Ta-Da! Cover Reveal!

Tip of the Day: Follow Free Book Friday? They give away books every Friday. Kristina Springer's THE ESPRESSOLOGIST is up for grabs this week. http://teens.freebookfriday.com/ Keep reading my post for more ways to win Kristina's books!

Today is the cover reveal day for Kristina's new novel, THE PAPARAZZI PROJECT. This sounds like a modern blend of romance and humor. First take a look at the eye-popping cover.

And here's the contest...

Kristina's running a cover reveal contest at her blog. Hop on over to http://kristinaspringer.blogspot.com/ and you'll be eligible to win an Amazon gift card, ebook ARCs, and swag, swag, swag. 

And here's the blurb...

THE PAPARAZZI PROJECT

Livvie Peterson thought taking Interpersonal Communications her junior year would be an easy A. But when the first assignment is given, her world flips upside down.  Here’s the deal: the class is assigned a six-week project and is split into three groups— Paparazzi, Tabloid, and Celebrities. The Paparazzi follow around the Celebrities taking pictures and grabbing any kind of quotes they can. The Celebrities try to navigate being tailed on a daily basis. And the Tabloid receives all the information collected by the Paparazzi and decides what makes the weekly summary report. Sounds harmless…and it’s all just pretend anyway, right?

Livvie is assigned as Paparazzi and when she is matched up with the über-cute Chas Montgomery as her Tabloid boss she’s pretty sure things couldn’t get much better. Livvie’s uncanny ability to capture the Celebrities in compromising photos matched with Chas’s skill of exaggerating captions and editing the photos make them an unstoppable team. And the long hours working side by side with Chas aren’t a bad bonus.

Livvie simultaneously launches an anonymous blog, leaking the class’ photos and stories on the Internet. Her rising follower number quickly becomes addicting and she possibly spills too much information online. Once she finds her own celebrity will she be able to give it back? And will Chas be gone before she ever has the chance to find out?

*available in kindle format on December 15th.*

Congratulations, Kristina! Happy Cover Reveal Day.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Choosing a Cover Artist

Tip of the Day: My newest novel, Afterlife, released today. It's only 99 cents through Sunday. Plus, I'm giving away some Harry Potter souvenirs on my blog. Check it out!

As an indie author, I spend a lot of time on the aspects of publishing that most traditionally published writers never experience. Covers and artwork are a huge part of this. From what I'm told, most trad pubbed authors have little, or no, say in their covers. This is something I LOVE about being self-pubbed. The cover art is in my hands.

It's also one of the parts that terrifies me the most.

I don't have an eye for artwork. I couldn't even tell an artist what I want, really. In my mind, color, shape, contrast, all of that stuff, is just a blob of nothingness. I'm not a very visual person.

When I set out to create my first cover, I perused the covers of a ton of self-pub authors. The one that struck me the most was Ravenmarked by Amy Rose Davis. It's beautiful, isn't it?

I found out her artist was Robin Ludwig. I contacted Robin, told her about my book, and she created the cover for Anathema - a cover that has been highly lauded. Then she took that concept and made my Cloud Prophet Trilogy come alive. Each cover utilizes the same model and background, but just the simple changes (a turn of the head, or removal of a hood) speak so intimately to the storyline. I couldn't have done that on my own. 

For my next trilogy, The Swarm, I went with Phat Puppy Art. I wanted a different feel to these books and Claudia's artwork spoke directly to the heart of my story lines.

If you're interested in self-publishing, I HIGHLY recommend finding an artist to create your cover. Unless you're proficient in Photoshop, don't attempt it. Your cover is the first thing a read will see. If you don't want to come off as amateur, make sure your cover screams professional.

Search through Amazon and find covers you love. Contact the artist for a quote. Some are far more expensive than others. Many times it depends on the amount of manipulation that goes into the creation of the graphic.

Covers aren't the only form of artwork a self-pub needs. I have bookmarks that have been created by Robin, as well as Chris Whigham, a prominent social media manager. My new blog header was created by CP Design.

Without these people, my artwork would be atrocious. I'd probably sell far less than I do. I am so grateful to have found such incredible designers!!!!

Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber

Fun Friday: Just Your Average Princess Cover!!!!

Happy Fun Friday!

Our Author2Author readers get the very very first peek at the cover for my fall book (10/11/11), JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS!

Summary: Jamie Edwards has loved growing up on her family’s pumpkin patch in Average, IL, and she’s always dreamed of one day being the town’s Pumpkin Princess at the annual Pumpkin Festival. But when her rich and famous cousin, Milan Woods, comes to town and changes everything, Jamie knows she has to expose Milan for who she really is and teach her that life’s not all pumpkins and apple butter at the patch.

And here's the cover!!!

Have a great weekend!

Kristina

Cover Attraction

Tip of the Day: Borders is closing 200 of their stores. :-( Check out my Ode to My Local Borders.

I looked through thousands of book covers on goodreads last night. And my finding is that I am an odd ball and do not like what the rest of the world likes. It might be easier to tell you what I'm not attracted to:

• anything dark
• anything where there's just an object in the middle and I'm supposed to know from that that I want to read a book. Like just an apple and a plain background. I mean, what is that about?
• Not so into the backs. So many covers are people walking away these days. Maybe if they have on a really good dress but I'd kinda rather see the face.
• anything that implies werewolves, vampires, unicorns, killer whales, rabid gorillas etc. I like books with humans.

