Inspy Romance

Inspy Romance—Fall in Love With a Good Book

Birth of a Cover

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Covers are hard, y’all. I say that sincerely, even though I am not the least bit Southern.

Last fall I began work on a new series. That presents a wide open slate for a new design for covers. After all, I want to be sure readers will be able to see at a glance which books go together.

My daughter illustrated my two previous Farm Fresh Romance series — the originals in 2014-16 and the Urban FFRs, which wrapped up last fall. She’s onto other projects — illustrating maps for authors as well as writing her own YA fairy-tale retellings. She was happy to finish up the UFFR series, but wasn’t so keen on doing more covers.

Christian historical author Lynnette Bonner has created all my cowboy covers, so I asked her how she’d approach covering a series that was CCR + small town + farmers market. And it had to be a design that would offer enough variation for up to six titles in total.

She was up for the challenge! Usually we manage a pile of Facebook messaging over the course of a few hours before we’ve got a new cover finalized. The first in a series has previously taken us all day as we toyed with layout and style and fonts to kick off a new venture.

But this time was harder. Partly because there were so many variables. To me, it HAD to say romance… so it needed a man and a woman with some visible chemistry. It needed to say farmers market. After all, the new series name is Farm Fresh Market Romance. And it needed to convey, in some sense, the “wide and pleasant” aspect of the title. Tall order, it turned out!

We struggled to find good stock photos on our usual sites. Also, it was late October in the north — we weren’t going to any farmers markets for in-person photo shoots! Add to that, the first heroine is a baker, not a farmer, so we couldn’t just slap a bunch of vegetables on the cover to convey that aspect.

At the end of Day One, we were no closer to finalizing a cover direction than we’d been at the beginning of the day. On Day Two, Lynnette had a cover to create for someone else, but in between, she tossed a couple of more ideas at me.

I felt really, really horrible… but I simply didn’t love anything I’d seen. I was certain I’d be featured in the “worst client ever” stories between cover designers everywhere.

On Day Three, I had an idea. I had a hard time describing what I was seeing in my mind’s eye to Lynnette, so finally I threw together a mock-up. I sent it to Lynnette, who very diplomatically responded with something like, “Okaaaaaaay, but I’m not sure what you want me to do with that.” You can see how bad it was!

But as I began to describe the parts of it and explained why I’d chosen them, she caught and confirmed the vision. Thankfully, she is MUCH better at Photoshop than I am and was able to translate my very messy mock-up into something we could both be proud of.

A few minor tweaks later, and we were both happy. Three days, people! I hope I never put her (or another designer) through that much hassle again. Now that we have a layout, I know the second cover will be much quicker. I hope so, anyway, since we’ll be working on it in April!

A Wide and Pleasant Place will hopefully be coming to you on May 10 — I’m a little late wrapping it up, and my editor expects a very busy April in her Real Job. I’m hoping all the pieces will come together on time.

What’s it about?

If Treyan Ackerman wants to keep seeing his daughter on weekends, he needs to stay put, keep his nose clean, and not make waves. Thankfully, he has a decent, if somewhat tedious, job in his small town’s municipal office. If the Mayor would let him tackle some of the graphics for the farmers market, it would help. But, no. Instead, she hires a vivacious city girl who turns Trey’s head. Unfortunately.

Brittany Santoro needs to redeem her reputation, rebuild her portfolio, and relocate, preferably to New York, where a top ad agency will appreciate her graphics design genius. But if she doesn’t want the whole world to know about her indiscretions, she needs to spend six months in podunk Galena Landing, furnishing artwork and ads for the town’s tourism marketing, including its farmers market. Too bad the brooding, hunky man in her office seems immune to her charms.

But when Brittany connects with Trey’s hurting daughter and sees the tender side of him, all bets are off. How can these two wounded souls be nudged into the realization that everything they want and need is right here in this wide and pleasant place?

Pre-order A Wide and Pleasant Place.

Do you judge a book by its cover? I know I do! What about a cover tells you if this is a story you might be interested in reading?

Valerie Comer (317 Posts)

Valerie Comer is a USA Today bestselling author and a two-time Word Award winner who writes where food meets faith and fiction. She injects experience laced with humor into her green clean romances. Her life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local foods movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily-ever-afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters.


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Comments

  1. I thought Britney was a graphic designer?? Where does the baker come in?? Just curious!! Lol. Love the cover and yes, I have no difficulty understanding how hard and time consuming it is to come up with the perfect fit.

    • She is! But if you recall from previous stories she’s in (notably Joys of Juniper, where she rooms with her cousin Ava), she bakes to excess when under stress.

  2. I always judge., but not on it’s own. The author, title, genre, blurb etc all play a large part.

  3. I do judge a book by its cover. I like to see a couple on a cover and maybe a pet. A beach scene or cottage or a ranch always gets my attention even if a couple is not on the cover. I don’t like seeing shirtless guys on a cover and will pass on reading the book.

