Monday, February 22, 2016

The Meaning Behind a Book Cover

Everyone knows that being an indie author means we have to do everything ourselves, which is not entirely a bad thing. Besides experiencing the most epic growth in personal learning, I also enjoy exercising my decision making power and taking up responsibility for my actions. It's me putting on my big girl panties and say, "Let's roll". Everything we do is for the benefit of our crafts. Pretty cool, if you ask me :)

One of those responsibilities is designing the book cover. When it comes to cover, I want a design that's uniquely attached to the story. It has to mean something. For the characters as well as for the readers.

In I Won't Break, Rebecca (my talented cover artist) and I looked for a face that could be used to potray Lea. We all know Lea is half Dutch, half Chinese with features that are more European than Asian. The face also needed to capture the mood of the whole book. What we found was perfect.

Next, I added an object that was crucial in the story. If you've read the book, you will know why the necklace is an important symbol for Lea and Andrew.

I wanted the background to be white, because I think white symbolizes pureness. Rebecca then added a touch of blue; she made it even more perfect. The color blue, like the necklace, also means a lot to the characters, something that they cherished and lost and found again.

So there you have it, the step-by-step process of I Won't Break cover design.
Once you finish reading it, flip back to the front cover and pretend to see it again for the first time. Now that you read the book and know the story, do you see it differently?