Choosing the Cover Design for My Newest Book

ZOOM CALL WITH THE OWNER OF DAMONZA:

Robynne, my Project Director, notified me that they wanted to set up a Zoom meeting with the Art Director before beginning the cover design process. I wondered who that would be and they said it was Damon Freeman, the owner and brains behind the company. This was a new experience for me and intimidating. I greatly admire the Damonza company and feel they do a great job creating covers for far more important writers than myself. I was quite impressed that Mr. Freeman would actually be my Art Director, and that he would take time out of his schedule to discuss my project personally. My other nagging concern was that since I seldom participate in Zoom sessions, I was sure something wouldn't work, and I would be powerless to rectify it. I could just picture myself sitting on Zoom with Damon Freeman and looking like an idiot.

I set everything up. I checked the lighting, audio, connection numbers, join codes, etc. The time arrived, I connected, and there was Damon, sitting behind a table in a small conference room. He greeted me cheerily, his accent delightful, and I responded in kind but Damon tilted his head, looked puzzled, and replied, "You have no audio."

Oh no! My screen looked totally different now that I was in the live meeting. I frantically scoured the edges of my iPad for audio icons, volume controls, anything! Nothing helpful. He calmly talked to me, trying to offer help; making suggestions, offering reschedule times. I answered back, forgetting that he couldn't hear me. A boulder sank in my stomach as I felt trapped right in the middle of my worst fears. Then, I must have bumped something, because suddenly the screen view resized and there on the edge appeared a few formerly hidden icons, one of which was an activated mute button. I depressed it and all was suddenly well. What a relief! (I later deduced that, for whatever reason, when Zoom made the actual connection it brought me in already muted. Who knew?)

The actual meeting went great. Damon was friendly and practical. He had reviewed all my materials and understood what I was hoping for. He fired off pertinent questions and listened closely. He assured me that his people would discover a way to meet my desires. He took notes as we discussed the importance of the diary to the romance as well as to the suspense in the story. He mentioned he had an idea of how to use the diary in the design and asked me to send him actual excerpts from diary entries used in the book. I felt we hit it off rather well. I left the meeting relaxed and confident (despite my technical deficiencies at the start).

REVIEWING THE DESIGNS:

Within two weeks, as promised, I was emailed three draft cover designs to be reviewed. The contract with Damonza states that I must choose one of these draft designs as my preferred cover. They will then continue to refine that chosen one until I'm totally satisfied. If none of the draft designs work for me, they will start over. After a second round, if we still can't agree on a vision, they will refund my money. It sounded fair to me in theory but now that I had actual files to open and review, I felt some trepidation creeping in.

It's a strange experience opening art files to see your proposed book covers for the first time. Since I was creating three versions, a 6X9 hardcover, a 6X9 paperback, and an eBook, they were displayed together with the hardback image the most prominent. I admit that I kind of squinted with one eye closed when I opened each file, as if afraid of what I was about to see. Dread sat on the sidelines whispering, "What if none of them work? What if you hate them all? What will you say then?"

Let me preface my response here to explain that all of the designs were professionally executed, featuring beautiful images and appropriate text, but still, the first two looked like most of the high-end covers I typically see. They were interesting and colorful, one even had a diary in the foreground, but neither was right. I thought they could have been designs for a hundred other books. I've seen the type before, on Amazon and at the bookstores. My hope dimmed. One left.

And then I viewed the final file. It was radically different. I sighed in deep relief. Here was my cover! It achieved everything I'd wanted. Such a deceptively simple, straight-forward design. It was unique and yet managed to incorporate the actual handwritten diary, it found the right look for the main characters, their troubled romance, the implied danger, even the correct part of the country. Everything wasn't perfect, but it was so close in each key element, it was uncanny. I was in awe. It reaffirmed everything I loved about my last experience with Damonza when they designed an award-winning cover for my last book, Still Breathing.

We continued for a few more days with a spirited back-and-forth about minor changes and final tweaks through two more rounds, until I felt it was as perfect as perfect can be. I couldn't be happier with the final result, or the experience. Damonza hit a homerun again!