Jennifer Parker, the graphic designer who has designed all four of the covers for my Bethany House novels, is a very gracious person. I may have a bit of a frustrated graphic designer within me because I always ask Jennifer inquisitive questions about my covers. She always answers them with great patience. She sends me ‘behind the scenes scoop’ on the creation of my covers. And I send her thank you cards. You’re wonderful, Jennifer! I’d also like to thank Skye, the beautiful model on the front of A Love Like Ours and her mom, Lori. Skye and Lori were fantastic about answering my questions and sending me candid pictures. Next time I blog, I’ll be sharing an interview with Skye!
Here’s a peek at the photo shoot that resulted in the cover of A Love Like Ours….
Because my Porter Family series is set in Texas on a Thoroughbred racehorse ranch, the art department at Bethany has made the effort to shoot each of the Porter Family covers at an actual ranch. Bethany is based in Minneapolis, so the horse ranch they’ve used is near there. When you look at the finished covers, you can’t necessarily tell that they were shot at a ranch. But it’s a fun detail to know. And in my opinion the setting is ideal because of its open spaces, fences, light, brightly green grass. See what I mean?
Another fun fact to know: All three of the couples on the covers were either married or dating at the time of the shoot!
Here’s Skye and Jennifer (in the plaid shirt) and Kilian (the male cover model and Skye’s boyfriend at the time), looking through the clothing that Skye had transported from home. Skye brought all kinds of things so that the artistic team would be able to choose the few outfits they thought suited the character and the cover’s color scheme and feel the best.
Notice the horse competition ribbons on the wall behind them?
Jennifer prepares several pages of direction for every photo shoot. Sketches. Reference photos, etc. Skye’s mom, Lori, snapped this photo of one of the information sheets. It shows the character inspiration photos I sent to Jennifer (so that she’d have a general idea of how I envisioned the characters looking) along with the models that were chosen for the cover, and hair and make up ideas.
A few candids from the shoot:
The photographer is Mike Habermann. He photographed the other Porter Family covers, too. Note the pose Skye and Kilian are in! You’ll see it below in one of the shots that made it to the final round of prospective covers.
The man in the hat and lime green shirt is Paul Higdon, the Creative Director at Bethany House.
Once Jennifer receives the photographs she goes to work and creates various cover ‘mock ups’ to take to a meeting that includes the creative, sales, and editorial teams. Together they decide which cover concept to go with. Here are three of the runner-up covers for A Love Like Ours.
I’m delighted with the cover the team from Bethany House chose for my story. I think it’s the strongest. Of the runners up, I’m a big fan of #1 (the shot of her leaping into his arms). Super cute!
What do you think, everyone? Comments? Questions about the cover process? Which of the three runner-up covers do you like best?
Becky Wade
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Fascinating. I bet most people have no idea how much work goes into making a cover. I know I didn’t! Thanks for letting us in on this.
I think it’s fascinating, too, Janet! And you’re right. A lot of careful work goes into each cover.
Lovely photos and a fun post! I assume all the couples are professional models? We nearly attempted some original photos for the cover of my upcoming novel, but weather nixed our plans. (Hard to do summer on a motorcycle when there’s snow on the ground.) I had a photographer lined up and a couple willing amateurs. I can’t help wondering how it might have turned out. . .
“I assume all the couples are professional models?” Great question, Carolyn! The married couple on the cover of Undeniably Yours are amateurs. They’re friends of Bethany editor Raela Schoenherr. Raela nominated them because she knew what the characters in Undeniably Yours looked like and thought they’d be perfect. They are! Both of the models on the front of Meant to Be Mine are pros. Skye is a professional model. Kilian isn’t. He was Skye’s boyfriend at the time, so that’s how he ended up on A Love Like Ours’ cover. 🙂
Very interesting – behind the cover. Thanks for sharing.
Good morning, Becky. This is such a fun post! I love book covers (then again, who doesn’t?), and as someone who wants to work in editorial fiction publishing, book cover designing is a huge part of the publishing process that I’m interested in. I love how everything in publishing is so interconnected and vital to the outcome. If I had any creative design genes in me, I would love to work in cover design.
I agree that the strongest cover for A Love Like Ours is the one Bethany ended up choosing. With the focus on “ours,” or both the hero and heroine, having equal emphasis on both of them shares the significance of both their characters on the story. As for the runner up covers, I think they are all great; however, my favorite for color is the pink (I’m a pink girl) where Skye’s jumping into his arms, but I actually like the blue one better because it shows more of the hero. I like covers where I can see both the hero and heroine’s faces.
