I debated whether or not I wanted to share this information publicly, but after the outpouring of support from readers and the community, I've decided to do so. I know many of you have been wondering what's happening with the original Echo cover, and I understand it's also important for me to get my side of the story, and all of the proof I've collected, out there.
The book is currently blocked on Amazon because someone reported the cover as stolen art. I wasn't made aware of the entire claim past this much until the other day, because no one ever reached out to me to discuss the cover, or bring to my attention their concerns that their work had been illegally used--which it had not been. To be clear, their work wasn't used in any capacity, be it legally or otherwise. Absolutely none of their art was modified, manipulated, etc for my cover. I only recently learned this was the issue, that they believed their original artwork had been run through ai and manipulated. I have seen the image of their original piece, and aside from being of a dark-haired guy with glasses and blue eyes, it looks nothing like the image used on my cover. Absolutely nothing. As an artist myself, I take claims of art theft seriously, and immediately reached out to my cover artist to find out what was going on. She was able to provide me literal receipts proving her source, and that it did not come from this person. I will not be showing this person's original artwork or naming them. This isn't about calling anyone out, and feeling like your work was stolen is a terrible feeling I wouldn't wish on anyone. This is purely to get my side out there, and provide the proof that I handed over to Amazon.
The image used in my cover was purchased from Etsy in February of this year. You can see that below. I've removed all personal info of my cover artist for obvious reasons, as well as the order #.
The original clip art the cover artist I purchased from also appeared very different when she initially received it. She worked many hours drawing over it and altering things to fit the cover. This original doesn't even have blue eyes, and again, looks absolutely nothing like the artwork that the claim was made about. Here that is:
The outfit, hair, eye color, and basic bone structure of the face are all completely different from the image this person is claiming this was ripped off from. Eye shape, ear shape, pose, nose shape, and neck shape are all different. Literally the only similarities between the two are the dark hair and the glasses. My best friend can make the same claim, and he even has the blue eyes, but no one would ever say he looked like a rip off of another dark-haired, blue-eyed, glasses-wearing man. Art theft and plagiarism are two very serious crimes, and I want to be sure I've covered all of my bases and provided all of the proof I can, which is the only reason I point any of this out. Again, all of this was also submitted to Amazon for them to use to help make their verdict.
This is the final image used on my cover, which I'm sure many of you have seen by now if you're here. As you can see, now the blue (teal) eyes were added. There were also many other adjustments made.
I understand it's hard to know exactly what I'm talking about without providing visuals of the art the claim was made for, but I will not be sharing someone else's work or their handle. I don't want this to turn into a witch hunt or a finger-pointing game at all, and this really is just about making sure my side of things is out there. I hope that at least seeing the differences between the two, as well as the original clip art image and the receipt it was purchased from, will help. Since the image was brought to me by someone else, many have seen it and agree they have no leg to stand on with this claim. Right now, I can only wait for Amazon to come to a decision and hope that, with all the proof (of which there is more, but this is all I'll be showing here) they see I've been wrongly accused. If that does happen, the original Echo cover will be restored in both ebook and paperback. If it doesn't, and they still vote against me, the book will have to get a new cover. I will honor their decision no matter which way it goes.
I did not make this cover myself, but the artist who did was instantly able to provide me with proof. To avoid further issue, she's also decided to no longer use any of that clip art that she's purchased, though this is a popular shop that sells to many writers and cover designers for this very purpose. Under advisement, I have blocked the artist who made this claim against me. Originally I wanted to reach out and discuss things, but was told since they didn't show me this courtesy from the start, it's clear they don't want to clear things up. All I can say is please be careful when you file claims like these against people. Three people were hurt, myself, the cover artist, and the artist who filed. A work I spent months on is now tarnished, the cover artist who was proud of her work is now constantly trying to defend herself and her art, and an artist spent weeks feeling terrible that her work was stolen, when in fact it wasn't (at least not by my cover artist).
When Amazon finally comes to a decision, I'll let you all know. Until then, all we can do is wait. Again, I was torn over whether or not I wanted to publicly address this at all, but since this is dragging on longer than initially anticipated since more proof was discovered and sent in on my behalf, I didn't want to leave everyone in the dark, and wanted to have a clear place where I laid it all out.
The cover artist I purchased from has been great in answering my questions, and providing me with the proof needed. This has been a really horrible situation all around, and I hope I'll be able to get Echo back to you in some form soon. For now, the Special Edition is available. This cover was designed with a drawing specifically commissioned for another book of mine, but was obviously used now due to this emergency situation. Just putting that out there.
Thank you for your continued support and understanding, and I hope I've managed to clear up some things, as well as provide adequate proof, despite being unable to show you the other images.