Arachne Press is celebrating its tenth anniversary, and with it, successful collaborations with artists on the covers of their books.
Back in 2012 all the publishing chat was about how eBooks were going to replace print, but Arachne founder Cherry Potts was certain that all that would disappear would be ugly, badly made books.
Right from the start the intention was that Arachne’s books would be beautiful, and that where possible, artists would be used, and the cover image would wrap all the way round the book.
When choosing a manuscript, if Cherry starts planning the cover before she’s finished reading, the book is almost certainly going to be published, which means that the search for the right artist is as important as the search for new writing.
Initially that meant licencing existing images, but quickly moved on to commissioning as well. Arachne Press has worked with some of our artists regularly, [Kevin Threlfall, Fiona Humphrey, Gordy Wright] others have been suggested by the authors for a particular project [Paul Summers, Camille Smethwick, Rachel Marsh]; and sometimes Cherry rolls up her sleeves and makes a cover herself.