Behind-the-Scenes of Pandemic's Book Cover Design

IWSG Blog Hop

Every month, the Insecure Writers Support Group hosts a blog hop with an optional question. Special thanks to Alex Cavanaugh and to this month’s co-hosts, Jacqui Murray, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Pat Garcia, and Gwen Gardner.

Question of the month:

If you're an Indie author, do you make your own covers or purchase them? If you publish traditionally, how much input do you have about what goes on your cover?
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​Pandemic and Black Flowers, White Lies were traditionally published by Sky Pony Press. I’ll use Pandemic's cover as an example of the process. First, my editor asked me to come up with a mood board of images, along with a mood board of covers. Here are the covers I chose:
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​The covers on my board show the main characters in shadow or not at all (a personal preference). As a result, Pandemic’s main character, Lil, doesn’t appear on the cover, either.
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We agreed early on that the cover should be blue, since the deadly fictional disease in the book is called the Blue Flu. Because there is a backstory element relating to sexual assault, a teal shade was chosen, which is a nod to the teal ribbon for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
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The cover designer, Brian Peterson, selected the bird image, which tied to the bird flu. If you look closely, the main bird is comprised of many smaller ones, with some of them separating, as if the bird is coming apart. This image is an excellent representation of the main character, Lil, as she struggles to hold herself together during a difficult time.
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Close-up of Pandemic bird image

Original Pandemic paperback cover. (The hardcover didn't include the subsequent Crystal Kite Award.)

The post-COVID edition of the Pandemic paperback includes the words "A Novel" to distinguish it from non-fiction.

When I first received the cover, I was curious about the line breaks in the title. The designer explained that by breaking the title word (Pandemic) into syllables (Pan-dem-ic), it created an unsettled feeling that mirrors Lil’s journey.

Overall, I love Pandemic's cover, since it's both eye-catching and reflects the story. What do you think? Do you judge books by their cover?

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Thanks for reading my blog post about Pandemic's book cover! For the next post, I'm back to the topic of productivity: specifically, why you shouldn't wait for writing inspiration. Consider subscribing (the form is on the top right) so you'll automatically receive the latest productivity info.