A Novel Cover Up is a semi-regular feature that looks at how covers are designed. I have been fortunate enough to interview Graphic Designer Leo Nickolls about how he designed the cover for For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig. Other than the cover, all images in this post are copyrighted to Leo Nickolls and used with permission. They can be clicked to be enlarged.
Can you tell us about the cover for For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig? What do you hope it tells readers about the story?I’m not sure how much detail I can go into without potentially spoiling the story here! But I hope it tells readers that it’s a fantasy story based around shadow theatre (with some shadowy secrets) with a hint of the supernatural. The concept of the cover is based on what I read in the manuscript, so the goal was to - like all good book covers should - show the nature of the story: a girl with powers she can only just control, in a war-torn country involving a tyrant leader - which hopefully is alluded to with the er, combustible look of my design!
