Behind The Scenes: Evolution Of A Book Cover

OK, I admit it, I’m a shallow girl. If I haven’t been recommended a book, I won’t buy a new one unless its cover intrigues me and sparks my imagination before I even pick it up!

So when I set out on this book publishing venture, I knew that I’d want to have the most beautiful book cover possible.  So I turned to my favorite book cover artist, Sammy Yuen, for help. I’d loved his work for the cover of Incarceron, and even more so for Leviathan. 

Once upon a December day, I plucked up the courage to send him a letter with my request and I was most excited when he agreed to work with me (really, I was jumping up and down which, in an office environment, is somewhat frowned upon).

I was sent a very detailed questionnaire, in which I explained (amongst other things) how I’d envisioned my own book cover.  Something a little like this:

Oh how glad was I that I’d found Sammy and that he’d agreed to work with me when he sent me his first drafts!  The original image he had, based on my descriptions, was the following:

As you can see, it already looked tons better than my version.  But Sammy didn’t stop just there, he let his imagination flow and came up with another version:

Genius! I hadn’t even thought of the wings at all, but they were very representative of my trilogy, and elevated the cover to a whole other level!

The third cover Sammy Sent me was a softer version of the second one, so it wouldn’t have a “horror” feel to it… and I totally fell in love:

After that, all I needed were a few alterations:  change the Celtic knot into a Celtic cross (to match the Knights of the Round Table’s school insignia), give the wings a somewhat “fallen angel” look, use the fonts used on the first cover, and

TADAAAAAA!!!  The most beautiful of covers ever was born!

And that’s how the cover for Blood of the Fey was created.  Thank you, Sammy, for your amazing work!

PS:

More of Sammy’s portfolio may be found on his website!