Dreaming of a Cover

First Steps

My debut novel, Behold the Bird in Flight, A Novel of an Abducted Queen, has a beautiful cover. Before I reveal it, I want to talk about how its design came about.

This picture from an antique book was in my mind as I wrote. I loved the woman atop the castle, ignoring the knight as her wimple broke free. She seemed emblematic of my heroine, Isabelle d’Angoulême.

I’d been warned potential readers take 3 seconds when browsing Amazon covers. In other words, mine needed to stand out. And when I looked at some of the books I loved this year, I got it. Color, movement, text.

Bottom Row: The Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker and My Beloved Life, Amitava Kumar

My publisher sent me a questionnaire meant to help the artist. Obvious questions about the story’s location, time period, and main characters were followed by those about mood, theme, and message. But I was fascinated to be asked for 5 adjectives describing my book. I chose:

They also wanted example covers that I loved.

These were chosen for their sense of movement and color. And wings (remember the title - Behold the Bird in Flight ). I preferred a sense of modernity; in an age when women were erased, Isabelle found her own power against the king, her husband, and survived.

I sent off the memo, excited to see what the designer would come up with. My next post will show you what came back.