Book Cover of the Month: July

I love the image of this Asian lady on the cover of Daughters of the Sun and Moon. She is wearing old fashioned clothing which I believe is much nicer than that worn since the Communist takeover of China.

The background pink color accentuates the colors of the lady's garment. The name of the author is in a lighter pink shade and the book title is in ecru. I am always attracted to this type of color pallette.

The book cover design was created by Jaya Miceli. She is the Senior Art Director at Scribner Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster. She tends to design book covers with a bright pallette. Miceli earned a BFA in Illustration at the Parsons School of Design. 

Book Cover of the Month: June

My choice for book cover of the month was between The Singapore Secret and The Fatal Farandole. I love the bright orange color of The Singapore Secret but the cute French scene on The Fatal Farandole is also appealing. I am choosing The Singapore Secret because it is less cluttered. The orange building struck my heart. I love bright colors and the cover designer chose accompanying cool tones to balance the color palette. The lady on the cover is holding an envelope which gives the impression that the letter inside carries a secret.

The official book cover designer for the book was managed in-house by the publisher, Hodder & Stoughton. Unfortunately, I cannot determine the name of the person who actually designed the cover. I would love to know which artist deserves the credit. Hodder is based in London. Their website is doesn’t have much information other than the titles they have published and author biographies.

Book Cover of the Month: May

We'll Prescribe You Another Cat has an enchanting book cover of two cats in a prescription bottle. I love it! The cover design was created by Adam Auerbach. 

Auerbach is designer, illustrator, and art director from Brooklyn. He has over 15 years of experience in the publishing industry as both a children's book author and as an illustrator for other authors. You can see his work on his Instagram page and also on his webite.

 

Book Cover of the Month: April

 

There were several books this month with amazingly beautiful covers. I Am Cleopatra, Girl in a Red Silk Sari and The Ivory City were contenders. All three of these had a striking bright color pallette that attracted me to the books. The Lost Book of Elizabeth Barton book cover is different though. It has more elements. One third of the design is the real life oil painting of Elizabeth. The rest of the cover is red with black lettering. I especially like the yellow "X" crossing through Elizabeth’s name. It's appropriate for the story as the church erased Elizabeth from history after she was executed.

This intriguing design was created by Henry Sene Yee. Yee is a New York based freelance designer and illustrator.  Yee earned a BFA at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. His resume is amazing. Yee began his career working in editorial design at Condé Nast and Rolling Stone magazines. He obtained his first job in book publishing working as a Junior Designer for Louise Fili, the Art Director at Pantheon Books / Random House. Yee then joined St. Martin's Press as a Senior Designer, eventually being promoted to Senior Art Director Deluxe. His last position was Creative Director of Picador, a literary trade paperback imprint launched in 1995.

Henry Sene Yee did a fantastic job on this book cover.

Book Cover of the Month: March

French illustrator Marguerite Sauvage is the artist who created this book cover. She has extensive experience in comics and animation, with leading clients such as DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, and IDW. She’s known for her expressive characters and fashionable designs, as well as her stand-out color palettes. Her cover design for Don’t Forget Your Briefcase has an appealing color pallette of bright red, green yellow and blue. The color pallette is what drew me to the comic. The person holding a briefcase, however, is not the person in the story who handles it. Rather, a young boy has possession of it for most of the story. 

The plot centers on Elmo, a ten-year-old kid, who carries his dead father's briefcase with him to his elementary school every day. After hurting a bully, he is suspended and his mother, a Russian spy working in the White House, takes him to work with her. It is Inauguration Day and as the new president walks toward the Oval Office, he is assassinated. In the commotion Elmo picks up the wrong briefcase. It's the nuclear football with the codes to launch a nuclear strike. While all this sounds serious, the story is hilarious.

After graduating with a degree in Law and Communication at Paris University, a longtime passion for image conducted Marguerite to become a freelance illustrator. Recently Marguerite has started working in animation and video games as well as in sequential art and cover art for comic books publishers. Marguerite now resides in Montréal.

Book Cover of the Month: February

I love this twisty book cover for Want to Know a Secret. It matches the plot of the book perfectly.

Publisher Crooked Lane Books often uses their in-house design team to design covers. Sometimes freelance designers are sought out. While I could not determine specific individual who designed the cover, I have learned that they are currently looking to hire a freelance cover designer who thinks outside the box and specializes in the adult thriller genre. 

I was not aware that book cover designers  specialized in book genres. This should have been apparent to me though. Because I have in the past featured designers who worked with all genres, this detail went over my head. Of course, it makes sense.

Next month I hope I can tell you the name of the cover designer who designed the most intriguing book cover as well as some of their background.

Book Cover of the Month: January

There was no competition this month for my top book cover. We'll Prescribe You a Cat features a cat in a pill bottle on it's cover in a pleasing blue and orange color palette. The cover for the English edition features illustrations by German artist Alissa Levy. Levy is known for her cat illustrations. Her Instagram page shows many of them as does her website. Levy also designed the book cover for the sequel, We'll Prescribe You Another Cat. In addition, she offers to create a custom digital portrait of your own cat. 

