Book Cover Illustrations

Book covers often take very different routes before getting into print. Sometimes an editor will see an illustration, purchases the book cover rights, and the artwork goes directly from the illustrator’s conception  to the cover of the book with few modifications in between other than added title, blurb, and author’s name.

Moonlight Madness

Other times, there are modifications suggested by any of a number of people from the editor to the  art director on down to the author (especially in the case of well-known authors, and not so much in the case of lesser-known). The input from these sources hopefully, and generally do, improve the book cover artwork. On less fortunate occasions the changes dictated  may seem detrimental, at least from the book cover artist’s biased point of view.

The third route for the cover is for an editor to ask an artist for a book cover picture, at which point the illustrator does his best to produce what’s needed, sometimes working under many design constraints and at other times being very free to create an illustration for the book cover in question. Once that illustration is completed, it can then be accepted or go through the process of revisions outlined above.

With Halloween only a few months away (right on the horizon in the publishing industry given the lag time of printing, distribution, and so forth), it’s not too surprising that book cover needs have turned toward vampires, werewolves, and things that go bump in the night.

One recent book cover project led me to produce the series of illustrations shown above (plus a few more). Whether or not any of these illustrations will become actual book covers remains to be seen, and is what keeps the illustration business “interesting.” (I should also note that the lovely “Showmesara” offered the reference photo for the second illustration shown above.)

While I’m waiting for word from the publisher, I’ll work on my rubber monster mask. After all, it is almost Halloween for those of us in publishing land.

So let me be the first: Happy Halloween.

(You can see more book cover artwork at my main gallery.)