How Did They Come Up with the Cover?

Got asked a good question today: How did they come up with book cover?

 

Here is how it got put together in a tiny little nut shell:

Okay, well, the cover first came about when I filled out a detailed questionnaire they sent me with a variety of questions about my vision, goals and ideas for the cover. I told them the impression and emotion I wanted portrayed when someone is to look at it, told them what imagery or symbolism that is carried throughout the book/series, and gave them about 4 different ideas for covers that I envisioned could work.

Their incredible artist sent me a cover draft back, I critiqued it and he worked on some more options. He sent back two completely different options and this was the one I fell in love with right away! The images are things I described to him and are described in the book. The street in the back ground about blew my mind because it is nearly identical to the one in my dream that started this crazy goodness.

For this particular cover, he took almost everything I had envisioned in one of the book cover ideas I sent them and made some slight changes and fashioned this amazing result. From what I gather, the images are those the publisher has copyright license to use from various sources, like an inventory of images. If they don't have what they need, they can create it artistically or go get new ones. The artist has reformatted and altered their original image designs such that combined they are preserved as completely their own in this amazing work of art. I cannot say as to the how or what tools he used to fashion it, but I LOVED it!

I wish I knew who the woman is because she does look very close to the main character I envisioned!! And NO, the woman is NOT me. Neither is the character I write, so please don't think her experiences mirror my own. Those who truly know me will recognize elements of my personality or exaggerated and fictionalized events that have a very small basis in reality as with most authors and writers. But other than that, she is not me, and I am not her. Thank GOD! Once you all read it, you’ll be happy it wasn’t me too. Honest!

R.J. Machado De Quevedo

(Follow me on Twitter under @TheDeceiverBook )