Thanks for the post! =)
Good to see you here, Marisa! I couldn’t agree more. Everything in publishing IS interconnected and vital to the outcome. I love that the sales team, the editorial team, and the design team all get together to decide on my covers. They all play a role in bringing my books to market. It’s definitely a team effort! Once I turn in my revised manuscript, I mostly hand the baton off to the folks at Bethany House and trust them to take it from there.
I was instantly drawn to the second one because I like the look on the male models face. The red in the first one jumps out at me. Thank you for the insider look, Becky!
I like the look on the male model’s face in the second one, too, Kelly. There’s a subdued sweetness there.
The cover design process is endlessly fascinating to me, and I’m so blessed my designer at WaterBrook also is very patient and welcoming of my questions and input. They’re the best, aren’t they?
I also am partial to runner up #1. Love the splashy colors and Skye’s lovely smile. I like where they landed with the final, as well.
What a fun post Becky. Thanks for sharing this part of the novel journey with us. I love it that they’ve used real couples. Have you ever been to one of the photo shoots? That’s kind of a dream of mine. I’d love to be on hand when one of my book covers is in this early stage.
I’ve never been to one of the photo shoots, Lori. But like you, I’d love to attend one. It’s sort of amazing to see my characters ‘come to life’ during these photo shoots when, previously, they’d only been in my head. I have the same sort of feeling when I listen to the audio versions of my novels. They’re presented in a new way on audio and it’s a marvel to me.
My debut novel Burning Sky is jut out on audio now. I’ve only heard a snippet so far, and can’t wait to hear the whole thing. It felt surreal hearing someone else read the words and voice the characters. In a good way.
Loved reading about this, Becky! Photo shoots were always one of my favorite things to be involved in–and Jenny is a fantastic designer. Most of the time I have a “gut” favorite, but her mock-ups are so good she makes it very hard to choose! One thing I noticed for the first time is that all of the ladies in this Porter series have been wearing white–something unplanned, since they always brought a few different tops/outfits. Love this series and your books!
I LOVED that you took the time to be involved in the photo shoots, Sarah! Until you mentioned it, I hadn’t noted that the Porter heroines are all in white! So glad you noted that. Hm…. Now I’m wondering if that’s a metaphor God snuck in without us noticing until now. Those metaphors, you know. They add subtle depth. ;))
Thanks for the behind the scenes look! I’m sure it’s kinda risky using live models because of the descriptions you give in the book. I read a book once where the character had different color hair than the model they used :-/ (can’t remember the name of the book). Jennifer did a great job choosing the models and setting! I guess I would’ve gone with either #1 or #2 as my second choice. Love the cover you picked though!
At the very beginning of the cover creation process, Jennifer always asks me a lot of questions about the characters’ appearance. Hair, eye color, height, what kind of clothes they wear, etc etc. Because, yes! It’s a bummer when the people on the cover don’t resemble the characters in the book.
Typically, when I first see my new cover photo some aspects of the model may not look exactly like the character of my imagination. But over time, the character in my imagination begins to look more and more like the model until they’re one and the same. 🙂 For example, the female model on the front of My Stubborn Heart IS Kate Donovan to me now.
Oops… That was supposed to be 😀 😀 😀
I never realized what it took just to get on the cover of a book. Thanks for giving us a peek behind the scenes. I’m a long time subscriber but would still love a chance to win all those books.
Thanks, Janet!
It’s always so fun to peek behind the curtain, Becky. I loved seeing all those details from the cover shoot. I think my favorite runner up cover is #2. I love the intimacy of their heads together and the expression on the male model’s face. It looks so relaxed and natural. You can see his true affection shining through. I do love #1, too. It is just so happy and joyful.
I agree, Karen! Happy weekend to you, friend.
Hi Becky, I love seeing these cover photo shoots! So fun to see what happens behind the scenes. The final cover is wonderful, but I can see that the others would’ve been great too. Thanks! Carrie
Thank you for stopping by, Carrie!
Hey Becky! Thank you for allowing us this behind the scenes look into the making of a cover. I too like the shot of her leaping into his arms. The Bethany House team is AMAZING! 🙂
Amazing is right! The angle of the shot when she’s leaping into his arms (the camera focused straight at his back) is terrific, in my opinion. But then I’m a “I enjoy imagining what the character looks like” person.
I like the cover number 2. All covers are awesome and I would buy the book because of any of these 3 covers. I had no idea so much went into making a cover for a book. I am a reader that quite often chooses a book because of the cover unless it’s a reader I know.
Thanks for the give away. I subscribed to your giveaway. Thank you .
Blessings
Shirley
Thanks for subscribing, Shirley!! As you mention, covers are SO important. Especially for a relatively new author like me. If readers are intrigued by a cover, then they might read the back cover copy, or the first few pages of the book.