Alissa Levy was born in Kiev, Ukraine but emigrated with her family to Dortmund, Germany when she was six years old. Her artwork focuses on the simple moments of everyday life, often featuring female characters, plants, and animals. Her style is characterized by a delicate palette of warm, soft tones and organic lines. 

Book Cover of the Month: October

I loved the artwork in this superb graphic novel by world renowned cartoonist Craig Thompson.  The book was drawn in red pen and ink comic strip panels as was the book cover. I love the saturated red color which may actually be vermillion red, as was referenced toward the end of the story. Thompson selected a drawing of he and his siblings working as ginseng farm laborers when they were kids.  Their parents had no sense that they were children and probably shouldn't spend the summers working 8 to 12 hours per day. They were evangelical Christians to boot and should have had the sense not to abuse their kids this way.

The inside pages are filled with very detailed drawings and it takes some time to look at them while you are reading the story.  They are attractive enough to have inspired me to go through the pages again to fully absorb the beautiful drawings.  Ginseng Roots is as much an autobiography as it is a piece of art. Check it out. 

Book Cover of the Month: August

I love this book cover because it's about baking. Elements of baking such as the lady baker, the towel and the canning jar. Its heartwarming to view the glass jar and it is ingenious to use the words "a novel" on the jar.

The cover design was done by Kathleen Lynch, Principal at Black Kat Design. Lynch holds a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of  Connecticut School of Fine Arts and has worked as a cover designer for Random House and Art Director for Oxford University Press. Her designs have won acclaim from the Association of University Presses, the New York Book Show, AIGA and Print.

Her website shows additional books covers that she has designed. Many of these books are my favorites such as Jennifer Chiaverini's The World's Fair Quilt and The Museum of Lost Quilts. Lynch also designed book covers for Ellen Gilchrist, Sandra Brown, 

and Kristin Harmel. She makes all of these books enticing for the reader.

Book Cover of the Month: June

I chose two books covers this month. Both have a bright yellow background with one black item on the cover. This design is distinctive.

The Butter book cover was designed by Emma Pidsley. She is a senior designer at Penguin General. After earning a bachelor's degree in english literature from Exeter University in 2014, she obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Design for Visual Communication from the London College of Communication in 2016.

I was not able to uncover the name  of the cover designer for The Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagorus. This series is published by Open Road Media. It has a dedicated brand for mystery and thriller books called Murder and Mayhem. The Pot Thief series combines humor with whodunnits. I have read 2 of them and they were fantastic 

Book Cover of the Month: May

I love the reflection of a lounging lady in the martini glass. Truth be told, I love the martini glass on its own. The Retirement Plan was a close second for my book of the month but it's cover is exquisite. The cover design was created by Ben Prior but the cover illustrations were drawn by Camillia Pinheiro.

Ben Prior is a UK graphic designer specialising in book design. He studied Graphic Design: Visual Communication at the University of Creative Arts Canterbury. Prior currently works at Little,Brown, a division of Hachette as a Middleweight Designer. He has been Shortlisted for several awards but won the ABCD Awards 2021 in the crime and thriller category. 

Camillia Pinheiro is based in São Paulo, Brazil. She loves using tropical colors in her illustrations, which reflects her Brazilian roots. Pinheiro has illustrated book covers in the U.S, U.K. and French markets. In addition, she is the first woman to design the US Open's Tennis theme art in a decade. 

Book Cover of the Month: April

I always love seeing the book covers for this coffeehouse mystery series. Cathy Gendron created this illustration for the book. When she graduated from college with a BFA she had a serious desire to draw. Cathy's first job was in the ad department of her local newspaper. It was here that she discovered editorial illustration, which perfectly connected her love of reading with a passion for art. After a short stint as art director for the Detroit Free Press, Cathy determined that she didn’t enjoy the management side of the business. She quit and has been making pictures ever since.

Per her website:  "Working traditionally, Cathy applies thin glazes of oil color over a casein underpainting. Her images have appeared in numerous publications for the editorial, book and corporate markets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Dallas Morning News, Newsweek, US News and World Reports, Utne Reader, Seventeen, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Kensington Publishing, IBM, Target and Saatchi & Saatchi."

Cathy has won awards from Communications Arts Magazine, Society of Illustrators Los Angeles, Print Magazine, Society of Publications Designers and the Detroit Creative Directors Council. 

Book Cover of the Month: March

Andrew Fielding is a freelance illustrator based in Edinburgh. He designed this book cover for Philip Brebner's Shadows of Marrakech.What I love about the cover is the bright colors but also the scene depicted. It is the interior of a souk where one can find find all types of items to buy. It  certainly gives a proper backdrop for the story.

In the book Ramzi, a disillusioned Scottish scientist, is running a riad in Marrakech. After a customer, Frenchman Paul Gallisot, is murdered in the city, Ramzi decides to play detective and investigates the death. The setting is most prominent feature of the story so this scene on the cover is most appropriate.

