Diary of a Debut: Cover Designs

Welcome to my Diary of a Debut, documenting the ins and outs of my journey on the road to publication. This week: cover designs.

What I learned from the cover design process was that I definitely don’t have an eye for graphic design! Luckily I wasn’t going it alone - I had my trusty publishers leading the way, plus a few artistic-minded friends.

The first step was for me and the publishing team to brainstorm existing covers. We looked at covers we liked, and covers from similar books. That way we could see patterns: we noticed fonts or colours that situate books firmly within a genre, and details we found interesting.

We came up with a few ideas for what could work on the cover, small moments from the book that add a little intrigue. Once we had a few ideas, it was time to find a graphic designer.

Publishers might try out a new freelancer, or else they may have someone in mind who they’ve worked with before. Graphic designers are artists, each with their own unique style, so it might take a little time to match the right designer up to the right book.

It took a few designs to nail it down. My book had the additional challenge of being “New Adult”, something of an in-between genre. Bridging the gap between Young Adult and Adult is no easy feat!

In the end, a pair of graphic designer friends of mine offered to spend a weekend giving it a go. We decided to keep it really simple, with just a little bit of detail to make it really beautiful. I couldn’t be happier with the finished product - what do you think?

Next week: anxiety. 

The Diary of a Debut is written by Jenna Adams whose debut novel will be published in 2022 by Neem Tree Press. You can follow Jenna at @jennaadamsbooks and Neem Tree Press at @neemtreepress.