Making the cover for any book is stressful. So many things factor into the design and overall look. And of course there is the ultimate question bouncing around in the back of your mind...Will this cover sell this book? For most books I work on, I go through many revisions before I settle on the right look for the cover. So far my record is 40 cover sketches (When Blue Met Egg). Thankfully Brobarians didn't require quite that many. Here's a look at the sketches that lead up to the final cover I chose for Brobarians with the wonderful team I worked with at Two Lions:
Brobarians Cover Sketch 1
I think I was a little gung-ho on this one. We ultimately didn't go with this option because we didn't want to give away the fantasy scenes included in the interior of the book. This is where the reader sees how the brothers actually see themselves in their imagination.
Brobarians Cover Sketch 2
Although this really conveyed the action and energy of the story through the movement of the brothers running, we wanted readers to connect with the characters, which is tough through a profile image.
Brobarians Cover Sketch 3
Now we were getting somewhere. We could see the brother's environment, we had a head on perspective to connect with them. But, by closing Iggy's eyes, the reader loses the connection with him. So this cover option didn't make it either.
Brobarians Cover Sketch 4
I tried a variation on Cover Sketch 3 by doing more of a close-up on the brothers. Obviously Iggy's eyes closed was still an issue, but I wanted to see if a close-up would make a difference. Ultimately, we felt that we understood the context better if we could see more of the background and the objects they were holding on to.
Brobarians Cover Sketch 5
Again, super gung-ho. I loved the idea of this cover, but it would have given away too much. And this spread in the book is one of my favorites. Having gone this way for the cover would have taken away from the climax of their battle scene.
Brobarians Cover Sketch 6
While I was sketching all of the cover options, this was one of my favorites. But after some back and forth over it with the team at Two Lions, we decided the attitude the boys had was a little too much and didn't really reflect the feel of the book.
Brobarians Cover Sketch 7
Finally, we had a winner! I say finally like seven sketches is a lot, it's really not. But I was thrilled with this sketch and so happy that the team at Two Lions loved it too. It showed the environment, the brother's personalities, and the feeling of the book. It was the whole package! You'll also notice we dropped the hyphen in the title. We thought this would be much easier for readers when looking for the book in a search engine. Next, we had to make the jacket...
Brobarians Cover Sketch 7 - Final
Here's the final sketch.
Brobarians Jacket Sketch
Then I created the rest of the art for the jacket. Now I needed to add color...
Brobarians Jacket - Color Finish
This is how the art looks when I send it to my editor and art director for approval. Everything is taped down so that I can still make changes. I had run out of drafting tape at this point and all I had left was floral wasabi tape, thus the patterned tape everywhere. I don't glue anything down until the very end.
Brobarians Jacket
Then the book designer goes in and lays out all the copy on the flaps and spine of the book. We went through a few changes with this until we settled on the perfect one. I'm thrilled with how it all came together. I worked with an amazing team of people at Two Lions.
Brobarians - Final Cover
Ta-da! Here's the final cover! I'd come along way since the cover I submitted with my book dummy during the submission process:
Brobarians - Original Book Dummy Cover
So all that for one cover - no big deal right? I hope you enjoy Brobarians as much as I do. For more information about the book or to pre-order Brobarians, click here.
Until next time, Happy Reading!
Lindsay