Seeing a cover for the first time is like meeting a blind date. You hope for attraction to strike. You look for something to spark your interest and inspire a positive impression. When I get the email from my publisher or my indie cover designer, I’m filled with a mix of excitement, hope, and anxiety. A picture is worth a thousand words (or 90,000 in the case of my novels), and this one image needs to convey my main character’s personality and hint at story elements in a way that compels a reader to click to learn more.
Early in my career, I had little to no say over my covers after they were designed, but with more experience and a proven track record (and my agent’s great contract negotiation skills) I now have a chance to give feedback before a cover is finalized. This is such a boon. This particular cover went through several iterations before we landed on a final product that made everyone happy. The designers are absolutely amazing at what they do and were able to implement my suggestions admirably.
Just from this little glimpse, you can learn that my heroine is a bookish lady. Exactly the impression I wanted to leave. Jane Cowan is a shy parson’s daughter who much rather be reading than interacting with others, unless those others were under the age of 10.
Jane meets a pair of adorable young runaways at the Albany train station – runaways who just happen to have a very single father. Since the train station plays a pivotal role in this initial meeting, we chose to feature that setting on the cover.
Drum roll please . . .
What do you think?
Wooing the Wallflower is Book 2 in the Secret Society of Spinster’s series, and it will be releasing next February. It’s up for preorder now.
Here is an early version of the cover that I decided to change.
I didn’t particularly care for this model. I did like her updo and glasses, but everything else just felt slightly off. Also, while she is a parson’s daughter and the church plays a major role in the story, I was afraid having the church as the backdrop made her seem too pious or holier-than-thou. My agent actually worried that the image might portray the opposite, that she was skipping church to read her novel. The book she is holding felt wrong too. Even though this was a stock photo, it felt a bit fake somehow.
Anyway, one of the other designs that they had already been working with included the train station, so we had a great starting place for a new vision, and I’m so happy with the way it turned out in the end.
What attracts you to a book cover?