Cover Design for Santa Omnibus

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When you go to college, you go to get a degree, to pursue your dreams, to get a serious job when you graduate. I did all of these things. And then some days I have the non-serious job.

I was stoked to design the complete series omnibus for Ben Wolf’s insane Santa Saves Christmas series. It was a bit of a challenge, largely because I had to combine elements from all three books into a single design to Ben’s specifications He wanted puffins flying everywhere, and they all needed to be viciously branding weapons of mass destruction.

Can I do that? Sure, thing.

Santa Saves Christmas Omnibus POD UPLOAD

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Cover Design and Behind the Scenes for Queen of the Rockies Series

JennethBook Covers, Design1 Comment

This was out of my usual comfort zone, because I don’t think I’ve ever designed a romance book, let alone a historical romance book, but it was a fun opportunity nonetheless.

Angela already had books 1-4 designed, so I had the extra challenge to mimic her typography and style, while also finding stock images that represented her story well.

For Bride of the Rockies, I had to rebuild the World Fair in the background. I relied heavily on public domain historical images for the skyline, and more adjustment layers than I even want to think about.

For Flame of the Rockies, I was actually able to use some old drafts from an entirely different cover, so the background went much faster. I was able to essentially drop it in place and put my focus on the model and lighting. I guess this is why I hoard old Photoshop files. You never know if you’re going to be able to make something out of them.

Bride of the Rockies Standard Size KDP FrontFlame of the Rockies Paperback KDP Front

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Book Design for “Efflorescence”

JennethBook Covers, Design, Layout Design1 Comment

I had the opportunity to design the cover and interiors for another professional writing student at my alma mater. Since designing your own book isn’t a requirement for this class, students often enlist the help of their art major friends. In my case, I offer to do the full cover and interiors at a discounted price for PCC students.

This was Lilly Hakel’s senior portfolio design, which I loved creating. One of her central stories featured in her portfolio dealt with a child trying to grow sunflowers in his bottom dresser drawer. Since I absolutely loved the imagery and how it tied into her themes of hope sprinkled through her pieces, I suggested creating the scene for the cover.

Efflorescence Cover Blog

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Book Design for “After the Fire”

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At my alma mater, seniors studying Professional Writing must compile their best writing samples—including fiction, poetry, advertisements, and essays—and publish them in a physical portfolio at the end of the semester. Most PW majors enlist friends or hire out the design work so they can better focus on editing their pieces, and I’ve enjoyed doing a number of portfolios for the last few years.

This was Emily Thompson’s final portfolio design. She wanted an artistic flair to the cover similar to my PCC Survival Guide book. Many of her portfolio pieces demonstrated themes of hope and revival from difficult or trying times in life, and she wanted to correlate that theme with the fireweed blossoms that grow up after devastating forest fires.

For this reason, I decided to play with color clashing with monochromatic greys. I deliberately chose to make the edges of the book charred and ashy looking, but as the blossoms come into the foreground, I wanted them to become bright and colorful.After the Fire, Option 7.1 PSD Final

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Cover Design for “Power Author 2”

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This is my first sequel design, and I couldn’t be happier with it. Power Author 1 was my first “big break” in cover design, and since then I’ve enjoyed partnering with Ben Wolf on other books. I guess he liked the first one enough to book me for the series. *cheers*

Like Power Author 1, I wanted to keep the same “magic book” thing going on, but this time, dragons and aliens weren’t the subject matter. This time, I would be focusing on depicting live events such as book fairs, conventions, conferences, and book signings—which proved far more difficult than it sounds.

I ended up figuring that, by going to a live event, you’re likely going to be traveling, and traveling will involve flying on airlines and visiting new cities. I also incorporated banners and posters that you see at events, and had the airplane flying to these event banners. I wrapped the whole thing up by placing all the “magic” on a stack of books (an upgrade from the previous installment). You’d likely bring stacks of your published works to sign, so I knew there had to be more than one “magic book” this time.

Power Author 2 is currently available on Amazon. You can also follow Ben Wolf’s website for updates.

Power Author 2_Cover Option 3 POD 2

Power Author 2 Mockup

Cover Design for “The Last Line of Their Lives”

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I’m happy to reveal my newest cover design for debut author Andrew D. Doan. This was a ton of fun to put together. When Andrew told me it was about an esteemed cemetery that the wealthy people of the town were *literally* dying to claim for their final resting place, I knew I was going to have a blast. Typically cemeteries are creepy and belong in horror novels—but this one? Let’s have the tombstones made of gold!!

Last Line Final Ingram

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Life Update: Post Graduation

JennethWriting7 Comments

The last year and a half has been a constant churning of life’s ocean waves when set on a giant spin cycle. Between COVID and finishing up my master’s degree, I barely have an internal clock or a solid sense of time (as if I had one in the first place).

But now things are finally getting back to normal (well, as normal as post-graduation adult life can get), and therefore it’s probably worth giving a life update.

DSC_7807-1

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Cover Design for “The Kingdom Heir”

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I was able to design this cover for Lana Howell’s debut novel, The Kingdom Heir, published by Xulon Press. In my research for book cover designs, I’ve realized that many covers are predominantly a single color scheme. Because the protagonist is a healer and herb-user, I wanted the cover to be predominantly green, and a medical cross shape is seen behind the characters. I also tried to incorporate greenery in the textures and title to allude to her occupation.

This was also my first cover where I used my own models for stock photography, which was a fun experiment and made finding medieval costume photography a little cheaper and easier.

You can purchase Lana’s book on Xulon Press.

Kingdom Heir Xulon Proof 3

Cover Design for “Live the Impossible”

JennethBook Covers, Design2 Comments

I had the privilege to design the cover for Jenny Smith’s new memoir, Live the Impossible, a book about her time in a wheelchair and how it’s made her into who she is today. 

Since she’s a world traveller and mentions in the subtitle about a wheelchair taking her to places she couldn’t have imagined, I wanted to give the entire book a globe-trotter look, so I put a subtle map pattern in the background. Instead of an obvious wheelchair icon, I instead did an abstract rendering of a wheel that also looked like a burst of life and sunlight. It ended up being the perfect balance between accurately advertising and not beating the audience over the head with the subject matter.

Jenny’s book goes on sale July 11, and you can get your copy here: https://jennysmithrollson.com/live-the-impossible/

Live the Impossible Spine Proof 3.3