Behind the Cover for A Tender Hope

So many of you have told me how much you enjoy learning about the process involved in developing the wonderful covers that Revell has given me for each of my books, that -- as I promised last year -- I'm continuing to blog about them.

As is always the case, many people are involved in turning a concept into the final product, but the biggest responsibilities fall on the Art Director, Cheryl VanAndel, and the graphic designer, Dan Thornberg of Design Source Creative Services.

This time, the process included a step that I hadn't seen before, namely the creation of a cover sketch.

As you can see, it resembles the finished cover, but the model and her costume are very different. Why create a sketch at all? The reason, Cheryl explained, is to allow Revell to select the model's pose and placement prior to the photo shoot, thus streamlining the process.

One of the most important elements in my covers is the model. After all, she represents my heroine. Thea Mills is 27 years old, shorter than average, and has blonde hair, brown eyes, and a medium build. She's deeply compassionate but also fearful of having her secret revealed.

Knowing that, Revell chose Emily.

Even though you're seeing her in modern dress here, isn't it amazing how well she captures Thea's personality?

Next comes costume selection, which I freely admit is one of my favorite parts of the process, since I'm part of it.

Cheryl gave me a choice of more than half a dozen different blouses including the following:

None of those truly appealed to me, but when I saw the next one, I knew it would be perfect. In addition to its antique look, I loved the fact that it was a complete outfit and that we wouldn't have to find a coordinating skirt.

At this point, everything was ready for the photo shoot.

While the cover sketch identified one possible pose, Dan photographed Emily in several different ones.

Do you like this one?

Cheryl told me it was a top contender for the cover, but the committee preferred the next one.

I agree with them that the second pose is better for the book, in part because it emphasizes Thea's medical bag and gives a hint to her career as a midwife.

If you compare this to the final cover, you'll see that the pose is the same, but there's a big difference. Did you find it? Yes, Emily's expression is different.

Thanks to the marvels of Photoshop, Dan was able to use the head from the following picture with the body from the previous one.

The photo shoot was complete.

The model is one of the most important elements of the cover, but she's not the only one. The background is also key to setting the scene for the book and giving readers a hint about the story itself.

As is often the case, Dan used stock art for the background, starting with Thea's home in Cimarron Creek.

Don't you wish you lived in a house like this? It's beautiful, but there are a few problems, including the streetlights. Those had to be removed. And then there was the water. While it's lovely and you might believe it was Cimarron Creek itself, the creek doesn't flow through that part of the town.

What to do? Dan used flowers that might have been growing in the Hill Country to block the water.

And so we have the final cover, the one I showed you at the beginning of this post.

But the front cover is only part of the whole book. The back cover is almost as important, because that's where readers learn about the story. And the spine is critical for bookstores, since few of their books are shelved face-out.

As you might expect, given the attention that Cheryl and Dan put into the front cover, a lot of work was involved in the back cover too. Writing back cover copy is an art in itself. Fortunately, Revell has extremely talented writers who specialize in condensing a 95,000 word story into a few words. And the addition of a western picture as a cameo adds to the appeal ... at least it does for me.

I was thrilled with the cover and hope it piques your interest and makes you want to read the book.

If you'd like more information about A Tender Hope, you'll find it and buying links on my web page.

And, of course, I hope you enjoyed learning more about the cover art process. It never fails to intrigue me.

Behind the Cover for A Borrowed Dream

Back by popular demand!

Yes, it's true.  So many of you have told me how much you enjoy my blogs about the cover design process that I plan to blog about each of my books' covers. I'm undoubtedly prejudiced, but I think the covers Revell has given me are gorgeous, and I continue to be fascinated by the amount of work, attention to detail, and sheer artistry that goes into each one.

While a number of people are involved in the creation of each cover, major kudos go to Art Director Cheryl Van Andel, who's responsible for the entire process, and graphic designer Dan Thornberg of Design Source Creative Services, who turned Cheryl's ideas into the cover you see.

The process always begins the same way, with a questionnaire that each author completes. In it, we describe our characters -- not only their physical traits, but also their personalities -- and the basic setting of the book. We're also asked if there are any landmarks that play a prominent role in the story. You'll see how that information is used in the design.

Catherine Whitfield, the heroine of A Borrowed Dream, is a beautiful brunette who's also the town's schoolteacher. Though she was once a carefree young girl, her mother's death has left her with a deep sorrow.

Cheryl and Dan took that description into account when they chose Jenna as the model and again when she posed for the photo shoot.

Though Jenna's smiling here, she's much more serious when she's portraying Catherine. Does that sound as if she's an actress? Perhaps ...

Once the model is chosen, the next step is finding the right clothing. As a teacher, Catherine normally wears skirts and blouses, so Revell gave me a choice for both.

While each of these blouse selections has its own appeal, none of them felt right for the time period. Fortunately, there were other choices, including this one:

To my delight, this design was virtually identical to one I'd seen in my favorite historic costume book. It was perfect for Catherine.

Next came skirts, and again, I had a choice.

I had no strong preference for one over the other, and neither did Cheryl, so she let Dan decide which would work best. As you'll see, he experimented with both during the photo shoot.

