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
