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 strong ideas about what they envision as their “dream” cover and I like to start there. I usually ask a few questions and then do my “homework” to see if there are any other books with similar titles in similar genres that may currently be in print. If there’s any conflict or something too similar, we’ll talk about that first, then proceed once you’ve decided the best course of action.
After getting the author’s input, I “percolate” ideas — that’s how a dear friend and client described my creative process — and refine 6 to 12 ideas to present in the first round of comprehensive designs.
Barbara Townsend, "Blood Atonement" author, was open to a full exploratory of directions and design including title treatment and adding positioning copy to create a more visually engaging "first read".
Refining and Finalizing.
Deciding what works and refining the elements.
We usually go to 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 — 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.
The concept, now approved, I produced final high-resolution artwork further refining the stark impact of the bloody knife blade that became the foundation graphic for the final cover layout.