Did you notice on my Thursday post I had my thumb over part of the credits next to my new logo? I couldn’t reveal too much at once (!) and my thumb hid…
My cover artist is Craig Shields.
Craig is the artist behind the stunning covers of Claudia Gray’s Firebird series: A Thousand Pieces of You and Ten Thousand Skies Above You. I love his vibrant use of color, particularly in this second:
No surprise it’s sitting in the #1 spot on the Goodreads list Most Beautiful YA Covers of 2015!
Craig has created the cover artwork for 30+ covers, and will soon be featuring his book cover art in the link on my cover. His book page isn’t live yet, but you can view his advertising, magazine and personal illustrations in his portfolio at www.craigshields.co.uk.
When I contacted Craig, he was excited to work on a steampunk cover, and I was excited to work with such a talented artist to express my story. Though The Unraveling is geared to a new adult audience, it doesn’t fit what readers currently expect from the genre–contemporary set, steamy college stories. I wasn’t even going to try to copy those covers with a story set in Victorian England, heavy on fantasy, with steampunk and romance competing for a reader’s attention, plus a few shapeshifters thrown in for fun. My story is firmly in the category NA Alley calls speculative new adult.
So I went the opposite direction of most NA covers and looked at fantasy covers. I looked at a lot of covers. I saved them on Pinterest (See my board!) and then looked at my friends’ collections of book covers. And in those covers I found my cover artist. 🙂
What was I looking for in a cover for The Unraveling? Color. A magical feeling. And steampunk…
I love what Craig came up with for my story and can’t wait to share it with you…in two days!
He sure does have talent!