Under the Covers

Today I want to talk about book covers, mainly mine. And mainly the cover of The Windsor Affair.

Lots of people think that authors have a lot to say about their book covers, but the reality is very few authors get cover approval in their contracts. I’ve never had a problem with that, personally. I’m not an artist, I’m not paid to know what kinds of covers sell better than others. There are professionals employed by my publisher to do that.

Basically, with all my books, I’ve been asked if I have any specific ideas or thoughts, but that’s about it. And most of the time, to be honest, I don’t. Like I said – I write. Other people are gifted in the visual arts. So generally, my editor has meetings with the art department and eventually I’m presented with a few ideas, and I am asked my input. And that input has mostly been respected and valued. I’ve been lucky in that way.

For instance, we had to re-do the cover of The Aviator’s Wife before it was published because the national buyer for B&N at the time didn’t like the original. Back then, that national buyer had an enormous influence over everything to do with publishing; she could say “If that’s the cover I’ll only order X amount of books” and publishers would scramble to change the cover to please her. Now that there’s no national buyer for B&N, that doesn’t happen. So they did go back to the drawing board and presented me with three different covers and I chose the one that we used on the book.

They didn’t have to do that; if lots more people inhouse had liked another cover, that would have been the one they went with. But in this case my opinion did seem to make a difference.

And with The Swans of Fifth Avenue, I was presented with the same cover you know, but in a different color, kind of a Tiffany Blue but it was more cool than that. But I didn’t respond to that color and asked them to mock it up in others – I can’t remember if I suggested the red or not – but when they showed it to me in red I immediately said, “That’s the one!” And so it was.

Of course if you write as many books as I do, you have some favorites among your various covers. Those two I’ve mentioned are right up there. And I think the paperback cover of Alice I Have Been is genius.

When it came time to talk covers for The Windsor Affair, once again I was asked if I had any thoughts. And this time, I did.

During my research for this book, I learned a lot about Cecil Beaton. He’s primarily known as a legendary photographer of the rich, famous and fashionable. In fact he photographed both Wallis Simpson and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon many times through the decades.

Cecil Beaton photograph of Queen Elizabeth, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, right after the Abdication

Cecil Beaton photograph of Wallis Simpson in her infamous Schiaparelli “lobster dress,” which is mentioned in my novel

I’ll go into a deeper dive about his relationship with these two through photography in another post, because it’s so fascinating that he’s basically one of maybe four people who remained friends with them both, post-Abdication.

As I was researching, I became completely obsessed with his drawings. I knew him as a photographer and costume designer (most famous for the costumes of both the stage and film versions of My Fair Lady). But I didn’t know his drawings. And they are GORGEOUS.

Just a couple of examples…there are so many!

I shared my obsession with his drawings with my editor and agent, as ideas for the cover, or maybe the mood and feel I thought would work. He did do drawings of each woman –

He was not afraid to flatter Elizabeth in his portraits of her!

But we all felt that there wasn’t a good way to use them on the cover without it feeling disjointed. So I started thinking of the mood that went best with the book, and I found this particular drawing, because to me it looks like these two women are 1) frenemies at the very least and 2) gossiping, and suggested it. That was the one and only cover art presented to me, then; this drawing, but with many different iterations of font and color for the type that we debated about until landing on this:

I was nervous at first, to be honest. Never has an image I suggested been used for one of my covers, and while it’s flattering that it was, I didn’t want to be responsible if this book failed because of the cover! That’s a lot of responsibility! So I was a little panicked that I wasn’t shown other ideas too. But my wonderful editor assured me everyone inhouse immediately loved this image and was very enthusiastic about it, and so I calmed down.

My editor just returned from a trip to London and while she was there, she got to see a big Cecil Beaton exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery (it wasn’t there when I visited in August). And she bought me this tea towel of another one of his sketches and it’s so beautiful! If I had all the money in the world I would buy one of his original drawings but alas, I do not. But I have a tea towel!

This isn’t the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, although at first I thought it was!

And a book cover, which I love. I hope everyone else does too, when the book comes out in June!

See you under the covers –

Melanie