Happy Monday! Thank you for all of your coffee grinder suggestions. I pulled the trigger on a more pricy conical grinder which should be great for drip coffee and will report on the results.
I’d love to hear about HA’s cover design process. What determines whether you use one of your cover artists and whether Ilona crafts it? What creative process and tools does Ilona use when she creates the cover? What process do you like best (cover artist who uses live models, cover artist who uses database images, creating your own, etc.)?
The primary factors in whether I make the cover or we hire an artist are cost, availability, and branding.
COST
Good covers are expensive, because artists deserve to be fairly compensated for their work. We are much more likely to invest in art on a longer work or an anthology than on a short story or a novella. Novellas are cheaper, they earn less than a full release, and therefore, cover cost becomes a larger percentage of the budget.
This is also affected by branding. More on it in a minute.
You can see this cost factor in action on some of our older Ace novellas. They used to be part of an anthology, for which the publisher had commissioned a cover. Then the anthologies were split into eSpecials.
As you can see, the eSpecial was clearly put together with stock images probably by the publisher’s art department. I’d estimate the cost of images to be under $150.
Who puts the cover together can make a difference even when stock images are used.
There is no drop of quality even thought the novella uses stock images because Avon had commissioned the same artist for the 3 novels and the novella. The two covers above were created by Gene Mollica.
AVAILABILITY
This is straight forward. Good artists are in high demand. If we have a surprise release, chances are the artist won’t be available on a short notice. You have to book the artists months in advance, and of course, that’s a big factor.
These are gorgeous covers and you can see why the artists would be in high demand.
BRANDING
Take a look at these covers.
There are 3 common elements to all these covers: a girl, a sword, and a lion. This is branding at work.
When we decided to do the first Kate novella, we just kind of puttered around and then it was finished. We needed the cover quickly, so attempting to commission an artist, especially over the busy holiday season, would’ve been difficult. We needed to make our own, and whatever we made had to be instantly recognizable as a Kate story.
All of these covers have a specific look. They are photomanipulation covers, meaning a photoshoot took place and then the images of the model were heavily processed in photoshop. If these covers had been painted, we would be out of luck.
Fortunately for everyone, while I’m seriously lacking in artistic skill, I’m good at photomanipulation. I had to learn how to do it, because majority of our promotion takes place online. We would ask the publisher for banners and promotional images, and they were never in the budget. We had to make our own.
A side note: when a publisher commissions a book cover, they buy very specific rights, meaning they pay for the right to use the art as a book cover only. If we were to cut the cover into a banner and display it on our website, we would be committing copyright infringement.
Example:
That type of image usage is illegal. We made it a policy to always enter into a separate contract with our cover artist, even if they are commissioned by the publisher, to purchase the rights to display image on our website and in promotional materials. that’s why you see all the beautiful banners.
Since I had to learn how to do the banners, more advanced photomanipulation was the next step. I did a lot of tutorials.
Finally, over the years I developed enough skills to create decent photo manipulation covers.
We knew we wanted a girl, a sword, and a lion. These are the original stock images.
Wait a minute…
Then it was the matter of putting it all together, tinting it the right way, etc.
Natanya Wheeler of NYLA, our literary agency, added the typography because I know my limits and I suck at typographical elements.
This cover hits all the branding elements we needed and is instantly recognizable as a Kate cover. And there you have it.
We had a discussion regarding outsourcing the second cover, which Gordon shut down. According to him, the first cover is pretty and on brand and there is no reason to switch, and that’s how Magic Claims happened.
ModR was instrumental in selecting the right background. I sent her about 20 images and she picked that particular forest for its prettiness.
Funny thing about Magic Claims. The model on the cover is wearing a sweater, because it’s fall. However, all of the images we had of her were gym images, where she looked tough but wasn’t appropriately dressed. I was browsing a different stock site looking for someone in a similar pose and found a completely different set of images with her, which I immediately bought. This is what Kate looks like in the office.
And now you know all of my cover secrets. If we do a collected edition, we will likely commission an artist for that cover.
