By Michelle Lee
BWL Art Director
Welcome to another
exciting edition of Behind the Cover
with your host – Michelle Lee.
*cue applause*
This time the topic is what I like to call the X-Factor in
covers. You know what I mean, that
little bit of extra something that isn't easy to define, since it varies from
cover to cover – but it is there.
If you missed past episodes of Behind The Cover Artist's Curtain, you can check them out online.
For my first example of the X-Factor, I want to look at
series books, since it is easiest to pin-point that little bit of something
extra when comparing books that belong together.
So let’s look at Gail Roughton’s War-N-Wit, Inc. series …
Now looking at the cover, you see similar elements. The witch diver bar. The guy is on top and the woman on the
bottom. The fonts (placement, color and
style) are all the same. Now you would
expect to see something similar with series books – at least those covers I do
for series books. (Check out my last
post if you don’t know why – just scroll down to the end).
So what’s different, besides the actual images themselves?
To start, let’s a close look at the divider. Notice the stars? See how they change from cover to cover? Instead of keeping it stationary and in
place, I have it shifting slightly with each cover. That’s the X-Factor.
Also, see the cat in the first cover? Here’s a hint – it is on top of the author’s
last name.
Now look at the second cover. Is the cat in the same spot? Nope – in fact, when you do find it, you will
see that it isn't even the same cat silhouette.
Find it yet?
Now … let’s look for it in the third cover - again,
different spot and different silhouette.
Again, this is the X-Factor.
Just a little fun I had while putting the covers together. It also
allows the author to have fun now with promotions … maybe even inviting readers
to find the cat in the cover. In this particular case, the author enjoyed
the play on the witch’s cat so much she added one into the story.
(you can check out the details on
Gail's blog - just continue on down to the comments)
I already mentioned in the series post about Jamieson Wolf’s
Hope Falls series, how the background shifted
with each book.
But what about covers that aren't for books in a
series? Do they still have X-Factor
potential?
Well audience, let’s look at another set of covers - this time for Erin Quinn.
The X-Factor in these covers is a little more subtle … but
if you look, it is there. Starting with
Kissing Kris Kringle … notice the I’s in the title … see the snowflake that
dots it? Also, the I in Erin’s name is the same way.
Now look at the I in Erin’s
name in the cover Shaking It Up. See the
heart? That’s a little X-Factor.
Now let’s look at a couple more covers.
Jenna Byrnes’ Heads or Tails involves, well, a quarter coin
toss. : ) So, if you notice, behind the
word TAILS the headlight, it has a quarter.
Just kind of hidden there; a little bit of whimsy.
Oddly enough, another coin is found in Ann Cory’s Penny
Serenade. Pennies obviously play a key
component in the story … so within the moon, which is also something that is
important in the story, is the silhouette of Abe Lincoln from a penny.
Another good example is the cover for Jamie Hill’s Impulsive. Since there are four stories in this
collection, I wanted to try and get a little something from each of them worked
into the cover. There’s the bottle, for
the genie story. A trumpet for a jazz
based tale. Snowflakes and a mystical
mist, for the other two stories – one of which involves a ski vacation and the
other – you guessed it – magic.
Basically, what the X-Factor boils down to is the stuff that
I have fun adding in. Something that
maybe the author didn’t necessarily call for in their cover art form, as in the
case of Micah the cat for Gail’s covers, or if they did, there wasn’t a real
way to work it in except by doing something subtle, like with Ann Cory’s Penny.
Either way, planned by the author or not, these little
things make their covers stand out just a little bit more. It also helps to prove a basis for a “can you
spot the ______ ” kind of question for contests.
And that concludes this edition of Behind the Cover.
I really do hope that you have enjoyed this brief glimpse
into what goes on in creating a cover – or at least covers I create.
Next up is author branding.
After that, I don’t have any ideas right off of what I will talk about, so if
there is something you would like to see that I haven’t covered yet – leave
that info in a comment.
Until next time!
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