Cover Story – One of the Magic Sauces in Publishing a Book

Everyone knows the old adage: You can’t judge a book by its cover. As an author, I’ve found this to be untrue. In fact, I would say that when it comes to books, we most certainly judge a book by its cover. A quality cover invites readers to peruse the book and come inside, much like a quaint mom-and-pop shop, with an inviting front window display. It draws us in like mosquitoes to the light.

Photo credit: Lightmash on VisualHunt.com

Let’s face it, book covers stick with us. I still vividly remember some of my favorite covers and attach them to the work inside the book. The covers for Anne McCaffrey’s Dragon Rider Series, or even the wickedness of a cover like Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot, rattle in our brains long after the book is done. Certain covers beckon you to pick them up and see what is going on inside.

When I wrote my first book and started looking for agents (Oh boy, a long story there for another time), I considered what I would want my book cover to look like. My book was a time-travel story set in the sixteenth century, and I wanted the cover to be mysterious. So I made this:

Now, to be honest, I thought this was kind of cool. First, the statue of a monk in the background is haunting and mysterious, and then I had the ‘Quiet’ covering its mouth. To me, this subtly implied something sinister.

For about six months, I thought this would work as a cover. But here was the problem: Did it really convey anything in my book? The short answer is no. My book does have some mystery, action, and suspense, but it didn’t carry the darkness that this cover promised. Also, my book has a good bit of science fiction in it.

I decided to abandon this and work on another. As a hobby game maker, I was familiar with creating digital art. The next cover idea I thought was also terrific. Here is what I came up with:

I know what you’re thinking: Wow, that looks cool. Thank you, I thought so, too. It had an attractive quality that I really liked, and it captured my inciting incident in a single shot. But, again, on reflection, this had another glaring problem.

As cool as this cover is, my main story is in the sixteenth century, and this cover SCREAMS science fiction. I mean, it has a spaceship on it. It must be sci-fi, right?

After doing a lot of research, the common advice from everyone is that, unless this is your primary profession, you should hire someone who knows what they are doing. As an aerospace engineer, this would not be me. It took me about four months of searching, but I finally stumbled on someone who I think is phenomenal. She studied Impressionism in school, and her art speaks for itself.

I gave her my ideas for the book, and she came up with this cover:

Is that not wonderfully inviting? It captures both Medieval and Science Fiction, and makes you wonder what is going on. Lerayyne (My artist) did my cover for Crying Wolf, and I’m excited about what she did for Book 2 of The Quiet Order Series (It should be out around Christmas).

When Leraynne originally did Crying Wolf, I worried that my book wouldn’t live up to the hype of the cover. This concern put the burden on me to ensure that the product’s interior fulfilled the promises of the wrapper. I used editors and did everything I could to make the manuscript worthy of such exceptional artwork. The Quiet Order is no different: A whole lot of sweat went into its production.

Look for The Quiet Order to be out in October.

Bottom line: hire a professional artist for the cover, and do everything to make good on the promises that the cover conveys to the potential reader.

-Doug

P.S. If you need a good artist for your book, contact me and I will put you in touch with mine. She is amazing.