The Story Behind the Cover - Echoes of Sunrise

You know there's always a story behind the story, and sometimes there's a story behind the cover. That was the case with the cover for Echoes of Sunrise. The saga started last fall when I sent talented designer L.A. Sartor my suggestions.

The first was the model I wanted her to use. (I'll tell you the story behind the model later.)

After L.A. agreed that the model would work, I suggested a potential background.

Although I liked the picture, L.A. knew that it wouldn't be a good background for a book cover, so she took the key elements that I wanted -- live oak trees and Texas wildflowers -- and created the following background.

As you can see, her idea was MUCH better than mine. Not only are the tree and the bluebonnets more prominent, but the stone path hints at the theme of the story - Sophia finding the direction for her life.

The next step was to add the model, titling, and my name.

This was exciting for me, because it was the first time it looked like a cover. 

I liked the overall design but wanted a few changes. First, I wanted the positioning of the title and my name switched, and secondly, the twin was too hard to see standing next to the tree.

On to Cover Number Two.

As you can see, there were quite a few changes between the previous cover and this one. Not only was the twin repositioned and the title moved to the bottom, but L.A. added the series name. 

I had only two major concerns: the twin was potentially confusing to readers, since it was exactly the same image, and I wanted my name in block letters, not script. 

Fortunately, I found an outtake from the model's photo shoot and waited eagerly for the next version.

We were almost finished. The different pose and the elimination of the bench next to the twin made it clear that these were two different women, and my name was in block letters.

All that was left were a few changes to the fonts, and then the cover was finished.

I was thrilled with the way it turned out and am deeply grateful to L.A. Sartor for both her creativity and her patience as we worked through the design process. From my perspective, this is the perfect cover for Sophia and Gideon's story.

And now, as promised, I'll tell you about the model. She's one of my sisters, and the beautiful dress she's wearing is her wedding gown. She continued the tradition I'd started of making her own gown but went beyond what I did. I simply bought fabric and turned it into a dress, but she wasn't satisfied with the colors she found in the stores, so she dyed the fabric, making her gown truly one-of-a-kind. 

What could be more appropriate than having my sister on the cover of my book about sisters?

One Special Christmas - The Making of a Cover

 Do you ever wonder what's involved in creating a book cover? The answer is, it depends. My own experience has varied from having no involvement to being asked to choose costumes for the model, but rarely have I had the pleasure of watching the artist develop the cover and providing feedback each step of the way.

That's what happened with the cover for One Special Christmas. I was extremely fortunate to have gifted artist L.A. Sartor creating my cover.

It started with a brainstorming session in which we decided that rather than have my heroine in an exterior scene like the ones you see on most of my covers, since Greta was the manager of the tearoom in Sweetwater Crossing, we'd feature her in a tearoom.

At that point, all I told L.A. was that Greta was a blonde and that I thought a green gown would be good. After our discussion, I sent her this picture from the Christmas celebration at Fort Laramie, thinking she could incorporate it into her design. 

While there's nothing wrong with this picture, it's a bit shall we say bland? L.A. recognized that and took a different approach. To say that I was overwhelmed when I saw her first design is an understatement. 

I was thrilled! This was so much more detailed, so much more interesting than I'd expected. There were a few things that had to be fixed on this, but the overall design was more beautiful than I'd dared hope.

Next came the choice of fonts for the title and my name as well as positioning of both. That took a few iterations, but we finally had a finished front cover.

Next came the back cover. When L.A. asked me what I wanted, I suggested a green background with the back cover copy in a cream colored box. She probably knew that wasn't a good idea, but she let me see the flaws for myself.

There were many things wrong with this. Besides the fact that the teaser line is almost illegible, the back cover itself is too plain. There's nothing on it to make a reader want to buy the book. I'm famous for saying that back covers should be pretty. This one wasn't.

Fortunately, once again L.A. knew how to fix the problem. She created a tapestry for the background, and when we had an interactive meeting to finalize the design, we changed the spine color to rose. 

What a difference! We now had a full cover that I loved. The back cover is more than pretty. It's beautiful, just as the front cover is. 

I'm thrilled with the way it turned out and hope you agree with me that this is an outstanding cover.

If you'd like more information about One Special Christmas, you can find that as well as an excerpt on my website.

And if you enjoy cozy mysteries, you won't want to miss L.A.'s Tick Tock Dead. Yes, L.A. Sartor is not only a gifted artist, she's also an author. Here's a link to her website.

Creating a Cover - Brides of the Old West

 Did you ever wonder how a book cover is created? Today I'm going to share the process talented author and designer L.A. Sartor followed when she designed the cover for Brides of the Old West.

It all started with this photograph. 

Even though the novellas are set in Cheyenne, I thought this picture from a trip my husband and I took to South Pass City exemplified the old West and wanted it for the cover. 

L.A. had some concerns, but she agreed to see if she could make it work. When she showed me her first design, she was afraid I'd hate it. I didn't. In fact, I LOVED it. Oh, there were things we both knew had to be changed, but the overall look was perfect.

We worked together to choose type fonts and colors, but because the original design was so good, that didn't take long. This was the cover that would appear on ebooks. 

The next step was to create a cover for the print version. That involved designing the spine and the back cover.

As you can see, there were some problems, the biggest of which is that I had written too much back cover copy. It was time for me to do some cutting.

Besides cutting the number of words in the copy, we made a few changes along the way, including adding the sunflower spray. At this point, we both thought the cover was finished. But ... There's always a "but," isn't there?

When I received a proof copy of the book and saw the back cover by itself, I realized there was a minor problem.

It may not have bothered anyone else, but it looked too plain to me. Furthermore, there was nothing tying the sunflower spray to the rest of the cover. The solution was easy.

By making the novella titles the same blue as the flowers in the spray, the back cover was more appealing. And so we had the final version of the print cover.

Both L.A. and I are thrilled by the way it turned out. I hope you agree with us that it's a beautiful cover and one that will intrigue readers.