COVER REVEAL!
If you’re new here- welcome! I’m Andi Chitty, an agented writer of picture books and board books. In these posts, I cover the stages of self-publishing my board book, BANANAS IN THE BATH. You can read more about why I chose to self-publish in my previous post, THE BIG WHY.
Today’s post is one I’ve been looking forward to for a while now!
It’s time for the BANANAS IN THE BATH…
COVER REVEAL!
Since the cover is (arguably) the most important part of a picture book, Alexandra Elliot and I knew it had to be perfect. Luckily for me, Alex isn’t just a professional illustrator- her communication skills are top-notch, and she’s a pro at revisions. She’ll keep going until she knows we’re both happy!
I find process breakdowns fascinating, so I figured I’d share the cover creation process with you!
First, Alex sent some rough sketches of potential covers:
Just 4 of the many options Alex sent
Super cute, but I wanted the bunch of bananas to be visible front and center. After all, bathtime can’t turn BANANAS without BANANAS!
We went back and forth a couple times but none of the options presented felt just right, so I sent Alex this masterpiece:
Full copyright of this masterpiece belongs to Andi Chitty
Alex understood the assignment!
Isn’t she incredible??
I was ecstatic, to say the least! I sent Alex some additional revisions from here (opening the monkey’s eyes a bit more, adding the turtle poking his little head from underneath the tub, etc.) which Alex happily obliged, and then I sent the cover sketch to the book designer (Monica at TLC Designs) to insert the title and text (sans monkey):
It’s all coming together!
Alex added the monkey back in, and then it was time for some color!
Choices, choices, choices!
This part was so exciting, but I struggled deciding on a background color that really fit the story. Alex was wonderful, and sent back color after color as per my request. At one point, after consulting friends, coworkers, and my family, I really thought we had it:
This light turquoise looked so great! But…
But the next day, I knew it wasn’t the one. I sent Alex an email requesting she add back in the trees and grass from one of her initial sketches. That completely changed the feel of the cover, and from there the background color was easy to choose. So without further ado…
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The official BANANAS IN THE BATH cover!
It’s so perfect!!
When Alex sent the above, I legitimately teared up(for real- I think my husband thought I was going to burst into tears). That’s how much I loved it! After all the back and forth, I’m so glad we kept going, kept pushing, and didn’t settle for something that didn’t feel exactly perfect for the story inside.
MARCH UPDATE (3/10/25):
I never thought I’d be making this update, but my book designer (Monica at TLC Book Designs), wanted to take a stab at redoing the title, as we both agreed it wasn’t exactly right. I’m SO GLAD she revisited things, because…
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This is the OFFICIAL OFFICIAL cover!
I’m in love!
So there you have it! The (fairly condensed) story of how this incredible cover came to be. Thanks for tuning in! Bye now!
JUST KIDDING!
You didn’t think I’d actually spend this whole time amping up BANANAS IN THE BATH without doing a GIVEAWAY, did you??
It’s GIVEAWAY time!
If you’d like to be entered for a chance to win a copy of my upcoming board book BANANAS IN THE BATH (illustrated by the incredible Alexandra Elliot) you must…
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And if you’d like AN ADDITIONAL ENTRY, share this post on any social media and let me know you did so in a comment below (or email me!).
Thanks for following this crazy wonderful self-publishing journey I’m on!
Happy Reading,
Andi Chitty
Upcoming Posts:
-Finding an Illustrator (with AI and scammers all over, there will be a lot to cover!)
-My Favorite Resources for writers
-Top Mistakes I See from self-published children’s authors (from the perspective not necessarily of a writer, but as someone who runs the indie book section of my shop!)
