Indie Writer's Creative Process
How I got to the memoir cover I love
One of the things I wanted to do with this blog was share my creative process.
My memoir, Black Girl From a White Suburb: Finding My Light Using My Voice, will be released on September 2, 2025.
A good cover is everything, as it’s the first invitation to read the book.
The thought and imagination that goes into choosing a design is another form of storytelling.
Here’s my process: the good, the bad, and how I got to the cover I love.
I have always known I wanted to use this photo of myself from second grade.
But I felt some pressure to conform to traditional publishing norms by not having a picture of myself on the cover, since I’m not famous.
(My dog thinks I am, but he can’t read.)
I created this when I was still writing and manifesting the day my memoir would be finished.
I researched other memoir covers.
I felt inspired by this cover for Rebecca Carroll’s memoir “Surviving the White Gaze.” I liked the colors, font, and tone.
Seeing her picture on the cover gave me the nudge to use my own.
I wasn’t sure what else I wanted in the design.
I considered having the picture in a frame and placing it on a dresser in a recreation of my childhood bedroom as a backdrop, but decided it was too literal.
A designer named Elyse Dolan created the 1st cover.
I thought it was great (precisely what I asked for), but I also wanted to see what a designer would do without my input.
Katarina M. designed the second.
Something about pulling out the color gave it a more abstract vibe that was cool. I asked to see a version where my face looked lit up as if I were looking into the light, so I requested changes.
My idea got lost in translation.
I never quite got the vibe I was going for, so I fiddled around on my own and stumbled onto this.
A perfect, happy accident.
It was all a bit nerve-wracking to be honest. My cover designer lives outside the U.S., so time zones were a factor in our communication. I’m grateful for her work, though.
Part of the creative writing process requires collaboration. Eventually, you need to leave your writing bubble and work with an editor, designer, and more.
It’s worth it, though. And once you create a team you can trust, the next project is that much easier.
Do you have a creative outlet? What’s your process?