I craft a cover art request form
before I work with
my cover artist.
This ‘spec’ gives her
my expectations
for the cover.
The first expectation is
the cover will signal the niche
to the reader.
I usually share the top selling covers
in the niche
with my cover artist.
I will also give her a list
of all the aspects that could signal
the book is in that niche.
A vampire romance cover, for example,
might feature fangs
or drops of blood
or a night time setting
or a dark haired, pale skinned man
in dark clothing.
I will share that I don’t expect
all of this aspects in the cover,
merely enough of them
to signal it is a vampire romance.
I will then add other features.
I might want the cover to tie
reflect MY branding.
I might want it to tie
reflect my series branding.
I don’t tell her how to craft
the cover.
I don’t stipulate EXACTLY
what I want.
I allow her to use
her skills and expertise
to derive the cover.
She is the system.
I’m merely providing inputs
and the expected output.
“Grab some index cards
and simulate your system.
Have each user
write down precisely
what they want to tell/ask
the system
and have the person
running the system
hand back index cards
with the results
that they can expect.
Be clear about the state
that the system is in
before each transaction
and after it as well.
The sum total
of these interactions
is your spec.
Bound this with
constraints of time
and money
and performance
and you’ve done the hard part.”
Great specs result in
better systems.
Learn how to craft them
properly.