I really like this new Kate! I always wondered why Kate was always a different
person from one cover to another. Maybe you wildly underestimated how popular Kate would become when you wrote her first book.???? Maybe your old crystal ball
should go keep company with Gordon’s cement mixer/coffee grinder.????
Some authors don’t realize that ebook covers are often purchased from a postage stamp sized picture on a phone and they make them either too complex or all look the same at that size.
Fortunately for you, the BDH would read your books if they had a solid color cover with legible titles. The beautiful covers are lovely icing designs on fabulous cakes!
The main Kate Daniels series was traditionally published ???? – authors have little to no say in such covers, it’s all publishing house decision.
I know most people will not agree with this, but I would rather not see Kate’s image on the cover. I have a very specific picture in my mind of what Kate looks like and when I look at the images on the cover, they never match up. I know that’s just me and that’s the way it is but just sayin’… ????
I sort of agree with you there. I pay very little attention to book covers, especially in these days of ebooks, but on occasion a cover has been so jarringly out of place I’ve had to look back at it midway and just wonder what the heck?
I do have a portfolio of Josh Kirby art and several Clarecraft figurines however. . .
And on the flip side some covers used to draw me in to having a look just by being recognisably of a beloved genre/publisher – Baen and Ace were big culprits back in my physical copy days, which is the reason why I’m an Ilona Andrews fan!
Those are some great photomanipulations and thoughtful cover design! That’s really smart to buy the rights for promotional materials. Are you willing to share a sample contract that you would use for that?
Such talent! And I mean you! I would love a t shirt with all of the cover art shared here. That Curran profile! Thank you for educating me on the business of actually putting a cover together. I often choose unfamiliar authors based on the cover. There was this man girl…I had to have that cover. We need murch I think. The photomanip you have been doing is genious. Maybe I can make just myself a shirt without getting sued. Lol. Not really. Anyway thx.
Ilona your cover looks great! Gordon is right, and not gonna lie- I actually prefer it to some of the others that were commisioned professionally ???? I guess you jsut know the brand so well that you can get it bang on even if you’re less comfortable with the art side of it
I had no idea you created the cover. I assumed it was a professional job. I am so impressed. If I was in charge there would quite possibly be stick figures.
Ditto on the stick figures. My kid has to make a CA Mission next year. He is so screwed. It’s a good thing I’m friends with an artsy mom, who will hopefully be able to guide him.
Wouldn’t it be fun to be that stock model and see yourself on these covers?
I am a member in good standing ( If by that we mean I buy every book and novella HA writes.). However, I confess to not paying much attention to the book covers other than “It’s a HA book set in the xyz universe. Yea! I’ll buy it.” The pictures you posted are pretty just not my focus.
*high five*
I confess I’m firmly on team “don’t judge a book by its cover”…literally ????. Especially with certain authors.
Ditto!
Especially since I read primarily on my Kindle so i very rarely care what the cover looks like. Although when someone points out that a position is literally physically impossible or some absurd thing like that I have to laugh!
Thank you ILona. I appreciate the topics and the time you spend with us on the blog. ????
You go Gordon! That cover is pretty!
Not connected to this posting, but I just heard that Austin had a devastating ice storm. The weight of ice was pulling down trees. Are you guys okay? Were your the kids affected?
House Andrews are well ????, thank you for worrying!
I love that you have taught yourself photo manipulation! What were the easiest and/or best tutorials to use?
On another note, I’ve recently become a proud member(ish)of BDH! All of your series are now my comfort reads.. and I enjoy them immensely. Thank you❤️
Yay! Welcome ????. So glad you love the books!
I totally love the regular cat in that mix. Too bad you couldn’t put that cat in as the hidden Easter egg. LOL. Even the idea makes me smile and chuckle.
