Loading ...
As with writing, style, voice, and genre, book covers are subjective. What one person may love, another may hate. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Of course, each publishing house has rules on cover art. Some make the cover and the author has no choice but to keep it (bigger e-publishers and big print publishers). Some allow small changes to the initial layout. Some allow a totally new cover if the first doesn’t suit, many changes to the second if that doesn’t, and generally, the author can keep going until something does satisfy them or the artist is so frustrated that another artist taking over is recommended.
If an author is presented with an ugly cover and has no choice but to keep it, I feel sorry for them. Receiving the cover is one of the most exciting things about being published. To open an email containing something far removed from your vision, with no relevance to your book whatsoever, and to cap it all, dreadful, must be a hard pill to swallow.
However, I’m also a cover artist and from that side of the fence, things sometimes have a completely different slant. Usually, a form arrives, filled in by the author, and should contain all the information a cover artist needs to complete a cover as close to the author’s concept as possible. For example, you may be asked to insert the blurb, an excerpt, what you envisage your cover to look like (finding one that matches your ideal and putting in a link is good here), character descriptions (finding pictures of what your hero and heroine look like is very good here), what genre your book is, etc. You want to cover all bases, just in case your publisher is the kind who makes a cover and you’re stuck with it.
Avoid ridiculous scenarios. Remember, computer art manipulation isn’t as easy as you may think. If you ask for a castle in the background, hero and heroine to the fore, and a dragon in the sky, this is absolutely possible. But—and there’s always one of those, isn’t there?—if you request your characters in certain poses, wearing certain clothes, and expect the artist to find a picture where your character’s hair and eye color matches your description…think again.
An example of this:
Tanned hero, black hair (curly), blue eyes, wearing a cowboy hat, a sword belt, and sports a Celtic tattoo on his left shoulder that has a snake, an eagle, and a chalice on it. Hero should be holding a sword aloft, both hands on the hilt, his face glancing to his left.
Asian heroine, black cropped hair, brown eyes, wearing a purple leather catsuit and red knee-high boots. She should be kneeling in front of the hero, hands together in prayer, her head bowed.
Background. I’d like a fortress. The drawbridge should be down, and men in armor are riding out on horses. The lead horse is white with a black star between its eyes. The man on the white horse has long brown hair, and he wears a mask over his eye that has a gold emblem on it. The emblem is of a fox.
Let’s break this request down.
The artist visits photo sites and, in the search box, types in some of the hero’s/heroine’s characteristics, their clothing, their positions. The site shows all pictures with those keywords. What happens if the site brings up NO pictures? What happens if the site brings up pictures with some elements present but not all? The artist then has to browse using one or two keywords at a time and prays a picture they need appears.
80% of the time, in cases like this, where the author expects too much, the artist will NOT find those pictures.
The artist then has to work out how to get as close to the author’s wants without spending all day trawling for pictures (hours can get swallowed up doing this). A compromise will have to be reached, because there is no way, without the use of models to pose in those clothes and positions, that the request is going to be met—unless poser art is used (hideous, hideous!).
The fortress, not so hard to find, but those men on horses…come on! If a picture of men on horses couldn’t be found, each man on a horse would have to be placed individually. That’s a lot of cutting out and work right there. The man on the white horse—and I seriously doubt one could be found with this description, and if someone finds one and drops a link in comments, I’ll eat my hat, so to speak—well, that’s more hard work. If he doesn’t have a mask in the original picture, one needs to be found and placed so it doesn’t look false. A fox picture would need to be cut out, manipulated to appear made of gold, and placed on the mask, again to look like it isn’t false.
This would be a nightmare cover, and if the author WANTS this exact scenario and isn’t prepared to back down and meet in the middle…Houston, we have a problem.
The killer in this situation, when the cover is done (miracles do happen), the author is happy, and the book goes up for sale? No or low sales. The artist has spent a lot of money on pictures, and artist royalties from those sales don’t even meet the picture costs.
