Fun with Cover Design

It's Fun Friday, lovely readers, and I thought you might like to share my fun working with my cover designer on a new series. This is the first time I've worked on a multi-author series, so I was restricted to certain elements. The series name, logo, sequence, type model, and setting were all set in stone.

The name of this exciting new series is The Brides of Pelican Rapids about a mail-order bride agency and the brides brought from the post-civil war south to marry the bachelors of Pelican Rapids, Minnesota. You'll see the culture clash with that, I'm sure. My particular book is number 7 and won't be released until Jan 2020, but these stories are interconnected, so all the covers must be too.

My heroine, Molly, a talented pianist, brings her grand piano--the only thing saved when her plantation is burned--all the way from Georgia. This creates a problem for the hero, since it's impossible to fit the piano into his small farmhouse. A clash of expectations there.

Naturally, I wanted the piano to be on the cover, but the covers had to be set outside. No problem. My idea was to put it in a picnic setting, since Molly plays at the Fourth of July picnic. This is my first cover view.

Lovely--except that's not a grand piano. Back to the drawing board.

There are a few problems with this cover. It is a grand piano, but it's so small, it looks like a toy. I suppose its size in relation to the trees was proper, but it still looks funny, besides, this is not a picnic site, and setting up a picnic, with people, tents, blankets on the ground, etc, would make the cover too busy. The other problem is this part of Minnesota doesn't have mountains like that in the background. On the other hand, I liked this new pose. Notice how the model's hair is outside the collar. Much better.

I finally threw out the idea of the piano. It just wouldn't work. I suggested the farmhouse instead, but with a clean background, no mountains. Here is the result. The farmhouse is way back there, but it's in the picture and doesn't make the cover too busy.

This is perfect, except the logo gets lost in the sleeve lace. To me it looked like that poor pelican got caught in a fishing net. Fortunately, my designer could tweak things like that.

I've really enjoyed working with Evelyne Labelle, of Carpe Librum Book Design. She's not only talented, but she knows how to deal with ticky authors. This is the final, approved design with the logo fixed. In fact, I'm glad to get this cover so far in advance because it's inspiring me to write the story.

What do you expect in a book cover? Do you look at the details?

Everyone, have a great weekend.

Cover Reveal - The Captain's Challenge

Hello, lovey readers. I’m pleased to reveal the cover of my next release right here on STT.

Some covers are more difficult than others. For example, my mail-order bride series was easy-peasy. Readers’ expectations are pretty much set in stone for romance, and especially sub-genres like mail-order brides. Not so with mixed genres like my Wolf Deceivers series. Book 3, The Captain’s Challenge starts out in Savannah, one of the most romantic places in the world, in my humble opinion. But like the other books in this series, it’s a mix of historical, romance, and suspense.

I wanted a Southern background since the story is set in Reconstruction Georgia. Most of it takes place in Macon, Georgia, where the heroine’s family townhouse is located. I used the Hay House, a lovely antebellum house in Macon, as my model. I’d toured the house twice so I had a good feel for it, including those beautifully restored rooms.

Actually there are many antebellum houses in Central and South Georgia, and those further south have those moss draped live oaks I knew would create that sinister touch my story 

needed. However, the background can’t compete with the models representing the book’s characters. After finding the models that looked similar to my hero and heroine, I wisely left the rest up to my cover designer.

 Army Intelligence Officer, Alex Blaine, is tasked to uncover the ring-leader of an anarchist gang that’s endangering the residents and thwarting the new Georgia government. Gillian Carey has lived in England for the past eight years. Returning to her home in Reconstruction Georgia, she intends to search for her brother, still missing from the war. But Gillian is shocked to find a different world from the one she left as a twelve-year-old, her father a broken and brooding man. She turns to the handsome army captain to help her find her brother, not realizing her father is one of the suspects Alex is investigating. Or that he may have been responsible for her brother's death.

What’s the first thing you notice about a book cover?

Comment on any post now through July 1st to get your name in the drawing for Wedding Barter by Alice Aranz! Winner will be announced in the July 2nd issue of the WeeklyWindup.

