Although I’m a writer and a lot happens inside my head, I’m also a very visual person. So there’s something special about seeing what’s imagined turned into something I can see and touch. This is especially true for the covers of my books.
Now, I learned a lot from The Adventure cover. Such as the importance of coloring (Note to Self Go Lime Green), pixels per inch requirements for printing (Ups and Downs), and the book title (What’s in a Name). But aside from the technical aspects, the hardest part for me is describing to an artist what I see in my head clearly enough for him to create it.
I’m no artist in the visual arts. I have no idea how easy or difficult a requested piece of artwork is to produce. However, I am blessed to know some very talented people.
If you’re familiar with The Adventure, you’ve seen Justin’s work before. He illustrated The Temple of Night and Wind, the second story in The Adventure, for me three years ago. I love the feel of his art, so when I started thinking about the cover for Quaking Soul, I reached out to Justin to see if he’d be willing to work with me again.
I can’t say how much I appreciate not only his talent, but his work ethic and flexibility. I contacted him well ahead of time after finding out my usual editor wasn’t available and then scrambling to find a new one. I didn’t want to find out the artist wasn’t available as well. He agreed to work with me, and then I told him to wait, for months, before I was actually ready to get the cover started.
Finally, I was at a point where I could provide him with a cover template from the printer. (The spine width will change if the page count changes, so most editing needs to be done before this.) Then I gave him a vague, and I mean vague like heavy fog and forest, description of what I wanted.
Justin allowed me more edits and changes than I deserve, but he took my vague description and turned it into a cover I absolutely love.
So without further ado, here’s the cover for Quaking Soul!
Blessings,
Jennifer
[…] like with book covers, the title is important. Readers make assumptions and connections whether they want to or not. Walk […]
[…] I said in the Cover Reveal for Quaking Soul, I’m blessed to know some very talented artistic […]
It’s fantastic! As much as I like the cover for The Adventure, I really like the pops of color and hints of what might be contained on the pages, and that it all blends so well together. You really have found a wonderful artist!
I can’t say enough about how much I like Justin’s artwork! He really did capture what I wanted 🙂
I love seeing the progression from beginning to end!! It is beautiful!!
At the beginning I was nervous it wouldn’t turn out right but as I saw each new update that went away 🙂 Now I know that’s just part of the process!
Ooh, it looks awesome! Love the other illustrations too! Congrats, Jennifer! 🙂
Thanks, Naomi! I’ve been so excited to share 🙂
What a beautiful cover!! It is great to have people that can take a muddy thought and turn it into something beautiful. I can’t wait to get my hands on this. Thanks for sharing
It’s really neat to see what an artist can do to bring a story to life visually! I love this part of publishing 🙂
Amazing, what a blessing! It looks fantastic!!
It turned out so cool! I acted like a giddy child when the proof showed up and it printed just like it looks on the screen 🙂