With butt-ugly covers, it is possible that a perfectly competent artist was given a difficult scenario, hardly any feedback, and just couldn’t create a decent cover. Some covers work very well, but others…. An artist needs a feel for the cover, and sometimes, given the information (or lack of it), the publisher’s preference for cover types, and the author’s vision, the artist hits a blank wall and comes up with a doozy. Other times, however, it’s plain to see that the artist is new to Photoshop, Gimp, or whatever they are using for creation.
Warning signs:
1. Badly cut-out people.
2. A background with a character/object/animal placed so that it’s obvious that character isn’t really ‘in’ that location.
3. Fonts that don’t blend or match the book’s genre. Example: An erotic romance with fat, fun font in bright yellow, lime green, purple, or red. A sensual romance with the same font, except this one has blood dripping from it. The font can make or break a cover. The actual cover art looks okay, but is ruined by the title and byline.
4. Pictures of people placed to appear ‘together’ (an embrace or ménage etc.) that quite clearly shows they are two/three/four separate pictures.
5. Top and bottom banners in hideous colours.
6. Manipulations that supposedly show a shapeshifter (example cover below), but the artist hasn’t quite hit the spot in conveying that concept so it appears believable.
There are too many other signs to mention, but when you see a bad cover, you know it.
I’ve been browsing the Web the past few days to find e-book covers that stood out to me as fabulous, good, okay, and somewhat ugly. On my travels through the ether, I discovered a very talented artist. On one of the sites she works for, I clicked on all the covers that snagged my attention to see who had created them. This artist had made them all. Her name is Anne Cain. I didn’t like her poser-art-like covers, but those that appear with real people and objects are, in my opinion, very good. Here are her covers at Loose Id, and here is her page on Deviant Art. She also works for Samhain, which doesn’t surprise me one bit. If you’re lucky enough to be accepted by the publishing houses she works for—because, let’s face it, it’s hard to get an acceptance from Samhain—and you have the option of which cover artist creates your cover, I’d suggest placing Anne Cain’s name in the space provided on the form.
Below are examples of her work.
The following covers stood out to me for various reasons, and I’ll explain them beneath each one.
Bayou Magic. Awe-Struck Books
Now, I liked this, except I’m not quite sure what that is on the sand. It almost looks like a person in a forensic suit wearing black boots and possessing two heads, a female with copper-colored hair, and, to the right of that, a black-haired male. To better see what it is, I would have to view the picture by zooming or enlarge it in Photoshop. Do I really want to do that? Should I have to? No, it should be very clear what the image is, and unless I need another eye test, I’m left unsure. This is a shame, because the shore, the trees, the boat, and the font are lovely, and the cover quite clearly shows a more than competent artist.
Beckon the Dark. Cobblestone Press
Loved, loved, loved. This cover stood out from all the others. I love the lighting on the couple, and the lighthouse/sea image brings to mind a cold and windy night, the hero and heroine possibly trapped in the lighthouse or going there for the pinnacle scene. I haven’t read the blurb, so I’m not sure if that’s the case. The only thing I would pick at is having a slightly darker outline on the byline font.
Best Laid Plans. Awe-Struck Books
This is an example of my warning signs. I didn’t like this at all. It doesn’t look real to me, though I will say the woman has been cut out very well. The byline meshes with the trees. It just says ‘cheap and nasty’.
Chameleon. New Concepts
I had to squint to read the byline. The pictures…oh! If I have to say something nice…the background is okay.
Christmas Reunion. Love You Divine
Warning signs! The people are badly cut out or have an outer glow to disguise the cut-out. The finish on the title/byline fonts is awful. Cheap and cheesy.
Drowning Rapunzel. Excessica
Artist. Please stop it. When I saw this, I said, “Oh, God!”
Enchanted Water. Love You Divine
In my opinion, an example of someone just learning how to use Photoshop. The couple picture appears stretched. The blue does nothing to enhance the colors in the tree picture. The font type and color jars. Hideous.
Encounters. Excessica
What the…?
Familiar the End of Eternity. Red Rose Publishing
Warning signs! The font says it all, but the title as I have typed it is how I read it on the book, but is that how it’s meant to be presented? Or is it meant to be: Familiar: The End of Eternity. Either way…I can’t stand this cover.
