The front cover of a book can truly make it or break it. Knowing this, I was sure to put much time and consideration into my response when Defiance Press and Publishing asked for my vision of Through Quick and Quinn’s cover. I made two trips to the bookstore to peruse comparable titles, scoured online images of current bestsellers of the same genre, and asked for input from a couple of loved ones who had already read the novel. After a few days, I drafted a list to send along to the design team. I deliberately kept the list short, in an effort to give the experts as much creative freedom as possible. 

Here’s the list I sent them, verbatim: 

• I do not want the reader to have any preconceived notions re: how the characters look. I’m thinking that if there are characters represented on the cover, perhaps they are just silhouettes or something of that nature. It’s also okay with me if the design team thinks it’s best not to include characters on the cover at all. 
• A blue dragonfly would be symbolic of a motif throughout.
• It would be neat to have some sort of path or trail, not only to represent their journey but the impactful hiking experience they have as well.
• I don’t want the cover to be too feminine. 
• I’m all about simplicity.

In no time at all, I received an email with two initial drafts. The first one, I believe, was created with the final request in mind. It was lovely, but just a bit too simple for my taste.

The other draft hit so much closer to home, and although it was on the darker side, I immediately knew that we were on the right track!

After the design team received the request to lighten it up a bit, they whipped up two new versions. Both beautiful, the potential covers made for a tough call.

I must have looked at those two drafts a hundred times. While the greener one was very close to what I originally imagined, I couldn’t quite put my finger on why I wasn’t leaning towards choosing that one. Eventually, I figured it out. It reminded me of Bridge to Terabithia, a classic treasure that I still love to this day, but it made me feel like the cover was geared towards the elementary school level. And with that, I chose to move forward with the fourth version. What really sealed the deal? Lisa, from the publishing team, absolutely loved the pink one. She literally gasped when she first saw it, and since I already trusted her implicitly, we continued from there. 

By this point, I was bouncing off the walls and coming undone at the seams. It was starting to feel so real… My book was actually getting published! I couldn’t wait to see the final version after I made two more small requests: for the characters to be added back onto the path, and for us to see what it would look like with a sun instead of a moon. I subsequently checked my email obsessively until the final two drafts came through.

Given the storyline, the version with the sun made more sense to me. 

You know how they say a bride-to-be knows which wedding dress is “hers” because she cries the moment she tries it on? Yeah. It was like that. 

I’m a little biased but this is my favorite book cover of all time (wink, wink). There are so many gorgeous ones that take my breath away every time I visit a bookstore, though…

What are some other beautiful book covers out there?

Please comment below to share!