Guest post by Sola Musica cover designer Martina Bautista

By Martina Bautista

For someone who loves the feeling of sand in between her toes and the sound of waves crashing on the shore, I’m rarely at the beach. I spend way too much time behind my computer screen pinning my life away, and day dreaming about far off places and possible adventures. Prompted by the occasional burst of “I need to get out of here” thoughts, I spend a good chunk of my mornings on budget airline websites contemplating fictional vacations and itineraries that never come to life.

So when it came to planning out the cover for Sola Musica, there was no shortage of ideas or inspiration, all I needed to do was stop my daydreams long enough to get the design down on paper. I suppose that due to my will to buckle down and get creative, I let myself get carried away because when it came time to submit the cover, I ended up producing 4 completely different variations, each with a different photo of a beach or an adventure long gone.

The process of creating the cover involved going on 4 mini adventures with an overall leap into graphic design, a field I’ve only dabbled in. The process for each cover design was the same, mentally mapping out where it would fit and what the part of the festival it would represent then deciding the colors that would suit the mood. I read through each other the stories while brainstorming, and unknowingly, I let myself get lost in the words and next thing I knew, all 4 covers were done.

Normally, I would have to go through the daunting task of going through every font in my laptop, and eventually land right back where I started: font-less and overwhelmed. Nothing seemed to fit the theme or the feel that I wanted to show, until the authors decided to get Macy to do the calligraphy. I’m happy with how easily it fit with the overall vibe I was looking for.  

I don’t know exactly how the authors processed my email with 4 options, but in the end, the vote was unanimous, resulting in the whimsical handwritten love from Macy and the sunset photo with pastel tones from me.

I can’t wait to get myself to the beach and away from the hustle and bustle of the city, armed with Sola Musica and a really chill beach playlist. 

Buy Sola Musica: Amazon  buqo  CreateSpace paperback (use code 7FQP4AFA to get $2 off)  Order the Philippine edition paperback

Beautiful collaborations: Fashion bloggers and my books

If you've seen the international covers of some of my books, and you follow Philippine fashion bloggers, you might see some familiar faces:

 

I know what you're thinking: "YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THIS A LONG TIME AGO, DUH. When your main character is a Filipino and you want to show a fabulous representation of that character on your cover, who else do you talk to but the fabulous, creative people who actually like styling and clothes and all the things that'll make your cover great?"

And yes, it didn't occur to me to do this. At all. (I'm sorry!) How we happened upon it at all was a happy accident, a suggestion and a study that turned into the actual cover, and now we haven't looked back. 

How do I collaborate with them? It starts with finding a person who feels like the character. Not necessarily looks like the character -- I don't like associating a real person or face so much with my characters, because I want readers to do their own casting. But a cover is an advertisement for the book, so it can't be helped to do a little bit of casting anyway. I check out their blog, and their photos, to see if they have the same feel. 

And then I send a message. Hi. I'd like to work with you on a cover for my book and give you a small token for your trouble. This ok with you? Something like that. I emphasize that this should not be stressful. I'm willing to use a photo already taken before, if it fits the cover we want, just so no extra time or effort is spent unless she really wants to do it that way. So far, I've been so ridiculously happy with my collaborations. Each of them has a different style, and way about them. 

Rhea Bue (http://rheabue.com) as Hannah, the Interim Goddess of Love.  

Rhea is on the three Interim Goddess of Love international covers. The first two photos we used were shots she had already done for her blog, so I just purchased the rights to use them as covers. For the third and last IGoL book though, she wanted to do something new for it. The resulting cover was shot in Zamboanga, which I think is an awesome detail, even though it's not obvious at all. (Some of the frustrating things about working with great photos for book covers? Having to crop so much detail out. And choosing only one!)

Alex Lapa (http://reluctantstylista.com) as Jane in the Young and Scambitious Series.

Young and Scambitious is not my usual chick lit stuff. It's about a con artist, who's pretending to be a socialite in Metro Manila. I'm glad that I actually knew of Alex already and was checking out her blog before we worked on this cover, because I knew right away that it had to be her. I had a feeling she'd be game to sort of lovingly mock this lifestyle, and yes she totally got it. And that photo of her above? I just saw it today, but it's a look that matches one of the scenes in Scambitious. I love it when this happens!

Since Scambitious is a short-story series, Alex recently did another cover for me. 

Dominique Tiu (http://www.konichiwear.com), as Moira from Welcome to Envy Park.

I found Dominique through a common friend, Ron. To me, Moira the character had to look like someone who'd seen some of the world and wants to see more of it. There's a lightness to Dominique that I love, and when I look at her I do see someone who works with what she has, and where she has it, and can create a happy spot for herself wherever she happens to be. Which is kind of the point of the book. And also, Dom's clothes are awesome, haha. She wanted to shoot a new photo for the cover but time and skeds got crazy for both of us, so instead we worked with her existing portfolio and I chose the one that eventually made it to the cover. We had a lot to choose from, by the way. In the end it came down to outfit, the mood of the photo, and actually, the background too, because this one happened to match the wall I described in one of the chapters. Again -- awesome when that happens!

Thank you, Rhea, Alex, and Dominique! For being fabulous and creative, and for making my covers so pretty. :)

If you're into this and have photos or shoots in mind based on my characters or scenes, let me know? Show me what you've done? Definitely want to keep doing this, and more of it.

All covers above designed by Tania Arpa.

Cover muse: Chatting with photographer/style blogger Rhea Bue

In one of those things that I never thought of but makes absolute sense in retrospect, my friend/cover designer Tania Arpa collaborated with style blogger/photographer Rhea Bue for the international covers of the Interim Goddess of Love trilogy.

