Behind the Book: Beautiful Back Cover of Seasons

A creative project like a book is one of my most favorite things to work on. And I am involved in all aspects. Of course, styling and taking the photos and writing it, but I am also involved in layout, cover selection and marketing it after we get it all wrapped up. And when it comes to the cover, the process goes a bit like this: several of us suggest a few options that we feel might make a good cover. Not just about the beauty or the magic a photo has, it has be compelling for a shopper to purchase. Coffee table books have to do that even more so, the covers will be displayed and so, they need some extra oomph. After sorting through a dozen different cover tries, we settled on the dining table with peonies and ironstone and cozy candle glow. And then it was onto the back cover. 

The Back Cover

I favored the fireplace photo that landed on the back cover as a front cover too, so of course, it was front and center as one of my choices. This styling was one of my favorites from the book- the fireplace covered in foliage that went from autumn to Christmas with a few changes and the warm glow from the fireplace. While I took dozens of different versions of this photo- the ones that talked to me the most had the most delightful little addition in them. Sweet little Curly our house rooster. 

Curly Bird

Sweet little Curly, our tiny little frizzled silkie rooster, would run out of the coop every morning and run right to the back door to come inside. He would eat and crow and sit with me and was often in the house all day long in winter when it was rainy outside. While I worked on the computer or took photos, he was right there keeping me company. And when taking this photo, he kept wandering into the camera view to warm up by the fire. Of course, I snapped away to capture the sweetness that happened as he stood there, it was such a charming moment. I soaked up all the magic he created being in overall scene – and he made the photo. This one quickly became a favorite for me. 

There were some folks at my publisher who were not so sure. They didn’t know ‘what’ Curly was since he didn’t look like a usual chicken. He is very tiny and frizzled and we called him curly because he had a wooly type of curl to his feathers which is far more ‘curly’ than regular frizzled chickens. After going back and forth on other possibilities, ultimately, the folks at my publisher agreed that he brought something special to the view and we agreed on it as the back cover

.When we were working on choosing the cover, Curly had passed away unfortunately. I love all of my chickens and they are pets to me and each time something happens to one of them, it is so sad. Being that Curly was in the house all the time, he was just like a dog or cat and it was really hard when he passed. I miss his sweet little face every day and Curly being included in a prominent spot on my book, makes the cover even more special.

You can see more snaps of Curly and our other chickens in the pages of Seasons and my other books too. 

PreOrder SEASONS

You can PREORDER your copy of FRENCH COUNTRY COTTAGE SEASONS here Most people don’t understand how important preorders are for the success of a book and I absolutely appreciate each one! As a token of thanks, after getting your order in, don’t forget to register for your Free Thank You gifts- a signed bookplate and access to my Ebook about Christmas decorating. You can register for those gifts HERE

What do you think of the back cover of the book?

Happy Monday friends.