Cover Art Process

When a book is accepted by a publisher, usually the author is asked to fill out a document called a Cover Art Questionnaire. The CAQ asks the author to describe the book, compare it to books published in the same genre, describe the characters and setting, make suggestions, and express any dislikes.

When I filled out the CAQ for Dead to the World, I described the book's characters and setting in this way:

  • The atmosphere of the story is a mixture of ancient Persia/Arabian Nights, so that desert harem feel would need to be evoked. I would like to see the main character, Erred, full and center, but from the back, perhaps in a state of undress (letting a silk robe fall from his shoulders with his long white hair flowing down his back?) his face partially turned away because A. he’s supposed to be incredibly beautiful, but since everyone has a different idea of beauty, the image should encourage the reader’s imagination and B. to evoke his feelings of isolation and shame at what he’s doing.

    • I was very clear that I didn't want any other characters portrayed on the cover, and that I didn't want the image rendered in Poser. I also included a sketch to give an idea of what I was looking for:

    With the CAQ, I sent along some other clippings and sketches to help the artist get a feel for what I wanted.

    The image on the left is a photomanipulation of Jonathan Rhys-Meyers. I loved the white hair and androgynous beauty of the face. The center image is a sketch I did. The right-hand image is a Minoan fresco from the Queen's Megaron at Knossos; a room decorated with sea-life murals plays an important part in the novel, and this is what I had in mind when I wrote those scenes.

    Of course, with any publisher, glitches, delays and miscommunications are bound to occur. The artist contracted to do the cover never got my CAQ, so I wrote directly to the editor and told her that I did not want the following:

    Let's backtrack for a moment. At one point, Dead to the World was picked up by a publisher who immediately wanted to change the book's title to something that wouldn't even fit on the cover and break it into two parts. Like a good little author, I sent a CAQ, but received this horror in return. If you haven't read the novel, Erred has white hair, never wears chains, and Chinese architecture never comes into play. Unable to convince the publisher that a good cover influences sales, I pulled the book and placed it with Phaze.

    So what happened then?

    To be fair, artists can only work with what they get, and this one might not have understood that the above image was what was not desired, because this was the result:

    I realize it probably wasn't the easiest commission in the world. I immediately emailed the editor, informed her that not only was the font inappropriate for a fantasy novel, but Erred (still) doesn't wear chains and isn't a muscle dude. Between the two of us and istockphoto.com, we were able to find images and fonts to produce the existing cover:

    The third time's the charm.

    Back to the Main Page