Book Covers

This is a cover i recently produce for Jakki's Mom's self published book (you can get yourself a kindle copy here, paperback version will be coming out soon) I've done quite a few book covers over the years, some more successful than others. I consider this one a success, but i guess it's only truly successful if it helps to sell the book, that's the point of it's existence after all! It was more work than I'm used to, as being self published, i had a lot to learn about the template the publisher uses and all the technical requirements. I seem to have done a lot of technical learning lately, what with my new website and online shop

It was nice to have total control over the entire design. Sometimes you can have a nice image spoilt by some unsympathetic type splashed over it. Other times and i have an increasing bugbear on this one, 'Marketing' have their say. 'Sales and Marketing' when did their voice get to become so loud? I say this as i was reading an article at the weekend about the new film of the best selling book One Day, by David Nicholls. In an interview with the lead guy, Jim Sturgess, he said that once he started working on the film all he saw were people walking around with the book and it's distinctive orange cover . Orange cover?!!! Marketing must have been kept out somewhere. They like blue, they like yellow. That's it, no other colour allowed. Blue books sell, bottom line. Well, this orange one has sold... lots. That's the thing, you get a book that sells well and it's blue, so all they want to see are blue books. Eventually all books have a blue or yellow cover and an orange one stands out!

I know I've done the yellow'ish thing above, but i wanted this book to use the 'system' to not give it any disadvantage out there.

I tried once to get a brown/amber coloured cover design through once... imagine!! what was i thinking? Anyway, it never ended up brown, it ended up... all together now... BLUE! I have managed to do a black cover, twice!... so all hope is not lost. It's just a strange situation. Often i will work with the publishers for weeks shaping a cover design and then they eventually have a meeting with Marketing and they just reject it, after all other parties were happy. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

Rant nearly over now...

I always feel a bit sorry for the authors in all of this. They spend years researching and writing  these books and they could get anything for the cover, whatever the publisher/ marketing think will sell it.

I know on various projects I've worked on the author has had final say and occasionally want a little change. I've found that frustrating as you almost feel that maybe you should have just been working with them from the beginning. Get something they're happy with, that they feel sums up their book, but also has the benefit of artistic input and design sense.

Hey, what do i know? It's just a thought.