15. Behind the Scenes: Designing the Aether Guardian Cover

I was super nervous about getting started with the cover art. After all, people DO judge a book by its cover. I had a million different anxieties about what could go wrong. Would this artist be the right fit? Could they capture what was in my head? What if I don't love their design? Was it going to cost me an arm and a leg?

But I knew it needed to get done and I had to get it done soon. So using Reedsy again - love it by the way - I reached out to a few artists I liked and got started. After providing a book brief and a few design concepts I wanted to see, I handed everything off and continued to work on other parts of the project like the remaining edits that still needed to get done.

After about a month or so, I was starting to get antsy. I hadn't heard back from the artist, but I knew that they had other clients they were working with. So I reached out and after a few days and they finally got back with me. I got the first concepts! They were pretty sweet!

I got three designs. One probably looks familiar ;)

I loved all three, but I HAD to pick just one. I found pieces from each that I really enjoyed and tried to envision how to combine the best pieces of all three. The font from #2, the shield from #1, the cape from #2, the flames from #3. All of them spoke to me in a different way.

But I wanted what would speak to readers the most. What would they enjoy the most? What would they see when they saw the cover? After going back and forth and getting some feedback from a few people, I requested a few adjustments and waited for the next response.

Which one do you like the most? Obviously, #3 made it to the final slot, but what do you think?

Next week, I'll share why I went with the final version and how visual storytelling was the reason I went with the final concept.

See you soon!