Category: Contests
- Lauren Panepinto - December 17th, 2010
More Epic Loot today from the Art Department, and it’s a good one! Like Brent Weeks? Like the Night Angel Trilogy? (The Way of Shadows, Shadow’s Edge, and Beyond the Shadows)? Well how about a schnazzy mashup of all three epic Calvin Chu-illustrated covers?
Printed on glossy high-quality art paper, this one is definitely suitable for framing. Sign up after the jump for a chance to win it! We’ll select one winner on Wednesday, December 22.
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by Lauren Panepinto • 5 Comments • Posted in: Art, Contests, Covers, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- The Orbit Team - December 15th, 2010
If you’re a Jim Butcher fan, have we got some exciting news … Check out this page and you can win his ENTIRE Dresden Files series so far, including new books when they’re out next Spring, by telling us exactly why you think the Dresden Files series is so great. So, whether you’re a Butcher newbie or a seasoned pro fan, this is a great opportunity to win the whole series re-clothed in their fabulous new-look covers.
This competition is only for UK readers for shipping-related reasons, but there will be three lucky winners and the prize will also include books by authors Trent Jamieson and Kate Griffin as we think you’ll love them too. And if you just feel like telling us why the Dresden Files are greater than awesome, even if you aren’t eligible to win, we’d still love to hear from you!
by The Orbit Team • 1 Comment • Posted in: Contests, Orbit UK
- The Orbit Team - December 13th, 2010
It’s that time of the year — good cheer, decorations, warm fires, and of course: Loot! We’ve traveled deep into the Orbit HQ dungeon and returned with a chest of magnificent offerings that we’ll be giving away over the next few weeks. So check back here (or follow us on twitter or facebook) for updates, and chances to win. Check out today’s loot after the jump!
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by The Orbit Team • 3 Comments • Posted in: All posts, Contests, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- Lauren Panepinto - December 10th, 2010
It’s that time of the year — good cheer, decorations, warm fires, and of course: Loot! We’ve traveled deep into the Orbit HQ dungeon and returned with a chest of magnificent offerings that we’ll be giving away over the next few weeks. So check back here (or follow us on twitter or facebook) for updates, and chances to win.
Epic Loot 2: Win Poster-Size Prints of FEED and DEADLINE!
I have been very pleased to hear how much people have been loving the covers for Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire)’s Feed and Deadline. A few people have even asked for posters, how flattering. So today’s Epic Loot is a fancy art print of both covers, to adorn your bedroom, bathroom, secret lab, etc. printed on super glossy art paper. Totally suitable for framing…and thank you to Art Director Kirk Benshoff for modeling them...
UPDATE! This contest is now closed.
by Lauren Panepinto • 7 Comments • Posted in: All posts, Art, Contests, Covers, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- Lauren Panepinto - December 9th, 2010
Here at Orbit, we are dedicated to the scientific method, always tempered with a healthy dose of sarcastic humor. We are powered by geeks, after all. Thus we will be taking a hard look at the many ways the Holiday Season and SFF overlap, and serving up our findings in lovely visual form for your end-of-year enjoyment. Stay tuned for more in the coming weeks… and be sure to keep checking back over the next few weeks to enter our Epic Loot giveaways – the first one is here!
by Lauren Panepinto • 2 Comments • Posted in: Art, Contests, Covers, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Uncategorized
- The Orbit Team - December 8th, 2010
It’s that time of the year — good cheer, decorations, warm fires, and of course: Loot! We’ve traveled deep into the Orbit HQ dungeon and returned with a chest of magnificent offerings that we’ll be giving away over the next few weeks. So check back here (or follow us on twitter or facebook) for updates, and chances to win.
Epic Loot 1: Win The Griffin Mage Trilogy!
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by The Orbit Team • 8 Comments • Posted in: All posts, Contests, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- Lauren Panepinto - November 9th, 2010
And the winner is…….Bountiless! The contest really did come down to the wire between Bountiless and Breathless, but in the end, Boba Fett took the prize. And speaking of prize, we were SO impressed with the quality of the contestants, and the feverish commenting, that we decided to award the winner with a $100 gift certificate to Clockwork Couture, helmed by none other than expert panelist and Alexia model, Donna Ricci.
Mr. Fett, please contact me at lauren (dot) panepinto (at) hbgusa (dot) com and we’ll work out the details on the prize.
Of course, ’tis true that Boba Fett is a bit of a tough fit for the world of the Parasol Protectorate, but I think it can work if you think of it like this: If you forget that this is a reimagining of Boba Fett, and just take the costume fresh and just on Steampunk merit, it is absolutely a fine piece of craftsmanship and design. And a hell of a lot of manpower. And I think there is definitely room in the Parasol Protectorate for a helmeted bounty hunter.
