You know the old saying. Don’t judge a book by its
cover. Well, people do it all the time—when it comes to books. How many times
have you looked at a book in a bookstore or on the internet and put it down or
passed it by because the cover art was terrible? Or uninspiring? It could have
been a really great book, you know. How many times have you picked up a book
with a fantastic cover only to discover it was a terrible read?
An experience of mine taught me this. A friend loaned
me a book with a horrible cover. The book was called “Keeper of the King.” The
cover featured a vampire holding a woman in a long flowing gown, blood on his
lips and dripping down his chin. Quite lurid. I was dubious, but she just said
“read it.” So I did. It was years and years ago, but that story has stuck with
me. Why? Because it was a great story under that terrible cover. And oh—there were
no kings, no women in long flowing gowns, and though there was a vampire, he
definitely didn’t have blood on his lips and chin. In fact, he never bit
anybody that I recall.
So how do book covers come to be?
In the larger publishing houses, the marketing
department makes the decision on book design. The author has little or no say
in the matter. And the rule is to be bold, be eye-catching and be different—but
not too different! Which is why when you look at books, it seems you see
nothing but sexy lingerie, napes of necks, the backs of women, the torsos of
hot, hunky men, and so on. Except for some minor details, they all look the
same.
That’s one of the beauties of being an independent
author/publisher, or “indie” for short. You get to design your own book. There’s
a catch, though. You should hire a professional book designer, unless you’re
one yourself, to execute your vision. There are a number of programs that will
generate a design for you, but then your book ends up looking like everybody
else’s.
And one other thing—the cover should tell the
potential reader something of the story. Obviously, for “Keeper of the King,”
the marketing department never read the book.
In my case, The Moreva of Astoreth had two covers. The
first was a depiction of Moreva Tehi, the heroine, in all her white-maned,
purple-skinned glory, standing under a tree with vines and flowers. Doesn’t
sound bad, right? That was my vision, right? Yes—except it didn’t work very
well. The cover told nothing of the story. It was obviously about a woman, but
so what? Lots of stories are about women, white-maned and purple-skinned or
not. Needless to say, the feedback I received wasn’t too great.
I decided to change the cover. I went with a different
designer this time, one who does 3-D modeling. Since Moreva Tehi is a
scientist, we decided to depict her in her lab. She’s standing before her
carrel, holding up a glowing disk. Laboratory equipment—beakers, flasks,
etc.—crowd the surface. A skratz (think lab rat) is depicted in the bottom left
hand corner. In the background are snow-capped mountains. Tells much more about
her and her environment, don’t you think?
And the feedback has been much better.
/////////////////////////////
Blurb
In the
world-building tradition of Andre Norton, Anne McCaffrey and Ursula K. LeGuin,
The Moreva of Astoreth is a blend of science fiction, romance, and adventure in
a unique, richly imagined imperialistic society in which gods and science are
indelibly intertwined. It is the story of the priestess, scientist, and healer
Moreva Tehi, the spoiled, headstrong granddaughter of a powerful deity who is
banished for a year to a volatile far corner of the planet for neglecting to
perform her sacred duty, only to venture into dangerous realms of banned
experimentation, spiritual rebirth, and fervent, forbidden love.
Link to Follow Tour: http://worldwindtours.com/index.php/2016/08/04/tour-sign-up-the-moreva-of-astoreth/
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-moreva-of-astoreth-roxanne-bland/1122928113?ean=9780996731607
I've been a fugitive from reality since
forever. As a child, I constantly made up stories--some would call them
lies--about my family, friends, neighbors and even strangers on the street. I
had friends that only I could see. Oh, the adventures we had!
Learning to read was a revelation. Words
fascinated me. Whole new worlds opened up, and since my parents forbade
nothing, I read everything. Some of it I didn't quite understand, but I didn't
mind. I read it anyway. I even read the dictionary. When I was a little older,
I was big on mysteries--English cozy mysteries, that is, Agatha Christie, were
my favorites. Then I graduated to horror. Whenever a new book came out by
Stephen King, Peter Straub or Dean Koontz, I was first in line. I was reading a
little science fiction at this time--Robert Heinlein and authors like him--but
I really didn't get into it until I was in college. The same with fantasy. I
really got into high fantasy--Lord of the Rings style--in college.
During this time I was still making up stories,
but not writing them down. They were private. Besides, I thought my family and
friends would laugh at me. In fact, the only story I recall writing was one
that won a contest when I was in elementary school.
So anyway, life goes on. I went to law school.
After I graduated and entered the workforce, I finally started writing down my
stories. I wrote a bit here and there, short stories that never saw the light
of day (which was probably a good thing). Then I fell ill. I had the flu for a
month. Bored out of my skull, I started writing a piece of fan fiction, though
I didn't know that's what it was at the time. I showed it to a friend of mine
who suggested I finish the story.
Well, that piece of fan fiction fell by the
wayside, but in its place came a manuscript that would eventually become my
first book, The Underground. I absolutely adored writing it. I absolutely adore
writing, period. Slipping into that alternate reality for hours on end, there
was a time in my life when it was called daydreaming and I got into trouble for
it. Now it's legitimate. And that's the best part of all.
Website: http://blackrosepress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoxanneBland2
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