Cover Story - Debbie Bennett

I self-published my first thriller Hamelin's Child back in February 2011 - a giant step after many years of "we love it, but we can't sell it" rave rejections from the traditional publishers. Even being long-listed for The Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger Award didn't seem to make me a marketable proposition.
 
So I decided to fly solo - but first I needed a cover. My first attempt at cover design was using a lovely graphic by a talented friend of mine that just didn't work as an ebook cover - there wasn't sufficient contrast at the small size you need for amazon and other ebook retailers. But I attracted the attention of a traditional author who introduced me to my current designer JT Lindroos and held my hand through the design process. Thus the cover for Hamelin's Child was born - and I learned a lot in the process.

I recently asked JT to design me a cover for the sequel Paying the Piper, which I hope to have out before Christmas, so I thought I'd share the cover story here. I contacted JT saying I wanted something that would clearly be a part of the same series as Hamelin - something with a gritty, urban feel to it. I suggested tower blocks, playgrounds, wasteland etc as ideas for backdrop. JT came back with the first three versions on the right.

Versions 1, 2 and 3 are all essentially the same, but with different colours. The font is the same as Hamelin and pulls the two books together. While I liked version 1, the colour combination doesn't say "thriller" to me - it says DIY manual (I don't know why!). Version 2 had a good colour, but the black text was lost at thumbnail size and the turquoise just a little too close to the blue of Hamelin. Version 3 was a great colour combination but it was so strong that the image disappeared at thumbnail. And I wasn't fussed about the actual image - it was too stylised and lacked context. I also didn't like the exact 45 degree text angle.

I went back to JT and said could he find a better image? I had a play around on image websites and marked a few photos that I liked - not necessarily "right" but pictures that appealed or had the right tone:

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-19850288-multicolor-alley-in-orlando.php?st=2e84849

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-19485275-abandoned-industrial-building.php?st=2e84849

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-11377373-black-and-white-train-tracks.php?st=a574103

http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&searchterm=manchester+&search_group=&orient=&search_cat=2&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&commercial_ok=&color=&show_color_wheel=1#id=730877

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-12525484-manchester-tram.php?st=a574103

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-12525479-manchester-tram.php

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-12525513-manchester-tram-rails.php

I've no real idea why these specific images appealed to me. Since most of the story is set in Cheshire and South Manchester, I looked for tram images, cities and urban decay (all such cheerful stuff!). I have an idea in my head of how I want the overall cover to look, but I'm not particularly good at communicating that to a designer - in that respect, I find JT brilliant to work with as he's very intuitive and can work out what I want better than I can!

JT came back with  version 4 - a tram of some sort which looked OK and more of what I had in mind. The text is at less of an angle and there's more context to the image. But then there was version 5 as seen below which was pretty near perfect and coveys the exact atmosphere that I wanted. There's a figure for context and a depth to the image that rivals the original Hamelin. Side by side, they are similar but different.

Sp pull the text away from the edges a fraction so I can get postcards printed and still leave a margin for bleed and we have a new cover for my next book:

www.debbiebennett.co.uk