The old saying is that you can’t judge a book by its cover. But you can’t sell a book without a great cover. That meant having a strong cover for The Strandlock was one of my priorities.
Experience with Cover Designers/Illustrators
I’ve been fortunate to work with talented cover artists throughout my publishing journey. Brandon Dorman created the covers and interior illustrations for my middle-grade novels, while Lidia Puccetti designed the covers for my contemporary fiction. Each brought a different vision to my books, and both helped me appreciate the importance of a professional cover.
I wrote a blog about the evolution of The Magic Carousel cover that can be viewed here.
Finding a YA Fantasy Cover Designer
When it came time to create a cover for my first young adult fantasy, however, I knew I needed a different artistic approach. During an online self-publishing support group call, I asked for suggestions of whom to contact about a cover for The Strandlock. A fellow author gave me several suggestions. One seemed very promising: Christian Bentulan.
I reviewed his website and watched his posts on Facebook, where he shared many of the covers he had created. His style was to use stock photos, combine them, and enhance them into a compelling image. His work hooked me.
From Concept to Cover
By the time I contacted Christian, I had lived with The Strandlock for more than thirty years. I had a clear picture of the main character, Tima, in my mind but translating that image into a book cover was another matter entirely.
My initial description of what I envisioned for the cover included that the most striking features of Tima are her ice-blue eyes and her hair is hidden throughout much of the book. Christian took that scanty description and created a first draft.
He captured the intense eyes I had imagined. However, the fancy corner scrollwork seemed a bit more than the image needed. Her face had to reflect the tough living conditions that Tima endured, and the headwrap looked too much like a hijab, rather than a rough piece of fabric.
We continued to refine and develop specific details. Each version grew closer to the image I had in mind.
In the next version, the image almost resembled the the final version. The last details we settled were some turquoise shapes that distracted from the fabric folds and the lengthening of her strands of hair.
Finally, we agreed that the cover was done. The remaining step was to create the print format. That requires a final page count to set the spine width and the back cover blurb. Writing blurbs is not fun and will be the subject of another blog.
Future Covers
Throughout the process, Christian was a delight to work with and has already agreed to create the covers for the sequel, The Strand That Binds, and the prequel, Lovestrands. If the cover for The Strandlock is any indication, I’m excited to see what he creates next.
With the book cover finalized, the next step for The Strandlock is to bring the world building to life.
Previous: The Strandlock: A 33 Year Journey
Next: Drawing the World of The Strandlock
