From time to time, I receive e-mails asking questions about the book-making and book-publishing process. Thought I'd answer some of them periodically through this blog. P.S. E-mail me a question if you'd like at mr@mariannerichmond.com.
Question #1: How do you decide on a cover image? How does it go from a piece of artwork to the cover of the book?
A cover image often determines the sale of a book. Imagine yourself wandering through a store looking at 100's of book covers ... and your eye catches a book cover. You like the "emotion" of it. Perhaps it's cute art or intriguing art ... with a title that speaks to you. That's a well-crafted cover. Other questions: does it speak to both boys and girls? Of multiple races? Why would someone NOT buy the book based on the cover?
I have found through the years that a single focus cover (one central image) USUALLY outsells a "busier" cover. More of an impact, I believe.
An artistic aside:
I remember when I was first starting my artistic endeavors, I would look at other people's works and wonder, "how did he or she DO that?" I would wonder about his or her process, materials, paint choices and textures. It inspired me to sit down and play with different materials and paper on which to create. Eventually I settled into my style ... most often painting with watercolor or acrylic on HOT-PRESSED watercolor paper (140lb).
But then every once in a while, after using the same materials for several books, I get restless. I need to change it up. Create a different look. This is the state in which I found myself while embarking on the painting of Beautiful Brown Eyes.
I was wandering through my office, looking for inspiration, when my eye happened upon a pile of fabric swatches that I had recently used in Art Camp.
"That's it!" I thought. "I will paint on fabric!" So I started cutting fabric pieces the size of a book's page spread.
Now I can certainly paint right on the fabric but wanted to create a more solid canvas for myself. So -- I covered the fabric with white acrylic paint.
Using acrylic paints, oil crayons and colored pencils, I created my cover image directly on the fabric.
From here, this photo gets scanned into the computer where our fabulous designer takes over. She manipulates colors if need be ... and adds the title in her chosen font. As you can also see, she added the eyes I painted separately and well as other facial features...
Is this a boy or a girl? Could be both! A cute boy or a girl with a ponytail! Is he or she white? black? Asian? For you to decide! Coming soon to a Target store near you...
