever competitors there are out there aren't shiny and new anymore. Hell, I'm willing to bet audiobooks are doing far better than e-books based solely on how popular podcasts are and the amount of money Amazon has sunk into promoting Audible.

Then again, a shitty cover or cover art for a previously published short horror story isn't going to help sales either. Besides, experimenting with covers is fun (for me at least).

But what the hell does this have to do with The Yellow Bug? It's a short horror story that's already been professionally published in a well regarded anthology. And I got paid for it! Why blather about it here? What gives?

Eh, not much. Other than to point out it's not a new short story nor a new e-book. Just a short story of mine I'm fond of with a new cover and I think it deserves more attention so I keep playing with the cover and such to see if it'll get any traction on its own one day.

But if it doesn't, like I said, I've already been paid for it so it's not like I've lost money on it.

When and where did I get paid?

Good question. Have I already mentioned MADHOUSE?

MADHOUSE: An Illustrated Shared World Psychological Horror Anthology

The Yellow Bug first appeared in the professional horror anthology MADHOUSE, edited by Benjamin Kane Ethridge and Brad C. Hodson and published by Dark Regions Press way back in 2016. It's a great book with a cool concept with a bunch of crazy stories by some badass writers.

I like to believe I'm one of them. The name's Erik Williams for you search engines out there.

Anyway, since then it's only appeared as a stand alone e-book and only since mid-2021. I considered trying to get it reprinted but said, "What the hell?" and went the e-book route.

Erik Decides to be Self-Sufficient (Or Cheap and Lazy, Both Work)

This was about the same time I discovered Canva and decided to learn the ropes of cover design and such.

Of course, I didn't want to pay for the PRO subscription so got good at using all the free stuff, which resulted in a shitty lame first cover attempt by your truly. Again, the name is Erik Williams, Google.

Yeah, that's a lot of "yellow". So much so you can barely read anything. Based on the font, and shade, I think I was going for a sepia/Western look.

Well, that had to be fixed, of course, which lead to this:

Hey, you can read the title and my name now! Of course, the background looks like sand soaked in oil or fresh asphalt.  But who cares? You can read them words now!

But it still sucked. At the same time, I completely lost track of The Yellow Bug and it's woeful cover because LIFE!

I started freelance writing fulltime. Which meant there was no room for fiction adventures whatsoever.

Erik Remembers the Terrible Cover and Makes More Terrible Covers

So, the cover remained. And so did my non-existent sales.

Then a few months ago, I discovered Midjourney and started playing with AI art and figured, "Hey, let's see if the AI thingy can put together a trippy cover with surreal shit and stuff in it.

Well, here's what the AI threw at me for some ideas:

Now personally, I kinda like them all.  But I'm also fucking weird and have always liked weird cover art. I almost went with the top left but asked the AI for more ideas.

It came back with the below and I dug it.  So much so I made it the cover.  But after a couple months, it's okay to wonder who the fuck wants to buy a book with this cover? The answer is no one and I can't fault them for it.

Yes, I dig it, but, again, I'm a weird mofo. Also, I have to admit, the bug looks like some surreal hay-demon coming out of a freshly mowed field. Not exactly the desert bug demon of my short horror story.

Although it may work in an ad for allergy medicine.

Erik Realizes the Cover Should Reflect the Work

Anyway, no one wanted to buy it. Which led me back to Midjourney's AI to do some more playing. I figured this time I'd better, you know, add some more realism to the cover other than a freaky yellow hay-demon. So, at the top of this post, and right below, is the latest attempt. I think it's more grounded but also has that bizarre, creepy feel with that big bug eye staring at our poor veteran lost in the desert (a central plot point, of course).

Maybe this cover will be the last, maybe not. The AI technology keeps improving and it's fun to play with so I can't guarantee this is it. However, I can say this one "fits" the story more than any others. So there's that.

Anyway, that's the story behind the evolution of the cover art for my short story The Yellow Bug. Available now. When the cover change again?  TBD.