Creating A Cover

A short time ago, I put forth a plea for input on titles and covers for my upcoming Pine Hills Police novel. A quick recap: It's Book 3 in a series, so both title and cover had to fit with the others (there's also a short story anthology, so that makes 4 covers/titles that have to coordinate.)

After taking the input provided by you, I finally had to make the commitment. A lot of factors played into the decision.

Finding Daylight, my #1 choice for a title didn't work out for several reasons. That would have put 3 of 4 books with "Finding" in the title, making poor "Hidden Fire" the odd man out. Also, when I did a quick search on Finding Daylight at Amazon, I found self help and religious books, which are a far cry from my book.

Then, we looked at how the title would lay out on the cover. The one that fit both the theme of the book and the requisite cover art ended up being "Saving Scott."

During this process I worked closely with my cover artist, Dave Fymbo. I asked Dave to share his process, and this is what he said:

What's In A Title? Help Wanted

What I'm reading: The Lost (anthology--bike) by J.D. Robb, Patricia Gaffney, Mary Blayney, and Ruth Ryan Langan.

First – don't forget you have until tomorrow to leave a comment on Colleen Collins' Tuesday post to be entered in the drawing for a free copy of her book.

Also - I've got features for two different books today. FINDING SARAH is at Rock Bottom Reads, and DEADLY SECRETS is at Nook Lovers. I hope you'll point people that way.

A short while back, I asked for help with ideas for cover art and titles for my new Pine Hills book.  I'm participating in a Barnes & Noble program, which means I have to have everything ready to go in early March. I've sent the preliminary ideas to my cover artist, and my editor is working on the manuscript. But I need a title NOW.

There were some good suggestions, both via the blog and sent to me via email. The monkey-wrench in the decision is that since the book is part of a series, the titles should have the same feel. Also, they should, if at all possible, work "visually" with the others.

I've created a short survey where you can vote for your favorite, or suggest one of your own. Although most have "Scott" in the title, it's not required. I hope you'll give me some feedback, because when you're publishing an indie title, you don't have the luxury of wandering down the hall to a meeting of a marketing department. OK, I can wander down the hall, but there's never anybody there but me when I try to hold a meeting.

Click here to take the survey

Thanks!


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Watch Your Back...Story

What I'm reading: Contest entry #7 of 8

I've been reading books for a contest lately. A fair number of the books I've been given are part of a series, or at least connected books, which is the most common in romance. This means they'll have characters who have appeared in previous books, but aren't the "stars" of this one.

Most of what I write falls into this category. The only exception is Hidden Fire, which is a true sequel to Finding Sarah. Randy and Sarah are the protagonists of both books. On the other hand, the new book (still untitled, but I'm working on it. Ideas still welcome!) is set in the same town, with many of the characters readers met in the first two books, but the hero and heroine are brand new. They've never appeared before. This is unusual in series/connected romance books, too. (Have I ever mentioned that I didn't know the "rules" when I wrote Finding Sarah and Hidden Fire, so I didn't really set things up for a series.)

I did take one secondary character from Finding Sarah and give her a book of her own, but then when I got the rights back and switched publishers, I had to sever her ties to Pine Hills. So, although Colleen from Nowhere to Hide actually started out in Pine Hills, through the magic of fiction, she sprang forth with a new place of origin. (If I decide to request the rights back, I just might change the book and give her back her history with Randy and Sarah.)

Welcome to the Art Department

What I'm reading: Man Law, by Adrienne Giordano (Nook); Explosive Eighteen, by Janet Evanovich (Library) Contest book #6 of 8

First – check the sidebar and/or the Deals and Steals tab. Amazon has cut the price of WHERE DANGER HIDES in half. Don't know why, don't know for how long. But it's definitely a bargain price for a hard cover.

The manuscript for my third Pine Hills Police book is done. At least my part for round one. It's now in the hands of my editor. Because the book is the third in a previously published series, I knew there would be no chance that a traditional publisher would want to pick it up, so it's an Indie job from start to finish.

Now, if I did have a traditional publisher, at this point, they'd be working on a cover. They'd be deciding whether my working title actually worked. There might be some give and take, but ultimately, those decisions are theirs.

But I have to be my own marketing department, and my own art department. With a publisher, I'd have filled out a cover request form summarizing the plot, describing the characters, suggesting "looks" I liked or didn't like. Then, some time down the road, they'd send me the image and say, "This is your cover." And, for the record, it's unusual for them to make changes unless they've spelled your name wrong, or you can convince them that your book is set in Oregon, and cactus on the cover won't work.

Whose Story Is It?

What I'm reading: Contest entry #4 of 8; The Affair, by Lee Child.

Remember, there's still plenty of time to comment on both my Monday post and Mike Nettleton's Tuesday post to enter to win books. And another reminder about my POV workshop at Savvy Authors. I'll be giving books away there, too. If you know someone who might benefit from a basic craft workshop, point them that way. (Link in the sidebar)

In the world of romance fiction, reader expectation dictates that you have (at least) two Point of View characters: hero and heroine. They both must have complete story arcs, almost equally weighted.

Key word: "almost". Because it's not really 50-50. It might be as close as 49-51, but the reader is usually left with the feeling that it was a "his" book or a "hers" book.

Not being much of a plotter, I knew who my characters were, and what their conflicts were, but I wasn't really paying a lot of attention to whose book it would turn out to be. It didn't really matter until I needed a title. (That's another thing I rarely come up with in advance.)

Now, this book is part of my Pine Hills Police series. I've got Finding Sarah and Hidden Fire. There's also Finding Fire, but that's a collection of connected short stories. The new book features two totally new characters, Scott and Ashley, but there are still many familiar faces. The title should somehow "fit" with the others, giving potential readers a signal that the books are part of a series. For example, my Blackthorne, Inc. series all have "Danger" in the title.