Designing “The Peasant Queen”

Ever since I discovered that one of my favorite authors, Roseanna M. White, did freelance cover design, I knew I wanted her to design my book cover someday.

I am so thrilled that I was able to achieve that dream of working with Roseanna (I’m still pinching myself!), and even more thrilled that I finally have a real-deal book cover to share with all of you! Since writing the first draft of this book over six years ago, I have played around with my own designs a number of times. It was fun to imagine what my future book might look like one day, and after so long of doing that, it’s hard to believe that I don’t have to imagine anymore. Arabella and Rowan’s story has an official cover at last!

Now for the process of designing the cover with Roseanna:

About two months ago, I emailed her to ask a couple questions about how the process would work, and by mid-July, I let her know that I was ready to proceed. She sent over a cover questionnaire for me to fill out, asking me what the book was about, what my main character looked like, what colors and styles I liked, etc.

After thinking about it for so many years, I had a pretty clear vision of what I wanted. I knew I wanted a full body shot of my heroine and that her body-language needed to convey a sense of uncertainty or contemplation. I also knew that I wanted either a walkway with columns or a row of arched windows as the background. A number of very important scenes happen in two different places with these particular architectural features. 

When Roseanna sent me the first draft of the design, my heart stopped for a moment. Already, she had exceeded my expectations and I was so pleased with the direction she was going with the overall design. She had found the perfect photo to depict the columned walkway (which, of the two locations I described, is the most important to the story). She struck the jackpot with this photo because it already included the beautiful model who had the perfect pose and was already wearing a long, billowing cloak. The rest of her clothing, however, didn’t suit the era, so Roseanna found a medieval gown to put her in. It was also important to me that my heroine either be wearing or holding a crown, so Roseanna added one to her head. The color scheme for everything is of course, red and gold–the royal colors of Acuniel.

The first draft is striking on its own, but there were still a few things to be tweaked. The font Roseanna chose for the title treatment is called Esther (how fitting is that?), and I love it. However, it’s pretty simple, and with the “royal” nature of the story, I felt there needed to be a little bit more drama and elegance in the title. Luckily, Roseanna said in her email with the first draft that she could sub out the capital P & Q for something more ornate if I wanted. 

Just a few minutes later, after subbing out the capitals and adding my middle initial to my name, Roseanna sent me the new draft. She had to remove the fancy little swirl design behind the title, which I had liked, but I think the trade was well worth it. The ornate capital letters took the design to another level!

Now, the only other things I wanted to tweak were the lighter sections of fabric at her neckline and under her left sleeve. At first, I thought those sections were messed up in the process of photoshopping the dress onto the model and that they just needing to be smoothed out still. Turns out the dress actually has a two-toned fabric design, so the lighter sections on the neckline and sleeve were just a pink fabric. Once Roseanna pointed that out, I could totally see it, but I went ahead and had her darken those sections to match the rest of her gown. I think this made the gown design look a lot cleaner, though I did have her keep the section of lighter fabric coming through the slash in her skirt. I liked the added pop of color.

Roseanna also added lace trim to the model’s other arm peeking out from behind the cape, and added the book’s subtitle “An Esther Retelling”.  

Later that evening, while staring at the cover (because I’ve been staring at it pretty much constantly), I noticed something white peeking out from behind one of the columns to the left of the photo. I’m guessing maybe it’s a sign that was on or behind the column when the picture was taken. I’m glad I spotted it, because once I did, I couldn’t unsee it; and if I had caught that after the book was published, it would have bothered me forever. LOL! Thankfully, Roseanna was easily able to edit that out, as well as fix where the hem of her dress didn’t quite reach the floor on one side. 

And there you have it–the final front cover of The Peasant Queen! Isn’t it lovely?

I really couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. I trusted Roseanna to do a wonderful job, but I couldn’t help but have a tiny bit of fear in the back of mind. After so long of dreaming about what my first book cover would look like, what if it didn’t live up to my expectations? I even said a prayer about it the night I sent Roseanna the cover questionnaire. God knew the desire of my heart, and Roseanna understood my vision for the design, resulting in a cover even better than anything I ever dreamed. 

What about you? Are you as in love with the cover of The Peasant Queen as I am? I’d love to know your thoughts on it and what things about it you like the most. I love the model–AKA, the official face of my heroine, Arabella!–and the elegance of her flowing gown and cape. However, without a doubt, my favorite thing is how the light is filtering in from the side, with the dust motes in the air and the light glinting off Arabella’s crown! Ahhhh! It’s so pretty!

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! Once I finish my last round of edits (which I am working on now), I will know the final page count and Roseanna can design the book’s spine and the back cover! Sometimes these parts of a book can be just as gorgeous as the front, so I am excited to see what Roseanna comes up with. Stay tuned!