F is for Family Secrets

Debra feels the cover for her book never quite matched up with the story itself.

Overall, I have to say I am quite pleased with the covers of my books. It's a scary thing, seeing that e-mail in the inbox letting me know the cover for my latest book has arrived. It's always a heart-pounding breath-holding moment when I click it open and download the image. Some, I've fallen in love with immediately. Other times it took me a bit longer. Some I like better than others, but I've been satisfied with most of them.

Except for the cover for Family Secrets. It is by far my least favorite cover. The reason being, to me, it doesn't reflect the tone and overall feel of the story. The branding is all wrong.

This particular cover went through two attempts. The first one I rejected right away. Something I'd never done before. Here's what it looked like:

Now don't get me wrong, this cover is spicy, and I do write spicy romance. But the hero is all wrong. My hero is an all-American handy man by the name of Chase Stewart. I pictured a muscular guy in jeans and a T-shirt with a tool belt slung around his waist. This cover brings to mind more of a reformed gang-banger type of story. I've read those. They're good. But that's not the story I'm telling here. Plus, the kid looks like he's eighteen, nineteen tops. Chase is over 30. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

So, I professionally voiced my concerns to my editor and the co-owner of TWRP. They were understanding and agreed to have the cover artist do another rendering. She came up with this:

Again, the cover itself is nice. Sexy in a romantic way. But it still doesn't fit the story. The guy on the front is too young. We've regressed to about sixteen or seventeen on this one. He's the wrong ethnicity. Erika, the heroine, is showing way too much skin for a second grade teacher. But I was too chicken to complain again. And I've regretted it ever since. Because this cover definitely doesn't brand the story correctly. Hopefully the old saying of 'don't judge a book by its cover' works in this case. And the cover is only part of what readers look at when considering a purchase. The blurb, excerpt, reviews, and author's back list all play important roles.

But it's still disappointing. So my dream is to have Family Secrets selected for the Kindle Encore program (Which just re-released This Feels Like Home exclusively in Kindle format.) For that program, I believe there's too much skin showing on this particular cover and it would need to be redone. (Which would of course mean promotional items like postcards and book marks would also need to be redone.)

For me, an important lesson learned. Next time I'll be brave enough to speak my mind and fight for what's best for my story.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Cover Me Happy!

Debra received the cover for One Great Night!

As you know, I've been waiting for the cover for One Great Night for a while now. I don't think it was taking longer than usual, more it was just me being impatient.

So I was pleased as punch to get an e-mail with the subject line referring to the cover a few weeks ago. Turns out it was an e-mail from the cover artist, introducing herself and asking for some further input. She said she had a good idea of what I wanted based on the cover information sheet I had filled out, but wanted to check in to make sure she was definitely on the right track. She gave me her Facebook page and web-site to browse, and asked me to choose a few covers I thought had the right feel for my book.

When I first looked at other covers she'd done, I was a tad worried. She creates covers for a lot of erotica, including male/male and female/female romance. Many of the covers were very explicit and showed way too much flesh for what I would be comfortable with for one of my stories. My stories are definitely spicy and rated R, but they most definitely don't cross over into the X category. But as I looked further, I did find some examples that were more in line with my style.

So I e-mailed her back and gave her the names of the books I thought had the feel I was looking for. She said she'd search through some images and come up with some ideas.

A few days later she sent me not one mock up, but four mock-ups of my cover. The images were the same, but she'd played with the colors on the title and author name. I loved them all and had a hard time choosing. In the end, I actually came up with a slightly different color scheme. She in turn came back with two more options, just with the shading/shadowing of one of the words.

This was the most involved in creating my cover than I'd ever been, and it was fabulous to have so much input. I am extremely pleased with the result, as the characters are right on and I think it perfectly fits the tone of the story: sexy, flirty, and fun. I honestly can't stop looking at it. I've printed out a copy for my desk, I saved a copy on my phone, and when it comes up on my desk top (I have the covers of all my books rotating through), I minimize whatever I'm working on so I can stare at it for as long as it's on the screen.

So without further ado, I give you the cover for One Great Night...

And the tag line and blurb, just so you get a feel for the whole package!

She's ready, he's not; it's a battle of the sexes with a twist.

At twenty-seven, Chloe Harris has never had a night of really great sex. Before she turns thirty she wants to check that particular item off of her bucket list. She's known Jason her whole life. More importantly, she trusts him. Who better to help her with her plan?

Call him a bit old-fashioned, but Jason Williams has never had a one-night stand. And he's not about to start with his best friend's baby sister. To save Chloe from herself, he will pretend to go along with her crazy scheme. But what happens when the charade becomes all too real? For his libido and his heart.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

A Cover - Take Two

Debra reveals the cover for Family Secrets.

A few weeks ago I received the cover for my upcoming release Family Secrets. I wasn't thrilled. The cover itself was okay. Sexy, fun, a great background. But I felt it didn't represent the story. And when it comes to branding and marketing a story, that's not good, as the cover tends to be the first impression some people have of a book. So I did something I've never done before. I requested another cover.

I got the new one last week. It's definitely better, but the hero still doesn't seem quite right to me. He looks a bit younger than the Chase I've written. And not quite 'studly' enough. However I decided in the grand scheme of things, I could live with it.

Here it is:

Those I've shared both versions with, definitely like this second one better. What do you think? If you remember the first one, do you like this one better? If you haven't seen the first one, any impressions or thoughts on this one?

The best thing about getting a cover is I'm one step closer to the final, published project. And that's always exciting! And it never fails to thrill me to see my name on a book as its author.

And then just for fun, here's the tag line and blurb for the book:

A hot summer, a furtive fling, but what happens when the secret gets out?

Even after the death of her husband, Erika Garrett is still close to his family. She vows they'll never discover he was cheating on her. She's content with her play-by-the-rules life until Chase Stewart re-enters her life.

Chase is divorced from Erika's sister-in-law and wants nothing to do with her family, or they with him. If it weren't for shared custody of his precious four-year old twins, he wouldn't be a part of their lives at all.

He has no desire to marry again, so the only thing he can offer Erika is a secret summer fling. But when the secret is uncovered, can either of them ever face the family again?

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com