Cover Love ... by Stephanie Julian

As a writer, the second hardest part of writing a book for me is opening the file with my as-yet-unseen cover. It's the biggest part of creating a book that I have no control over. And to me, that's scary. Writing is all about control. Your characters. Your world. Your words.

It literally took me several minutes to work up the courage to open the file for the first book in my Magical Seduction series, Seduced by Magic. What if the artist hadn't captured the image as I saw it in my head? What if I hated it? What if I the guy totally turned me off or the girl made me want to cringe?

Finally, I made myself click that file and I gasped...in wonder. Look at it and tell me that is not a beautiful cover. It's gorgeous. I was thrilled. And relieved. And I thought, how perfect.

Now, that cover in no way resembled what I had filled out on the cover art request form. I don't remember word for word what I wrote, but I do remember writing something about wings. And artist Les Byerly took that one word and crafted a cover that fits the book absolutely. It remains my favorite cover, simply because I adore those wings.

For Seduced by Magic, I had a distinct image in mind when I filled out the cover request. But when I wrote the request for Edge of Moonlight, the latest book in my Lucani Lovers series, I had no clue what I thought that cover should look like. It's a werewolf book. Maybe a wolf? A hot guy?

What did I get? A cool-looking chick (in fur!!) and an atmospheric shot with a tiny little guy in the background. But that cover, by cover-artist-goddess Syneca, so perfectly expresses the mood of the story, I think she must have crawled inside my head, dug around for a while and pulled this out of my subconscious. That woman is Kaine. How the hell did Syneca know that?

In the course of two years, I've gotten one or two covers that made me go, hmm, yeah, not exactly what I was hoping for. But those have been few and far between. And one has been my biggest-selling book. Go figure.

What A Goddess Wants, the first book in my Forgotten Goddesses series with Sourcebooks Casablanca, won't be out until July 2011 but my cover has already been produced. Before the book was even completed, which totally blew my mind.

I wondered how an artist could come up with a cover for a book that I didn't even have a handle on completely.

Once again, I hesitated before opening the file and again, I gasped in absolute delight. Gorgeous, isn't it? I think so. It's the perfect blend of heat and color and sophistication.

I don't think I'll ever get over that initial trepidation when I'm opening a cover file because the cover embodies so much of our hopes and dreams for a book. But I'm beginning to think cover artists are mind readers. Or, at the very least, wizards.

So tell me, what it is about a cover that grabs your attention?

The story of a book and its cover

When I saw the cover for Girl, Stolen, I fell in love.  The designer, Rich Deas, told me he made more than 30 comps before the final cover was chosen.  

Rich told me that, while he is often provided with a synopsis and notes, he prefers to read the material.  He said, “I don’t really feel comfortable designing any cover without reading the text. As an art director, it’s especially difficult to direct another designer’s work without fully knowing the material. So I try my best to read as many manuscripts as possible.”

As he is reading the manuscripts, he scribbles notes, flags pages, and draws sketches.  He said, “ It’s more a free stream of thought which I come back to later and edit down.”

Some of the other covers he came up with:  

I like this one a lot.

No fingerprints - but more drama?

Feels too much like Saw

Nice mix of blindness/crime

An all black over is eye-catching, but hard for Marketing to love

Another from Rich's photo shoot

What about stock photography?

As a reader and author who also loves book covers, I’ve noticed that stock photography is more and more common.  Rich told me that approach has its own pros and cons.  “It can be a great resource, giving designers access to millions of great images that we would not be able to obtain from an affordable photoshoot or illustration. But creatively, it can be limiting when a designer depends too much on stock photography for a “quick fix” or presentable option. The best covers are usually based on strong concepts and original ideas, not just a pretty picture.”

Rather than relying on a single stock photo, Rich says designers are now using and manipulating a combination of photos to create a unique image that is a good fit for the book.  

The real girl behind the scenes

So where did the image for Girl, Stolen come from?  It’s actually of Rich’s neighbor, a teenage girl.  He says, “When possible, I like to create images with my own photos and illustrations. It feels more natural than looking through a million images trying to find something that almost suits what I am looking for.”

“I took probably a couple hundred photos before we decided on this version. In Photoshop, I added the distressed texture and title lettering, and tweaked the color. The fingernail polish was a last minute addition - and then it was later scuffed up.”

As for my cover, he told me, “The cover image for Girl Stolen is a direct response to reading the manuscript. The book is incredibly intense!

The perspective of a blind girl caught in a desperate situation is a brilliant way to pull the reader in. I wanted the cover to be a bit unnerving. I would not have come up with this image or concept without reading the story first.”

The next step for Rich is to comp up at least three different concepts.  These are shown to the publisher and editor.  If everyone agrees on one or two, these designs are then shown to the head of sales and marketing and the president of the division.  

Cover me

We all know that in life, one is not supposed to judge a book by its cover.  But those of us who write novels know all too well that people do, in fact, judge books by their covers.  In fact, the cover your book gets could translate into major (or really, really bad) sales.

But not me.  I don’t judge books by their covers (in life or in the bookstore).  For me it’s all about the first line of a book.  Ever since I can remember, I’d just pick up a book and read the first line.  If the first line didn’t do it for me, chances are I’d put the book back on the shelf. 

I think it all started in the eighth grade when I read Rebecca by Daphne duMaurier.  “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.”  I can’t think of a better first line for a book.  I was immediately engaged.

I was later entranced by Elinor Lipman in her book, The Inn at Lake Devine. “It was not complicated, and, as my mother pointed out, not even personal:  They had a hotel; they didn’t want Jews; we were Jews.”  Isn’t that a story you want to hear more about?!

And then, there is Jay McInerney’s second person Bright Lights, Big City: “You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning.”  I immediately thought to myself:  I’m not?  Well, then, who am I?  I couldn’t read the rest of the book fast enough.

Or Emily Giffin’s powerful opener for Something Blue:  “I was born beautiful.”  That one always knocks me out.  Immediately sets the voice for the entire book with that tiny little sentence.

And of course, the mother of all first lines, Jane’s Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” 

Covers are great, don’t get me wrong, but it’s the first lines that suck me in.  I remember them; they stay with me long after I’ve finished the book.  I often go back to my favorites and re-read them to figure out just what made them so magical for me.

What draws you into a book?  Is it the cover?  The first line?  The first page?



I'm the author of Scot on the Rocks and Jack with a Twist.  My work has also appeared in Publisher's Weekly and the New York Post.  Please visit me online at http://www.brendajanowitz.com/.