Rachel is under the weather, so I'm dropping in to do a post on my latest obsession, my new cover! As soon as my publisher sent me the cover art, I've been in a fog. All right, so this *is* a bit of a narcissistic post, I readily admit. But I can only claim mercy as there is nothing quite like seeing the cover for your book to really hammer home the fact that, yes, you HAVE a book about to be published. That, yes, it WILL happen. And then there is the fact that getting one's cover is a dodgy proposition. A lot can go wrong. A lot.
What if you hate your cover? What if the sight of it makes you cringe? It's been known to happen. As a romance writer, I knew I walked a particularly loaded minefield of scary cover-fail. We're talking Fabio hair blowing in nonexistent wind, heaving bosoms spilling out of artfully torn gowns, or...gulp...pink! Endless, shiny pink. Shudder. So, yeah, I was just a wee bit anxious to see what my publisher would come up with.
Early after I signed with my publisher, my editor sent me an email to discuss my cover. I was asked to provide character descriptions of my hero and heroine, a key scene within the book that I thought might work well for the cover, as well as a list of covers I both liked and hated. That was fun. And, again, a little daunting. I'm afraid my anxiety might have shown as I provided not the brief paragraph of description as asked, but a full character dossier complete with images I liked. Ah, well, I like to be prepared. So off I sent my *cough* package, and then nothing. I heard or saw nothing for months.
But finally, a hint. The cover would feature my heroine only. Okay, that's good. I had mentioned that I disliked romance covers that had the characters clutching -way too reminiscent of those Fabio covers for me.
A little later, there were rumors of a photo shoot. Here are pictures as provided by editorial assistant Lauren Plude who is working on FIRELIGHT with my editor.
http://yfrog.com/h8pjq8j
http://twitpic.com/4zc6zb
Then finally. FINALLY. The cover, which I admit, when I received the file, I opened with one eye open, I was so nervous.
YAY! Not only did it avoid my personal romance cover pet peeves, but I think Miranda looks pretty kick ass.
And that is the story of the cover for FIRELIGHT. :)
WOW! You got a winner with that cover! Oh my, that's a killer and it will hook anyone who sees it. Congrats, Kristen.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! That is a beautiful cover, Kristen!
ReplyDeleteI'll tell you, it certainly doesn't evoke the usual romance fare. It feels more edgy, more dangerous. Good for you for getting something close to what you wanted!
ReplyDeleteLove this aspect of book production. I've been collecting photos of scenery and people for years, juts to be ready On The Day. :) I even make my own mock covers. Very amateurish and clunky attempts, I'm sure, but I just love the process and think maybe it's something I could have done as a profession, if I wasn't so bent on writing books.
ReplyDeleteAnd how did I hit post without adding, GORGEOUS, Kristen. Very striking. It tells me there's way more to this story than romance.
ReplyDeleteSquee!! Wow, that's amazing Kristen! Sooo going to be getting this for everyone's Christmas gifts this year :-)
ReplyDeleteIt's stunning.
ReplyDelete@Zan Marie -thanks so much. It is eye-catching, isn't it? :)
ReplyDelete@Carrie -thank you! :D
@Mary -I agree; it's very edgy. But then so is the story. :D
@Lori -I did the same thing! :) Still do. I would like to think I could do book design, but my sister is a designer. Just watching her make my Romance trading cards, and a the work that went into that, made me twitchy. Definitely not my calling! lol.
ReplyDelete@Deniz -hehe. Well they make good Valentines gifts too. :D And thanks.
@Beth -thank you!
Ah, I love this kick-ass cover. Your story deserves no less. :-)
ReplyDeleteDitto what Rachel said. It's an awesome cover. Especially that part that says, Kristen Callihan!
ReplyDelete