I’ve had so many compliments on the lovely cover art for this trilogy, and it’s not hard to see why. They are gorgeous–bright colors, beautiful models, full of rich (and accurate!) detail. I knew just from looking at them that a great deal of time and attention went into them, but the process behind cover art is often a mystery to the authors and readers.

About a month or so ago, I had the delight of hearing from the cover artist who painted the cover images. Her name is Doreen Minuto, and she was kind enough to take time to explain the process to me, step-by-step. Combined with what I already knew from my editor, here’s the story behind these lovely covers.

It all starts with what’s called a cover conference. The editor, art director, and sales department all sit down together and talk about what look and feel the covers should have. Before the conference happened, my editor asked if there was anything I had in mind or especially did or didn’t want on the covers. I don’t have cover approval in my contract (very few authors do), so I knew this was mostly a courtesy, but it was nice that she asked! My only request was that, since the titles of the books all referred to the heroines, they use a woman somewhere in the cover. Whether by herself or with a man, I didn’t care. I just hoped they didn’t slap the title “GODDESS OF THE … Read More »