Suspended in the Stars - Cover Reveal

It is TIME to reveal the mock-up cover I created for Suspended in the Stars, the novella I'll be blogging right here during the month of August. Who is excited? Or is it just me...

Friends, there is nothing more "official" to me than seeing the cover for something. For me, a cover designer, it's doubly exciting as well as a bit nerve wracking because I am the one who created the cover. 

Let's talk inspiration first

When I start out to create any cover, I always go to Amazon, Google, Pinterest, and even Barnes & Noble (when possible) to gain a feeling for the genre. It's easy for me because, knowing I was doing YA Science

Some of the images I used for the cover

Fiction (with a bit of Fantasy) I could look on my shelves as well. 

What that does is give me a feeling for the genre. What book are being published right now and what do their covers look like? 

Next, I start to break down what type of image I want to convey. If I were working with a client I would be asking them about their book, what kind of themes might be in it, and even a particular scene that stands out to them as important to their narrative. 

After all that, the search begins. I scour the internet for images (both free and paid) and see what I can come up with. I tend to give a few different options for clients depending on what I can "see" for the cover. If the ideas are very different, I'd prefer to have the client choose rather than me make that choice (if I feel they are of equal style and appeal). In the case of this cover, I ended up finding all my images for free (hey, it's a mock up cover, right?) and began the process of compiling them. 

For this cover 

Going in, I had a rough idea of something I wanted to do. I could almost see it, so when I was searching for images to compile, I knew what I was looking for (mostly). 

When it was all together I started to mess around with font, placement, added layers, and colors. Then I bombard my friends with pictures and ask them what they like best. I never underestimate the power of random appeal to anyone. If someone who, lets just say isn't a huge YA Sci-fi fan, loves the cover, that's a bonus for me! Even though they aren't my target audience. 

And there you have it - a fun cover that I'm very proud of that gives a sense (I hope) of the story I'll be sharing here. 

Are you ready to see it? 

Are you sure??? 

Ok...

What do you think? Does it say "Young Adult Science Fiction" to you? I hope so! 

I think it's one of my favorite covers I've created to date, but that just means I need to create more! I hope this gives you a little extra push of excitement to start reading Talie and Renner's story as of TOMORROW. 

I'm going off to get some rest before starting this next month...see you tomorrow!