Creating Book Covers

Start writing...Wil the photo on this story be "THE" cover for my next children's book? I'm not sure yet. I'm still debating on whether Lil Hoot is a single character in the story, in which case it would be "Lil Hoot's Halloween" and not the plural "Lil Hoots' Halloween" as shown on this story cover photo. I also haven't decided if Mummy with a Pumpkin is staying in the bottom left corner but he did fill that black void very nicely. By now you are probably thinking, wait, what? You don't know yet whether your book is about one character or multiple characters - but you are making a book cover? Isn't that a bit bass-ackwards? (yes, my family really says that word that isn't really a word.)

I realize it is totally backward to process that most go by which is writing the story first and then generating illustrations that fit the written story. But I don't do it that way. At least I don't anymore. Children's picture books are about, well, the pictures. And they are written for children that can't read yet or are early readers so the pictures are very important to this audience. That's why I start with the art first for my children's books. And in a weird sort of way, generating the art first is similar to how I write all my stories. Only the pictures I see are all in my mind as I think through my storyline and flesh out my characters. Generating storybook pictures is just a physical manifestation of what I see in my mind.

If you are thinking "WOW, I didn't know she could draw," you would be correct. I can't and I don't. Learning to draw is on my to-do list and I have actually assembled tools to do so. So far, my tools consist of a drawing tablet and stylus that connects to my computer so I can draw directly to my computer, a light table so that I can draw sketches of photos and trace outlines, various software, and a lot of art books. How on earth do I make illustrations for my children's picture books if I don't draw? Currently, I am using Canva Pro. Yep, that dreaded word "CLIPART." I do warn you that using clipart is mocked and scorned. Children's books are a highly competitive field and just as with anything else, your work has to stand out in the crowd. The argument goes that clipart can't possibly do that for you because the art is overused and everywhere. And while there is some truth to that, I honestly believe that it all comes down to the talent of the "collagist." I don't know if that is even a word, but if it isn't, it should be. By collagist, I mean someone that puzzles a lot of bits and pieces together in collage format until they create an illustration that suits their purpose. Now, with the digital age, it is very similar to using graphic design software with layers. The big difference between using something like Canva/Canva Pro and using graphic design software like Photoshop(paid subscription) or Krita (freeware), is that the former is just collaging pre-made art together with limited editing capability, if any, whereas the latter gives you total freedom to create unique artwork never before seen.

Pro arguments for having unique illustrations by artists is that it looks more professional which will draw the eyes agents and publishers for starters, of parents that actually pay for books for their children, or to draw the eye of purchasers that buy books for schools and libraries. Honestly, it gets daunting thinking of all that and further overwhelming to think of finding, affording and hiring an illustrator. I wasn't ready for that. But I had already sat on my book for ten years and I didn't want to wait any longer since I wrote it for my grandson when he was born and he turned ten this year. He was going to be too old to have interest in it if I didn't get it illustrated and published.

Every writer has to start somewhere, and that somewhere for me was using clipart from Canva pro and self-publishing through KDP. That met my needs for where I am in my journey and I'm not one bit sorry. It is very exciting to see books with my name on them and have people reach out to me telling me how much they enjoyed reading them to their children or grandchildren. It doesn't get any better than that.

Circling back to the cover art for this story, that is a potential cover for the lastest creation I'm working on. You would think collaging premade art together would be super simple but for me it isn't. Let me clarify, it isn't hard to do but pleasing myself is. So, I literally play and play and play on one page at a time before I move on to the next page. And that is such an awesome feeling to be doing something that is technically work but feels like so much fun that I spend hours doing it.

Here are some screenshots of the above cover as it morphed through many renditions.

As you can see, I have spent a lot of time "collaging" on this cover. And the end product will be unique even though it uses clipart. Right now as an Indie Author, I am happy with that.

Where I am headed in my journey is to learn how to do beautiful illustrations like this video:

I am completely intrigued by that video. I need to finish some current projects (income tax preparation - eeks!) before I start a project like this but I am very excited to do so. When I finally get to that point, I will certainly write and share that that leg of my journey.