Book Covers

7 Feb 2016: More Book Covers I Like

It’s time for another installation of “Book Covers I Like.” As I’ve said before, it’s just WAYYY too easy to find book covers that I don’t think come quite up to scratch. So instead I offer up a collection of book covers that I think hit the mark.

And so we begin….

#1: Starflight by Melissa Landers: What’s not to like? The image is strong, the typography seems spot on. The motion of the image carries you up to the title and is interesting enough that I really want to know what that ship is. and who’s on it.

Starflight by Melissa Landers

#2: Naming the bits Between by Jessica M. Collette: I really love the treatment of the title here, very creative. It’s a very simplistic image, but it’s the intriguing way they incorporate the title that is the eye-catching feature here. This is a great example of how a title can be the cover. Don’t feel as if you have to have this super strong image for your cover or else you’re doomed. This image is very relaxed, but fits perfectly.

Naming the Bits Between by Jessica M. Collette

#3: He will be my ruin by K.A. Tucker: I’ll admit it, this cover reminds me of the movie Titanic, that whole rolling around with Jack in the car down in the cargo hold scene. But still, he will be her ruin …. the question is how? The cover is actually kind of subtle, leaving a lot to the imagination and with a title like that, I think it just helps add to the mystery.

He will be my Ruin by K.A. Tucker

#4: if i knew by JS Cooper: I love this cover because it shows that someone was thinking outside the box. If I saw this book on a bookstore shelf, I might pick it up for no other reason than to straighten it up. You really have to have the right photo image to do this treatment. If her arm wasn’t angled up like that, I don’t think this would have worked. I’ll admit it … I want to know what she should have known!

If I Knew by JS Cooper

#5: A Sudden Gust of Gravity by Lauri Boris: Based on the title or cover alone, I have no idea what this book is about, and yet I’m curious. Is it about a juggler? Has she travelled to space and left the surly bonds of Earth’s gravity behind? Could be, but I doubt it. I love how the image pulls your eye in all directions, roaming over every inch of the cover. This is hard to accomplish and give the cover designer props for pulling it off and not having it distract from the overall goal of a book cover

A Sudden Gust of Gravity by Lauri Boris

#6: Doll Parts by Azzurra Nox: It took a second or two to realize she was staring at me … which kinda creeped me out … and now she’s like the Mona Lisa, staring at me no matter where I stand. I’m glad they used a very simple font for the title. Anything more would have been too much. The image of the “doll” carries so much weight that anything more in the title would have been competing and in the ends detracting from the cover as a whole.

Doll Parts by Azzurra Nox

#7: The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman: WOW! What a striking cover. It’s sort of distracting in its own way, but that distraction seems oh so appropriate when you read the title. This louvered concept is genius to me.

The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman

#8: Pax by Sara Pennypacker: This cover seems alive, as if it’s an animation still and someone is about to hit play and it will suddenly come to life before my eyes. I give Jon Klassen credit for this since he’s the illustrator. It’s a subdued image, somber in its coloring, but it’s the peacefulness of it that draws me in. It’s almost as if something is about to happen, a peaceful tension I guess you could call it.

Pax by Sara Pennypacker

#9: The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine: Yes, I know … the TV show Once Upon a Time has overkilled the apple image for a queen, but I still like this creative use of it. It’s a twist I enjoy for a few reasons. One is subtly. How do you say snow white without saying snow white? Have a snowy white background. There’s a boldness to this image that I enjoy. Had they had just the apple alone and the title elsewhere, this would not have worked half as well.

The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

#10: Dead in Deep Water by Dave Sivers: We’ve seen docks before. This is not a new image for a book cover, but it’s the way the designer uses the typography in conjunction with the image that is what I like. It’s not subtle, but still it’s simple. However, I do not think the cover would have been as effective if the man was centered in the image.

Dead in Deep Water by Dave Sivers

#11: Paris Time Capsule by Ella Carey: Romance novel covers are a bitch to create and not have a shirtless man on the front. You want romance that pulls the reader’s eye away from the 1000 other romance novels they’re perusing and we all know sex sells, or in this case, sexy men. I love the color manipulation of this image, the antiquated look of the modern couple. It’s very in keeping with the “Time Capsule” part of the title. I especially love the font they used for “Paris,” very Parisian.

