Making the cover: BLOOD BY K.J. WIGNALL

VAMPIRES, VAMPIRES, EVERYWHERE!!

When I first reviewed Blood by K.J. Wignall, the first thing I had to point out was the cover love. I am in love with this cover and everything about it screams, Read Me!!

So we are so fortunate to have gotten some background information on the making of this great cover. Check out what Egmont USA sent us!

Publisher: Elizabeth Law               

Jacket Designer: Sammy Yuen                    

Model: Sterling

The character of Will is a 13th Century vampire. Sammy wanted to show the character walking through the streets of London. There was some discussion of wardrobe, and of a long jacket for Sterling to wear. But when Elizabeth arrived at the photo shoot she was so dazzled by the sight of Sterling with his shirt off that all thought of trying additional wardrobe choices went out of her head. She wanted something where the character looked haunted, but also where he would clearly appeal to the readership.

Here's some more of Elizabeth's thoughts on the photo shoot:

1. Short Hair vs. Long

Will has long hair in the book! But, frankly, we hated how the wig looked. We decided we could live with the error, that being immediately appealing was more important than being 100% accurate.

2. One-Eyed View vs Hair in the Face

 
The single eye shots looked good in the studio, but when we tried them on the cover, we found it was a little forced looking—like he was acting, rather than natural. Also, we really hated the wig!

3. Strike a Pose 

The first shot was too reminiscent of Taylor Lautner’s entrance in Twilight:Eclipse, and in the second I thought Will looked like a juvenile delinquent - not heir to the Earl of Mercia, which juvenile delinquent which he he was long ago, before he was attacked and became a vampire.

4. To Fog and Not To Fog

I LOVED the fog. We tried shots with and without fog because we weren’t sure which would look better on the jacket. We ended up using a fog shot because it added to the “atmosphere” on the book jacket.

5. Black Fog and Just Black

It’s interesting, because the shots against black look really good—but the white background allowed the designer, Sammy Yuen, to lay in the London architecture into the finished background.  Also, black made me think “vampire at night” which I find really clichéd.

6. Full Frontal vs Over the Shoulder look

There was quite a bit of discussion about over the shoulder—I thought those shots were very sexy. We are thinking of using an over the shoulder shot in the book’s sequel (due out next fall) called Alchemy.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Will is a vampire in danger. Heir to the Earl of Mercia, he was brutally attacked and buried in the thirteenth century before he was able to assume his title. Perpetually sixteen, Will’s life has been lonely. He leaves his tomb every so often, adapts to the present day, feeds his bloodlust, and never gets close to anyone. Until now. Waking from a twenty-year slumber, hungry for the blood that sustains his undeath, he meets Eloise—but can’t bear to make her his next victim. Drawn to a girl he can never have, but whose fate seems bound with his own, he feels the need to protect her. But Will has an enemy who will stop at nothing to find him . . . and he’s closing in.