Firewalk. Mundania Press
Oh, God!
Freeing Emily. Cobblestone Press
Absolutely SUPERB.
Heart of the Bear. Mundania Press
Warning signs! Oh, God. Please stop it!
Lovely Deception. Cobblestone Press
Again…oh, God. Please stop it!
Marla. Excessica
Can I curse?
Men of a Different Sort. Apsen Mountain Press
Lovely, but the blue sky doesn’t look right to me. Black or amber tones would have made this stunning, in my opinion.
Mississippi Twilight. Ellora’s Cave
Nice. Stood out to me as one of the less ‘in your face nudity’ covers on the page I visited.
The Garden in my Heart. Excessica
Please stop it right now! Oh, God! Warning signs! Font alert! New Photoshop user (and if not, the artist needs more time to learn the ropes)!
I’d like to point out here that there are some decent covers on the Excessica site. It’s just unfortunate that they have too many poor covers that stood out and begged me to use them in this post. I have no idea if all of these covers are by the same person.
The Mistress Affair. Hardshell Word Factory
How appalling?
Virgin. Loose Id
Lovely.
Cat’s Claw. Phaze Publishing
And here is the shapeshifter cover. In my opinion, a terrible manipulation. Bad font/font color choices. Warning signs! Oh, God! Please stop it!
When I reviewed Fixation, I commented on the cover not being too appealing. As a gift to the author who submitted the book, I created a mock-up cover. Mia Cherish liked it so much that she asked if I could change the title and replace it with that of her latest work in progress. Like a professional, Ms. Cherish offered to pay me for my services, but all I requested was that she purchased the pictures I’d used.
I’m not saying my work is wonderful, but it isn’t bad. I’ve placed that cover below. You may rip me to shreds if you wish.
And, Dear Readers, that concludes my post on covers. I’m intrigued to see what covers you like or dislike. Drop a link in comments. It’ll be interesting to see what different people find appealing.
All the best,
Fanny
Excellent post! This must have taken you a lot of time to put this together. This is the most detailed explanation I’ve yet run across from the cover artist’s point of view, and it’s very informative, especially the step-by-step critiques. I like Anne Cain’s work very much.
I’m wondering how receptive are e-publishers in general to an author commissioning her own artwork from an outstanding artist as Kirby Crow has done with her Analise Dubner covers at Torquere and MLR Press? How do you feel about this option? I guess if there were an approval clause in the contract, the publishers wouldn’t run into too many problems with it …
Here’s some links to cover art I’ve liked:
The Archer’s Heart by Astrid Amara, cover art by Dawn Kimberling http://www.blindeyebooks.com/archer.html
Interstitial by Ann Somerville, cover art by Anne Cain
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/interstitial
Scarlet and the White Wolf by Kirby Crow, cover art by Analise Dubner
http://obsidianbookshelf.blogspot.com/2009/04/cover-art-scarlet-and-white-wolf-book-1.html
Nikolai by Angelia Sparrow, cover art by Barry Bulsara
http://www.darkroastpress.com/nikolai.php
Val Kovalin´s last blog ..Review – Bounty of the Heart by J. M. Snyder
Hello Val
Thank you for your kind words.
The smaller e-pubs, as far as I know, are quite open to taking cover art from authors, but if they’re savvy, they’ll ask for a sample of the artist’s work first. It’s possible that some of the uglier covers out there have been done by outside artists. This doesn’t make me feel sorry for the publishers, though. They should say no if the covers aren’t very nice.
My advice is to ask your publisher if they allow outside artists. If they do, great, but if they don’t, just pray you get a decent cover!
Here’s my take on your selection:
The Archer’s Heart = Oh, God! Please stop it! (I love the fact that you like and I don’t. It makes us all unique.)
Interstitial. I’ve seen it before. It stands out with the WOW factor. Anne Cain is amazing.
Scarlet and the White Wolf. Hmmm. It’s one of those that has an okay picture, but ‘Book One’ and the byline are hard to see. The author’s name should stand out. After all, it’s a brand.
