Like many readers, I’m fascinated by the creative process that results in a book cover! For every book in my Porter series, I’ve shared a ‘behind the scenes’ peek into the cover shoot. I’m delighted to continue the tradition today with this post about the making of Her One and Only’s cover!
A few fascinating facts:
- Every Porter Family cover features a real life couple! Both Undeniably Yours and Her One and Only’s couples are married, friends of editor Raela Schoenherr, and parents of one child. The other two couples were dating at the time of the shoots. Next time it’s my turn to blog, I’ll share an interview with Her One and Only’s Aaron and Melissa.
- The cover photos were all shot near Minneapolis, Minnesota (where Bethany House’s headquarters is located). They typically shoot the covers in September, about eight months prior to my May releases.
- The finished cover is ready approximately a month later, in time for inclusion in the summer catalog that’s shown to buyers at the sales conference in October.
Candid Photos From the Day of….
Look at the colors! Especially the shades of green in the grass. Is it any wonder that Her One and Only has a pretty green backdrop? The woman holding the paper is Jennifer Parker. Jennifer has designed each of my covers. In case you missed Julie Klassen’s recent post about Jennifer, click here. Jennifer’s fantastic!! The papers in her hands contain notes about the characters, the book’s plot, and ideas for different poses to try.
This photo gives you a sense of the equipment used to perfect the lighting. I love that Melissa’s standing on a little slab of wood. I’m guessing that had two purposes… 1) to boost her up to the correct height and 2) to keep her heels from sinking into the grass. We all know that heels-sinking-into-grass feeling, right ladies?
This one captures such a sweet, candid moment between Melissa and Aaron. Too cute! If you follow my Pinterest Wars vs. Katie Ganshert on Facebook or twitter or Pinterest, then you know that I’ve tried to re-create the cover poses of all of my Porter books with my husband. The poses look so natural on the finished covers, but when you’re the ‘models’ tasked with the job of actually trying to achieve them, they can feel very awkward. I’ve dissolved into laughter every time I’ve attempted one of my cover photos.
A glimpse at just how many ‘cooks’ contribute their eye and input to the recipe for a cover.
This photo captures almost everyone who was present. L to R: Tracey Tischler (Hair and Make-up Artist), Raela Schoenherr (my Editor), Jennifer Parker (Senior Graphic Designer), Mike Habermann (Photographer), Paul Higdon (Creative Director at Bethany House), Aaron, and Melissa. Dan Pitts (Graphic Designer) took this photo and created the video I’ve embedded a little further down in the post. I know from other pictures and video snippets that a photographer’s assistant was there, too. NINE people!
This park puts me in the mood for a picnic, ya’ll. It may be time to search through my garage and dust off our long-forgotten wicker picnic basket.
Professional Photos From the Day of….
Video From the Day of….
Mock Ups….
When it’s time to select a cover for a novel, the Graphic Designer presents several options to the decision-making team, which is made up of people who work in sales, marketing, editorial, and design. These options are called ‘mock ups’. Here are the ‘runner up’ covers for Her One and Only.
Her One and Only will become available in just a few days, on Tuesday, May 3rd! I’m honored to be supporting an organization called Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund via the novel’s release. A percentage of the purchase price on all pre-ordered copies and on all copies sold post-release from May 3rd through May 9th will be donated to IFHF. Bo, Ty, Jake, and Dru — my Porter family characters — were Marines so I felt led to find a way to support our real life heroes through their books.
If you click on the graphic below, it will take you to a page that contains links to the online stores selling Her One and Only. You can also pre-order through your local book store, of course. 🙂
Give a shout out to your friends and family who are serving or who did serve in the military! Which of the ‘mock up’ covers is your favorite?
Becky Wade
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Becky, my favorite pictures are numbers one and four……
I really love #1, Alva! Melissa looks especially gorgeous in that photo.
2 – she has such a nice gleam in her eye-very minxy!
I agree! Gleamy!
I like a combo of 3 and 4. When I scrolled down, I discovered that is the real cover. It is such a cute picture of the couple. I love the red that was used for the title and your name. Jennifer Parker designs beautiful covers.
