Brave New Bookshelf Episode 63 – Hybrid AI Cover Design and Kickstarter Success with Melinda Kucsera

By Danica Favorite February 25, 2026

In this episode of Brave New Bookshelf, Steph Pajonas and Danica Favorite explore what happens when artistic skill meets artificial intelligence.

Their guest, epic fantasy author Melinda Kucsera, shares how she blends traditional digital painting with AI tools to create stunning covers, immersive illustrated editions, and highly successful Kickstarter campaigns. From technical publishing setbacks to six crowdfunding launches, Melinda’s story proves that authors can build powerful careers beyond a single retailer.

From Scientific Publishing to Epic Fantasy

Melinda brings a rare combination of experiences. With 16 years in science journal publishing and a thriving indie fantasy career, she bridges structured non-fiction workflows with imaginative worldbuilding.

She is best known for her Curse Breaker series and Rogue Gods trilogy, and she has become known for producing richly illustrated editions that would once have been financially out of reach for independent authors.

After losing her Amazon KDP account due to a technical glitch, Melinda pivoted. She embraced wide distribution and crowdfunding, demonstrating that platform independence is not just possible, but profitable.

"I illustrated the entire trilogy and it ended up being over 300 images. And I ran the Kickstarter and 55 people backed to, which I thought was really awesome for a trilogy that they had not read."

Melinda Kucsera, on creating mass-illustrated editions with AI.

Hybrid AI Cover Design: Art First, AI Second

Before AI art tools existed, Melinda relied heavily on Daz 3D to create character renders. The process was time-intensive. High-resolution renders could take up to 48 hours and were vulnerable to crashes or system updates.

Today, her workflow combines:

AI-generated backgrounds and textures
3D character bases from Daz
Heavy post-production work in Adobe Photoshop

She treats AI as a starting layer, not a finished product. Hours are spent correcting anatomy, repainting details, and compositing multiple images into one cohesive cover. The result feels polished and intentional, not automated.

Her golden rule: Never let AI handle your typography.

Text should always be added separately in a design program to maintain consistency, meet print margins, and ensure licensing compliance.

AI Inside Kickstarter Campaigns

Melinda has run six Kickstarter campaigns, and AI plays a role in nearly every stage.

For her Rogue Gods trilogy, she created more than 300 interior illustrations using AI-assisted workflows. This allowed her to offer premium illustrated editions that would otherwise have required a prohibitive art budget.

Beyond visuals, she uses LLMs such as Claude and Gemini. These tools help her:

Identify marketable tropes
Distill 500-page novels into tight sales copy
Craft Kickstarter campaign descriptions
Analyze positioning for epic fantasy audiences

Transparency is key. Kickstarter requires AI disclosure, and Melinda openly shares her hybrid process to maintain reader trust.

Practical Cover Design Advice

Melinda shared several actionable tips for authors experimenting with AI:

Separate typography from art
Use reverse font search tools if you love an AI-generated font style
Use Photoshop’s “Remove” and “Generative Fill” tools to clean artifacts
When struggling with hands, prompt characters to hold an object like a sword or staff to improve rendering accuracy

AI reduces production time, but professional results still require human judgment.

"Instead of saying fix the hands or make the hands anatomically correct. You can say, have him hold a sword, ask it to do something with his hands. And it will regenerate them."

Melinda Kucsera, on prompting techniques to fix common AI art errors

Publishing Wide and Building Resilience

After her Amazon setback, Melinda doubled down on diversified distribution. She now distributes widely using PublishDrive and produces special print editions through BookVault.

Her success highlights a critical lesson: A loyal audience matters more than any single sales platform.

Crowdfunding has become a powerful revenue stream and a way to deepen reader relationships.

Tools Mentioned in This Episode

NightCafe Creator
Ideogram
Daz 3D
Adobe Photoshop
Affinity Photo
Claude
Gemini

Key Takeaways

AI works best as a hybrid creative tool
Kickstarter can fund premium illustrated editions
Professional typography should never be AI-generated
Wide distribution builds long-term stability
Transparency about AI builds trust

Want more insights on the evolving role of AI in publishing? Listen to this episode of Brave New Bookshelf on your favorite podcast platform.