To give myself some motivation as I move through my second edits, I’ve started looking at cover designs.
I’ve commissioned my book cover from Damonza. They do custom designs and have a good reputation in the author community.
I want to share that process with you.
Description and Details of the Book
Part of what you submit to the artist before they start their work is a brief. You talk about your book at a high level, including things like setting, tone, feel, and other intangibles. You can describe some scenes or distinctive elements in your book. You can describe your main character.
Things you also provide are some comparable covers you like. Images of other books that appeal to you. Usually these are things from your genre, but you can include additional images that appeal to you. I had seen some cartoons that seemed interesting online, so I shared those as well as a couple other book covers I thought looked like the right vibe for my work.
You usually need to decide if you want a person on the cover or not. That point seems to drive some design decisions. I didn’t feel too strongly about it one way or another for my book. That changed as we went through the process.
For me, during this time, I had to give careful thought to my genre. Am I in the right genre? Am I writing a cozy murder mystery with a gay protagonist, or am I writing a gay fiction book with mystery elements? Or am I writing a gay romance with a murder? Having finished my first draft, I had a much better idea of this than when I started writing. But I still waffled a bit in deciding.
Things you should generally avoid are trying to recreate a scene of the book down to the individual “blade of grass” level. Give the artist enough to work with, and trust that they know what they’re doing.
Video Chat
After all that information is submitted, you have the option of scheduling a video chat with them. I did a Zoom call with their leading man, Damon Freeman. I explained to him that I was a brand new author and a bit of an idiot around cover design. He listened patiently, as if he has heard this all before, and took in all my concerns. He offered some suggestions and then he politely shooed me away so the artists could begin work.
Payment
Around this point they bill you. The way Damonza does it is they bill you half up front and half when the process is done. My Amex got a workout here, but I reminded myself that my book cover is my single biggest thing that will attract people to my book, and it is money well spent.
Round One
The artist works for a week or so and then delivers two designs. During that week of waiting, I second guessed everything about my decisions around the cover. Should I have focused more on setting, less on tone? Should I have asked for more focus on the main character details? Should I have gone with a cheaper company or tried to do it myself?
Eventually the two designs arrived. I opened my email with gleeful anticipation of the perfect cover and … I knew neither of them would be the final cover.
I must admit my emotions did a somersault at this point. Was I right to choose this company? Neither of these were the perfect image.
Then I realized this was part of the process. They present concepts, not a finished product at this point. These ideas should help shape my direction and clarify what I do want.
I replied back late that day, and I probably would have written a more coherent email if I had slept on it. I identified what I liked about design-1, and what I liked about design-2. I identified things I didn’t like. And then I added some more thoughts. This time I focused on my audience, and made the decision that I do indeed want to see a character on the cover. I made firmer decisions around color. I evaluated the font of both the title and my name. I looked over some of the ornamentation, like the border they used, and gave thought to how this design would differ (and remain the same) for a Book 2, Book 3, etc.
All in all, the first round of choices helped drive me towards a more refined vision of my cover.
When I replied back, I realized I wasn’t working directly with the artist. Rather, I was working with someone who could take all my ramblings and present usable feedback to the designer. I’m okay with this. In my day job I sling computer code, and typically have a project manager who is the intermediary between me and the client who wants code slung. It works, and it did in this case.
Round Two
At this point, I’m a heroin addict needing my next fix. I want to see the revised covers fast. Then, at some point, I forgot about it and got on with revising my book. I was surprised when I got the next email with Round Two versions. What I thought was an eternity ago only took six days. I realized time is not a thing of physics, it’s an amorphous thing defined by our perception.
They again included two different designs. I immediately knew which one I liked. It was much, much closer to what I was looking for. It worked for the audience. They ignored all the rambling I did in my initial brief and distilled it down to the important elements. They understood what the book was about, and what was needed.
Today
It’s still not perfect. I gave some additional feedback for changes, but much fewer points than I did in Round One. At this point, I have faith that it will work out and I’ll have a good cover when the process is done.
Now comes the waiting part again, but this time I’m more relaxed about it. I know the process and how it works. When it is all said and done, my Amex will get another workout, but I’ll be confident that the money spent is well worth it.