In which cover artist Melanie Cook talks about the process for The Case of the Little Bloody Slipper by Carlie St. George. Today we are delighted to introduce you to Melanie Cook–the artist behind the gorgeous cover art for the first book in our forthcoming Spindle City Mystery series. Here to talk about the design process from beginning to end, please give a warm welcome to Mel, folks! Back when I first began illustrating and designing and comic book-ing I was asked—prematurely, I think—to describe my process. It mostly amounted to running around screaming “The skies are falling!” while banging my head against a blank page. But thanks to the interwebs and the generosity of dozens of other artists who’ve detailed their processes and techniques online, I’ve gradually developed a more ordered approach. Hopefully I can offer something similarly helpful here. The first place to quell your fears is with the manuscript. Read it through, and more than once. Don’t be afraid of the highlight function and, if you’re using a program that allows you to make editable annotations, even better. What I’m looking for when I read through a manuscript are iconic moments: plot points that leave me with […]