Like you, Amanda, I’m a huge fan of the bright cherry red that was used on the final cover. Especially against the blues and greens. Jennifer Parker does indeed design beautiful covers. Beautiful, beautiful covers!
I always enjoy your “cover stories.”
Yesterday at Lifeway a lady was looking at the fiction section trying to find some good books for her sister who is a new Christian. When I mentioned that I had read the book she had in her hand, she asked me if I had read anything else on the shelf that I would recommend. I sent her home with Undeniably Yours, of course!
That was so nice of you, Melissa! Thank you. Your commission check is in the mail!
That was such a fun look at your book cover being created! I love fall in Minnesota! Who knew it took so many people to get the “right” shot. My favorite is the bottom one.
I’m glad you enjoyed the glimpse at my cover shoot, Mimi. Fall in Minnesota looks absolutely lovely to me. Perhaps a weekend trip is in order this September…..
Great article on a fun behind-the-scenes look at all the work it takes to produce a cover. Loved it!
Thanks, Mom!
I pick mock-up #3! All of them are great though!
Thanks, Jane!
Always so fun to see your cover development, Becky. And you have another winner. I think I actually like the last mock up shot best. I just like the big smile on her face. But the profile shots were definitely the way to go. So fun and playful. And I love getting to see the hero’s face a bit, too. Great stuff!
That last mock-up is very similar to the final cover — the only thing that’s different (other than the color of the bar across the cover) is her big smile. I always love seeing the other options that were considered. Fascinating!
I love the cover you chose. I enjoy reading and seeing how to cover comes together. Thanks for sharing.
I especially like when you and your husband try to recreate them!
Thanks, Gail! A lot of laughter and out takes result from our annual attempts to recreate the covers. 🙂
My father-in-law who’s 92 now, served in the U.S. navy during WWII. He was in the battle of Omaha Beach, that was depicted in Saving Private Ryan. He’s my true life hero! I’m so glad God saw to send him home safely. Otherwise I wouldn’t have my husband.
A true life hero, indeed!
Thanks for sharing your cover process. I like the last one partly. I like seeing both faces because I want to see what they are both seeing.
I’m always interested to hear what readers enjoy seeing depicted on book covers! I feel fortunate to have had both the hero and heroine featured on my covers. It’s romantic to see the interplay between them.
Love this! I love all the covers, but they undeniably picked the right one. 😉 Just love the inside scoop. Thank you, Becky.
You’re welcome, Shelli!
Love the one that’s selected. I also find #2 charming!
Thanks for stopping by, Annie!
My favorite mock-up cover is the one with both of their profiles, her larger smile (which shows her teeth), and the yellow title band. However, I think I would like to swap the green title band with the yellow title band. Just a thought!
The green title band appealed to me, too, Kandy. It’s such a bright, clear, pretty shade!
Love this! Great cover and so much fun to watch the making-of video. I’ve never seen one before. Thanks, Becky.
I’m charmed by the making-of video! About half the views on YouTube are probably courtesy of me. 😉
Once again, Becky, thanks for giving us an inside look. I love seeing what the “models” actually look like but I like the covers to leave some to the imagination. Does that make sense? Anyway – I vote for the one that is the cover!
It makes perfect sense to me, Sandy! I feel the same way. I prefer the covers to leave some to the imagination.
I love seeing these every time, Becky! And I love that these couples are actual couples in real life. I would think that would make it easier to convey a naturalness in the pictures versus having strangers pose. Thanks for sharing!
It’s wonderful to see you here, Tressa! I agree that it’s MUCH easier to convey naturalness with a real life spouse or boyfriend. I think this is why Bethany House has used couples for my covers. It would be a bit too personal to ask strangers to stand nose to nose. 🙂
Very interesting. Wow, a lot goes into a cover. I am very visual and covers grab me [or not]. I often look at a cover for a clue as to the characters and am gratified when the cover matches the story [and annoyed when it doesn’t] Thanks for this interesting post.
You’re welcome! I’m with you, Diana, I really like it when the cover ‘matches’ the story within.