A Day in the life of Caroline Andrus - Head Cover Artist and Webmaster at Melange Books LLC - Part 1

There is an old saying don’t judge a book by its cover. Well that is exactly what I do when I pick up a book, and I am sure most of you out there do too.  Which then got me thinking as to how many books are put back onto the shelf, because the cover does not entice us to buy it?

At Melange we have a great team that works with us to make sure that this never happens.

After interviewing Caroline, I was actually amazed as to how much time an effort goes into our book covers.  As an author, we fill out a cover art request, name, title, a brief summary of the book. List the physical characteristics of our main characters, and the major setting of our book.  Then miraculously we have an email from either Caroline or the cover artist assigned to us, and hey presto we have our perfect book cover.

So, without further ado, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you all today, to the wonderful, funny and very talented, Caroline Andrus.

I have worked for Melange Books and it's young adult imprint, Fire and Ice since its inception. It is a huge job, but a job that I take great pride and joy in.

I am basically Nancy's right hand (wo)man, but my main job titles are Head Cover Artist and Webmaster.

COVER ARTIST

I'll begin with the cover art process. When a book is contracted each author is asked fill out a questionnaire about their book so that the artist assigned to the book can get an idea of what the story is about and what the characters look for. Once I've collected the cover art questionnaires I then divide them out among myself and the other three artists currently on staff. Each artist has her own strengths in different areas so I try to assign to the artist I think will do the best job for each particular cover.

I can't speak for the process of the other artists, but for me personally, once I have the art form and have read through it, I usually have some kind of idea in my head about what I want the cover to look like. Then the hunt begins for stockart. I scour the stockart website hunting for the perfect models in the perfect poses with the perfect expressions. Many times I luck out and find just what I need, other times I need to be more creative in getting the final image I want. I can't draw to save my life, but thank goodness for Photoshop!

Once I am happy with the cover proof I send it off to the author to review. We want our authors to be happy with the cover they end up with so we want their feedback. Ultimately, we are the artists and have final say, but we work hard to come up with a design that makes everyone happy. Sometimes I nail it on the first try and the author is in love with that first image I send. Other times the author wants changes to specific elements. And very rarely, I've totally missed what the author wants and have to start over from scratch.

Once the cover proof is approved we purchase the stock art and complete the cover which is then sent to the author to use for any promo and also sent over to Nancy for the releases.

You'd think that's the end of the cover art, but it's not. Books that are being offered in print format require what's called a "one piece" cover. This cover contains the front, back and spine of the book. Once the book is loaded at our print vendor it automatically calculates the total size of the cover, including the size of the spine, so that the book prints correctly. We are also able at this point in time to download the barcode to be placed on the back cover. Once the full one piece cover is loaded for print my job as an artist is done. On to the next project!

As head artist I also have the following additional job:

* Make sure my release calendar is up to date.

* Touch base with the artists periodically to make sure they're on track for release dates (we aim to complete each cover at least two months prior to the contracted release date, if not sooner.)

* Contact authors who have not yet sent in their art form.

Selection of designs by Caroline

WEBMASTER

In addition to the cover art process I am also the webmaster for Melange and it's imprints. Initially this was my biggest job because when Melange was brought to life, we didn't start from scratch, we brought over many, many authors who chose to sign on with us when their previous publisher closed its doors. Prior to working with Melange I had done all of my web coding in a text document, but working with Melange has brought the wonders of Dreamweaver to me. I don't know what I would do without this amazing tool. Not only does it allow me to edit each page with a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), it also allows me to directly upload right from my computer to the internet, eliminating additional steps and programs that used to take up extra time. It's so easy to switch between each of the sites I work with and keep all of the files organized.

My duties as a web designer include:

* Adding new authors and books.

* Adding covers as they are completed.

* Adding the purchase links for each book on release day.

* Updating authors website links, bio's, photos, etc. as requested.

* Adding book trailers as they are sent to me.

* Running giveaways from time to time.

* Updating the blog.

* Maintaining the Facebook pages.

There are probably more duties that I'm completely spacing on. Let's just say, it's never dull! 

Caroline thank you very much, for a tremendous insight into what happens behind the scenes in producing a book.

Wow, I am tired just reading Caroline's day, yet this is just the tip of her talents. Coming up soon, part 2 of my interview with the amazing Caroline Andrus. 

Caroline Andrus Designs is the central location for all of my work with web design, photography, book covers and crafts. if you are interested in hiring me for any of the services I offer.

  http://candrus-designs.com/index.html

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarolineAndrusDesigns?ref=br_tf