We work together.
In terms of marketing success (sales), the cover will be the most important page of your project. After weeks, and maybe months, of editing you've arrived at your final draft, and creating a dynamic, results-producing cover image and title may seem daunting. But this “last mile” effort will make all the difference in the world. That's where I create a winning cover.
Getting started.
The first round of comprehensive cover designs.
Most authors have a clear vision for their ideal cover, so that’s where I begin. After asking a few questions, I research the market to identify any books with similar titles or concepts in the same genre. If there’s a potential conflict or overlap, we’ll discuss it before moving forward. With your input, I develop and refine ideas — what one longtime client affectionately calls my “percolation” process. From there, I create 6 to 12 distinct cover concepts for the first round of comprehensive designs. For Blood Atonement, author Barbara Townsend embraced a broad exploration of design directions, including title treatment and strategic positioning copy to create a stronger visual impact and more compelling first impression.
Refining and Finalizing.
Deciding what works and refining the elements.
A second round of comps based on the author’s input from the first round of ideas — what they like, don’t like, and want to see revised — is a usual "next step," although many times there’s a clear “winner” in the first round.
Barbara was pleased with my initial ideas, which were “close” to what she wanted without a clear winner. She asked me to combine the typography from one comp, background lace and droplets from another, and the knife blade from a third, which led to the second round of ideas shown here. In the third round, we added bridal flowers to the background and chose a stock photo with more delicate lace, which enhanced the drama of the knife blade and droplets.
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The concept, now approved, I produced the final high-resolution artwork, further refining the stark impact of the bloody knife blade that became the foundation graphic for the final cover layout.