The Evolution of a Cover

A few weeks back, I posted the catalog cover of my latest book, Campfire Crisis. The cover was fine, for its purpose—promoting the book before the story was even written. But now that the manuscript has been handed off to the illustrator, it’s time for the real thing.

First, the illustrator worked up some sketches of the main character’s friends: Mike (left) and Carla (middle and right)

[image error]While Mike hit the target age of the characters, Carla appears to be too old, a teen instead of a tween.

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After adjusting Carla’s age, the illustrator provided a sketch of the cover. The flames didn’t appear to be as threatening as we wanted.

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The illustrator tweaked the flames, making them more of the background than the trees. After that, it was onto coloring . . .

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I can’t say that this is the final version of the cover, but it’s getting close.