Digital books have nuance. One of our first published books, Knights of Legend was released in 2012 and depicts the journey of Jason Sheridan, a young boy from the mystical county of Jackson, where baseball is the story of legends, and the legacy of the Knights of the Round Table lives on. It’s a story of betrayal, high school rivals, and the greatest baseball game ever played between demon and angel. Instead of chapters, the story, as originally written, consisted of eight acts.
Each of these sections has individual art of the characters and places in the books. Graveyard. Caverns. Round Table. Witch. The old man.
Great care went into the printing of the book. Heavy paper. Hardbound. But when it was translated to digital, something was missing. With how bleeds are done in the print world, the illustrations never translated properly. When the book was first converted to ePub and Kindle, these interior illustrations were originally omitted. Then, they were added back in but never looked the part.
Recently, the author of Knights of Legend came across a late 1800s copy of Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley. If you don’t know the artist, he was a talented English illustrator known for his highly stylized and decorative art. One of Beardsley’s most famous works is his art for Oscar Wilde’s play “Salome,” which were published in 1891. However, Beardsley was also commissioned to create illustrations for the tales of King Arthur.
These, like most of his work, feature intricate patterns and sinuous lines, and the use use of black and white create a stark and striking effect. The art further enhances a famous work. And the distinctive style and innovative approach continue to inspire and influence artists to this day.
So we reimagined our simple borders using his work for inspiration. This makes the digital version unique.
If you’ve purchased knights on Kindle, redownload the book and tell us what you think. We’ll probably continue to tweak these in the weeks ahead.
And if you never read Jason’s journey before, give it a try. It is a story of how the choices we make can shape our lives and how even the most minor details can have a significant impact. And that goes for art too.
Notes:
- The Art of Aubrey Beardsley.
- Salome.
- Ten Beautiful Books. This type of printing matters.