Last week I was in the office working late one night when a message popped into my phone. It was from my editor at Angelic Knight Press and she had several questions about “Dreams of Ivory and Gold” – very specific questions – about an item in the manuscript. It seems the artist assigned to my book was in the process of reading it and designing the cover art.
For those who are not involved with the publishing industry, this was very unusual on two different accounts:
1) A lot of artists create the cover art for a book from a one-to-two-page treatment or overview of the book. While I am sure there are some artists who read the books they have been hired to cover, I have found that is a minority. Just another reason why I am glad I chose to publish with Angelic Knight.
2) I have no say over the cover art and that is very common in the publishing industry (I know that for a fact. I was so surprised by the message I went back and checked my contract. I have no say over the cover art.). I have artist friends who say they have never even spoken to their cover artists while others tell me they might have been asked a question or two but just as often as not their answers were ignored to varying degrees when the final cover was produced. Do not think that I am criticizing the process. For the vast majority of authors, we are just that – authors. Font, print size, color schemes, placement – these are not what we deal with on a day-to-day basis and more likely than not we are much happier and proficient at working with words.
It was exciting to describe the object the artist wanted to know more about. When I write, I tend to see the scenes in my mind, imagining the objects, feeling the weather, maybe even taking in some of the odors. She may choose to go a completely different route with the cover art and I am okay with that. But for that night, “Dreams of Ivory and Gold” was very real to me and the chance to finally hold it in my hands as a published work was that much closer.
