If you’ve never worked with a cover artist before, here’s some information that may save you a lot of time and money. I work with Johnny, a talented cover artist, whose day-job is a senior artist for Walt Disney Productions. He works sixty hours a week for Walt Disney, comes home, spends time with his family and then burns the midnight oil creating beautiful, evocative, and in my case menacing book covers.

Check out the latest cover for The Strap, my horror novel scheduled for release in about a month.

If you ask me that’s a kick-ass (maybe strap-ass is a better word), frightening book cover that would rival some of the best designers in the business; even those who design book covers for celebrity authors like Stephen King or Dean Koontz.

But it’s not as easy as it looks. It’s up to you, the author, to convey your vision to the artist. In my experience, your cover artist doesn’t usually read the book, even the book description on your website for that matter. If your instructions are wishy-washy, you’ll get a wishy-washy cover that takes a long time to produce, costs a lot more money and may have the artist pulling his (her) hair out by the time it’s done. And the finished product may not be what you wanted in the first place.

So be clear and concise. Have an idea what you want for a cover, something that will catch people’s eye, draw them into the story, make them want to buy and read it. And don’t rush it. Run your initial idea by a few friends, particularly creative types who may be able to suggest things you might not think about.

Here’s how my ideas reach fruition. Usually, when I start a book I have no idea what the cover image will be. But, by the time I’m two-thirds into writing it, sometimes within a few words of that exhilarating last sentence before I finally type THE END, I get a vision. At least I call it a vision. A powerful image forms in my mind.

Next, I surf the internet and find as many images as I can that convey my vision, sometimes I surf movie jackets, and send them to Johnny along with a detailed description of my cover vision. I detail everything from background color, font type, to the amount of blood I want shown, if any. Here’s a slightly edited version of the actual email I sent to Johnny for The Strap cover:

The Strap in some ways is about a mean-spirited and evil person who becomes the embodiment of the cruel form of punishment that was used in the public school system up until the 1970s when it was abolished. It’s partly about the deep psychological scarring left by the strap. Below is a picture of a strap but the one on the cover could be black with a glistening band of silver steel at the tip that’s dripping blood.

The image I envision is as follows: black background with some red in it. The Strap title in jagged font color approximating the color of blood but a little oranger so it shows up better. William Blackwell font should be standard as we’ve started to do for branding. Maybe William Blackwell is in white, maybe not (I know, clear as mud right?).

I envision a scary face similar to the one attached (I”m not sure this captures it so I will search for better imagery). The Strap is a tall lanky guy, long black hair, black beady eyes (perhaps with a little red) with maybe a few scars on his face. He’s also missing a few front teeth. Looks kinda’ like a psycho hillbilly.

The Strap’s face is very large and menacing  (I seem to like that word) flicking the strap with an evil grin at the potential reader. Blood on the steel tip of the strap is crucial as well.

I’m looking for an image that leaps off the page and scares the living shit out of you.

The result, because my vision and instructions were clear and concise, is what you see above, a horrific and amazing book cover. Below is the first version which, as you can see, only required minor tweaking.

Admittedly, it took us some time to reach this point. Johnny had to become accustomed to my style, vision and schedule and vice-versa. We also changed a few things around. Initially, our only form of communication was email. But one night, I was working late (Johnny usually sends me his art at one or two in the morning and often I’m up hammering away at another novel) took a break, checked my email, and found a new cover concept from Johnny.

It was a good cover. He was close, oh so close. But there was something missing that I thought would be much better conveyed through a phone conversation. I emailed Johnny this request. The following evening we had a short conversation. The result, another amazing cover. Now, from concept to creation, along with email and yes, even text messages, we talk regularly, have even become friends.

Here’s another tidbit. When you do get your initial cover concept back from your cover artist, don’t rush into approving or changing it. Let the image distill in your hopefully creative imagination for at least twenty-four hours. Get some feedback from friends, post it on Facebook, whatever (I find my website designer Tom Stier has an excellent creative eye). Talk to your cover artist and ask him (her) what changes he (she) plans on making. Many times the initial cover concept is just that to the cover artist; merely a rendering to see if he (she) is on the right track.

Finally, the old adage, “never judge a book by its cover” is not necessarily true.

Although I don’t write books for the money and never will (I do it because I love writing and want to educate, influence and entertain my readers. And, yes, in a very small way, make the world a better place to live in) the first thing a reader sees surfing around Amazon is the cover. If it doesn’t grab them and you’re a relatively unknown name like William Blackwell, they’re movin’ on to the big guns.

And, if you’re talented, that would be a crying shame.