LB&LI-Cover Art: From Form to Finish Part II

More Tips and Tricks

I put a call out to  industry friends—cover artists, authors, editors—for their thoughts and suggestions to help you help them and your book get the best cover for it. These are people who have “been there and done that” so their advice is always welcome. Here’s what one had to say.

Syneca—Cover Artist, Ellora’s Cave Publishing…

I think the most important thing an author can do is allow the artist to do their job.  There are times that an artist will have an idea that’s stunning, something that would catch the eye in a flash, but the author has been quite specific in asking for something else and so they end up with a less arresting cover.

Often authors think in a bit too specific terms … this "scene" from a book.  Well, we’re not creating scenes, but single shots – a moment frozen in time.  And is a specific shot from the book the best way to visually convey the tone or feel of the book?  Not always.  

A good example of an author working with an artist is found in the cover for Madeline Baker’s book Hawk’s Woman. 

  Being a true professional, Ms. Baker gave me an idea what her book was about – a wounded hero, heart-sick with loss and bent on revenge and the woman who gives up everything to help him.

That gave me an idea.  Focus on the emotions of the hero – let the reader see him in a moment where he’s longing for all he lost and wishing for justice.  Add elements that let the reader know this story has Native American elements in it and add into the background the suggestion of the heroine "watching" over the hero as she does in the book when she nurses him back to health.

Luckily for everyone, the cover turned out well, Ms. Baker and the publisher were thrilled and we all went home happy that day.

There are a lot of authors who put complete trust in artists and send up simply character description and a great synopsis and let us run with it.  That’s when artists get to shine.  Just as writers come up with words to reveal a story, artists come up with visuals to convey a feel and tone.

Finally, something quite important for authors is to always remember that the bottom line is drawing attention to the book.  A good cover that captures the eye may not be an elaborate shot.  It could be simple (for example, Roughing It by Vonna Harper  

Or one of my favorites, a cover by Darrell King for Ellora’s Cave.

In closing, I suppose my overall advice would be to work "with" rather than against the cover artist.  Chances are, you’ll end up with a better cover and one that will help the book get attention.

Hope this helps!!

Hugs-

Syn

~***~

In Cover Art: From Form to Finish Part III, I’ll share with you the stages of the art process on my end. I’ll *gulp* put up my concept sketches, comps and finals. You’ll  get author bits/requests that appeared on the art forms I was working from. Later in the workshop, I’ll also walk you through taking your final cover art and creating a static banner ad to use for marketing and promotions.

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