As is often the case, the photo shoot for A Borrowed Dream's cover took place in front of a plain white background.

Notice that Jenna is wearing the first of the skirts here.

And here she's in the second. Don't you love the bare feet?

Here she is again in the second skirt.

I liked each of these poses, but there's no doubt that the one that was ultimately chosen is my favorite. Why? It captures both Catherine's somber side and her optimism.

And so, with the photo shoot complete, it was time for Dan to work on the background.

As part of the author's questionnaire, I mentioned that while a schoolhouse might be good in the background, it needed to be made of stone, not a frame building like the schoolhouse on the cover of Tomorrow's Garden.

Dan found a wonderful stone building to use as the starting point for the background.

Notice that I said "starting point." If you compare this to the schoolhouse on the cover, you'll see a number of changes.

• The whole picture has been flipped, so it's facing the opposite direction.
• The Texas flag was added to the flag pole.
• The bell tower was removed from the roof.

But what's a school without a bell? To add more interest to the cover, Dan created a free-standing bell that would be easier for the pupils to ring. He started with a bell.

When Cheryl sent me the next picture, I wondered how it had been used, since there are no birdhouses on the cover.

Then I realized that Dan had used one of the fence posts to create a post for the bell. Clever!

Now that the basic elements were complete, he added grass, bluebonnets, and clouds. With the addition of the title and my name, the cover was complete. Or was it?

There's more to a book cover than the front and spine. Back cover copy is almost as important as the cover itself in helping readers decide whether or not to buy a book. Fortunately, Revell has a staff of experts to write the back cover copy and choose all the elements that make it as appealing as the cover itself. I'm always amazed at how well they capture the essence of a story in only a few paragraphs.

With everything approved, the cover was ready for printing. But, wait! Did you notice that something changed between the photo shoot and the final cover?

Yes,  Catherine's skirt became blue. Not only does the blue complement the blouse better than the original gray, but it highlights the bluebonnets and the title. This is yet another example of Dan and Cheryl's attention to detail and their determination to make this an eye-catching cover.

Did it catch your eye? I hope so. And I hope you enjoyed reading about the whole cover art design process. It's one of my favorite parts of the journey from raw manuscript to finished book.

I've included more information about A Borrowed Dream along with an excerpt on my web page.  And if you'd like to order a copy, here are some buying links:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Christian Book Distributors

The Story Behind the Cover -- With Autumn's Return

This is my seventh book for Revell, so you'd think I'd be used to having wonderful covers, but I still get excited by each one, and I'm still fascinated by the process. 

As you can see, once again, Cheryl VanAndel, Revell's Art Director, has given me a fabulous cover.  What you may not know is how that cover was developed.

The first step was to choose the model.  It took two tries and an extensive search for an appropriate wardrobe, but Cheryl finally found the perfect woman to portray Elizabeth.  Once the model was chosen, she gave me a choice of several different gowns, including this one.

Plaid was definitely correct historically, but I wasn't thrilled with it.  On to the next choice.

Pretty, but the cover of Waiting for Spring had a blue dress.  The color could have been changed with Photoshop, but the style was also similar to the one on Spring.  And that brought us to this one:

To be candid, although I liked the style, I wasn't sure about the print.  Fortunately, I'm not the Art Director.  Cheryl saw the possibilities in this one and told me she thought it was the best of the three.  She was right.  (She's always right!)

Once the gown was selected, it was time for the photo shoot.  Out of all the pictures, Cheryl selected two and asked for my opinion.

We both preferred this one.  One of the reasons I liked it was that it minimizes the bustle.  Let's be honest: bustles aren't the most flattering garments.  I also liked the shawl and the lace gloves, since a lady of that era wouldn't have gone outside without gloves. 

This, as you can see, became the photo for the cover.  You'll notice that it was flipped so that the model had a pose similar to those on the previous two Westward Winds covers. 

Next came the background.  As was true for the other two Westward Winds books, Cheryl used one of my husband's photographs.  I was delighted!  In case you were wondering, the building is the Union Pacific Railroad depot, which was completed at the time With Autumn's Return takes place.  It's still a major landmark in Cheyenne, although the city no longer has passenger rail traffic.  Thanks to talented artists and Photoshop, the modern elements like the tables and planters, were replaced with more historically correct grass.

You may recall that I said Cheryl liked two poses from the photo shoot.  Here's the second, the one with the prominent bustle.

It was so good that rather than simply discard it, Cheryl used it on the book's spine, once again flipping it.  This was the first time I've had a different pose on the spine.  It may not seem like a big deal to you, but I was excited about that.

After that came back cover design and writing the copy that helps readers decide they want to buy this particular book.  Erin Bartels, who is herself a published author, is the person behind the back cover copy.  It always amazes me how Erin can condense a very long story into just a few paragraphs and intrigue readers without giving away too much of the plot.  She's a master at it!

The whole process took months, but at last we had a finished cover.  I hope you agree with me that it's a winner.  

I thank Cheryl, Erin and everyone else at Revell who was involved in giving me another wonderful cover.