Paris Time Capsule by Ella Carey

One think I noticed while typing up this blog entry was how many of the authors chose to put “A Novel” after the title of their novels. I find this a little puzzling. Did they think I’d have a hard time figuring that out? The only reason I can think to do so was if there was another book up for sale on Amazon called “The Teleportation Accident” which was actually a non-fiction book retelling the account of an actual teleportation accident. Naturally, if you want to name your novel the same title of a book that is already up for sale (which I would not recommend to begin with) you’d put “A Novel” after your’s so no one confused the books. But even if I did that, I’d leave the “a Novel” off the book cover. Just saying ….

Do you have any book covers that you think are head and shoulders above the maddening crowd of only so-so ones? If so, I’d love to hear about them! Click on “Leave A Comment” and share!

-Jennifer

Jennifer Geoghan, author of The Purity of Blood novel series and If Love is a Lie: A Partly True Love Story.

I’d love to hear from you! So click on “Leave A Comment” below and let me know what’s on your mind.

1 Jan 2016: How to create a book cover for CreateSpace

YEAH! I finally got my book cover accepted by CreateSpace. It only took FIVE attempts! So with this in mind, I thought I’d supplement CreateSpace’s rather sketchy instructions with my own journey.

So to start, you go on CreateSpace and download the template which will be the exact size for your book size, the number of pages in your book and book type. In my case this was 5.5 by 8.5, 454 pages and black and white interior on white pages. The finished product you upload onto CreateSpace has to be a PDF but you can download the template as a PDF and I think a TIFF. This was mine:

Before you start, you’ll need to have a barcode that’s hooked up to your book’s ISBN number. If you just take the FREE ISBN number that CreateSpace offers, I’m not sure how that works. Since I’m a writer who wants to keep control of my book, I chose to buy my own ISBN from Bowker and purchased my barcode from them as well. On Bowker’s website, you tie the barcode to the ISBN for you book. You’ll need the barcode you then download off their site to insert onto the back cover. Why did I buy one instead of take the free one? Becuase if Amazon isn’t the big deal anymore and I want to move my book to the new and better online book retailer, you can’t take that free ISBN with you. GOTCHA! Yep, that’s how they hook you and keep you on their site.

If you’re already designed the cover for the Ebook as I had, you’ll then need to start by creating the back cover and a spine. To do the back cover, I took the book blurb I had on Amazon for the ebook and jazzed it up a bit to be appealing to someone picking up the paperback. I also designed it to match well with the cover art. As with my covers, I used a combination of programs to create my back cover and spine. I used my Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 and the online program of http://www.picmonkey.com. As instructed on the template, I placed my barcode in the area indicated.

Back Cover of my book

Book Spine Image

For the front cover, the image was pretty close to the dimensions the template indicated so I just stretched it out to fill the required area. Thankfully, it didn’t mess with the image itself in an undesirable way. Here’s what I then saved as a PDF and uploaded to CreateSpace along with my book interior:

Attempt #1

I was then notified that though my book interior had been accepted (YAHOO!!!) by book cover had been rejected. Not understanding the goblygook techno speak of the email, I had CreateSpace call me from the help page. The gal who I talked to said the back and spine were fine, but the cover image needed to extend into the pink area so they’d have some trim to play with. I specifically asked about the pink trim area. Were you supposed to see it in the image I uploaded? In reply, she SPECIFCALLY said YES. (This is important later on) This sounded odd to me, but seemed an easy fix. I then redid the cover to allow for some area on the top, bottom and right side for them to trim off if need be without ruining the artistic integrity of the cover image. Here’s what I then uploaded to replace Attempt #1:

Attempt #2

A day later I got the email saying that this image had been accepted. I then ordered a hard copy proof which arrived a few days later in the mail.

I thought the cover looked fine, but the title on the spine seemed a little high when it got trimmed. Wasn’t sure why it was trimmed when the cover wasn’t?!?!?! But whatever. I tweaked the spine and uploaded the new and improved cover to CreateSpace.