Nikolai. An interesting cover, great picture, but again, the byline is small.
I’ve just noticed another cover you like at the end of your comment.
Bounty of the Heart = lovely.
Hey, Fanny, thank you very much for the further advice, and I loved your analyses of my cover suggestions! I’m learning a lot from this, definitely. I hope you do more posts like this in the future!
Val Kovalin´s last blog ..Review – Mastering Stefan by J. M. Snyder
Hello Fanny…
I was directed over here by my friend Val(Obsidian) and I am so glad to have read this article…
I have learned a lot from Val as I was always under the impression that authors have 100% say in their cover – so I have been mentioning every cover of the books i reviews… I am for the hot men – but I am objective enough to know a crap cover from something absolutely stunning…
I am a huge fan of Anne Cain and I love her imagination – I think the bits of her work you probably don’t like are the ones I love – I am a huge fantasy art fan Royo, Bell,Vallejo etc…
Thank you for using the covers as descriptor and highlighting what could go right and what was simply awful…. The picture with the cowboys and blue sky – I wouldn’t even have noticed that – thanks…
For your cover a few things – when I look at it, it’s like a halo of darkness surrounding this couple and the other details within – very imaginative….and for some reason striking, my eyes just zeroed in on the title…
Questions..
if you had used the same font(not size) for the names and title – what difference would that have made.(either font)
What is the pic in the middle – is it a graveyard – headstones…
have you had a chance to read the book in question – without being prejudice – do you think the cover works for that book..
I didn’t mention earlier – I love the cover.. I am just learning Dream Weaver myself – not to be a artist, but just for the fascination value and wanting to know…
Very eye opening post and I agree with Val – this must have taken time to put together..
E.H>
Erotic Horizon´s last blog ..Review – Dalakis Brothers Bk4 – Eternal Brother – N.J. Walters
I’ll be doing another post soon, but I’m working on something at present that will benefit every writer that stops by this blog. I’ll announce it later today.
Hello E.H
Thank you for your kind comments.
I feel a title and byline should be different fonts. It separates them, making it clear which is which. I plan to do another cover post showing how fonts can damage a cover, and I’ll address this question by creating a cover with the title and byline in the same font so you can see what happens.
Yes, a graveyard. It alludes to the undead in the tale. I’m glad the image wasn’t too vague!
I haven’t read the book in question, though I did offer to edit it for Ms. Cherish.
Hi, Fanny, I meant to add that I know just what you mean about that gorgeous cover for J.M. Snyder’s book Bounty of the Heart. It was done by Trace Edward Zaber and is published through Amber Quill Press. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a less-than-stunning cover come from Amber Quill Press.
I know what you mean about fonts. They just used to register with me only on a faint unconscious level and only if they really annoyed me, but more and more they’re starting to affect whether or not I want to buy the book. I totally hear you on that byline issue! After all the work that went into writing the book, the author’s name ought to be distinct, ha, ha!
Val Kovalin´s last blog ..Cover Art Analysis at Cerebral Reviews
Hey Val!
I must go over and have a look at Amber Quill’s cover art. I hope to find some more examples of good work.
Excellent! Glad I could help. If you’re curious to find out more about Zaber, there is an interview at Jessewave’s blog here http://tinyurl.com/px3jtz
Val Kovalin´s last blog ..Cover Art Analysis at Cerebral Reviews
Thank you.
I’m on my way now.
This is a fantastic look at cover art. Thanks for the time and effort. Unfortunately, most authors don’t have much say in how their cover is created, even if we do get to say what we’d like to see on it. Some publishers are clearly better than others, so authors are stuck with certain less-than-lovely covers if they happen to be with one of those publishers.
But you have given ideas of how to make the cover process easier for the artist. I don’t really have much of an image of what I want my covers to look like, and leave more to the artist just giving them a couple of ideas of dress and attaching images of body types or hair styles, though I think it’s better to have a nice cover than one that’s strictly accurate in terms of character features.
I do wonder why the pubs with the problem covers don’t try to get better artists. You should give some classes if you don’t already.