So what do I like? You guys already know! Girlie books! Give me some pink and hearts and let's call it a day. I like bright, colorful, fun book! And it looks like I'm the only one since the first thousand or so books on each list is dark, dark, gloomy, dark books. Come on people, lighten up! Ok, here are some that are brighter:

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Attracted to Art (or *Ohhh, You're My Cover Girl)

*With apologies to New Kids on the Block

Tip of the Day: Two days left to enter to win CONFESSIONS OF A TRIPLE SHOT BETTY! Just comment on last Friday's post!

Like Kate, I am drawn into cover art that features gorgeous costumes, particularly period pieces.
(I haven't read VIXEN yet but it's been on my radar since I saw the cover on an ARC this past fall.)
(THE LUXE books are just fancy fancy!)















I also have a thing for creepy covers. (I can't wait for zombie book #3 by Carrie Ryan!)
































(I'm reading DEAD MAIDS right now.)

(Have you read THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST? Check it out -- and the sequel!)
(I read this book based solely on the cover.)
(Also read this just based on the cover. Not disappointed.)

What cover art attracts you?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Cover Lover

Tip of the Day: Happy Valentine's Day! Don't forget to enter our Feel the Love giveaway for Triple Shot Betty right here by Thursday!

It's all about love on Valentine's Day. Love, attraction, lust, cravings. Like ... like how I feel in a book store!

Although some of these book covers are getting me down lately. All that gray and black. All those pictures of people with their heads out of the frame. I love color. Look at the incredible use of color in MATCHED by Ally Condie. I totally want to pick up this book just looking at it.

I also love gorgeous period dresses. I check out books if I like the dress on the cover; if I like the dress on the cover, I will always, always, always stop to read the blurb. I don't mind so much if someone's head is cut out of the frame if it's to show off a dress.

After looking at those covers, you may agree with me that clothes make the cover!

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

For YA Publishers: Covers (or Librarians Have It Covered)

Tip of the Day: The next YALSA Symposium is in St. Louis in 2012!

This is my second post on advice for YA publishers based on my experience as a YA librarian inspired by my recent YALSA Symposium attendance. (Click here for the first.)

I have never worked for a YA publishing imprint, so I'm not exactly sure how things go in their marketing/art department meetings, but I HAVE attended many YA Librarian conferences, meetings, chat sessions, etc., and I know we share some very similar frustrations, one of which is The Inaccurate/Unappealing/Unfortunate Book Cover. The ones that no matter how awesome the books are, even if put face out, patrons will not check them out because of the terrible covers.

Some problems with bad covers from the pov of librarians:
1) inaccurate ones can contradict readers advisory interactions (e.g., a skinny cover model when the MC is fat; a strange symbol on a cover that has nothing to do with the story)
2) inaccurate ones can limit audiences (e.g., a white cover model when the MC is Asian)
3) unfortunate ones can make books look old even if they are brand new (e.g. a drawn cover model instead of a photograph when photos are popular now)
4) unappealing ones can make books stagnate on the shelf, no matter how hard they are pushed, which wastes library money when they are eventually weeded for lack of circs (e.g. strange artsy covers that say nothing/confuse readers)

I know that people who do work for YA imprints attend events like ALA -- so why don't they gather some thoughts while there on what covers go out? Or if they do (do they?), why don't they take that advice? Because as much as places like B&N and Borders can have "control" over the cover decisions and are probably often correct in their assessment about what will or will not sell, publishers should not underestimate the power of librarians to spread book love that teens will spread from there.

To end on a note of love, YA librarians like covers that:
1) depict real teens (of all colors, shapes, sizes, and sexes)
2) accurately reflect the tone of the book (and not try to copy another successful book's look if the actual book is nothing like the other one)
3) are simple yet striking (so they catch a teen's attention as they pass by a display)
4) make sense (don't throw an icon on the cover bc "icon covers" happen to be selling well now unless the icon actually makes sense with the book)
5) accurately reflect the characters/setting in the book (and not just pick the first stock photo that B&N will carry if the characters are the opposite appearance of how they are written)

There are so many FABULOUS YA covers out there -- there are not-so-good books with awesome covers that go out all the time just bc of them! -- that I think a better job could be done, and YA librarians would be happy to guide art departments in viewing cover options.

What do others out there think of the power of YA librarians? :)
Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Cover thoughts

Tip of the day: In the summer, keep an extra bottle of sunscreen in your car at all times. That way, you are ready for whatever fun you come across!

Pre-published writers often wonder how much say we get in our covers. They want to know if we're able to provide any input, or if we get it and we don't like it, will the publisher change it?

As with everything else in publishing, this varies from house to house, perhaps even author to author and book to book.

I haven't had any say in my covers. But my editor did ask me early on in the process of I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME if I had any ideas for the cover. And at that point, I made it pretty clear that I don't really have an artistic mind. I don't think in terms of images. And I certainly have no idea what kind of covers sell books and what kinds don't.

So, I've left that part of making a book up to them. The difficult part for me is that I often see covers I LOVE and then everything else sorta pales in comparison. Covers that are fortunate enough to have photo shoots have that something special. One of my authorly dreams is to someday have a book that gets that special little bonus of a photo shoot. I don't know if it will ever happen, and maybe in the scheme of things, it doesn't really matter.

I have two books coming out next year. CHASING BROOKLYN is a chilling, romantic companion young adult novel to I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME and will be released January, 2010. IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES is a mid-grade book about a girl who dreams of traveling but is stuck in Oregon helping her mother get a cupcake shop off the ground and will be released March, 2010.

Here are the covers - would love to hear what you think!

~Lisa, Miss Crafting a Career