Book Cover Photography

Photography, like writing, is both a craft and an art, as I discovered when setting up my indie publishing business. The plans were to build a family business. My daughter was a photographer and my grandson was studying graphic editing. Eventually we would do all the formatting and cover design, but until we became proficient, we'd contract out the various jobs.

 

Then I read a blog post by Karen Witemeyer about how her covers were photographed, and I said, “Even if we're not ready for cover design, we can do the photography.” Thanks, Karen.

My daughter used mostly portrait shots in her business, but she had one of those cameras with lenses that cost more money than the camera itself and was willing to take on my project. Sometimes portraits work for book covers. Bethany House used portraits for Susan Anne Mason's Courage to Dream series. Here is a photo I was originally going to use in a book on crocheting, and will someday, but I also have it in mind for a book set in the flapper era. Yes, that's one of my crocheted hats.

All covers must convey the genre and the mood of the story. My first releases were a series of mail-order-bride novellas, and I’d read enough of those to have a clear vision of my covers. Trouble was, my heroines were a brunette, a blonde, and a red-head. Yep, that required three models.

I find most of my models from college students. They are cheap, but they’re not professional models, so it takes dozens of pictures to find the right look. I’ve learned you must take advantage of the model’s attributes. The slope of this girl’s neck (below) shows the tightened cord in her neck, indicating tension.

Usually, the subject shouldn’t be smiling unless it’s light romance, but it was important that the blonde in my second novella show her dimples. It took a dozen poses to catch just the right smile.

It’s also important that the clothes fit. The redhead in my third novella was so thin, her dress didn’t exactly fit, but Photoshop can usually fix problems like that. In fact, you can do all sorts of marvelous things with Photoshop, like putting one model's head on another's body. 

Almost all photos have to be edited. There was a problem with the dress worn by the model for my first novella. The left sleeve of the pink dress is badly wrinkled. It didn't matter, because we cropped the whole shoulder off. Ha ha. A good photo editor can make almost any photo look good.

 

It takes a good cover designer to change the photos into a good cover, but I’ve been fortunate enough to find designers who will work with custom photos. Although I still use stock backgrounds. I always give the designer several mockups to choose from.

Why go to all the trouble, you may ask. I’ve asked myself more than once. Most indie authors use stock photos for subject and background. The most important reason for custom photography is it allows the author to fit her vision of the book. Besides, it creates a unique cover that will never pop up on another book.

I don’t always agree with the designer. This is the photo I wanted for my first full-length novel, Pursued, Book 1 in my Intrigue under Western Skies series. The designer used another shot, saying it conveyed fear better, and it does, as you can tell in the book cover below. But I’m still not totally satisfied. I’m a perfectionist and always want to do another photoshoot. That’s OK. When I finish the series, I’ll probably redo all the covers. One of the benefits of indie publishing.

There you have it—a small glimpse of how book covers are created.

The second book in my Intrigue under Western Skies series, Surrendered, will be released later in October. It requires the hero on the cover, and male models are hard to find. For now, I’m using my grandson, who also does the mockups for me. It’s important not to show much of his face, since he’ll have to model for future books.

 

***Giveaway***Giveaway***Giveaway***

Which of the three mockups do you prefer? All comments during this week will be entered to win an Amazon giftcard for an e-book copy of Pursued.  

 An idealistic librarian and a troubled rancher fight wickedness in high places.

Carianne Barlow never expected to leave her comfortable Philadelphia townhouse and travel to the wild west of 1884, but when she inherits a fortune, conditions are attached. She must carry out her grandmother's vision of a western culture center anchored by a large library. Such an undertaking takes political support, and no one is more influential in the west than Rhyan Cason, a handsome cattle baron with the reputation of hardened businessman and rabble-rousing lobbyist with a preference for the ladies. Carianne gets on the west-bound train with no thought of the treacherous world awaiting her in the little prairie town near Rhyan's sprawling ranch.

When Rhyan asks her to catalog his library, Carianne jumps at the chance without considering the ramifications. Then she learns too late Rhyan is pursued by a sinister enemy determined to destroy everything he cares for--including her.