I’m here by way of Val. This was a great post. I actually like a couple of the ones you think are dreadful. I’d rather have drawn or poser art than really bad manips. I thought LOVELY DECEPTION was quite nice, if a bit dark.
I find the more input I have, the better my covers are. Barry Bulsara is an exception to this, but Barry is a genius and NIKOLAI and NIKO-CHAN have the best covers on my site.
Amber Quill’s covers are always good. Ellora’s can be really good, really trashy or just awful.
My guide to bad covers:
When I can see the ribbing on Robin Hood’s black T-shirt (at least I couldn’t see the Iron Maiden logo it undoubtedly sported)
When I can tell the guy’s head is pasted on, yay.
When the artist gave the guide such a cursory glance that both the guys are white, when one is not supposed to be.
When a bicep is so big and angular I spend 20 minutes trying to figure out why one is licking the other’s ribcage.
When I can see the colored pencil strokes.
When the positions are anatomically impossible.
When I cannot tell what I am looking at no matter how long I look.
I no longer even count misspelling my name, because apparently even my editor thinks I’m named Angelina
EM (may I call you that?), I don’t give classes, hadn’t even thought about it. I’m so busy with everything I’m currently doing that my sanity would come under question if I took on any extra work!
I think the newer publishers employ questionable artists due to needing covers quickly. I would have thought any serious publisher would ensure they had everything in place before they opened their doors. Sadly, this doesn’t appear to be the case. Besides, like Angelia said, she liked some of the covers I disliked. And as I said in my post, cover art is subjective. Thank you for commenting.
Angelia, thank you for commenting.
Lovely Deception only makes me say ‘Stop it!’ (or whatever I said!) due to the look of the poser art (and for all we know the author could have requested poser art). I understand many people like it. There are some forms of poser art I like…the kind that is difficult to see whether it’s poser or not. The people can look so real.
“When I can tell the guy’s head is pasted on, yay.” Now that is FUNNY, but brings something to mind that started out funny but ended up pretty sad. I’ve seen a cover that has an animal’s head on a male body. Done right, it could have looked so real, but this one…I couldn’t stop laughing. Then I heard the author was mortified at having that cover, and I wanted to cry for her. She must have felt so sad posting it during promotion.
All in all, each of us have different views on everything. This is why human beings are so amazing, fascinating, frustrating, and mind-boggling.
Still, it gives us a chance for discussion on something we’re all passionate about. Books and everything to do with them.
My pumpkin molestor had a pasted-on head.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/valarltd/covers/raisingthedead_msr.jpg
There were 4 standard covers for Tricks and Treats. 2 weren’t bad, and then there was the molestor. One with a blond head and an orange wash, one with a dark head and a blue wash.
My covers are all here.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v204/valarltd/covers/?start=all
CURSE OF THE PHARAOH’S MANICURISTS is a Trace Edward Zaber one. Naomi and I are very pleased.
The FROSTED and COLLARED HEARTS covers are Alessia Brio.
I’ll have to go to Ellora’s to see the molester head. It came up as a thumbnail, so I couldn’t check out the bad manipulation. I went to Google to look at the others. I pasted the link for them all in my browser, and IE chose that moment to shut down.
I agree with you about all the warning signs. And Anne Cain really is awesome. The way she mixes colors is just beautiful and she has a great sense of direction when it comes to art. I have a few favorite ebook cover artists: Anne Cain, Amanda Kelsey, April Martinez, Christine Griffin, Marci Gass, Lyn Taylor, and the ladies at Croco Designs.
One other thing I would add to the list of warning signs–and that’s also the major issue I have with this new mock-up cover for Cajun Honeymoon–is font usage. Maybe it’s because I’m a font nerd, so I’m extra sensitive to it. I’m itching to add a slight shadow to the title so it stands out better (I’m not sure a stroke would look good).
I think the new mock-up cover for Cajun Honeymoon is nice and I don’t have anything to criticize about it, other than that the font used for the author’s names is not a good choice. I see two problems with it. 1) Scriptina is one of the most overused fonts, along with Comic Sans and Papyrus. Using it gives the work an amateurish feel. There are exceptions and when Scriptina is used right (as in all the flourishes are kept to a minimum and it’s used effectively and sparingly), the cover can look nice.
