From rough moment to book cover

Kia Ora dear memoir writer 👋

How are you and how is your story coming along?

This week I’m enamoured with memoir writer Mike Brown’s first ever book cover and I wanted to show you!

You may or may not know that as well as teaching people to write their memoirs (including Mike) my team and I also write, edit and design books for people, and help them self publish them. 

We’ve recently welcomed Kayla, the amazing sketch artist, onto our team. Mike had some important book scenes in mind, but he didn’t have photos of those times. He worked with Kayla, so she could sketch those moments for his book. 

His favourite sketch was the one on this book cover. It depicts a rough moment for him as a boy, a ‘Ten Pound Pom’ (the name for British migrants who immigrated to Australia after World War II under the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme, paying only ten pounds for their fare).

He and his family initially lived in a large, very basic camp in Australia. One afternoon he accidentally upset (and angered) his beloved mother, and he fled into his sanctuary – the bush – to stare into the flames of a camp fire and think about what he’d done and how he was going to make things right. That’s the moment he needed Kayla to sketch, and the image Mike wanted in his book cover.

I wanted to show you this, as most people don’t know what a book cover looks like, before it wraps around a book. What you’re looking at is the back, spine and front of the book cover. 

Hopefully one day you’ll reach this stage.What would you put in your book cover? What colours, images, patterns?

Keep writing and you’ll soon find yourself needing one!

Charlotte x 

PS if you’d like my detailed guidance to write your story, I’m in the process of turning my online course into a one year programme. This means students will receive lessons, with short videos, straight to their inbox for one year. You can still join monthly meets with other memoir writers. The programme starts October 2nd, and you can join for as little as $20 per week. This will be my online course, and more. 

As a bonus, if you finish your first draft by the end of October 2026, our amazing book designer will design a book cover just for you.