The cover of You Are Here, which included some of my stories. Click here for more
For those of us who still think of the book as a physical object the cover is an important part of the package. Even if we browse and buy on-line, a striking cover will probably attract us to a book. It
may be true that you cannot judge a book by its cover but a promising cover is likely to improve sales. So how much is the author involved in the cover design, if at all? I can only relate my own experiences.
No Time front cover view
When my first novel, No Time (now out of print) appeared I was presented with a fait accompli. This was before email and digital photography made communication faster and simpler and when authors were simply the people who wrote the books. My book was set in Africa and the publishers had indeed come up with an eye-catching and unambiguous cover. It depicted a thorn tree on the savannah silhouetted against a big red setting sun: a strong image but to my mind a cliché.
Last year when A Little Book of Pleasures was being edited Jo Holloway the editor consulted me with ideas for the cover. Since the pleasures in the book are many and various there were endless possibilities. As water seemed to be a recurring theme we decided to use a beach scene as the illustration for the front cover. I was visiting a daughter in Mallorca when Jo emailed me the images from which to make my choice. My daughter’s computer was attached to a giant TV screen and she, her partner, my wife and I viewed the cover designs together. Despite the difference in our tastes and interests our choice was easy and unanimous and I hope my readers like it, too.
A Little Book of Pleasures by William Wood
My latest book, Stories For Sale, took collaboration even further. Being a book of short stories there were once again many possibilities. Since three of these stories have a Norwegian setting we decided the cover should show a lake, woods and possibly the “hytte” or log cabin that features in one of the stories. I sent in my own sketches and some photos to Kay Green my editor. She commissioned Catherine Edmunds, the brilliant Northumberland based artist, illustrator and writer and we had a three way exchange of ideas via dropbox. Once it was clear what we wanted Cathy came up with the beautiful luminescent landscape that is now pictured on the cover. That was not the end of it because Kay and Alex Bell the ebook designer in Tasmania then worked on how best to superimpose the author’s name and the title of the book. But what you write on the cover and how you do it are material for another article.
Stories for Sale by William Wood, Published by Circaidy Gregory Press Click here for an excellent write-up by the publishers.
William Wood's Words 