Attempt #3

There was no reason this one should be rejected, right? WRONG! Even though I really hadn’t changed anything, it was indeed rejected. Come on, REALLY! So again I spoke to CreateSpace. This time they told me that all the edges had to be even, that the front over was bigger than the spine and back. I politely told the lady that the other gal I’d spoken to told me to do it this way and that it had been approved and printed before like this. After a brief hold she told me that it had mistakenly been approved before, that it should have been rejected. WTF! So doing as she said, I trimmed the cover image and uploaded Attempt #4:

Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000026_00048]

Attempt #4

And the next morning I got the email saying it was rejected. At this point I was pretty pissed to say the least. So again I had CreateSpace call me, and believe it or not, I got the same lady I’d spoken to the day before! She then proceeded to tell me it was rejected because you’re not supposed to have any of the pink trim area showing! Yeah, refer to my first conversation with them above where they specifically said I was supposed to leave the pink in. Honestly, I’d have had this done with attempt #2 if the CreateSpace help folks knew anything. I hate to say they don’t have a clue … but …

Anyway, she said I needed to cover all the pink trim area with the image and that they’d “possibly” trim that off in the printing process. So again, I went back to the drawing board. The spine was fine, but I wasn’t sure the back could take the trim without it looking odd. So I expanded the black on the sides so the text wasn’t so close to possible trim areas. The front had to be redone as well. I was afraid the work PURITY was too close to the edge and a trim on the side would put it right on the edge. I also lowered my name at the top and raised up Vol I from the bottom. Basically I learned that you have to add areas around the edges that can be cut from the image and you won’t cry about. Yes, this sucks, but it seems to be the way it is.

My other problem at this point was that the way I was saving it as a PDF wasn’t going to work anymore. Per a friend’s suggestion, I’d downloaded a program called CutePDF that allowed me to hit print on an image and it would save it as a PDF for me. This was fine, except that the PDF needed to be formatted to a page size as if it were really being printed. For example, see the white bars at the top and bottom? With them added, the doc is standard Letter Size for printing. Can’t have those bars this time.

So I broke down and bought a subscription to Adobe Acrobat so I could create a PDF without those white bars. And so I uploaded attempt #5:

Attempt #5

Attempt #5 was accepted!! But with all this going on I thought it prudent to order another proof. So this came in the mail. The left cover is the new one. You can see where I moved the text for my name down and Purity to the left . It looks fine. The one thing I wasn’t expecting was for the hair to look so different since I hadn’t changed that at all. When it was printed the second time, it’s redder and little fuzzy. It’s not horrible, but I much prefer the first printing. The spine looked much better on the second proof.

2nd Proof on Left — 1st Proof on Right. It’s hard to tell but the coloring is different. Left one is redder than Right.

First Proof on Top — Second Proof on Bottom with adjusted text.

And so I approved the proof yesterday and according to CreateSpace it should be up for sale on Amazon in 3-5 days. YEAH.

In conclusion, I hope this helps someone who is looking to do a print version of their book with CreateSpace. I certainly had to learn the hard way and hope that my experiences will help someone else’s experience go better than mine did.

-Jennifer

Jennifer Geoghan, author of The Purity of Blood novel series and If Love is a Lie: A Partly True Love Story.

I’d love to hear from you! So click on “Leave A Comment” below and let me know what’s on your mind.

25 Dec 2015: … End of Year Status Report

I started this blog to keep folks up to date on what’s happening with Jennifer Geoghan Novels and to share what I’m learning on my long and winding path to the Nobel Prize for Literature. So with that in mind, today I thought I’d give a status report on where things stand today.

After self publishing six ebooks, I’m finally venturing into the world of paperbacks. It was an arduous task to format my book from ebook format to an acceptable print format, but it’s finally done! The things I learned doing that gargantuan task better serve me well in life! Adapting the cover gave me a few headaches, mostly because CreateSpace, who I’m doing the paper version with, had a hard time with the concept of a letter being cut off in the title of the book. Here’s what I mean:

The end of the “d” in blood is off frame. Duh .. It’s called artistic, it’s supposed to be. I finally got them to approve the cover and received the hard copy proof in the mail yesterday. It looked pretty good but I found two things I wanted to adjust. I’ve now re-uploaded and am waiting for CreateSpace to approve. So with any luck, I’ll have the paperback out for sale in a few days.

