Where does cover-art come from?

I asked a question very close to this myself, so no slaps for you from me

Basically cover art is done by an artist hired by the publisher. Sometimes the author gets a say in it, sometimes they don't.

Mostly the author doesn't get a say.

Sometimes the art is generic, purchased in advance.

I was asked by both my publishers to state my thoughts on cover art. The first publisher was happy with my idea and the photo I supplied (see the cover on this post). The publisher's artist dramatised it and added the figures. I haven't seen the second publisher's covers - the book is published in Canada end of April '09. But they seem to be going with a similar theme. I'm happy about this because a vivid and interesting cover is a huge advantage when book-signing.

The Kidd said:

Thank you so much for clearing that up guys. I had an artist in mind for my WIP but now that I really think about it I guess it dosen't matter so much. I'm kinda glad I don't have to deal with it as of now or ever really.

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I think it matters a lot. I've paid for two large posters printed on plastic which I display at book signings. It really catches the eye and being Stonehenge (where my story starts and returns occasionally over the two published books) it attracts attention and brings people over to where my display is. I've seen writers sitting alone at their desk while people walk past, just because nothing about them or their book stands out. While you're a new author, I really believe you need to attract attention.

Even if the editor likes your cover ideas, that doesn't mean the publicity department will. Covers are designed to appeal to the buying public, and sometimes what's catchy will overrule what's artistic.

My publisher has a great art director who is responsible for designing all their books' covers. Sometimes an artist is commisioned to do the art (the one that I'm using as my avatar), sometimes it's from stock photographs. My new (spring) book's cover is a digital illustration-- it's awesome. I've had no input into cover design/art (which is okay by me, as it wouldn't be my strength anyway). But a friend of mine suggested a particular artist for her fantasy novel and her publisher did end up liking his work and commisioned him to do the cover art. It's fabulous. So if you have an idea, by all means share it with your publisher. Nothing to lose. I figure that the art folks and marketing folks know their stuff... but it helps that I've loved all my covers so it is easy for me to just trust their judgement!

ChaosTitan said:

Even if the editor likes your cover ideas, that doesn't mean the publicity department will. Covers are designed to appeal to the buying public, and sometimes what's catchy will overrule what's artistic.

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Always helpful to have an idea for if they ask though Even if it's only 'There should be like a dragon, and this chick and and, and a bomb!'

I was lucky - they asked, I said, they liked, I got.

If I ever find a publisher for my two novels, I've got some cover art suggestions ready.

I would guess that half of all novels by lesser known authors are sold on title and cover alone. I've seen a lot of crappy cover art that I'm certain condemned a lot of novels to poor sales.

At Harlequin, authors are asked to fill out Art Fact Sheets, where we offer three suggestions for cover art, give descriptions of the main characters, settings, jobs, themes and marketing hooks. We also have to give a one-page synopsis for the book. (This is often used to make foreign sales, so it's very important.)

I often send pictures as references.

I've always been very, very happy with the Art Department's results. My latest cover is almost exactly a scene I described on my AF's, only, as usual, even better.



Susan G.

I recently befriended a guy who has been making a living for years making cover art, and he told me that for the most part publishers leave the authors out of the process. For decades he made a very decent living doing this but recently design graphics software has undermined his business by making it easy for any 13 year old to design a cover as good as something he could paint, for a fraction of the price. There's a side of me that welcomes technology that can make publishing cheaper -- and hence keep books affordable and the business profitable, so people like us can keep writing -- but I've seen this guy's work and it's never a pretty thing to see an employed artist become irrelevant. He truly was (is) an artist, as he was often given very skimpy instructions and had to employ his own imagination, without having actually read the book.

Ace did ask me for input. I knew there had to be a picture of the dog in the book on the cover, which was a no brainer, and I sent them photos of the kind of dog I wanted. And they paid attention.

However, in the second book, they arbitrarily changed the dog, which annoyed me no end. My editor actually listened to my bitching and promised to change it back for book three.

Personally, I know what I'd love to see on the cover of my novel - but I also trust that the pros knows better what will sell a book than I do.

The use of computer graphics and other images has certainly changed the cover art business. Some former cover artists, from back in the days of a-photograph-of-a-painting-of-a-photograph, have gone on to be well-known gallery artists. Pino springs to mind; his portraits now go for upwards of $30k in galleries, and he specializes in paintings of women and children.

Now the physical design of book covers is mostly in the hands of the art directors and their staffs, who create and manipulate images on their computers to design covers.

And there's a definite upside to all that. In the old days, if you happened to get a stinker of a cover (and most of us did, more than once), you were stuck with it because it was just too expensive to change.

Now? Totally different. A small change like adding an element or changing a color is quick and simple. And if the cover design itself is off-base, a complete redesign can be done in an afternoon -- at little to no cost.

I'm glad I bought a few of my cover paintings, back in the day. But I'm gladder now that things are done differently.

My editor asked me to supply descriptions of my main characters, and she asked me to suggest two or three scenes from the novel as possible cover ideas. Now she and the art director will use those, along with their own ideas, to design the cover.

A friend of mine *hated* the first version of her book's cover art. Luckily the editor and artist listened to her suggestions, and the second version is absolutely stunning.

I'm not a published author by any means, but I'm guessing from my field (Graphic Design) that a big publisher has an entire art department for the cover art... I've used my own mock-up designs of covers, posters, and etc. of the novel I'm working on to adorn my writing space and for covers of the finished and partial manuscripts that I've asked some close friends to read. I find it motivating... even if my little visual pieces will have nothing to do with the final published product (if it ever is, LoL)

adarkfox said:

I'm not a published author by any means, but I'm guessing from my field (Graphic Design) that a big publisher has an entire art department for the cover art...

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That's true. The editor and art director usually work together on the book's overall design, and they choose an artist (sometimes in-house, sometimes freelance) to create the cover art.

It depends on the publisher whether they solicit the writer's opinion or not. Don't throw away those mock-ups, but don't send them unless your editor asks you for any suggestions.