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Have you ever wondered how publishers create book covers? I was trolling through YouTube the other day and found this video that talked about the process. It’s a little dated but I’m positive that it holds true to today as well. Even better it looks at creating romance covers and since I’m doing my Fabio replacement series this just takes the cake.
Here’s the process at Dorchester Publishing:
(Dorchester Publishing is a mass market publishing firm that specializes in romance, horror, western, and thriller.)
Quick and easy overview:
Designing a book cover starts with a talk to the author. This is the initial brainstorming process. Usually authors will have ideas in their head of what they envision for the book. I say usually because there is probably an author somewhere who has no idea what they want for their book. After the author has offered up some ideas the publishing staff takes them and proceeds with fleshing them out. More ideas are added to the mix until several are decided on. These ideas are then handed over to a cover artist.
The artist works with the author and editor before sketching some ideas. Then depending on the artist the rest of the process is basically what I call the creative process. Models, photos, drawings, watercolors, digital or traditional media all are in the artists’ hands. An artist I feel is chosen based on the media that they do best by the publishing house. This way the artist is already familiar with the look and feel of the style the publishers want.
Final edits, tweaking, etc. are all part of the process and eventually the cover gets a seal of approval and that’s as they say the end of that.
Which brings us back to Fabio:
Fabio Lanzoni was the male model who graced the covers of over 400 hundred romance novels in the 80s and 90s. He’s labeled as the “Sexiest Man in the World” by Cosmopolitan. Interestingly enough he’s the first male writer of romance to publish under his own name. Titles include: Pirate, Viking, Champion, Rogue, and Comanche. Since he stopped doing covers in 1994, the search for the new Fabio is on.
I plan to have a post a week on the subject of the next Fabio and if you have suggestions tell me! Drop a comment and your hunky guy can be put in the running. Last week was Ian Lawless and this week… well it’s a secret for a few more days anyway.
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2 comments ↓
My partner has created numerous book covers, albeit not in the romance genre. His specialty is young adult fantasy. The latest trend with book covers here in America has the book buyers for Barnes&Noble and Borders getting involved in the process. These buyers get to input based on what they “think” will sell. It’s pretty devastating to the artist and the creative process.
And are they right or have you noticed that what they think sells does?
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