It's So Easy To Make A Bad Cover Decision

Let's talk about book covers for a moment.

I'm thinking a lot about covers right now because I'm going through that process on a novel I've written. So many of the tasks are different when doing a novel but one thing remains the same. The most important page of most books is THE COVER. At least if you're interested in marketing or selling more than one or two copies a year.

Ginger the artist and my crazy co-writer persuaded me to use the current cover on our "Princess Caitlin's Tiara'' (See below) picture book. It was a bad decision on my part. I was responsible and I made a bad decision. Not because I thought it was the greatest cover ever but because I was just giving my friends the benefit of the doubt. Remember this rule: NEVER BE NICE WHEN IT COMES TO CHOOSING YOUR COVER. The goal of writing the book is to have people buy it.

So what's really important is how enticing that cover is when it's sitting on a bookshelf or being represented online by a small cover image.

Now, both Ginger and Kim read this blog so they will be annoyed with me but what I say is the truth. The image is nice but they both got emotionally involved with it. Ginger is a fantastic artist. She's working on another one of our books now. But almost every illustration in the Princess book would have had more impact on the cover than the one we chose.

Darn it.

They still don't agree with me but it's a burden I must carry. If you check out the other book -"Birthday Snow'' - that's the effect a cover should have.

When we do the next printing of the Princess Book it will have a different cover. More people will read it because of that. Again, THAT'S WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT.

Not only that I broke a rule I mentioned earlier. If you have a feeling something is wrong change it.

Michael LaLumiere