Some of my readers have expressed an interest in how my book cover journey is going. So here’s an update.
Spoiler alert: It’s a long road!
How did we get here?
There are a couple of reasons I chose a bespoke cover over a pre-made. As a reader, I love it when the images on a cover are specific to the book’s content. Plus, this book will be the first in a series and it looks really professional when all the covers have a similar look. Using the same designer seemed like a great way to achieve that.
If you haven’t seen the previous blog where I went through the different cover options I looked into, you can read it here.
I have no cover to show you yet but I have learned some lessons I can share.
The long and the short of it
Even after looking into all the options, the journey did not go as planned. The amount of time spent on this cover has been much greater than expected. It seems the design process can take way longer than readers realise.
I recently read a blog by another author who said, in her experience, covers can take up to six weeks to be completed. Mine is at 10 weeks now. And nowhere near ready to hatch.
Lesson learned
Perhaps a question I should have asked the designer before signing is: how many other covers will you be working on at the same time?
Knowledge is everything
My designer doesn’t seem to have specific knowledge of the genre or age range my book is for. The design company I chose has produced young adult sci-fi covers before. But they have multiple designers, and don’t allocate work by genre or age categories. So all the drafts I’ve seen so far have been unsuitable.
My feedback each time is pointing back to the original requirements and comparable covers I’ve provided.
Lessons learned
I think the only lesson to be learned here is to choose a different designer next time. Unless anyone has any better ideas?
I don’t use a writing aid tool for my books. This could have saved me a lot of time rewriting my feedback emails though!
On the subject of time
It’s never just a case of handing over to a third party supplier. There’s always something they will need your attention for. I knew I wouldn’t get as much writing done while the cover design was ongoing. But this particular project has required a lot more input than I’d planned for.
Lesson learned
The biggest lesson I’m taking away from this is to allow more time when working with third parties. I don’t mean the overall duration of the project. I mean the amount of time and focus I personally have to dedicate to the task.
I’ll be off on a research trip shortly, and won’t be thinking about this cover for a little while. Hopefully, I will come back with a clearer head.
Question of the week
How do you keep a clear head when something keeps splitting your focus?
Enjoyed this post?
You might also like: The Book Cover Experiment.
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Deborah Grant-Dudley 