Friday, February 22, 2019

How a Historical Romance Cover Should be Created: A Distance Too Grand Cover Reveal


Very few of us pick up a book without first looking at the cover. Indeed, covers can draw you to a book you wouldn’t have considered otherwise. I have been blessed with some lovely covers over the years. (We won’t speak of the unlovely covers—they tend to get jealous.) But I have never, in working with six different publishers, been treated to a more amazing process than that for the cover of my October 2019 release from Revell, A Distance Too Grand.

Grand is set on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in 1871 and features a photographer heroine who wrangles her way onto an Army survey team only to discover the man leading the team is the one she thought she had left behind. As is often the case with publishers, I was asked what I thought would make a good cover and provided details on what my heroine and hero looked like, what they wear in the book, and the setting. I expected that to be that. What has generally happened in the past with other publishers is that I would get a nearly finished product at some point and beg to have any inconsistencies fixed. Sometimes timing demanded that those inconsistencies remained to publication. It is what it is.

Not this time.

I first received an e-mail from the Art Director introducing herself and explaining the process. A short while later I received another e-mail from this wonderful person who I intend to hug if I ever meet her in person. She sent a picture of an antique camera.

“Will this do for Meg?” she asked. “Answer quickly, if you can. We want to buy it, and the auction ends today.”

“Yes, yes,” I enthused. “Perfect.”

They bought an antique camera.

Friends, this doesn’t happen. If a publisher wants a suitable looking camera for a cover, someone will find some sort of clipart that sorta, kinda resembles a camera from the 1800s and force-fit it into the composition. Not this time.

The next e-mail provided pictures of a model they hoped to use for Meg. She too was perfect. I was thrilled.

The next e-mail apologized that they could not find a navy riding habit that exactly matched the picture I had sent. Would this dress do instead? I found myself looking at an antique dress from the time period, with a narrow skirt and a bustle. They were going to rent an authentic outfit from the 1870s. Sadly, Meg could not have worn it on horseback on the survey. I made some suggestions about fudging—using a modern riding habit jacket and painting on the right buttons, using a modern A-line skirt.

“Thanks,” she said. “We’ll keep looking.”

The next e-mail offered two cream-colored riding habits of perfect dimensions, also museum pieces that would be borrowed for the photo shoot.

The actual photo shoot.

I agreed the one the Art Director liked was—yes, you guessed it—perfect and waited breathlessly.

And here is the result.


To say I am delighted is the understatement of the year. This is one of the most beautiful covers I’ve ever had, and the most historically accurate. I feel blessed.

I hope you’ll look for A Distance Too Grand in October. If you just can’t wait, it is available for preorder in print now (I expect e-book to come) from Amazon

Isn’t it Grand?

17 comments:

Paula Shreckhise said...

The cover is absolutely wonderful! You are truly blessed! Thanks for sharing.

Carrie Turansky said...

Great job on the cover! Very inviting!

Regina Scott said...

Thank you, Paula! I definitely feel blessed.

Regina Scott said...

Thank you, Amanda! I so appreciate you spreading the word! It's going to be hard to wait until October.

Regina Scott said...

Thank you, Carrie! I did a little shiver when I saw your name and picture. Your books are amazing!

Tracey Hagwood said...

This cover is gorgeous! I saw Amanda's post on Avid Readers on FB and followed the link to read more about it. I'm doing the Avid group 2019 reading challenge and one of the challenges is "a book chosen strictly for it's cover appeal". This is perfect, although after reading the summary, I love the plot too. I have added it to my buy list for Oct!

Regina Scott said...

Welcome to Nineteen Teen, Tracey! Glad you found us. I am honored to be included on your reading list. That reading challenge sounds like fun.

Sonja said...

This is beautiful!

Regina Scott said...

Thank you, Sonja!

QNPoohBear said...

That is amazing attention to detail! I wish some other publishers would put that much thought into their covers. Sometimes I wonder whether the cover artist knew anything about the book! Congratulations on hitting the jackpot with Revell.

Regina Scott said...

Thank you, QNPoohBear! I agree--I've never seen anything like this kind of approach!

Karen said...

I wish all publishers gave this much thought and attention to detail on their covers! Yours turned out gorgeously!

Regina Scott said...

Thank you, Karen! I feel very blessed.

Lynn Lovegreen said...

Beautiful! I'm glad your publisher and director took such care throughout the process!

Regina Scott said...

Thanks, Lynn! They are certainly spoiling me for any other publisher!

Anonymous said...

I'm swooning, it's so beautiful!

Regina Scott said...

Thank you!