Designing the Perfect Cover

At one time or another, we’ve all been admonished for “judging a book by its cover” in the metaphorical sense that it is intended.  No one is immune from forming a hasty opinion, and there are times in which good friends need to remind us to have an open mind.    

No one ever said that about an actual book cover, though.  It’s well known that readers do judge the quality of literature by the cover.   That is why designers can charge a good sum to craft that perfectly eye-catching layout.  It seems a worthy investment considering the marketing value of appealing graphics. 

Fearing my own inexperience, I chose to hire a professional to create something that would meet industry standards.  After doing my due diligence, I selected a graphic designer who believed in my book.   Financially, she was competitive but what set her apart was her enthusiasm for my story. 

Her first contribution was to find two spreads from the story that would work well as a cover.  I was disappointed with this idea as it seemed completely unoriginal, but I posed them to my artist to see what he could do.  The first was our original title page shown below as  Cover 1.  The second was a new layout of a critical scene in the story, which turned into Cover 2.  

Both were beautiful, but Cover 1 was clearly better. I liked the signature look of the indigo sky, the larger moon allowed for excellent placement of the title, and the detail of the birds was stupendous. Cover 2, in contrast, had a cumbersome tree right where I thought the title needed to be, and taking the tree out left too much white space in the composition.

It was an easy choice. We moved forward with creating a back page for Cover 1. After considering the types of information that could be included on the back cover, it seemed that the following components would be our target.

• Illustrations– Preferably integrated with the front cover, and with content that supports characters, scenes, or themes in the story.
• Description– A pithy statement introducing the conflict and characters, and a suggestion of the surprise ending.
• ISBN and Barcode– Very important sales information.
• Quote– This would be great if it was a respectable review, but a quote from the book can showcase the fact that it is written in verse.

This is what Jim came up with something that hit every note! The birch trees brilliantly framed the description. The action in the scene was compelling, and the moody blue skies added interest and color.

Yet I did not like it. It was hard to articulate why I had this reaction, but the best I could come up with is that it presented the wrong mood. The fox and the crow looked like they were on the hunt. I saw danger, hardly the vibe of my warm and fuzzy story. Once I saw that, I could not let it go.

So, I threw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater and suggested a whole new look.

I went back to Cover 2. The lighter background and colorful birch could make the design cheerier. If we moved the tree to the back, a Maine landscape feature could fill in the empty space on the front. Then, instead of the crows, why not a nest of owlet’s in the birch? What could be more endearing than that? Finally, because I did not want to give up the indigo, I suggested a nighttime horizon similar to what was used in some of the interior spreads.

Jim was a trooper. He listened to all of my ideas and produced the most accurate rendition that anyone could have.

Again, it was beautiful. Unfortunately, what we gained in cheery content was lost in artistic unity (in my humble opinion). The birds seemed too big for the landscape and the white looked bland and unfinished. It was clear from the minute I saw this rendition that the first was better. It took days for me to break the news to Jim. If he was frustrated with me, he did not show it. He was the consummate professional.

“Can’t we just change the animals on the back of Cover 1?” I asked. “Maybe, in keeping with the action of the scene, we could have the owlets flying in the air. And instead of a fox chasing the hare, maybe the turkey walking across a meadow?”

“Owlets don’t fly,” Jim informed me, “but I could do it.” I laughed heartily at my own misunderstanding, and discarded the flying owlets.

“Just do what you can,” I said. Those were always the magic words. I had learned that when I got out of the way, Jim did amazing work.

A few days later, I get his new rendition. Perfect!

Finally, the book went to press and I got samplings from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and IngramSpark. What I saw was distressing. Print runs had a vast variation in color. My cover printed blue, brown, dark gray, and most unattractive, purple.

At first, I figured that it had something to do with the digital file. I tried adjusting settings. When that failed, I started over from the original file and recreated the document making sure to limit the rasterizing. That did not work. I ended up buying batches and batches of proofs, and it was always the same thing. You never knew what you were going to get.

I had two choices: keep the original and accept the color for what it is, or change the cover.

The perfectionist in me won. I decided to change the cover, only this time I was on my own. I bought a subscription to Photoshop and went to work. I do not adapt to technology well, and this program was challenging. YouTube videos really help, but the process was slow and tedious.

My first idea was to pull the moon out and put it on an indigo background on the front cover, and crop the last page of the story for the back. It looked good, until I got the proof copy. It was too flat and the moon too big and a little off center.

My second idea was to use the half title page with the starry night sky, but the original illustration was only a half page so I had to clone what little there was of the blue sky for half a page. Then, I had to clear the stars around author and illustrators’ names. It wasn’t great. The moon was too big, so I tried again. This time, Amazon rejected the proof saying that the stars were interfering with the legibility of text.

I tried again. This time, I used a banner concept for the footer that contained the contributor’s names, and embellished the transition with a little swirl accent. Done!