This is all very interesting information because for me right now I won’t even consider anything but photomanipulation for a cover, even for a novel. I have paid for some covers in the past, but a lot depends on whether it’s first in a series, how a given series is already doing, etc. I’m not sure readers always understand just how many sales it can take to recover that cost. Not that readers should be overly concerned with such, but I have to take it into consideration as a business cost when planning a release. And I’m not complaining about artist prices–but yes, there’s lead time, which means you have to know exactly what you want when you start looking for an artist and that process usually happens for me before I’ve finished the novel. And I’m a panster. So a lot can change! Then there’s illustration versus paying for someone to manipulate the photos and then there is the whole font/type/title (and I need to take some kind of class in that because I am just not good at it.) It’s very interesting to read your thoughts on the process and realize they are not so very different from my own. You do an excellent job at the photo manipulations. I cannot distinguish them from any of the pros. Really nice layouts. Of course, doing your own also makes it easier for you to price your novellas–and I truly appreciate that too!
Thanks for the informational post.
Thanks for the insight on cover creation, cost constraints and how you do it.
I can imagine how much Luisa’s work is in demand. Her art is a thing of beauty.
My Kate looks like Magic Bites or Magic Triumphs covers. I also like Small Magics Kate a lot.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a collected edition of Kate’s Wilmington years!
One thing that bothers me about some of the covers for the Kate Daniels books is that the image of Kate Daniels isn’t the same. Another thing is that since her father is Sumerian, I would expect to see some of that regional influence in her appearance, which I do in the covers for Magic Triumphs and Magic Binds–very nice covers. In most of the others, I don’t, which throws me.
the covers, especially for the Wilmington novellas, are all so pretty!
I’ve liked the Luisa Preissler cover pictured here since the day I saw it. It’s intense, striking and focused. The woman pictured there looks to be formidable, and has to be taken seriously.
Most cover art…I’m just not a fan of the genre. I typically hover somewhere between not interested and actively covering my eyes, but occasionally one will captivate me for some reason, like Small Magic’s did.
Fascinating!
Such fun to learn more of the intricacies of publishing. Thanks for sharing.
The small magics cover has been my favorite since ever 🙂
On the early cover Kate looked to me, more like a model than a fighter. I like the way she has toughened up over the years.
I’d be interested to learn more about what tutorials you used, etc!
This is wonderful. Thank you very much.
Hee! Yay! How cool. I got my question answered. Naturally, another one occurred:
Can we get an inside peek on House Andrews’ cover request descriptions to cover artists? I remember how amusing and interesting the blog summary of the Fated Blades cover art description was, and the cover turned out so gorgeously.
But I’m not greedy. Ok, I am since I’m part of the BDH, but I totally understand that I have to join the back of the question queue since I just had a turn.
Thanks for indulging our insatiable curiosity!
It will always be Magic Clams to me! Love Kate and fam! Best series ever. Only other series by another author that comes close would be P. Briggs’ Mercedes Thompson Hauptman series.
Can you expand on specific considerations for the spine and back cover? Clearly not so critical on ebooks but on old style bookshop shelves, perhaps still important?
This is a great strategy summary, thank you very much.
This is fascinating. thank you for sharing
This was a delightful read after a difficult week. Thank you for investing your time into the entertainment and education of the BDH. I love special editions and hardbacks because of the cover art which made this post particularly appealing. And now I know why I rarely put off by the covers of your books, and I bet if I look back I will see those covers were the ones where you did not have control!
This was a very interesting post about covers, something I have always been curious to know how this was done. I’m re-reading the Kate novels now and am on Magic Slays. I have to say this is a distressing cover–not an appealing one at all. Kate’s figure seems to suffer from some of the missteps of mocking up a cover. Will you ever reissue with a different cover? How happy were you with this one? I am an avid reader of your work and appreciate that you are in the world.
Hi Sherri,
The main Kate Daniels series is traditionally published. That means both the covers and republishing decisions are in the hands of the publisher ????
Thank you for explaining the cost /reasoning behind the many different faces of Kate covers. Happy writing… I’m happy reading!
This is awesome! I especially love the Kate and Innkeeper covers they imo are always the best! My husband does photoshop for his rugby club. I have listened to him listening to tutorials lol. They are helpful – photoshop is a beast of a tool. Thank you for sharing.
Soooooo cool to see how the covers are made