Lesson Learned: My book is too long to be of any good for sale as a paperback 😦

At 454 pages, a 5.5 by 8.5 page size and charging what I consider the max I can logically charge of $12.99 a copy, my royalties will be only $1.50 a book. Not only that, if I were to jump onto CreateSpace’s expanded distribution (where it becomes available to retailers) my royalties would be that I owe CreateSpace $1.10 per book. Yeah, you read that right, I OWE THEM MONEY!?!?! To not owe them money, I’d have to charge $15.75 a copy which let’s face it, what retailer would pay that much for a book? In the end although Expanded Distribution sounds good … it didn’t make any sense for this book.

On the flip side … at $12.99 a book, if my book was only 360 pages (not 454) I could do the expanded distribution and get a profit of 2 cents a book. Again … what’s the point if I’m only making 2 cents? Andy again, who’d pay $12.99 for a book that was only 360 pages?

Anyway … My goal was to have it out in paperback before the end of the year so it looks like I’ll be meeting that goal. I’ve also started formatting If Love is a Lie so that I can get that one out as well. I don’t expect to sell a whole bunch of books in paperback, but want to be able to have them to sell myself at book fairs this spring.

Along with that, I’m also in the market for a printer to print up promotional bookmarks to have as giveaways at my table at book fairs and also some sort of a banner or sign for my table. Still working on that one.

While doing all of the above, I’ve still been writing my next novel too! No rest for the weary here. I’m about 60-70% of the way done on it. I’m heading up to St. Augustine this Saturday to do some location scouting. I’m thinking of having the big ending there. We’ll see what I find location wise, if anything strikes me enough to write it in the book.

This book I’m working on now I’m not planning on publishing right away. I’m going to use it as my book to send out to agents to see if I can snag me an agent with it. I’ll give it six months. If I haven’t had any interest in that time period, I’ll go ahead and self pub it and move on.

I’ve also written a short story I’d like to submit to literary magazines and contests. I just need to polish it up a little.

So all in all 2015 was a good year. Despite some hardships, I’ve prevailed and am still working on furthering my career in proactive and purposeful ways.

What’s next for 2016? I’d like to get all my books formatted for paperback. I’d like to have signed with a literary agent and be on the way to traditionally publishing my current novel project. I’d like to have been published in a Lit Magazine and have another book self published in my already published series. Will all this happen? Here’s hoping so!

So how was your 2105? Did you accomplish all you set out to?

-Jennifer

Jennifer Geoghan, author of The Purity of Blood novel series and If Love is a Lie: A Partly True Love Story.

I’d love to hear from you! So click on “Leave A Comment” below and let me know what’s on your mind.

14 Oct 2015: Is your book cover in a frame at Michael’s?

What on earth is she talking about this time? Michael’s? The art supply and craft store? Yep, the very same one.

Back in May I did a blog post about how the image you might buy for a book cover off some internet sight is likely to also be sold to someone else and could end up as a book cover for them as well as you. Not cool!

I sited this photo I found while searching for my own book cover image:

So a couple of days ago I was trolling the aisles at Michael’s looking for a frame and look what I came across:

So does this couple look familiar? Yep, it’s the same couple I was commenting on last May. Now whoever is selling these frames to Michael’s is using them as the cozy couple behind the glass. So … this means your book cover image might be on sale at Michael’s some day! Food for thought!

-Jennifer

Jennifer Geoghan, author of The Purity of Blood Novels and If Love is a Lie: Finding and Losing Love Online.

Link to the original post: Click Here

19 Sept 2015: More Book Covers I Like

As you know, I like to troll through ebook covers to assist me in learning what to and more importantly not to do when creating my book covers. If I listed the covers I didn’t like, I’d never blog about anything else. Besides, I’m not the kind of person that poo poo’s on another authors work. So here are some covers I recently came across that struck my eye as especially good ones.

