Call For Cover Artists

Brian Keene and Thunderstorm Books are seeking a cover artist for the weird fantasy book THE LOST LEVEL: EXCURSIONS, to be published as a signed, limited edition hardcover in late 2027. Selected artist will be paid professional rates and own all rights to their work other than the initial publication.

RULES:

~ Absolutely no generative A.I. can be used, either partially or wholly. Works that have included generative A.I. in their creation will be immediately disregarded.

~ We are looking for an artist that can closely capture the style of the three covers posted below.

Note that The Lost Level fictional setting includes more than just dinosaurs and weird elephants. It incorporates robots, androids, UFOs, aliens, and stranded castaways from across space and time — Roman centurions, Pict warriors, American Civil War deserters, futuristic soldiers, etc. Your submission can literally be anything. What we’re looking for is something that matches the style above.

~ You do NOT need to create a new work. If you have an existing peice you feel resembles this style, that is perfectly acceptable.

~ We will NOT accept portfolio links or attachments, due to the increasing sophistication of scammers and A.I. assisted phishing expeditions. Any submissions sent to us via email or DM will be deleted unread.

~ To submit, please post a picture of your sample as a reply/comment in one of the following threads: Bluesky - Facebook - Twitter - Threads‍ ‍

~ Deadline is Wednesday, June 24th.

~ One artist will be selected. While we will look at all replies, submission and application does not guarantee acceptance or response.

WHO WE ARE:

~ Paul Goblirsch established Thunderstorm Books in 2008. Specializing in collectible signed limited edition hardcover books, our goal is to showcase authors’ works in beautiful limited editions. From both new, up-and-coming authors to veterans of the genre, we publish some of the best in the field including: Brian Keene, Joe Lansdale, Christopher Golden, Philip Fracassi, Tyler Jones, Ross Jeffery, Chad Lutzke, Cynthia Pelayo, Jeff Strand, Hailey Piper, Paul Tremblay, Edward Lee, Kealan Patrick Burke, Jonathan Janz, Samantha Kolesnik, Gabino Iglesias, Adam Cesare, Kristopher Triana, Richard Chizmar, Gwendolyn Kiste, Wrath James White, and Ronald Kelly.

We also have imprints driven by the authors themselves including Jeff Strand’s Gleefully Macabre line, J.F. Gonzalez’s Dark Worlds line, Jonathan Janz’s Shadow Side Series (completed at 11 books), and Bryan Smith’s Bitter Ale Series (completed at 12 books).

Mary SanGiovanni edits the Tempest line, showcasing the top voices in horror from a female perspective.

Also, Thunderstorm Books co-publishes with Death’s Heads Press the hardcover versions of their popular Splatter Western line. And we also occasionally run exclusive paperback editions through the Nightworms Subscription Box.

With approximately 40 titles released per year, we fulfill the desires of both hardcore book collectors and those who want to pick up the occasional special edition.

~ Brian Keene is the bestselling author of over fifty books and three-hundred short stories. They have been translated into over a dozen different languages and have won numerous awards . His 2003 novel, The Rising, is credited with inspiring pop culture’s recurrent interest in zombies. He has also written for such media properties as Doctor Who, Thor, Aliens,Harley Quinn, The X-Files, Doom Patrol, Justice League, Hellboy, Superman, and Masters of the Universe. He was the showrunner for Realm Media and Blackbox TV’s Silverwood: The Door.

Several of Keene’s novels and stories have been adapted for film, including Ghoul, The Naughty List, The Ties That Bind, and Fast Zombies Suck. Keene also served as Executive Producer for the feature length film I’m Dreaming of a White Doomsday and the forthcoming Dead Format. Keene’s work has been praised by The New York Times, The History Channel, The Howard Stern Show, CNN, The Huffington Post, Bleeding Cool, Publisher’s Weekly, Fangoria, Bloody Disgusting, and Rue Morgue.

From 2015 to 2020, he hosted the immensely popular The Horror Show with Brian Keene podcast. He also hosted (along with Christopher Golden) the long-running Defenders Dialogue podcast, and (with Jim Cobb and Dacia Arnold) the How To Survive 2025 limited series).

Keene also serves on the Board of Directors for the Scares That Care 501c charity organization, which helps sick children, burn survivors, and those battling breast cancer.