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/tame-horses-wild-hearts
http://www.loose-id.com/prod-Flying_Fish-975.aspx
http://www.loose-id.com/prod-A_Fostered_Love-905.aspx
2) The author’s name should never be in flourishes. It should be in a very simple font, serifs or sans-serifs (doesn’t matter). About Scarlet and the White Wolf, I agree that the author’s name is way too small, but it shouldn’t be treated like a brand name. Unless the author is someone famous like Stephen King, James Patterson, J.D. Robb, etc. I don’t think the author’s name is the focus of the cover, it’s the title. The author’s name should be the same size or smaller than the title. And for the same reason that it’s not supposed to be the focus, it should never be written in a font with flourishes, or any other overly-complicated font that requires you to concentrate a bit to make out what it’s saying.
I think Amanda Kelsey is really great with her choice of fonts. I may not like all of her covers, some of them are a little too busy for me, but I can’t fault her for lettering and layout. Really creative title fonts and uncomplicated author fonts.
http://www.razzdazzdesign.comoj.com/1_19_Featured-Covers.html
LOL. I was not paid by Anne Cain or Amanda Kelsey to praise them XP
Wow! I’m the author of Lycan Tides, the above-mentioned Anne Cain cover. I love her work. She’s done all 3 of my Samhain books – Duality, Hedda’s Sword, and Lycan Tides. I especially like how she’s carrying over all three as a series. All three covers look similar, same font, similar character placement, but the characters are unique to their stories. If you go to my page at Samahin
http://www.samhainpublishing.com/authors/renee-wildes
you’ll see what I mean.
Hi Christine!
Sorry for the delay in replying. I saw your comment when it came into the inbox earlier. I read it, wanted to reply, but I was on my way out.
Do you know, I’m glad you said that about the Cajun art. That title was irritating me, but, being the sometimes pig-headed buffoon I am, I didn’t want to ask my cover art colleague what I was missing. You know when you’re staring at it and it isn’t telling you anything? That was me on the day I created it. The cover art colleague…he’s been doing this kind of art for twenty years. I’ve been doing it a LOT less (and if I could show you my covers without revealing myself, you’d see I usually use fonts similar to serifs as you mentioned). However, that’s irrelevant because I can’t.
You may not believe me, but that was the first time I’d used Scriptina. I’ve used it once since, and once again I agree with you. It looks much better on the one word I used it on the second time because the letters weren’t looping.
We live and learn! As I said in another comment, I love the way we can discuss things like this and send information back and forth. It’s interesting to know what one person thinks vs. another about things like you have mentioned.
I’ll have a look at the links you’ve left. I have a feeling I saw them the other day and liked them. I’ll also Google the names you mentioned. I love looking at good cover art. It’s like a WOOT moment. Or is that just me?
Thanks for dropping by and leaving your insight. It’s much appreciated.
Now, after having a short break, it’s back to writing the free download. I’ve been awake for 36 or so hours, writing for the majority of it. Lucky for me, only my body is tired. My brain’s still buzzing.
Pardon any errors in this comment. My fingers won’t behave.
Ok, since we are talking covers, I have to say that I really like a lot of the covers coming out of Lyrical Press. The artist is Mina Carter.
Now I’m no expert on cover art. I just know what I like. I look at them strictly from a reader’s standpoint–what I think would sell me as a reader. And I didn’t pop over to the Lyrical site to pick out any to show, but I did want to mention Lyrical. Maybe some of you experts can take a look and give a critique.
This is the Lyrical link: http://www.lyricalpress.com/
Oh! Renee,
I just followed your link. You are such a lucky author. Really beautiful work. Anne Cain is so good. I’m a fan. It’s official.
Sorry to bug you again, Christine.
Just followed your links too.
My favorite cover from the large selection is Runaway, author Selena Illyria. Combustion, author Rebecca Savage, caught my eye–I’ve always loved the orange/black/amber-colored covers–and Invisible Force, author Carol Costa, first for the colors, then for the title layout, which is striking. The only font I didn’t like, and that was because the cover was busy and made the font look a little odd, was Halloween Romance, author Donaya Haymond.
