Saturday, October 1, 2011

Cover Art

One of the joys of going Indie published is the cover art is yours to choose. You can design it yourself if you have any graphic arts talent. Or, if you are like me and have none, you can hire someone to do it.
I checked a lot of cover artists before going with Elaina Lee, For the Muse Design Her covers had a dreamy effect to them that I really liked. Almost dream-like.
I sent her a blurb of my story, a description of the couple in the story, and things I knew I wanted on the cover; the couple, a divorce decree, and a cabin in a storm in the woods.
She got back to me right away with a cover. I was sure the divorce decree would be the hard thing to find for the cover but she let me know it was the cabin. All the ones she found were happy and sunny, not storm-drenched like my story. But, she did find one and sent me this cover.
While it was gorgeous the font of the title was just wrong. I didn't like that the two words of the title were in different fonts, way different fonts and I really like the author name below the title.
So I shot her an email and requested some changes. (Yeah, the awesome part of being Indie) We emailed back and forth a few times just to check we were on the same page. Was I happy with the couple she found? Yes! Although they are younger than my 40 year old couple in the book, I liked their look. What font was I looking for? Slightly fancy, but not as fancy as the Interrupted on this cover.
She was so nice to let me know she was in the process of moving and packing but still my cover was ready in a couple of days. And here is the final cover for Divorce, Interrupted.
I totally love it and feel it fits the story perfectly. So, this week I will be an Indie Author and thrilled so far with every step of the process. Hopefully, I will still feel that way after a weekend of formatting for Amazon, Pubit, and Smashwords. LOL
Jill James

12 comments:

Sheila Tenold said...

DIVORCE INTERRUPTED sounds like a good read. Jill, congratulations on your Indie publishing!

I'm like you, and would need a pro to design cover art. It is such an important tool. Like seeing a person's face. A reader's first chance to decide if they want to see more! Good Luck.

Mona Risk said...

Jill, your book cover is gorgeous and I love the title. Was this book already published? Let me know how you are coping with formatting. I am going through the same. I already prepared a book cover.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Excellent cover, Jill. Good for you for going after what you wanted. I'm wishing you great sales with this new venture.

Jill James said...

Sheila, thanks for the well wishes. I could never design cover art. Just not artsy in that way.

Jill James said...

Mona, this is a brand new story. I took a formatting class so we will see how well I do. Hoping to have it live by Monday.

Jill James said...

Vonnie, thanks. I'm trying all avenues right now. Some with epress, queries out to agents, and some short stories as self-published.

Nicola McKenna said...

Jill,
those covers are brilliant! I agree, Elaina has a lovely 'dreamy' style, doesn't she? Well done, and here's wishing you many many sales!

Jill James said...

Nicola, thanks for the well wishes. I'm hoping to go 'live' today or tomorrow at the latest.

Josie said...

Jill,
How exciting for you! Your book cover is beautiful. Best wishes for lots of sales.

Jill James said...

Josie, thanks for the well-wishes, it was a day long project to format and upload.

Dawn Marie Hamilron said...

Good luck, Jill!

Jill James said...

Dawn, thanks for the well wishes.