My cover designer got back to me with files of my book cover art. My first reaction: “Oooh. Nice.” The rendition is fairly close to what I was envisioning… but not quite. There are a few details that skew a little off-concept. There was too much of one color and not enough of another. The character appeared too “old” for a young adult novel. Otherwise, the pose was exactly what I pictured and I can live with the clothing.

I requested alterations and anticipate a bit of back-and-forth before I’m satisfied. This is a common occurrence for authors who commission their own cover design. You can provide a detailed description of how you want the cover to look–even include examples of covers you like and a picture of your main character–but the artist still can’t read your mind. They can’t see what you see and most likely haven’t even read any part of your book. I wasn’t expecting the artist to get it right on the first try, and that’s okay. I have full confidence they’ll deliver something that captures the essence of Wyldling Snare.

Hopefully in a week or so I’ll have an awesome cover to reveal!