A to Z: C is for Covers

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

Before going indie, since my novels were published by a small press, my opinion about the covers was solicited and if I objected strongly I had a good shot at persuading John (the head honcho) to make changes or go a different way, but in the end, he was the publisher, and the decision lay with him. 

I feel lucky that I ended up with covers I quite like for The Menopausal Superhero series: 

Still, one of the things I was really looking forward to about going indie was having full control over the covers. It was both exciting, and a little daunting. I don't consider myself much of a graphic artist, but I do have opinions. So, I wasn't going to try to do my own covers. At my skill level, that would have been a great way to end up with something amateurish and off-putting. 

Instead, I hired an artist. I met Hannah (or Spoon, as most people call her) of Spoonwood Visuals at a convention. She had the table across from mine, so I had a lot of time to look at her art and chit-chat with her, and I really liked both what I saw and what I heard. I bought a journal book from her with this art on it: 

 

I really liked how she used color, and I've got a thing for Luna moths :-) So, I asked if she ever did book covers and it turned out she does! So, over the past few months, we've talked themes and ideas and she did the covers for all three Gen X romances: 

 

 

She really did a great job turning my vague concepts into vibrant covers that really represent the books. And check out her artistry on the wraps: 

 

 I love how the heart on the back of Not Too Late comes across and becomes the letter L on the cassette tape on the front. And those Trapper-Keeper-esque details really ground it in the 80s nostalgia that is so much a part of this story!

 

 

Acid Reign is a completely different look with that collage-art style that mirrors so many punk album covers of the 80s and 90s, when Abby Storm, my main character, was rocking the world. The big lipstick kiss on the back is perfect! 

 

 

That cutie on the cover, knocking over the microphone and leaving muddy pawprints everywhere is Roscoe. He's the real hero of Ready or Not and I love the way he's running off the cover, so his head is on the back, disrupting the back-of-book blurb text. 

Working directly with an artist was WONDERFUL and I'm so pleased with what Hannah created for my books. 10 out of 10, would totally recommend the experience!