Most publishers, The Wild Rose Press which is mine included, ask their authors to fill out
Manuscript Information and Cover Art Sheets to accompany completed manuscripts. In my case, for the recently released On The Surface. Book 1 in the Brothers In Blue series.
The Manuscript
Information Sheet is self-explanatory and contains pretty cut and dried
information such as the dedication, praise and reviews, blurb, excerpt, brief
author bio and keywords. I won’t bore you with the details of those items except
for the last one. Keywords. For On The Surface, I chose rebel hero, framed heroine, secrets and betrayal.
The Cover Art
Sheet, obviously used by the artist to design the cover, can be a little
trickier to complete in that it makes you think about your manuscript beyond
the main characters and story itself.
Starting out, providing
physical descriptions of the hero and heroine, is easy enough and can be as
simple as blonde hair, blue eyes, slim build, and such. Casual to formal dress.
Jeans, tank tops and T-shirts. That kind of thing.
Then there’s time
period, season and setting. Again, easy peasy. “Present time/contemporary. Spring through Summer at the Rest Easy Bed
and Breakfast on fictional Cascade Lake, a resort town in Northern Michigan.
Also, some scenes take place in Metro Detroit.”
Next up is tone
of the book. In this case, I entered “Deception,
concealed identities. All is not what or whom, they seem with the undertone of
big city crime set on the backdrop of a beautiful resort town bed and
breakfast.”
Then we come to
the question of what is the most important element of a book cover? Person,
place or object? Animal? Couple? If couple, in what pose? I take that to mean
what is the main component that explains what you’ve written? My reply was “A landscape of a lake. The title, On The
Surface, refers to the deceit of the hero and heroine regarding each other and
their relationship.”
Final question.
What is the story really about? After months of writing, re-writing, editing
and re-editing the story this should be a piece of cake, right? Not
necessarily. Following much deliberation, I came up with “Deception and pursuit of vengeance by the hero. Independence from an
abuser for the heroine.”
Whew! Done and
done!
As many of you
know, this is the finished product. And I must say I’m thrilled with the
result.
My days to blog
here are the 11th and 23rd. For more about me and the
stories I write, please visit my WEBSITE
17 comments:
Fantastic cover, Margo! It IS work coming up with the exact wording for what you want to convey for the design. (Your designer nailed it! TWRP designers are phenomenal.) I remember the first one I filled out, I wrote something like: "My one request is no bare-chested men on with long, flowing hair." :-) Can't wait to read ON THE SURFACE!
Thanks, Leah on all fronts. You’re right about TWRP designers. They do rock! I agree with you. For what ever reason, bare chests and long hair aren’t my thing either. Hope you enjoy OTS.
Love the cover. And your story was great too! I'm anxious to get to my next series and request "no couples". I might write romantic suspense, but I'm tired of being pigeon-holed by a romantic couple. There's more to the book than that.
I've done a little random testing with people regarding my postcard with all 8 of my covers. It turns out that covers are a preference much like genre is. What I like isn't necessarily what others like...and what makes a reader click on a cover to sample the story inside, is difficult to presume. The whole business of changing covers to grab new readers seems nutty to me. I understand the 'Z' and the 'I' composition of a cover. Yours is an 'I', Margo...love the colors and the movement from detailed to mute.
The cover artist did an awesome job with your cover! However, your key words are too specific. They need to be broader to get picked up by search engines. Here's an Amazon site that gives key words for each romance sub-category. You can also check the suspense/mystery sub-categories for other key words. https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201216130 Those forms are a pain in the butt. I'm pretty happy my current editor hasn't asked me to fill them out other than a general, "What would you like to see on the cover?" They sort of listen to my suggestions...
I love your cover, Margo. As a reader, I tend to go with flowery covers with cute houses. Don't ask me why. If you look at my book covers, there's not a flower there. Just muscles and bare skin.
I have loved this cover from the moment I saw it. It will always rank among my absolute favorites.
Exactly, Brenda. Couples do pigeon hole us. Music to my ears you enjoyed my story.
Margo, I think you're allowed to name the artist that did such a lovely cover for you--which it is--and give her or him credit!! Very evocative, too.
Good points, Rolynn. At a recent book signing, people seemed to gravitate to this over over one with a tuxedo clad male and a couple. Go figure.
Check, check, Jannine. Thanks for the tips on the key words. Pain in the butt, for sure, but necessary I’m afraid.
Nothing wrong with muscles and bare skin, Vonnie. Nothing at all.
Me too, Alison.
Good point, Andi. Something I neglected. The talented artist is Diana Carlile. I request her for future covers now.
They did a great job on your cover, Margo. Atmosphere, esp.
Diana Carlile, Diane. I need to remember that. She did do a great job.
Yes, they nailed it. You did a great job of conveying what you wanted, though. The cover fits it well! Excellent cover for an excellent novel :)
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