Behind-the-Spine of THE ROSEWOOD HUNT Cover🥀
I’ve always wondered what goes into a book cover’s design, at least from the author’s perspective. Here’s a “behind-the-spine” peek at what the process looked like from conception to reveal for my debut YA thriller, THE ROSEWOOD HUNT! Here is the final cover!
Cover conversations first started back in June 2022 when my editor emailed asking me to share images of some covers I like and comparative titles. I am nothing less than extremely extra, and with the guidance of a few friends ahead of me in the process, I created an aesthetic deck on Canva that included covers I like, colors I thought would be a good fit, and potential concepts to incorporate. I won’t share the exact deck (I’m not sure if I’m allowed to, lol), but here is how I structured it:
Slide 1: The Rosewood Hunt - Cover Inspiration [title slide]
Slide 2: Book Summary
Slide 3: Vibes [aesthetic collage]
Slide 4: Colors of Interest
Slide 5: Imagery Inspiration
Slides 6 & 7: Covers I Love
Slide 8: Characters [illustrated vs real people, or having characters at all]
Slide 9: Illustration vs. Photography
Slide 10: Things I Love
Slide 11: Potential Directions
Slide 12: Thank you!❤️🥀
I want to emphasize that you don’t have to do this. But personally, I found it helpful because, while I’m a super visual person, I had no idea what the cover should look like!
During this time, I was working on my developmental edits, which were chunky! I didn’t hear anything until early August, when my editor sent over an artist option! Now, this definitely looks different for everyone. I have some friends who got to choose between a few artists, or at least two. With me, my editor sent one with a PDF of other covers she’s illustrated and why my design team thought she’d be a good fit. I agreed! Her style was really cool, and I did more sleuthing to discover she had redone the covers for some re-released Agatha Christie books and also Emily Henry’s UK covers. Talk about goals, am I right?
And then, nothing for a bit! I kept working on revisions, got author headshots taken, and even sent my editor some pitches for Book 2 (also in an extra aesthetic deck), which isn’t slated to be a sequel to THE ROSEWOOD HUNT.
Toward the end of October, my editor sent over an email that made my heart stop, titled “ROSEWOOD HUNT jacket sketches!” I filmed my reaction to opening it, but it’s way too embarrassing and will never see the light of day (unless it’s already been posted to tiktok, which I can’t remember and am too lazy to check).
I was sent four different sketches as potential cover routes. Again, this varies! A lot of my friends saw one option, and others saw two, so it just depends on your artist and team, I think.
All the options were incredible. It was clear the artist read the book and my detailed deck. They were also so unique, which was neat! Each one pulled a different concept from the book, with one focusing more on a motif, another having a bit of whimsy flair, one feeling like a puzzle itself. And then there was mine, the one we chose.
I’ll be real — upon first sight, I didn’t choose it immediately! I was caught between that one and another, and am also notorious for just not having the keenest design eye. My agent was waiting for my thoughts so as not to sway me (love her for that, because I am, in fact, easily swayed). So I launched the covers off to a few trusted friends (illegally? Maybe. HC, don’t read this).
This is when I’m so extra grateful for friends, because they pointed out things I hadn’t even thought about. As discussions were being had, I could feel myself leaning toward the one we ended up with. But if I’m being real, it felt too cool! So mysterious! So cunning! Did I deserve a cover like that?
Yes, I did, but I needed people to tell me. It clicked that that one had to be the choice when my friend said “that looks like a cover of a NYT bestselling book.” Now, obviously I’m not getting my hopes up. But man, that hit home.
And generally, I kept being told that this cover was a cover you pull off a shelf. I felt like they all were that way, of course, but hearing so many certain of this one had me pretty sure, too. I emailed my editor back after the weekend and let her know I wanted to go with it, and I had a few ideas for further tweaks (it was just a sketch at the time, but it had color so felt nearly finished!).
One big one that is my FAVORITE part is the gold chain. In the sketch, that was a string or just lines, but I’m so happy with how it came out. So delicate!
After sending back those ideas, I received copyedits a few weeks later to work on, so I was kept busy! Then we had the holidays. Also during this time, the HCP Union strike was going on. I’m not sure if this impacted timelines for me personally since my editor was still in office, but I know it did for others! I’m so proud of the members on my team and the union at large who were holding down the picket line and am glad they were met with a contract that raises the bar for not just them, but all of publishing in general.
I heard from my editor again in late December with updated sketches! By this point, the gold chain was added, along with the key and ruby. It looked SO good. They sent me two options again, with one varying detail between the two. I was so on the fence, but a couple weeks later, I actually was in NYC and chatted about it with my agent, and she had a really good point that one was a little more easy to read, which I liked, too. I sent that to my editor with the suggestion of maybe adding the red Rosewood wax stamp somewhere instead of the other detail (can you tell I’m being purposefully vague?? It’s because the detail is used elsewhere, lol!).
In the beginning of January, I also got my flap copy! This was SO COOL to see. They also sent over four ideas for the tagline, and two of which were really tough to choose between. The one we ended up going with –– “To find the fortune, she’ll have to sharpen her thorns.” –– won, and I’m so glad because now every time I see it, I can’t help but get a goofy smile. I think it’s cool! Clever! Iconic!!
Less than a month later in early February, the final version was sent to me. And it was BEAUTIFUL. The Rosewood wax stamp was the perfect addition, the ruby had been edited to be a teardrop shape instead of a rectangle to better reflect the description in the book, and the tagline was the perfect fit. I also got a glimpse of the full jacket, but shhhh it’s not ready yet.
A day later, my editor sent over the official JPEG (this felt huge hahaha) and gave me the go ahead to post it on my social media. It would go live in two weeks with the Epic Reads fall 2023 covers drop, so I decided to release it the week before. I created a little campaign for myself and asked if anyone wanted to help, and my grinch heart grew three sizes bigger when a lovely group of people responded and helped me share it the day of, on February 8th. One day after my birthday!!
All in all, I feel really fortunate to have had such a lovely cover experience with a team that was always checking for my approval and thoughts and let me have loads of input. Sometimes, I see it and I still have a moment of panic thinking it leaked somehow. But nope! It’s out here, thriving in the wild! And now, you can also preorder THE ROSEWOOD HUNT if you’d like.
Thanks for reading about how I got my cover! Stay tuned for more behind-the-spine content, coming whenever I feel like it or have something worth sharing!
