There’s a lot that goes into designing a compelling novel cover. It’s almost like trying to sum up a book in one paragraph. You want to show something meaningful, but you don’t want to give the ending away either.
For my last novel’s cover, there were two scenes that stood out to me as good candidates. I couldn’t make up my mind, so I ended up having my good friend and go-to artist Paolo Libunao use both – one for the front cover and one for the back. If you’d like to see how that cover evolved, check out my author facebook page, click on photos, and view the album on Runaway’s Cover.
So, now as I’m working on my latest project, a near-future update to G.K. Chesterton’s classic The Man Who Was Thursday (with the blessing of the American Chesterton Society), I’m again thinking about covers.
Since this one has a more realistic feel to it, I’m going with a more photographic cover which also conveys a futuristic setting. Order vs. Anarchy is a big theme of the book, so I’m also thinking about how to show both symbolically. Last I’m wanting to give a taste of a world where we’ve become so immersed in computers they have become part of us.
My first stab at such a cover is below… what do you think?
EDC
Edward D. Casey 