Showing posts with label book covers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book covers. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 7, 2022

The Beauty of Book Covers by Eileen O'Finlan

                    

                        Click here for purchase information     Click here to visit Eileen O'Finlan's webiste

As I write this blog post, it is less than a week since our celebration of Thanksgiving here in the U.S. That holiday always brings with it a time for reflection on the people and things for which we are thankful.

As I thought about my own debts of gratitude, I could not help but include the extraordinary art director who creates the amazing covers for BWL's books, Michelle Lee. Not only do I love the covers Michelle has created for me, I have yet to see a single BWL book that doesn't have an outstanding cover. Click here to check them out for yourself.

Whether it's rational or not, book covers are widely considered to be the most important factor, or at least the first one, in whether or not a reader decides to consider a book. That makes covers extremely important.

One of the most exciting moments for an author with a new book about to be released is his or her first look at the cover. So when I knew the cover for my next release, All the Furs and Feathers Book 1 in the Cat Tales series was on the way I could hardly contain myself as I waited to see what Michelle would create. Just as I expected, I was not disappointed. The cover is fantastic!

I am not quite ready to do a complete cover reveal yet. That will come when the pre-order is available and I have it to link the cover to. But meanwhile, here is a sneak peek at what everyone will see when All the Furs and Feathers is released on February 1, 2023.








Wednesday, July 27, 2022

The magic of book covers – by Vijaya Schartz

 

Find my books at amazon B&N - Smashwords - Kobo 

I write in various genres, and as I am a very visual person, book covers are important to me.

Except for one or two fails with now defunct publishers, I’ve always been blessed with great book covers. Other authors think I’m lucky, but I cultivate an open line of communication with the publisher and designer. I know they did not read the book, so I work very hard to give them the elements I envision for my book covers, to communicate the spirit of the story.

I was often told I have a good eye for color. And if you look at my sci-fi covers, you’ll notice a lot of blue.

For many of my current covers, I went online to the stock photo companies used by my publisher, to look for the perfect cover model to represent my hero and my heroine’s personality and state of mind, as well as the best background. Then I sent these pictures and suggestions to the publisher for the cover designer. I was always thrilled with the resulting cover.

This time, however, as I am polishing my next novel, a new publisher rule emerged that except for Historical Novels in period costumes, the covers would no longer portray people with faces, but instead we should use backgrounds, silhouettes, or other elements to create a mood.

At first, I cringed. I had already picked my heroine for the cover, and I so loved my characters, I had found the perfect cover models with the right faces and personalities among the stock images. But I was up for the challenge. My October release, ANGEL SHIP, Book 1 of a new science fiction series Blue Phantom, is about a ghost ship, an Angel captain, a noble heroine, and of course, a big cat with an attitude. It contains lots of action, evil sorcerers, space battles, and romantic elements.

Here are some of my older BWL covers with people on them. Find them on my author page at: amazon B&N - Smashwords - Kobo 

  



As I scrolled through thousands of background images, I selected a few representing the best approximation of the inside of my glowing angel ship. Then I found a big cat like my heroine’s bodyguard, and a pair of cool angel wings.

When asked to send my cover suggestions, I almost panicked. How would the artist make a kick-butt cover with the meager elements I had selected? It seemed impossible, so I prepared myself for the worst.

What I didn’t count on, was the immense talent of the artists who create these book covers, their knowledge of the genres (science fiction in this case), their years of experience and their awareness of industry trends. But most of all, I underestimated their ability to visualize what I couldn’t.

The artist made it all come together by using the background in ways I didn’t think of, finding the perfect font, in the perfect spooky glow, to give the impression of a phantom ship. And the result is extraordinary. I absolutely love this cover. And the next books in the series will have the same background and same fonts, but with a different cat. Yay!

My hat’s off to the BWL Publishing team. I love you guys. You are my heroes.

The book comes out in October, but in the meantime, you can catch up with the Azura Universe with these two sister-series, Byzantium, and Azura Chronicles. Hint: Captain Blake Volkov, the hero of ANGEL SHIP, was a secondary character in ANGEL BRAVE. 

amazon B&N - Smashwords - Kobo


Happy Reading! 


Vijaya Schartz, author
Strong Heroines, Brave Heroes, cats



Sunday, June 27, 2021

Why are we obsessed with book covers? by Vijaya Schartz

This is the cover reveal for my October release
Angel Brave, Azura Book 3 - Visit my page at BWL

As an author, I see images in my head when I write. Like a 3D movie, with sounds and lights and special effects, and color, and smells, and heat, and cold… and all these elements end up in my story. So, I have a pretty good idea of what my characters look like, sound like… and I want my readers to see the same movie in their heads as they read the book. So I do make suggestions to the artist cover designer, here Michelle Lee, and this latest cover does reflect my vision perfectly.

Chuck Lorre, creator of The BIg Bang, Young Sheldon
Two and a half men, The US of Al, and many award-winning sitcoms.

I remember something Chuck Lorre wrote in a vanity card at the end of a show. I paraphrase: “I learned over the years, not to obsess over whether or not the actor looks like the character in my head, but rather to find a talented actor who will make the character his or hers.”

And here resides the secret of success. Learning to let go of the characters we created to let the reader re-imagine them. I’m certain authors whose stories make it to the screen struggle with the same problem. How the movie director, the screenwriter, and the producers see the characters often differs from what the original novelist had in mind.

The Archangel Twin books
Evil has many faces, not all of them human...

Sometimes, the book cover reflects my vision of the characters, and sometimes not. And who is to say which is best? My idea of Michael was very different, but I do love the new covers for the Archangel twin books.

Byzantium (Space Station) series, action, romance, and telepathic cats

Then, there is the cover without people on it, a trend which comes and goes with the seasons. It portrays adjacent scenery or an animal relevant to the story. Like in the Byzantium Space Station series, with telepathic cats as secondary characters.

Chronicles of Kassouk - Sci-fi Romance with big cats

In a series, there is also the concern for continuity. A long time ago, with another publisher, I received a cover that was unacceptable. It was book 3 in a series, and while the first two book covers featured photographs of male cover models (it was sci-fi romance) the cover of Book 3 was a comic book drawing with juvenile UFOs and little green men. It took me a while to figure out a nice way to tell the person in charge that this cover, while lovely, didn’t fit the mood of the story, and most importantly didn’t match that of the two previous books. Ooopsie!

Ancient Enemy series - Sci-fi Romance

All the book covers in a series should reflect the same palette, ambiance, font, design, etc. so the potential reader can recognize a book as belonging in a familiar series. Like The Curse of the Lost Isle, or the Chronicles of Kassouk.

Curse of the Lost Isle, Celtic Legends, Paranormal Romance

This said, I hope you’ll check out all these titles on my pages below.

Happy Reading!

Vijaya Schartz, author
Strong Heroines, Brave Heroes, cats







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