I always enjoy your stories about your covers! I think it’s fascinating to see all the work that goes into making that perfect cover. I’ve iften been turned off by a boring cover so I know it is an important aspect of marketing a book!
I think I like the runner up cover where he is sitting in the fence. But overall, I think the cover chosen is the best one!!
It’s hard to choose, isn’t it!?!! But yes, I think they got it right with the final choice. I love her expression, the interaction between them, and the bright teal color scheme.
I agree with Sarah: I don’t know how you ever decided because they are all SUCH great covers. I would have picked #2 also, because of the color turquoise (my favorite right now!) and because I just love their expressions and the chemistry that is between them. I think it’s SO cool that the couples were all actually couples. No wonder they all look so truly in love! 🙂 Fantastic post, Becky, and I can’t wait to hear the next part of the story…
Thank you, Deb!!
Becky,
What a great article and insight into the cover creation process. There’s a lot more to it than most of us could ever imagine.
And, as a horse lover and racing enthusiast, I’m sold on the new series!
Yay! So nice to see a horse lover and racing enthusiast here. I can’t tell you how much I thoroughly, THOROUGHLY enjoyed writing about horses and trainers, jockeys and racing for the Porter Family books. From my youth, I’ve adored horses.
I am already subscribed! I really like the first cover with her jumping into his arms!
I know!! Isn’t it fabulous?!
So interesting, Becky. When I first started writing I was told that authors were never allowed to have input into their covers. I’m glad things have changed.
I’m glad things have changed, too, Lynn. 🙂
Becky, these are crazy fun to read through. Thank you so very much for sharing a peek into the cover design and the fun mock-ups! All three are really quite fabulous (as you say, the one with her leaping into his arms and that pretty smile is sweet), but I do also think the finished cover is lovely. Bravo to Jennifer and the entire team who puts these together. Knowing that they are shot with models makes the covers “pop” and come to life all the more rather than using stock photos. 🙂
I think so, too, Rissi. And the fact that they were all ALSO real life couples adds a certain romantic zing. As you know, I love romantic zing. 😉
Fun post, Becky – – thank you for sharing with us!
I always enjoy “behind-the-scenes” glimpses – – whether it’s seeing how a cover is produced or even a glimpse into the writing office of my fave authors. 🙂
Have a wonderful weekend!
Have a wonderful weekend, sweet Patti Jo!
This was so fun! I also like the second one as the first runner-up. What a cute couple! I love it that you use real couples for your covers.
Katie Ganshert turned me on to your books & I’m so glad she did–they are wonderful! Thank you for all that you put into your stories–they are much more than entertainment, they are heart-changing. 🙂
What a kind thing to say, Lora. Thank you. It’s definitely my hope that the books will be heart-changing for readers the way that they are for me, their author.
I LOVE that Katie Ganshert! I’m so fortunate to have her as a friend.
Yes, Katie is precious! I love her and her books, so when she told me I *had* to read yours, I immediately ordered all of them–just on her word. Really! Since I’m a Christian fiction editor, I rarely read “for fun,” so I am very selective of the books I buy. Yours and Katie’s books are truly wonderful in *every* way (I say this with utmost appreciation as an editor).
Thank you so much for sharing your heart and talents with us! 🙂
Such fun to get this behind the scenes look, Becky. You get GREAT covers, and it’s easy to see why with this attention to detail!
Hi Becky,
I love posts like this! What wonderful choices-glad I didn’t have to decide!
All were great!
Cheers,
Sue
This was such a fun post – thank you! That was a fun fact, learning that the cover models were dating or married at the time of the photo shoot! How cool! All of the runner-up covers are nice – I can’t choose which one I really like best.
Thanks again!
-Micaiah-
I love that all the couples on my covers were real life couples at the time of the shoot. I’m hoping with the final book in the series (which will come out a year from now) that the tradition will continue! Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for a chance to win,I love to read
Cover #1 is definitely my favorite! 🙂
Loved having that sneak peak behind the scenes. I also think it’s special that they are all a couple at the time. What a difficult decision to choose a cover. Those were all beautiful.
I LOVE these behind the scenes posts that have been done for each of your books in the series! The #1 runner up pose is my favorite pose that didn’t make it. But I agree that the one they chose for the final cover is the very best. What a great team you have working on your covers.
I really enjoyed hearing about the making of the cover. I think my favorite runner up is the first one with the pink dress!
I can’t wait to read your new book.
Becky
A very interesting post. It was neat to see the behind the scenes story. Of the runner-ups I too like #1.
I already subscribe to your newsletter.