Please Judge My Book by the Cover!

Dear Maggie,

Do you design your own book covers?

Sincerely,

An Artist in Astoria

Dear Artist,

I have a fantastic cover artist, Steven Meyer-Rassow, who is in charge of all my design work. It’s definitely a collaborative effort, but he does all the heavy lifting. When I knew I was writing a multi-book series, the first thing we did was ‘brand’ the look of the covers. Each one features a different couple and a different scene, but the overall style follows a particular pattern.

When we’re working on a new cover, I consider what scenes from the story stand out and might be translated into a good visual. I suggest a couple of ideas to Steve, and he creates a few choices for me to look at. As far as the couple, I describe my vision for them, and he finds stock photos that are a close match. He’s then able to doctor them up a bit. He can darken or lighten hair, add or change the color of their clothing, adjust skin tone, and more. We’ll go back and forth a few times until we’re both satisfied the cover reflects my vision as a storyteller and Steve’s vision as an artist.

Honestly, working on the cover is one of my favorite parts of the production process. I love that Steve takes my jumble of ideas and turns them into a stunning visual rendition of the story. They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but please, judge mine!

Here are three ‘proto’ covers for Moving Target. Next post, I’ll show you the final product.