A “QUIRKY, DELICIOUS” NOVEL DESERVES A QUIRKY & DELICIOUS COVER …: Status as @ September 2012
“Quirky, delicious, finely wrought literary fiction I highly recommend for fans of Annie Proulx, Anne Tyler and Audrey Niffenegger.” I can’t believe Joni Rodgers, of New York Times multiple bestsellers fame said something so nice about The Good Cemetery Guide!
She had lots of nice things to say… but one big negative. Joni thought the cover was ‘butt ugly’ (Oh dear!). Aluta Continua!
The latest… “Quirky, delicious” cover!
So a new version of The Good Cemetery Guide cover replaces the previous version. Actually, it’s not so much ‘new’ as revamped so that the thumbnail works better (title and author’s name clearer) and a new background colour with a more romantic feel to it. So, hopefully enough changes to identify it as romance-suspense or literary fiction. I realise more and more how important it is to find your audience… and that’s where strong genre branding helps.
Lesson 1 Learnt: Do as much as you can yourself. The chances are good you’ll prefer it to what other people will do for your book. And at least you can only blame yourself!
Lesson 2 Learnt: It’s no good blaming the cover designer; you have to know what you want. I’ve gone back to the original cover design with the hearse which I still like. It just didn’t work so good for a thumbnail. I hope it’s better now, but after several quite different cover designer experiences, I realise with hindsight that cover design, like most things, is not a straight line between two points but rather a journey over hills and vales on a zig-zag path…
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Consuelo Roland 