Has anyone got any more links for covers of Anne Cain/Amanda Kelsey quality?
Does anyone know if Anne Cain works for any NYC print publishers? I’d love to see covers like those on Renee’s books on the shelf.
I’d be the one in the corner of the book shop stroking them.
I’m sorry. I can’t help it.
Lady C., I popped over to Lyrical. The Devil’s Scream, artist Renee Rocco, grabbed me for its simplicity and that wicked title font.
So I went nosing about…she did a cover for Mina Carter. Is this the cover you mean, created by Renee Rocco for Mina Carter? Or am I crossing wires as well as my eyes?
http://www.lyricalpress.com/playing_with_fyre
I’m glad Christina mentioned the very talented Croco Designs. Look at these samples of her work: http://www.loose-id.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=116
You should also look at work by April Martinez and Deana C. Jamroz.
Loose Id’s cover art request form requires such a detailed description of the characters, down to the heroine’s sexual experience (one of mine got “never done it with a burro”) that I saved a copy to fill out before writing the next story. The author also has some say after the art is done.
Getting a cover from MLRPress was a completely different experience–the artist submitted a preliminary mockup and asked if we liked the focus and basic look. I remember asking her not to airbrush off the hair leading down from one guy’s navel, but to please give him more of a package. Then she did six or eight variations on the theme, and after getting a consensus on the most favored of those had questions like “innie or outie?” That was something.
Does anyone know if Anne Cain works for any NYC print publishers? I’d love to see covers like those on Renee’s books on the shelf.
She’s done a couple covers for Sourcebooks and one hat I know of for Dorchester. I believe they’re on her Deviant Art gallery.
Hi Fanny,
Actually, the cover for Playing With Fyre was done by Mina. I have that book. She’s a friend and fellow Cobblestone author. I’m going to be doing the trailer for that book. I’ve just been buzzing the comments on this article and her name caught my eye so I thought I’d let you know.
Lex Valentine´s last blog ..What You Know
Thanks for the kind words about the Freeing Emily cover. When I look at it all I see now are the little things that maybe I would do differently, so that was a nice warm fuzzy.
Hey Amber!
Thanks so much for that link. I’ve saved it to drool over later, because I noted one of my favorite Loose Id covers on there (A Guardian’s Desire, author Mya). Croco Designs…I may well become a fan of them too.
The cover art form for Loose Id may well be the reason, apart from the obvious fact that the artists are so good, why the covers are so beautiful. The artists have all the information they need.
Your MLR artist sounds just the kind you need. Someone who is willing to get your character perfect, right down to the belly button! I only wish more publishers had artists like that.
Barbara!
THANK YOU for that information. I’m going to sound an oddball now, but it brought tears to my eyes. I shall poke through her Deviant Art when I have a little more time. Prior to snooping for covers when compiling my post, I had never heard of Anne Cain. I saw her work and knew she deserved a bigger audience. I really do hope she makes it in the print publishing industry.
I want to stroke her covers!
Lex!
I had a feeling my mind wasn’t working very well last night, so thank you for setting that straight.
@ Fanny Hill:
Anne is going to the RWA national con, btw so it’s a cool chance to have books signed by both the author & artist.
Here’s her Dorchester cover:
http://annecain.deviantart.com/art/Cover-art-Breath-of-Fire-125715140
and one of the Sourcebooks Casablanca series she did:
http://annecain.deviantart.com/art/Cover-art-Rogue-113353427
Bree
Are you MAD? I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s beautiful.
Barbara
I like these covers, but they definitely have the more commercial look. As I mentioned, sometimes what the publisher and author wants means artists are limited in their creativity. My favorite style of Anne Cain’s is displayed on Renee’s covers.
On cover art, my favourite artists are of course Anne Cain, some of those covers I just have to drool over, and also Bree Bridges (and I’m seeing one of hers up there
) and Croco from Cobblestone.
H / Mina´s last blog ..*giggle*
H/Mina
You’re welcome!