Is the book cover the most important aspect of a new book? Ultimately, there is no denying that there are so many different book buyers that it makes sense to believe some would take the cover into consideration. Even if we’re trying to pick books basded on interests or genres, let’s be honest: An attention-grabbing book cover design can go a long way.
So, as you can guess, we were very particular about what we wanted on our book cover. Allow me to take you through the thought process.
The Colours of Our Book Cover
Book covers come in many colours. But when it comes to illustrating a magic fantasy world you have created from scratch, it’s clear that you need it to be somehow consistent with your descriptions of said world.
In The Dead Shadow, we get to see two magical Lands:
- Dynamis, whose colour of magic is purple
- Nekros, whose colour of magic is black
So, it was important to showcase those specific colours on the book cover. There are also other reasons why we wanted to focus on those colours, but you’ll have to read the book to find out!
For our old teenage emo hearts, black and purple were the perfect choice to start the Shadow of Phaedrus saga!
What To Write On The Book Cover
It might sound obvious at first, but this one confused us for a while.
Book title? Yep?
Author name? Sure thing.
But while this seems all easy peasy lemon squeezy, it wasn’t in fact any of that for a few reasons.
First of all, this is the first book of a series of approximatyely 8 books. So, questions kept popping in our minds:
Shall we write the series title, The Shadow of Phaedrus, on the book cover?
Shall we number the books?
How is it all going to fit on one front cover?
We ended up deciding to leave the series name out from the book cover design. Instead, it should be written on the inside cover, so that you readers can identify it. The problem is that for the sake of clarity we wanted to put everything on the book cover.
Frankly, that would have ended up looking like one of those people who wrote an entire shopping list, a friend’s postal address, and the itinerary for their next summer holiday on the same post-it note… A little packed to say the least.
My brain always seeks more information to attain full clarity. For once, it was forced to work backwards and omit information to ensure clarity.
Secondly, the next challenge was the author name. The Dead Shadow doesn’t have only one author. It has a pair of them.
With two names, we didn’t want to overload the book cover. This one took a little bit of convincing.
We briefly wondered about creating a madeup name who could stand at the sole writer behind the book. But then, it would have looked silly at book events. Besides, are we ever going to be famous enough that we need a pseudonym?
Plus, how do we end up signing books if we have a single name between the two of us? Do I get the firstname and Paul signs the surname? That sounded too complicated. In the end, our publisher convinced us to go with both our names on the cover.
Bonus point for my goldfish brain: I won’t have to remember a new name!
What Should The Book Cover Style Be?
This was a fun dilemma to have. We discussed options with the publisher and even went through a full questionnaire to identify our preferred cover styles.
To give you an idea of how that went: We ticked all the options. Matte but with gloss, abstract but will detailed illustrations, minimalist but with all the colours of magic from the book.
This is probably why you don’t want, as a writer, to embark on the designing journey alone. Nogt saying your book cover will be bad if you do it yourself. But ours would have certaintly turned up looking like a tragic mess of enthusiastic colouring and bad drawing.
What’s the Main Book Cover Imagery?
The front cover shows a lighthouse.
Could I give you more information about it?
Sure. Absolutely.
Am I going to do it, though?
Nope. You’re going to have to read the book.
However, we are excited to share that we’re also placed Easter Eggs for readers and followers on the cover. It’s a bit early to announce what those Easter Eggs are, but keep your eyes peeled for them!
Ready for The Dead Shadow Cover Reveal?
If you’ve got questions about it, feel free to reach out to us via the contact form or direct on social media:
Alternatively, we’ll be sharing all about the Easter Eggs and the behind-the-scene of the book cover in due time in our newsletter.