To Make a Cover…

The process of making the cover for the omnibus was…very interesting. We went through many different designs before settling on one we liked. Looking back on this particular adventure I thought perhaps you would like to see some of the designs that were rejected. They range from bizarre to ethereal and while they’re all quite good they need a different novel in order to be truly appreciated.

#1: Topsy-Turvy World

To BushMaid’s credit this is almost exactly what I asked for at the time. But then it just….wasn’t quite right. Remember this one, though. We’ll come back to it.

#2: Star Trek

My original title for it was “The aliens are descending!” But then I realized how similar it was to this:

Which appalled the artist despite not being familiar with that poster.

#3: Summer Day

This is an amazing cover, probably one of my favorites. I totally think someone should claim it, give it a new title, and write a novel for it, because it’s gorgeous. The reflections are just the icing on the cake. But in context with action and adventure it makes no sense whatsoever…

#4: Old Standby

I almost went with this. But everyone kept saying: “It looks like a graphic novel.” I kept saying: “Is that a bad thing?” and eventually decided it wasn’t what I wanted. So what did I want?

#5: Death by Book Cover

First of all, I really love this. Second of all, it’s a bit nebulous….so BushMaid said wait, I’m not done, let’s make it more dramatic!

And I said “ooooh.” Because this is probably her best work, right here. Very dramatic. Very gorgeous. Just not quite…

And at this point I couldn’t even remember what I liked or what I wanted or anything. I went back to the earliest design (remember I told you it would be important?) and I said….I still like this one. It’s just…there’s something missing. But I like it. I like the simplicity, and I like the color black.

So I said…back to the drawing board. I said, what if the focus was the title, the cover was black, and you did something with broken glass to imply violence?

#6: We Have a Winner

This is essentially the same cover that will appear on the final book. We made a few tweaks, but nothing significant. It turned out beautifully on the first try and I looked at it and said: aha, yes, this is the one. I can feel it in my bones.

And that, my friends, is how you design an omnibus cover.