Cover Love – in which Sandy Brags about the LOVE, INC. Cover Design

Yesterday we got an e-mail from someone who said many so many nice things about LOVE, INC. that we blushed briefly. The book doesn’t come out until tomorrow (January 4th), but the reader had an advance copy and we particularly appreciated this:

The cover was cute and fit perfectly with the book. Zahra looked on the cover just as described in the book. The cover showcased two major parts of the book. There couldn't be a more perfect cover!

Now, normally, we can’t take a bit of credit for our book covers. Authors, unless they’re way more important than we are, generally have little say in the cover design (or even the title for that matter). We’ve liked the book covers our publishers have designed, with one notable exception. I won’t single it out, but if you check our books section, you’ll probably be able to figure out which one it is.

This time around, our then-editor asked us for ideas for the LOVE, INC. cover. I’m the first to admit that I’m design-challenged, and I turn to Yvonne for advice on everything from clothes to carpets. So my role in the cover brainstorming session was to sit back with my no-foam, extra hot latte and shoot down Yvonne’s ideas—until she came up with something irresistible. (Don’t worry, she gets plenty of opportunity to shoot down my ideas).

At first, we wanted to feature a trailer on the cover, because in the book the girls run Love, Inc.—their matchmaking, mediation and revenge business—out of a trailer parked in Kali’s backyard.

When the trailer idea didn’t fly, Yvonne came up with the idea of an ice cream truck, which had the added advantage of profiling Zahra’s passion for baking. We asked if the jars on the truck could hold cookies, because Zahra believes her love life is under a “cookie curse”: whenever she bakes cookies for a guy, he dumps her.

Luckily our publisher found the perfect model, who has Zahra’s long, curly red hair. We suggested the menu board, which helps to explain what the book is about. In fact, we even weighed in on wheel size.

It is the first time we’ve ever been so hands-on with a cover. We’re grateful for that opportunity and thrilled with the result.

Of course, if other people hate the cover, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Specifically Yvonne. Please direct all hate mail to her.