Cover reveal for Venom and Blaze!

I’m so excited to reveal the cover for Venom and Blaze!

Created by the amazing Ashley of Redbird Designs, this cover absolutely exceeded my expectations. I love the simple, striking design and the opulent gold colours.

And, of course, no book cover for Venom and Blaze could be complete without a few spiders here and there. Ashley cleverly came up with the idea of having a spider in the letter O, which I think adds a lovely touch.

For any independent authors or self-publishing authors, I can absolutely recommend working with Ashley. She created an amazing profile that required minimal tweaks and simply blew me away.

My advice for authors briefing cover designers

Take the time to put together the details

Your designer won’t have read your book, so they can only work with what you give them. That means you need to get down to the granular details, including what colour eyes your characters have.

What sort of details do you need to give your cover artist? These might include (but probably aren’t limited to):

• the name of your book
• your pen name, if you have one
• back cover blurb and any taglines, if you have one
• the time period your book is written in
• the genre
• a detailed description of your main characters
• any design aspects you do or do not want included
• any visual inspiration – for example, other covers you really love
• any input on fonts.

I also included a full, hundred word synopsis with spoilers so Ashley could really get a feel for what was going on in the book.

Be respectful

Your designer is also a creative – and we all know how it feels when someone disparages work we’ve put our heart and soul into. If you need them to make amends, be sure to ask for them politely and clearly. Be as specific as possible.

I couldn’t be happier with how the cover turned out – and I really can’t wait to see what magic Ashley comes up with for Fable and Legend, the second book in the series!

What stage are we at with Venom and Blaze?

I am still waiting for the proof print copy to reach me. As my publisher is in the United States, this is taking a wee while. Once I receive it, I’ll go through it one more time with a fine-tooth comb to check for any errors. I’ll then sign off the errata form, either confirming all is okay or requesting any final tweaks. After that, I’ll be able to confirm the release date and then the countdown begins!