Elements of Chemistry by Penny Reid

Elements of Chemistry by Penny Reid: Okay, the title lettering could be a tad bit better, but I just love how the “elemental woman” draws you in. Very clever and unusual enough to make you want to take a peek inside.

Boycotts and Barflies by Victoria Michaels

Boycotts and Barflies by Victoria Michaels: Cinderella’s glass slipper has never looked sexier! I’m wondering what they’re boycotting. Are you?

The Other Side of Eve by Paul Ikin

The Other Side of Eve by Paul Ikin: This kind of treatment can go so bad so easily, but not this cover. It’s sweet in a creepy kind of way, and inviting.

Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson: Book covers with smiling raccoons normally are a turn off for me, but this one really has me wanting to find out what’s going on inside this book that they’d put this little fella on the cover.

Six of Crows by Leigh B Ardugo

Six of Crows by Leigh B Ardugo: I just love how the tips of the crows wings make up some kind of castle. The title is clear and the imagery sharp.

At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen

At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen: Sometimes it’s all about how you place the title on the cover. This is definitely the case here.

Highland Raven by Melanie Karsak

Highland Raven by Melanie Karsak: Normally I’m not a fan of the half and half/two image book cover, but here it works. I think it’s all in the creative way they interlaced the images and also kept the color palate simple.

The Prettiest One by James Hankins

The Prettiest One by James Hankins: If you want to go simple on your cover, it’s all about creativity. Had it just been one profiled face, this cover would have fallen flat. This one has you taking a double take in the best way possible.

Perigord by Marc Lindsay

Perigord by Marc Lindsay: I have to admit that most books in this young adult fantasy genre are duds to me. It’s like they think kids aren’t smart enough to appreciate a good cover or something like that. This one is simple, but the imagery conveys the atmosphere of the book without being cluttered up with other story elements as other covers do.

The Color of our Sky by Amita Trasi

The Color of our Sky by Amita Trasi: I love this cover. It’s clear, concise and has an air of mystery that makes you want to see what it’s about.

So that’s it. I’ll post another post with more covers when I come across more.

-Jennifer

Jennifer Geoghan, author of The Purity of Blood novel series and If Love is a Lie: Finding and Losing Love Online.

9 August 2015: Evolution of a Book Cover … From Drab to Dazzling

As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been in the process of updating the look of my book covers and upgrading the image of Jennifer Geoghan Novels overall. Basically I’m throwing the proverbial spice on them and yelling “BAM!” For Book Three in my series, I wanted to keep the image of the lighthouse. The lighthouse in Stonington, CT where the book takes place is distinctive, not just your basic tower and small building beside it, so I wanted to make it a bit easier on the reader and show them what it really looks like. Plus it’s just really cool looking. Just in case you’re wondering, yes, I did get permission from them to use the photo.

I’ll start with this, the original book cover …. Oh, how I thought it was pretty good at the time … yet with time, I realize how lacking it is.

So I started with the photo I took while up there in Stonington. Then using my Adobe Elements program, I erased the tree branches in the foreground. I like them as a photo, but in a book cover, they’re distracting.

I attempted to start the cover from this image, but found that the distinction between cloud and blue sky was again distracting, so went ahead and filled in the blue sky with more cloud cover. I didn’t bother to pretty it up as I knew I’d be imposing a different sky on it anyway, but I still needed a more even background to build upon. Then went on picmonkey.com and added the GRITTY effect and then TINTED it red because I still wanted to keep with the Red, White and Black theme. The gritty effect gave better contract with the bricks of the lighthouse then just tinting it.

And then it got cloudy out … really cloudy. I wanted a menacing sky, a dark one that would not only be dark and ominous, but one I could put a white font on for the title that would give good contrast. To do this, I used picmonkey.com again and went, ironically enough, under the themes section to VAMPIRES. Under the textures section there, I added the dark clouds and saved it. Then added more, and more, and more. You can now see how my patch job on the clouds has been obscured.