And, you know, besides that, it’s freaking Boba Fett in Steampunk. That’s awesome.
You can find out more about the mysterious Mr. Fett at his facebook page. I hear he is available for parties!
Truth be told, all of our finalists — and really all of the contestants — embodied the best aspect of Steampunk: they had fun. I love Steampunk and other “retrofuturism” because you really can bring so much of yourself to it, and look awesome doing it. Your own background, look, culture, your own nerdy obsessions. And it takes chutzpah to dress up on a day not related to Halloween, even for a convention where a whole lot of other people are dressed up too. I applaud the entire Parasol Protectorate Class of 2010. And get working on your costumes again for next year!
by Lauren Panepinto • 7 Comments • Posted in: Art, Contests, Conventions, Covers, Orbit US, Uncategorized
- Lauren Panepinto - November 5th, 2010
photo by Jeffery Scott
Parasol Protectorate fans, I have a special treat for you today. I have the face of Alexia Tarabotti herself, Donna Ricci, here to give some critiques and comments on the Parasol Protectorate cover finalists. We’ve talked about Donna’s role in the covers before, but I love talking about what a great team-up these covers have been. Donna is the proprietress of Clockwork Couture, which, in my opinion, has the best selection of Steampunk clothing and accessories on the web. She’s also a professional model, a writer on Steampunk fashion, and a champion of beasts great and small. I can’t think of a more fitting person to be our Alexia. And as an extra treat, I’m going to post the images below that became our Parasol Protectorate covers, before and after I did all the photoshop magic to them. You’ll see Donna needs very little retouching!
Before I hand it over, however, I just want to update you guys. We’re going to leave voting open over the whole weekend, and I’ll be tallying votes sometime Monday (after my first coffee, at least) and announcing the winner. N0w remember guys, one vote per email address please…that means you, mom-of-Doubtless! haha.
Ok, here’s the original images of Donna, next to the cover images of without the text, as a bit of a cover “evolution” shot:
original photo by Derek Caballero, background image from Getty Images
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by Lauren Panepinto • 3 Comments • Posted in: Art, Contests, Covers, Orbit US
- Lauren Panepinto - November 4th, 2010
Ay-leen's photo by Anna Fischer
The competition is fierce and the comments are flying over at the finalist round for the Parasol Protectorate cover contest, and I thought it would be fun to have some “Steampunk Experts” give us some professional opinions of the finalists ensembles and posing. First up is the Ay-leen the Peacemaker, mistress of the fabulous blog Beyond Victoriana, who also contributes to other blogs and projects on retro-futurism. Beyond Victoriana focuses on multiculturalism in Steampunk and retro-futurism, and just won a Last Drink Bird Head Award.
I really enjoy reading Ay-leen’s essays because it’s good to remember that although there is a huge Victorian Age element to Steampunk, that does not mean that it has to be solely Victorian England. I’m really into the idea that a lot of the fun of retro-futurism is that you can really make it personal in style, and that can include your own family and cultural heritage. For example, check out the costume in the Careless cover below, which kind of has an awesome eastern/turkish element to it.
Anyway, enough about what I think…on to Ayleen’s comments…
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by Lauren Panepinto • Post a Comment • Posted in: Art, Contests, Covers, Orbit US
- Lauren Panepinto - November 3rd, 2010
Voting is now open for the finals of the Parasol Protectorate cover contest! The competition was fierce, and after 5 rounds of intense voting, here are your finalists. You’ll have all this week to vote. On Monday I will again tally the votes and name the winner and new Team Captain for the Parasol Protectorate Class of 2010…or is that 1910?
You might notice there are 6 finalists, and that’s because there was a bit of suspicious voting in Round One. So let me make the rules clear once more. Only vote once. I can see your email addresses so if there are two votes coming from the same account (that aren’t an obvious computer error) then all the votes from that account will be disqualified. To vote, please state clearly in the comments which cover (by title) you are voting for. DON’T say “#3″ and don’t say you’re stuck between Sugarless and Hairless, because neither will count as a vote. DO feel free to applaud, praise, or heckle other finalists in the comments as well. DO feel free to vote for yourself. And most of all DO remember that you are voting on the person’s costume and pose. And poise. Not the title, cover layout, or background, which were all entirely my doing.
Over the next few days I will have some Steampunk and fashion experts weighing in on the finalists, so stay tuned! The finalist covers are after the jump…
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by Lauren Panepinto • 190 Comments • Posted in: Art, Contests, Covers, Orbit US, Uncategorized
