Help w/ELANTRIS ad

[EUOL]

So, Fell told me he'd talked TLE people into publishing an advertisement for ELANTRIS in the next issue.  However, there isn't a lot of time, so I have to get something together ASAP.  

I figure the cover art + some blurbs + the release date would look good enough.  The problem is, I'm visual-art challenged.  Anyone have any suggestions on how I should do this?

Oh, and 42, do you by chance remember TLE specs enough to tell me how big this thingy should be?

[Prometheus]

My first amateurish shot across the bow:

Put Elantris up across the top in rather big type, covering up the top part of the cover. End the cover near the bottom of the page and use the bottom to slap in a quote.

But you really need to talk to 42 here.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

I would put the quote in white text, outlined in black, on top of the picture. Do you know what the front cover will look like, in terms of title/author placement and the font? duplicating that woudln't be a bad idea

[EUOL]

I actually have the front cover image.  That, actually, is what I have to use--not the blank art.  Tor has the copyright on the cover with lettering, but not the image itself.

My question is do I put a strip of blank space running up the side, then fill this in with quotes?  Or, do I overlay the quotes on the bottom of the picture?  Do I make the picture into a thumbnail?  

[42]

Well, unless there have been some major changes, TLE is 5.5 x 8.5 inches. It's actually printed on larger paper to allow for a bleed. It also lets TLE get away smaller margins occassionally. Course that is something that could have changed.
Are you getting a full-page ad?

I would think so, but  lot depends on where they need filler.

My layout thought. Put the title across the top in a large font as close to the cover font as possible. You'll want around 72 pt size

Under the title, split to 2 collumns, one with the cover art, the other will some kind of blurb that really sells the book.

At the bottom, place the release date, publisher, and mention brandonsanderson.com.  It wouldn't hurt to mention that you can pre-order on amazon.com

Mentioning your affiliation to TLE might help. For being small press and student ran, TLE doesn't do so bad for sales. A lot of small press do worse.

[Mistress of Darkness]

There is a lot of detail in the cover that will be difficult to reproduce well on the TLE-size pages, so I suggest keeping away from thumbnails. I suggest just using one quote and let the art do most of the advertisizing and eye-catching. If you have Photoshop or GIMP, take thirty minutes to try a few different layouts.

[42]

Oh, and angle the cover art and wrap the blurb. Got to bring some excitement.

Everything needs to be black and white. Adjust grays so that they are about 15% lighter. Send in format requested by TLE, probably a eps or tiff.

[stacer]

We talked about book ads a lot last semester, and it turns out that actual text or summary is actually more effective than blurbs. Perhaps you can compromise on this by using your best blurb and a summary of the story--let people know what it's about, so they have a reason to be interested in looking it up.

[42]

There is a lot of detail in the cover that will be difficult to reproduce well on the TLE-size pages

Yes that is true, but the image actually needs to adjusted to show the over-all composition and structure. The details will be lost and that's okay. No great artwork should be entirely dependent on details. the image should show enough to interest people and then make them want to get the book so they can look at the details.

And I agree that it would be best to write something original (and short) that sells the book. Don't just pull something out of the book. It should be about one paragraph.

[Mistress of Darkness]

I agree with stacer on the summary. You could even you the summary that Tor is putting on the inside cover for time-conservation's sake.

[Skar]

I'd use a quote by Card.  He sells big in the same circles TLE does, if I'm not mistaken.

[Oldie Black Witch]

Wait. What? Who did Dan talk to, because neither the Associate (Me) nor the Managing Editor (Mr. M) know about this.

I'm all for it, but I'm just curious where this came from.

[42]

Perhaps he meant to say that Dan meant to talk with someone on TLE who was meaning to talk to the editors about placing an ad, eventually.

[Spriggan]

It was probaly just a conversation he had between himself and the person in the mirror.

[EUOL]

Fell said it came from Chris.

42:  Thank you very much.  I'm going to do exactly what you guys said.