At least some, anyway.
If you’ve never been to a con, or heard authors and artists complaining about covers…
At the major publishers, the writer is told what the cover of their novel is; it’s all decided by the corporate art director. Unless you’re a really big name, if you’re lucky, they’ve read the proposed back cover blurb. If not, they got an elevator picture from your editor.
When Ring of Fire Press first published 11,000 Years, Eric knew what the story was about, and (presumably) spoke with my editor, if he hadn’t read it himself.
With my new publisher, Novus Mundi, I was shown three versions of the proposed cover for 11,000 Years, got to choose, and make some comments.
With my upcoming novel, Becoming Terran, the marketing director did speak with my editor. Then gave the work to one artist, and the first version was impossible. He gave comments to them, and they came up with something that was terrible.
How do I know? Because he had me call him this afternoon, and we discussed the cover. He also sent me a copy of the last, and, just no. So he allowed himself to be convinced that the idea I had would work, he suggested additions, which I agreed with, and he’s giving it to another artist.
From all I’ve ever heard, this is so much better than a major.
Oh, and Becoming Terran is now officially “a science fiction political/corporate thriller”.