When I had the clouds where I wanted them, I added in the title. To keep a certain sense of continuity with the new covers of first two books, I used the same typewriter font and also used the same font for the word blood just like I did in Book One.

Then came the dilemma of the door. To door or not to door, that was the question I posed to my Facebook fans. Asking which they preferred, I did a survey. Without won, but I thought it looked a bit distracting to have a total black hole. I liked the mystery of the missing door, but as a book cover, it was a bit much. In the end I compromised and did a darkened door.

Here’s the final cover. I like it a lot, and boy is it an improvement over the original one. What can I say, time and experience will teach you a lot about book covers.

Just to show that the road here wasn’t without a few detours, here’s a few different looks I experimented with that didn’t make the cut.

So there you have it, the evolution of a book cover. Picmonkey.com has lots of great effects you can add and I highly recommend fiddling around on their site if you’re looking to create your own covers.

-Jennifer

Jennifer Geoghan, Author of Romance Novels with a Twist. The Purity of Blood Novel Series, and If Love Is A Lie: Finding and Losing Love Online.

ALSO: Don’t Forget …. Today is the last day The Purity of Blood Vol. One is free on Amazon. Check it out by clicking on the image below.

31 July 2015: Purity Lost … a whole new look

In my journey to upgrade the look and feel of my series, The Purity of Blood, I recrafted the cover of book two, Purity Lost. Here’s the new and improved cover:

As opposed to the old cover:

This cover had potential, but the typography were weak. Let’s face it, you just can’t read it. So I punched up the title, made my author name more prominent, gave the smoke a bit of a twist and for a bit of continuity, I added in the same red hair in the background that I used as a major part of the book one cover.

Is this going to be the final cover? Probably not. As I grow as an author/publisher/marketer, so are my cover designs.

So, do you every upgrade your book covers?

-Jennifer

Jennifer Geoghan, author of The Purity of Blood novel series and If Love is a Lie: Finding and Losing Love Online.

29 July 2015: More Book Covers I Like

I could go on for days about book covers I really don’t like, but instead I prefer to show you ones that for one reason or another I really like. I don’t look to see what these books are about. It’s all about the first impression, what would make you want to pick up the book off the shelf to find out what’s inside. Todays selections are:

Below by Meg McKinlay

Below, by Meg McKinlay: Unusual and strikingly simple title over a bizarre image. What’s below? What’s above? I don’t know, but I’m curious. How about you?

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Dracula, by Bram Stoker: There’s no need to pick this book up to find out what’s it about, but what an alluring cover …. I’m not a vampire (that I’m willing to admit) I just write vampire novels, but even I’m a little tempted to take a nibble. 🙂

Hades by Alexandra Adornetto

Hades, by Alexandra Adornetto: I’m totally loving this cover. Clear easy to read title, wonderful imagery that doesn’t compete with the title. I’m actually thinking I may find out what this one is about.

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Moby Dick, by Herman Melville: Again, another classic on the list, but come on, how cool is this!! Whoever came up with this cover is a genius in my opinion. You can ever see whale silhouettes in the water.

The August 5 by Jenna Helland

The August 5, by Jenna Helland: I have no idea what this book could possibly be about, but the cover is just so enticing. I love the flame color of the title against the almost sepia tone of the background.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, by Joan Aiken: I love these devilish little wolves. They’re a little freaky, like they’d eat you with a sly smile on their faces. It’s a very simple cover in that it’s B&W with red lettering, but I think it works because of the animation in the faces of the wolves.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne: Another B&W with red cover. I really like the simplicity of this cover, but I’m not entirely sure it would work so well if you didn’t know what the book was about. That said, it’s a striking cover that I really like.

Villain by Yoshida Shuichi

Villain, by Yoshida Shuichi: This is such a cleaver depiction of a gun, which makes you wonder who the villain is threatening with said gun.

Wetlands by Charlotte Roche

Wetlands by Charlotte Roche: Based on the cover alone, I have no idea what this book could possibly be about, but I’d still pick it up to find out. I love how the graphics wrap about her legs like tattoos.

