Book Covers...or...That Feeling You Get by Jannine Gallant

The big morning arrives. You haven't even finished your first cup of coffee when you open your email and discover the one you've been waiting for is in the queue... You know, THE ONE. A jpeg for your new book cover accompanied by an email telling you it's your FINAL cover and can't be changed unless they spelled your name wrong, and even then, they might just let it go... Nerves flutter. Your stomach tightens. Still, you're beside yourself with excitement. Your finger hovers over the button to pull up the image while you say a little prayer...

We've all been there...unless we create our own covers or have a heck of a lot to say about the cover images chosen. With Kensington, they ask for info on the book, a description of my H&H and my ideas for the cover. After that it's out of my hands. For my Who's Watching Now series, I got similar covers with attractive backgrounds close enough to work for each story, and hot, headless guys. Even though my heroes had never worn tank tops in their lives, I decided I was okay with all those muscles showing. At this point in my career, I'd rather sell books than have total accuracy in my cover images. Also, though some readers aren't fans of headless heroes, you can't pick the wrong model if you can't see his face!


I was on edge waiting for my first cover in my Born To Be Wilde series. I knew the concept would be repeated for all four books, so it was nerve wracking! The email came, and I was in LOVE! The hero and heroine of Wilde One looked EXACTLY how I pictured them (except for the ubiquitous tank top) with the perfect background. Whew...huge relief. Since the first two books will be back-to-back releases, my cover for Wilde Side followed close behind. I stared. I swallowed. My stomach dropped. But, but, that wasn't how I pictured my hero and heroine. She had on too much makeup, and he had weird, trendy hair and a too-intense expression. But the background was spectacular. Always a plus. Maybe my expectations were too high. The cover worked, but it wasn't...perfect. I am, however, getting used to it. Maybe trendy hero hair will attract a younger audience. Just because I'm not a big fan of makeup doesn't mean readers will find anything wrong with my heroine and her fake lashes. LOL


So, do the strong mind pictures we have of our characters set us up for failure when it comes to covers? Have you received covers you either loved or hated? What do you think of mine? Will they sell books? After all, that's the cover's number one job. Pleasing the author is just a bonus!


To pre-order Wilde One or Wilde Side, just click on the titles above! Check out my other books on my WEBSITE.

Homey Suspense: What do you Collect? by Rolynn Anderson

On this day, April 1st, I'm talking about foolish things we do.  Never planned on it.  Did it anyway.  Me: Bottle Stoppers.

Stop with the stoppers, I say.  Yup, I have a collection of wine stoppers and I’ve decided 30 is enough.  Cost and space factors were the main considerations when I began collecting wine stoppers.  I like buying pretty things that remind me of the places I travel, but without much room in either the expense account or the suitcase, little souvenirs made sense.  (Full disclosure, one of my purchases broke the bank at $45, and of course, I had to go searching for a way to display the things, and those plastic gizmos cost a fortune.)  It helps that I like wine and the display of my glitzy corks brightened up the bar.  Not so smart was how BIG some of the corks are, too tall on the bottle to stand up in the refrigerator or too heavy to balance on top of the container.

I’m presenting you some pictures of my collection.  Now I want to know what you collect; how it started and if you’ve been able to ‘manage’ it without too much angst.  Or Foolishness.  For those of you who have the non-collecting gene, we want to hear your story, too, even if we won’t be able to understand it.

Those series we write are also ‘collections,’ not always easy to manage.  Here’s my boutique funeral planner threesome:

Boutique funeral planners morph into a quirky detective agency, exposing secrets of the dead.  The heroine, with a fainting disorder, has prescient faint dreams; the hero is a muck-raking journalist.  Add: blind forensic investigator, embalmer, retired Army general, and a service dog.

FADEOUT  http://amzn.com/B00YWE3Z2U     
SWOON  http://amzn.com/B00A1P6P3U     FAINT  http://amzn.com/B0180LJBRI

http://www.amazon.com/author/rolynnanderson