Rhea is also the model for the covers. I didn't know her prior to working with her on the books, so I didn't write the books with her in mind. But seeing her archive of fashion photos, duh. I'm so glad I work with people who are brilliant.

rheabue.com

Did you plan the cover together? How did you collaborate on it? What other ideas did you two come up with that didn't make it to the final?
Yes we did. We met over lunch to talk about the last book cover and how we were going to do it. We had tons of ideas that time like having cute boys surrounding me in a silhouette, an underwater shot and the cliff jumping shot but the most outstanding shot that Tania liked the most was the one where I was laying on top of the mountain. This gives you the feeling that "Hannah" is thinking very deep thoughts about her situation and how to overcome everything about love.

rheabue.com

How is your style/fashion photography different from how you shot this cover?
Usually I'd do normal OOTDs (outfit of the day) photos or take a photo of random things I see around me. But for this photo, it has more emotions and a story behind it.

rheabue.com

I love your posture and angles in this shot! How else did you shoot it, what other positions did you try?
Thank you! :) I had one where I was just sitting having a nice view from the top and another was the jump shot in back view. :)

Where was this taken?
This photo was taken in Zamboanga during the Holy Week.

I love the outfit -- as usual. Is there a story behind the outfit choice?
Thank you, Mina! :) With this outfit, I just wanted comfy and laid-back. My mom handed down the plaid polo I was wearing in the photo. She kept that polo for years now and since it couldn't fit her anymore, she had the best idea of picking me to keep it for her. Well I think this outfit somehow complimented the scene perfectly. Something from the "country-side" I must say.

Is this your natural hair color?
No. My natural hair color is dark brown. My mom styled my hair to red-blonde ombre. :)

Thank you for sharing your talent and awesomeness, Rhea! Visit her blog: rheabue.com.

Cover girl: Interview with my cover designer Tania Arpa

I asked my friend Tania Arpa, designer of the awesome international covers for the Interim Goddess of Love trilogy, some questions about covers:

Did you and (photographer/model Rhea Bue) plan the cover together? How did you collaborate on it?
We got together for lunch and talked about the book and what I had in mind for the cover photo. We talked about where the photos might be shot, and how.

What other ideas did you two come up with that didn't make it to the final?
For the photos? An underwater shot! And also a photo taken from the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. They were just too hard to do.

How do you come up with your cover concepts?
After I read the book, I try to figure out the theme of the story. Then I'll remember scenes that are significant and try to picture each of them as a book cover. I also think of the protagonist and think of a photo of her that best illustrates her state of mind of her emotional state during some point in the story. I try to work from all of these.

How long did it take you to come up with the covers?
It took me either weeks or hours, depending on how you look at it. I start conceptualizing after reading the book, then when the photos come in, I visualize what I can do with them. The work on Photoshop takes an hour or two. I play around with fonts, photos, layout. I look at each design draft and ask myself questions like "Is this an honest portrayal of the story?" "Will this cover appeal to someone who will enjoy the book?" "Will this look good both on a paperback and as a thumbnail when it shows up on an amazon search?" Stuff like that.

It took a shorter amount of time to design the cover of Icon because the general layout was pretty much predetermined -- it had to be similar to the covers I made for the first two books. I just needed to tweak it a bit for the photo I was going to use.

How many photos did you have to choose from? How involved are you in how the photos turn out and what you get?
For Icon, Rhea gave me four photos to choose from, all taken from the same shoot. I picked this one because I'd always wanted a cover with Hannah lying on the grass being all contemplative. It seemed like something she would do. She wouldn't care about getting her outfit stained; she'd lie there and think about what in heavens she's gotten herself into. I never mentioned this to Rhea, so it's either serendipity or, more likely, she got that vibe about Hannah too.

Sometimes, like in the case of IGoL and QotC, I get photos that weren't originally intended for the cover. Rhea's photos were perfect for IGoL and QotC because while the photos were meant for her style blog, they had a touch of the surreal, and a bit of humor. So I just picked out the two photos I wanted to use and incorporated them into the design I was working on. I of course just needed to make sure they shared the same layout theme because they were two books of a series.

For Icon, although Rhea and I discussed the story and what I had in mind for the cover, she did the shoot herself and just sent me the photos she thought I'd like. I think it was better that way. I don't like looking over another artist's shoulder while they work, the same way I prefer being given creative breathing space while I work. I'd seen Rhea's portfolio so I was confident she'd come up with something great. And she did!

Tips for how an indie author in the Philippines can score a really cool cover please?
Hire me! And hire Rhea to do the photography. Haha. I think, for an author, the best place to start is to develop an eye for book covers. You don't necessarily have to know how to make one, but you should have an idea of what a good cover is and how book covers relate to the story and how they help sell your book (a while back, I blogged about how book covers are a marketing thing). Once you do, you're more likely to pick a cover designer who is good, and who can give you what you need. Don't choose the best artist you know. There are a lot of artists who are brilliant at painting and graphic design but can't design book covers. Choose an artist who loves and understands books and knows what should go in a book cover. Someone who knows what fonts not to use because you won't be able to read the title when it shows up as a thumbnail on a Google search. Also, it helps if you come up with a great tag line to give to your book designer. Sometimes a tagline will inform the theme of the cover design. However, sometimes the design will give you an idea for a tagline (I think I got the idea for the IGoL tagline while making mockups for that cover). Be open to possibilities.

Thank you, Tania!

Tania (blog.taniaarpa.com) and I are collaborating on other cover projects. Contact her to plan your awesome cover too. :)

Another take on the Interim Goddess

FEU Fine Arts student Richard Cy created and designed an illustrated edition of Interim Goddess of Love for his thesis. Here's a sneak peek.

It's beautiful. :) Not for sale, but beautiful. His Twitter is @richardjaracy if you want to contact him about his art.