If you know of any great book covers you like, let me know and I’ll mention them the next time I do a book covers blog post.

-Jennifer

Jennifer Geoghan, author of The Purity of Blood novel series and If Love is a Lie: Finding and Losing Love Online

20 July 2015: Do We Really Need Book Covers?

Gee, I haven’t heard from Jennifer in a few days. I wonder what she’s been up to?

BOOK COVER HELL!!!!

I finally finished my quick rewrite of my first book in The Purity of Blood series. I want to do a relaunch for it and send it out to some reviewers. That said, I want her spiffied up and ready to shine like the glorious masterpiece she is. Sometimes you have to rip the band-aid off and toss out your stubborn notions. I’ve been doing that these past few days which is what consigned me to Book Cover Hell, a place of torment and suffering for those who strive for nothing but perfection.

Why don’t you just hire someone to do your covers?

Well, in a perfect world, I could consign someone else to book cover hell, but alas, old Jennifer has a hard time letting go of control (and money) when it comes to covers.

So what’s the problem?

The problem is, I want a cover that will SELL BOOKS! I know, I’m now on my way to writer hell for profaning my work with a cover that will …. help sell the book more than be a representation of the inner workings of my masterpiece. This is where the tossing of my notions comes in. When I designed the cover for this book (about two years ago) I had in mind to do the single item sort of cover (think Twilight and 50 shades book covers) But in hindsight, I’m thinking that if you’re not a known author, that may not be the best way to go.

Sex Sells!

Yes, this is true, but true as it may be, I may profane my masterpiece with a cover that sells, but AS God AS MY WITNESS, A half-naked man (or woman) will never grace the cover of a Jennifer Geoghan novel. Don’t get me wrong, I love a half-naked man as much as the next red-blooded American gal, but let’s face it, they don’t exactly scream good literature. My books may be romance inspired novels, but I do my best to create artful literature as well.

So whatch gonna do now?

I’m glad you asked. I … dropped the lion. God, it was soooo hard. I really love my lion. It has real meaning in the novel too. Not only that … I dropped the DNA strand. Gees …. I’m dying here. Someone open a window, I think I’m getting the vapers. Yes, the lion and the DNA strand were the band-aids I ripped off like a virgin running out of a whorehouse.

So what evolved out of my weekend in book cover hell. This:

Why the red hair? My protagonist, Sara, has a flaming head of red hair. It’s also feminine and lends towards a bit more of an air of romance than my trusty old lion. For comparison’s sake, here’ what I’m currently using as a cover:

Reimagined Cover Design

So, what do you think???? Will my new cover attract more sales?

Thoughts? Predictions? Let’s hear em’!!

-Jennifer

Jennifer Geoghan, Author of The Purity of Blood novels and If Love is a Lie: Finding and Losing Love Online.

9 July 2015: …. So Now What?

So I launched my latest project last week, If Love is a Lie. Sigh … always a big weight off your shoulders when you reach that point where you can’t tinker with the book anymore. And if I’m anything, it’s a tinkerer.

So what’s next?

A good question. Right now I’ve got a couple of things going on. First off, I decided to put a hold on starting to pound out my next novel. Instead I wanted to concentrate on the first book in my series, The Purity of Blood. As stated above, I’m a tinkerer, and of all my books, the first one seems to need a little tune up the most. Besides retooling the cover, I wanted to make sure the book was a tight as possible, because …. I want to try to get it reviewed. I have to say I’ve never tried to get any of my books reviewed before, and since I’ve changed my mind-set to a business oriented one when it comes to my writing career, it’s time to kick up my game to the next level.

On that train of thought, my other project is putting a media kit together. A media kit is meant to provide the media, bloggers, or anyone else interested with the basic at a glance facts of your life, career, novels, etc.. Sounds easy enough to put together, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I started working on it last night and I’m sure will be doing a few blog posts on my progress.

So … do you have a media kit? Do you find it helpful? I’d love to hear anyone’s opinions on the subject.

-Jennifer

Don’t forget to check out my latest novel, If Love is a lie, now available on Amazon. Click on the image below for a link to the novel on Amazon.