Like many writers, I’ve had my share of disappointments along the road to becoming a pubbed author. In my case, I gritted my teeth and kept going through 6 years, 4 novels, numerous “revise and resubmit” requests, and 63 outright rejections before my debut novel—a dark Tudor romance called THE DEVIL’S MISTRESS—was accepted by Samhain.
I might have entertained the notion (very briefly!) that the lion’s share of my work on THE DEVIL’S MISTRESS was done at that point, but reality quickly disabused me of that foolish fancy. In addition to several rounds of revisions—some of them substantial—and the development and implementation of a marketing plan to boost my sales, I became very focused on ensuring that the cover for this precious darling…my first pubbed novel…was exactly the way I wanted it. In part, the perfect cover was sort of a reward to myself after six years of striving to make that first sale. In part, I suppose, I’m used to being in charge of the things that matter to me—both in my other field, and life in general. And most of us have heard horror stories from other authors whose stories were undeservedly saddled with The Cover From Hell.
Anyway, in order to maximize my authorial input and creative control over the cover, I requested and won Samhain’s generous agreement to let me shoot my own book cover.
Right away, I knew what I wanted: a dark and sexy cover that captured both the tone of my story and the Tudor setting, as well as precisely the right hero/heroine. First I found the models, with substantial help from a friend and colleague at The View Talent Agency (www.theviewtalent.com). My heroine, Allegra Grimaldi, is a reluctant lady assassin who’s blackmailed to poison Anne Boleyn. Italian model Jamie Thomas, with her dark and sultry beauty, was perfect for the role. My hero, Sir Joscelin Boleyn, is Anne’s honorable bastard brother—a French knight who’s sworn to protect his sister. Model Shane Rice, who somehow managed to convey in our meeting both sex appeal and a profound sense of kindness and decency, made the perfect Joscelin. Because I’d found these models through a personal contact at the talent agency, I was able to hire them at a substantially discounted rate.
Next, it was time to find the perfect photographer and producer (the guy who organized the entire shoot and brought the moving pieces together). This proved to be one of the shoot’s greatest challenges. Some false starts and delays (as in, about three months’ delay from when I’d first hoped to shoot the cover!) were stressful hurdles for me—the quintessential Type A personality—to weather. If we missed the publisher’s firm deadline for submitting the cover, my book release could have been delayed. Finally, I found the perfect match in Frank Swoboda and Lori Decicio at Corner Booth Productions (www.cornerboothmedia.com/about/Default.aspx). In turn, they hooked me up with the perfect photographer, rising star Kristen Black. Together with my spectacular agent, J.D. DeWitt—who had just sold my second novel, and was a constant source of good contacts and creative input throughout the process—we discussed the look and feel I wanted for the cover.
Thanks to personal contacts, I was able to line up hair and makeup artists from Paul Mitchell at a discounted rate. The artists did a “dry run” with my models, and with my input, to clarify the look we wanted to achieve. The Tudor costumes I hand-selected, with help from the models and producer, from the costume shop at the Spokane Civic Theatre. Here, too, we hit a snag.
Although we found the perfect, lustrous, burgundy-and-gold Tudor gown for my Allegra, and absolutely the perfect russet-and-saffron doublet for my hero, there was nary a pair of breeches or trunk hose in the shop that fit over Sir Joscelin’s manly hips. We finally found a sort of pirate’s voluminous cropped black pants, which tucked into faux black boots, proved to be non-distracting. Just to be sure, we positioned Joscelin behind Allegra, and confirmed that between her sweeping skirts and the right camera angles, the pirate pants were not an issue. Props—costume jewelry, a medieval silver goblet, and hand-tooled Venetian masks—came from my own collection of eccentric oddities. The producer also identified a Gothic cathedral in Washington as the perfect location, then campaigned for and won the church’s permission for us to shoot there. (I can’t be certain whether the donation I made to the church helped our cause.) ?
Finally, it was time to shoot! The last Saturday in February dawned crisp, clear but cold. Our five-hour shoot took place outside on the cathedral steps…and it was freezing, with gale-force winds! Allegra had goosebumps and needed to retreat several times to the heated interior of her car. I hid shivering in my own car a few times too! Fueled by lots of hot coffee, Joscelin toughed it out, along with producer Frank and photographer Kristen, although the hurricane winds required various adjustments for the shoot.
At last, we had our shots, and closed with a spontaneous round of applause for this monumental effort. Kristen sent me “the best of the best” 25 shots, from which I selected two for promotional purposes and one—THE one—for the cover. I bought the rights for the ones I wanted. Then art director Scott Carpenter at Samhain ok’ed the cover, added the title and author in snazzy gold script, and we were ready to go!
Arranging my own cover shoot was the experience of a lifetime—glitzy, challenging, adventurous, and fun. The entire process from start to finish took between 3-4 months, including three weekends spent “on location” three hours from my vineyard home as we arranged and shot the cover. The shoot expenses and hourly rate for the various professionals involved were also not trivial. With all expenses included, I ultimately paid in the mid-four figure range. As a result, I ended up with the PERFECT book cover, and not a single tiny detail I would want to change. As a bonus, I now had excellent material for promotional postcards and bookmarks, as well as fodder for my new website at www.LauraNavarre.com. However, when the time came to think about covers for my second novel, I was quite content to let the publisher do the honors!
If you’re interested in seeing how my cover turned out for THE DEVIL’S MISTRESS, you can check it out here, along with excerpts from the novel, at http://www.lauranavarre.com/book/devils-mistress . If you’re interested in winning a free copy of DEVIL’S MISTRESS or a framed and autographed MISTRESS poster, Over the Edge Book Reviews is running a contest through May 23. Here’s the link: http://www.overtheedgebkreviews.com/2010/05/giveaway-interview-with-samhain.html
If you’d like an autographed postcard, please drop me a line at LauraNavarreAuthor@yahoo.com. I also enjoy hearing from readers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LauraNavarreAuthor , and you can follow me on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/LauraNavarre. My book is out June 1, and I’d love to hear feedback from any of you on that hard-earned cover!
I am CELEBRATING all this month Samhain’s release of my dark Tudor romance, The Devil’s Mistress. It’s my first print release, dark and sexy, the story of a reluctant lady assassin who’s blackmailed to poison Anne Boleyn. To reward myself for finishing my magnum opus, even though writing about such a dark heroine sometimes made me nervous alone in the house at night, I’m buying myself a bundle of new books. Which is the best possible reward for myself…aside from flying to Bali, and that REALLY expensive bottle of wine I consumed…that I can imagine. The very thought of all those new books gives me a sensual shiver. :D 
