My first book is a non-fiction novel about my son’s premature birth. Although I’m not bad at desktop publishing, I’m neither an artist nor a digital designer. I don’t want my book cover to end up on Lousy Book Covers. Therefore, I hired the talented Desiree Kern at Grey Scale Studios to create it.

She might create art for the cover or she might do a snazzy digital layout with the photographs I sent to her.

I considered using some of my son’s more graphic preemie photos to grab a potential reader’s interest: “Oh my! What happened to that baby?”

Then I came across a conversation in a Facebook premature parent support group that made me think that those harsh pictures might not be the best marketing tools. Some people find images of premature infants disgusting.  Others had PTSD triggers from looking at the barely viable babies. It caused a big disruption in the group. Lines were drawn in the sand and participants left.

You can’t judge a book by it’s cover, but in our tendency towards visual stimulation, you can’t sell one without a good cover either.

What makes a good cover – especially for a book like Growing A Rainbow?

Book covers should:

1. Be Straightforward

I have a complicated title, so my images and font shouldn’t be.

2. Let the reader know what kind of story lies inside

On my cover, I want a sense of hope with the understanding that a difficult path lies ahead for a very small person.

3. Be visually appealing

Ever hear of the Golden Ratio? It works great for visuals as well as well naturally occurring seashells and body proportions.

4. Use simple but dramatic colours

Contrast is key: any medieval herald will tell you, it’s harder to see blue on black than blue on white.

I opted on the side of caution and submitted cuter pictures to the artist. They all have a tube shoved in his nose, the machine that kept him alive for 8 weeks by breathing for him.

Each day I’m waiting for that new email, “Cover is ready!”. I’m getting twitchy!