A famous saying goes, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. However, the truth is that everyone judges books by their covers. Not people, but books. When we pick a book at a bookstore, the first thing we notice is its cover, and at that moment we decide whether we want to peruse it to the very end or not. A book’s cover tells the story of the book itself. Inspired by this thought, Laura J Prevost’s company, LJP Book Cover Designs, provides high-quality book covers at a reasonable cost to small publishers and authors in the independent publishing industry.
A Reader Who Designs Covers
A disabled Navy veteran and the grandmother of twins, Laura J Prevost is an avid reader and skilled photographer. Laura began as an amateur photographer, while in college, and learned that she had a knack for it. Initially, Laura had to shoot a roll of film and send it off to be developed. Developing her film and gaining some darkroom experience, marked the beginning of Laura’s transition into digital photography and artwork. It was around this time that she was also introduced to the software called Photoshop, and though she had to scan her print images to use them, she experimented with the program and realized that she enjoyed it.
Assisting a wedding photographer and honing her photography skills, led Laura to launch her wedding photography business. However, all Laura wanted was to alter her photographs, take images, and place her models in fantastic settings from her imagination. When she discovered that a friend of hers was an independent author, Laura asked if she could practice creating book covers for her. When that friend agreed, Laura started sending reimagined covers of her previously published books. Laura’s friend finally took a chance on her, and Laura was off and running. Since then, Laura has had over 100 published covers by a variety of authors, though she has primarily relied on word of mouth and personal recommendations to this point. She has also won a BIBBA award for cover design in 2019.
Judge A Book By Its Cover
Laura says a book’s cover is the face of the book. It is essential that it sells the story within. A high-quality book cover can entice a reader into reading the book in its entirety. Teaming up with numerous authors, Laura has created historical fiction, romance, thriller, suspense, and mystery covers, but her true passion lies in the fantasy/sci-fi genre.
With over thirty years of experience in Photoshop and photography, as well as working closely with numerous authors, Laura believes that she can design the perfect cover that will encourage readers to pick up the book from the shelves without having second thoughts.
Having a reputation for her designs being of dreamy quality, Laura feels her artwork should not represent her as an artist, but rather it should represent and reflect the author’s story.