Andrew Fielding is highly creative. In addition to illustration he has also worked on character creation, scriptwriting and animation for a UK TV station. He studied at BBC Scotland CBeebies & Scottish Book Trust Lab in 2010.

Book Cover of the Month: February

You can’t go wrong with an Andy Warhol type of painting on a book cover. Warhol is one of my favorite pop artists and I was attracted to the book because of the cover. Warhol was part of the storyline so it's a great match for the cover. I couldn't find any information about the cover designer so I sent a message to author Susan Bacon. She replied:

"The jacket design is by Taylor Martin. He lives in Austin, Texas and heads up a design firm called Design Positive. He brought an illustrator on board named Alejandro Mila. I love the way it turned out. We wanted it to be compatible with the first book in the series, which Taylor also designed . . ."

Martin does not specialize in just designing book covers. His company creates logos, websites and advertising for private business organizations. 

Book Cover of the Month: January

I love this book cover with its beautiful wintery scene. It was published by Crooked Lane Books and I tried to determine the identity of the book cover designer. The publisher has a cover designer on staff, Meghan Deist. However, I cannot be sure that she designed this book cover. There is currently a job advertisement for remote, freelance cover designers. Deist is also a Letterer for the publisher so I am sure that she had some input into the final design.

Deist has worked as an artist, graphic designer and book cover designer for several other publishers. She has degrees in cultural anthropology and visual arts.

Book Cover of the Month

Ellie Game, deputy art director at Harper Collins Publishers, designed the cover for Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang. The cover features two eyes staring out from a bold yellow background. She was assisted by a team of four created around 75 designs for the cover. The cover was visually striking and helped make the book a success.

Game stated in an online interview that “People want things that feel nice and are worth spending their money on. They want something that is going to sit on their shelf and be a really nice object beyond just being a good book.”  I must agree with her. The cover is what made me buy the book and it does look nice on my bookshelf. I am always asked what the book is about when friends visit me at home. It's just  a stunning cover that makes me happy.

Book Cover of the Month: September

I love this cover. It reminds me of the works of the famous surrealist Salvador Dali. The author, Beth Hetland, illustrated the graphic novel as well as the cover. This is her first release from a major publisher, Fantagraphics.

Hetland is a Professor at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she teaches several comics and comics adjacent courses. She holds an MFA (2011) from The Center for Cartoon Studies and BFA (2009) from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has exhibited at comics fests all over the country, and received several awards for both teaching and comics.

The illustrations were drawn digitally using Procreate on an iPad and with the Apple Pencil. Hetland learned how to draw digitally from her students. She saw them all using an iPad in class and asked a lot of questions on technique. Previously, her illustrations were done with pen and pencil.

Book Cover of the Month: August

This book cover is so gorgeous that it absolutely must be my best book cover for August. A History of Japan in Manga is exactly what the title says. We get a history written in comic book format. Comics are a fantastic way to learn about history and actually retain the information. The book has line drawings colored in a cool tone of pink, which is my favorite color. It tells the story of Japan from its beginnings to the present day. 

The author, Shunichiro Kanaya, both wrote and illustrated this book as well as the cover. He is a lecturer in the Department of Japanese History at Toshin High School in Musashino, Japan. He is the author of several books on Japanese history and has appeared as a history commentator on NTV, Fuji TV and TV Tokyo. He is a busy man but I hope that he has the time to write more comics.

Book cover of the Month: July

Forget Me Never by Susan Wittig Albert is my best book cover for this month. It has one of my favorite color combinations, blue and yellow. In this 29th installment of the China Bayles series, the author has focused on the coffee bean because it helps with memory and the title is about not forgetting. In 2019 the author started self-publishing under her own imprint, Persevero Press. She subcontracts out the cover art design and I have been unable to determine who the designer is. 

An attractive book cover determines whether your book sells. The average consumer spends just eight seconds looking at the front cover and no more than fifteen seconds looking at the back. The average national buyer takes even less time than that to make a decision about the number of copies he or she will buy. Good covers don’t guarantee big sales, but bad covers can kill projects. I am always immediately attracted to any book cover with bright covers. Since I love this author I was going to buy the book regardless of the cover. If I was not familiar with her, I would have picked up the book at my local bookseller and taken a closer look at it.

Book Cover of the Month: May

My favorite book cover for May comes from A Nest of Vipers by Harini Nagendra.  Molly Von Borstel created the cover. She is the Art Director for Faceout Studios in Oregon. This book cover has several elements that I adore. There is a sari and an interior  gateway painted in an orange red color. It is heavily decorated with narrative reliefs of deities and plants. The placement of two snakes on the sides is appropriate for the storyline as well as the title.

Von Borstel graduated with a BFA in graphic gesign and joined Faceout in 2019. She loves the visual storytelling aspect of her job and has won several awards. Last year she was recognized in Print Magazine's Top 50 Covers and received the Best in Show Award from Publishing Professionals Network Book Show.