Book after Book

Hi Anneka ! Thank you for joining me today. I have recently read In Search Of Us by Ava Dellaira - whose beautiful cover you designed - and I have a few questions about this cover in particular and book cover design more in general. How did you get started in this field? A: I studied Graphic Design at university and Hallmark cards approached me after seeing my work at my final show. I went for an interview and took a job designing greeting cards and packaging. After a year I wanted to move to London and work in a similar field, as I loved my job! I took a job at   Hodder and Stoughton designing book covers. The jobs are both very similar in terms of creativity, working with print and finishes. I worked at a few other publishing houses, gaining experience, and eventually went freelance. Now I take on adult fiction, non-fiction and children’s cover design, along with other non publishing jobs.  Can you describe the process of designing this cover?  A: The pro...

Hi Cherie! Thank you for joining me today. I am the proud owner of the first two books in the Phobos trilogy, which you designed the covers for, and they look stunning on my shelves! But let’s begin…  How did you get started in this field? A: No worries, Silvia, and thank you for loving the covers! I always knew I wanted to do something creative but never what to specialise in. I went to University and did a Graphic Design course. In my first year it allowed me to try a mixture of Graphic Design, Animation, Photography, Publishing and Illustration and I ended up specialising in Graphic Design. It wasn’t until after I graduated and did a few work placements within the designing industries, that I knew for sure I wanted to get into publishing, especially fiction book cover design. I landed my first job at Hodder and Stoughton as a junior, then I went on to be a designer at HarperCollins, then finally at Bonnier Zaffre. I’ve now been a freelance designer for the last four months...

It’s been a week since Tom-All-Alone’s was published and I’ve just started what will be quite a few months of library talks and signings and book festivals. I did the same thing in 2010, when Murder at Mansfield Park came out, and I love doing it – it’s a delight to talk to readers, and there’s always at least one question that takes you completely by surprise (this week it was ‘What typeface is your book printed in?’). Likewise there’s one particular question I almost always get asked in one form or another, and that’s the one about the cover design. People are fascinated about the process of choosing a jacket, and how much influence an author has in the look of their book. The first thing to say at this point is that unless you’re a very famous – and therefore a very powerful – writer you get very little actual say in your covers. The standard publishing contract requires your publisher to consult with you about the proposed design, but there’s nothing to compel them to take your t...