Sunday I did a cover reveal for my upcoming release, An Appalachian Summer. I loved all the comments since you seemed to really like the cover. Some of you said that yes, a cover either attracted you to a story or didn’t. Most of you liked the pretty purple of Piper’s dress and the rhododendrons. I do have Piper enjoying the beauty of those rhododendrons in this mountain story. She had a summer not to forget.
Then, later this week, when I posted a picture of our old barn on Facebook, someone said it would make a book cover. I’ve had that comment on other pictures I’ve posted in the past. Since we were discussing book covers and what makes them work or at least what made the cover of An Appalachian Summer work, the comment on the barn post made me ask what they might add to the picture if they were thinking of it as a book cover. I thought of adding a girl with a basket and a couple of dogs. So, I hunted up another picture that made me think it could be the background for a book cover. You might or might not agree with that being true for the gate picture above, but just for fun, think
about what you might add to the picture to make it right for a story. You might have to think about what kind of story it would be or perhaps whatever you imagine adding might let you know what type of story it could be.
What makes a good book cover? What invites a reader into a story? One of you said setting. Others of you may think the character or characters portrayed. Often the history or era of the story will be shown. A book cover should draw a reader’s eyes to it. Attractive colors and font for the title and author name helps. But I think perhaps the mood the cover suggests might be the most important. With Piper looking toward that cabin, you can imagine several different moods. Perhaps she’s anxious to go to the cabin. Perhaps she’s hesitating, unsure of what is going to happen next. Perhaps, well, perhaps you’ll have to read the story to see.
The Refuge E-Book Sale – Only $1.99
Then there’s the cover of my recent book, The Refuge. Some have said they liked it best of any of the covers I’ve had on my Shaker books. I’m not sure I could say that. I do like Gabrielle on the first Shaker book, The Outsider. At the same time, I like this cover too and I think it does capture the mood of the story. There’s the title that enhance that mood. The bright fall colors add to the beauty of the cover too. And of course, I like that they used authentic Shaker buildings from pictures I sent of the Shaker buildings in the village near me.
I’m not featuring The Refuge simply because of the cover. It’s on e-book sale for $1.99. What a great time for you to take a reading trip to my fictional Shaker Village of Harmony Hill if you enjoy e-reading. It’s a great time to get out those e-readers and dust them off if you haven’t used them for a while. If your town is like my town, the libraries are closed, but you can still borrow those e-books. But for a couple of bucks you don’t have to worry about a return time. You can have The Refuge on your e-reader where you can see if the cover had the proper mood to match the story. You can find out more about the story and find buy links here.
But meanwhile back at the book cover fun, what would you add to the gate picture up top to suggest a story? Or to the barn picture if you like it better?
I’ll draw for the winner of one of my already published books on Sunday. If you leave a comment on this post or last Sunday’s post, you’ll get an entry. As always thanks for reading.