  4. I totally (unashamedly) judge books by their covers. And just let me say, those are the cutest covers!

    • Thank you! And we all do need criteria to decide whether a book might be for us or not. Whether to click to buy or not is ‘final judgment’ LOL

  5. Happy Monday, Valerie! Not sure if I would say I judge a book by its cover, but the cover and title is what draws me to read a blurb – especially for new authors. Thanks for sharing the journey of creating an eye catching cover. This retired teacher taught journalism and brought the school paper into the digital world. Taught my students Photo Shop and PageMaker. Had a local photographer came and give presentation. Also taught my English and German students how to make eye catching posters, ads and more. Looking forward to your new series. The cover is amazing and presents the story. Book is preordered. Best wishes.

  9. that is so wonderful that you can work with your daughter like this. these are such fresh and happy covers. I love them. Yes I guess I do judge the initial book by its cover. Usually I can tell if it is sweet and fun and clean. then I move to the back cover. Oh but first I look at the authors name. If it is someone I love reading, I look at the front, look at the back and get it. If not an author I know, I will take more time. Best of luck on your series

    • Same with me. Authors I already know and love could put a paper bag over their cover and I’d one-click anyway, especially if it’s still in the same series. But new-to-me authors take a bit more time. I think that’s fair!

  10. I love your cover! Do I judge a book by it’s cover? Maybe. A cover will make me want to read what it’s about and draws me to the book, but sometimes a book doesn’t live up to a cover, so in that aspect I do judge a book by a cover.
    I’m looking forward to reading this book. :)

  11. The cover often determines if I will look further and read the description or not. There are authors I know that I will read their books no matter the covers as I know I love their books. For new authors though the cover will often make a difference as to whether or not I dig deeper.

  12. I’ll admit, covers don’t really do it for me. The cover will draw my eye, but I’ll look for author name first, and if it’s not an author I recognize, I probably won’t pick up the book.

      • Yes! However, if an author I like recommends other authors, I’ll give them a try! I found Inspy after I found Autumn, and have followed them since! I haven’t read books by all yet, but I have some from all!

  13. Yes I judge a book by its cover but not always if I like the author then I usually like all their books.I like books with children or babies on the cover.

  15. Hi, and yes I actually do judge a book by its cover, I look at the cover first , the title and then I read the back of the book , then is when I decide if I will read the book or not. I love it when the book covers give little hints of what the story is about. Your book sounds like a great read and I love your book cover , it is Stunning! Have a great day and a great week .

  16. Thank you for sharing your process! The cover is perfect and definitely has me adding it to my TBR list. :) And I don’t know how to better explain what draws me to a cover other than the “feel” of it. I think I prefer the ones with models on them, and for the main element(s) of the story to be featured as well. We readers truly appreciate all the trouble y’all go to!

  18. I love looking at book covers. They totally draw me in. I have learned to read the back to before making a final judgement. And Lynnette is the bomb!!! She’s done beautiful covers for me, and she’s so good at what she does. I totally trust her. The cover is beautiful!

  19. Beautiful cover! I love the couple on the front, and all the colors too. I like eye catching covers as they stand out and make me want to read them. I can imagine how difficult it must be coming up with fresh new designs, you did a great job.

  22. Yes, I judge a book by it’s cover. I love this cover. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.

  24. I’m not someone who is usually drawn to a story by the cover, but there are times when it happens. In those cases the cover is usually epic or grand or unusual in an appealing way. I am sometimes turned off by a cover though. Your covers have never turned me off and I really like how well they show a glimpse of the overall feel for the story.

  25. Not always does a book make me judge it by it’s cover. I see the section it’s in & if it’s in the type of books I like then I read the description on the back to decide.

  26. Mostly I decide on the cover but if it’s my type of book then the cover doesn’t matter

  27. If it’s an author I really enjoy then I’ll buy it anyway no matter the cover but if its an author I haven’t read before then then cover is a major draw.
    I have a pintrest board full of covers I like so I can look back at them at anytime and go to the blurb/buy option. I don’t have a “type” of cover I prefer, I just like ones that catch my eye haha.

    Looking forward to the new series and it’s a great cover.

  28. I am late today busy day and then was so tired needed a nap. I love the second cover the colours pop for me. (I do love blue but the red looks right) Oh and the food it looks like a market garden and the cakes. One looks like a black forest cake and I do love black forest cake. thanks for the info on the making of the cover.

    • Right, that first “cover” was only a mockup for my designer, so she could see the general idea. I vastly prefer the final version myself! Also, mmm cake.

  29. I do judge a book by its cover… But I hate that! If it has a cat on the cover, I’m IN, if there is anything related to war, I’m out. If there is a garden I’m in, if there are musical instruments, I’m out. I didn’t realize I chose a book by its cover!

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