New cover image for "Sunshine and Fire." · 3:12pm Jul 4th, 2012
You might notice that "Sunshine and Fire" has a new cover image.
I found this particular piece when I... ahem... Googled my own story. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that someone - specifically, C-Puff - had actually illustrated a scene from it! It would probably be a bit big-headed of me to call it "fan art" per se, but I'm still immensely glad for it. To be honest, I had fantasized about my fanfic one day being big enough to have art dedicated to it, but I didn't think it was likely ever to happen. It's a rather great piece too, very much in line with what I had in mind when I was writing that particular sequence, and quite an appropriate represention of the story as a whole.
The original image of Twilight, Luna and Celestia assigned to me when I first sent in "Sunshine and Fire" to Equestria Daily was nice-looking too, but also a little dull and not very eye-catching. So, thanks to C-Puff for drawing this piece and thanks again for allowing me to use it.
I also intend to make it my story banner on Equestria Daily with my next update, though I am a little worried that'll make the story harder to identify for readers used to the old image. I don't know, what do you think? Do you just skim the images when checking update posts?
I skim both names and images, but any time I see either a name or an image which I don't recognize I look a bit more closely to see what it is and whether I might be interested in reading it.
Ah, I remember seening that art quite some weeks ago.
Anyway, even though Twilight and Spike can't help it, there is no reason you should sweat changing the coverart on EQD. Plenty of stories have done that before. I can't speak for everyone, but when I'm checking through updates posts I get so used to seeing the same-old-same-old, that when I finally do see an unfamiliar pic I take extra notice. Your long time readers should still find you easily enough and you might just pick up some new ones along the way.
the image looks more like a chapter image than a story one...
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If you read what BornIn wrote in the blog you would see he said the same ("...illustrated a scene from it!" )
Still pretty awesome and congrats on getting fan art.
I don't think anyone will miss your updates due to a new cover image, lol. Especially since it's an eye-catching cover image. Most likely, they'll see an image they haven't seen before and read the title and/or description to see what it's for - and then realize they HAVE seen that fic before. Just make sure to send in a bigger version than what can be seen on fimfiction, being able to actually see the sweat makes it far more eye-catching.
Thanks for the reassurance, guys.
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I understand the sentiment, but I think the image of Twilight despairing and beaten down by the oppressive heat does a good job at encapsulating the central conflict to some extent.
I love it.