Website & Social Media:
Website ➜ www.andrespiteri.com
Instagram/Threads ➜ https://www.instagram.com/andrespiteri_
Tell us about your book! What inspired you to write it?
Vanity Project is a police procedural set in a fictional city in Scotland, and the first of what I hope will be a series. A freelance cybersecurity consultant is stabbed to death in his home. At first it looks like his wife did it. But the case runs much deeper.
I don't usually have a specific idea in mind when I sit down to write (I'm not trying to dodge the question, promise!). My first book, Back From The Dead turned out quite complex — frame narrative, multiple POVs, and a non-linear timeline. So, with Vanity Project, I knew I wanted to do something more straightforward — a linear storyline with one main POV. That being said, other than an opening line, an initial scenario, and a vague idea of where I needed to end up — and by that, I mean I knew that, at some point, my detective would need to discover who the killer was — I didn't really have a plan. I don't usually do. Finding out what happens as I write is part of the fun for me. And, I reckon, if I don't know how the story will end, it will keep my readers guessing, too.
How did you choose the title for your book? Did it come to you right away, before you started writing it, or did it come later?
Initially, the title of the book was Weapon of Vanity, and the boring truth is that it came about out of practical necessity. I needed to name the file I was writing the story in so I could save it, couldn't think of anything, and went with the name of the first song that popped into my head: Weapon of Vanity by the Swedish death metal band Soilwork.
I knew it didn't quite work as a title, but I reckoned I'd worry about that later. I did like the ring of it, though. And then, without going into too many specifics because I don't want to reveal too much about the story, I realised that what my killer was doing was essentially a vanity project — an attempt to make themselves feel better about something they'd been through because they couldn't handle an unpalatable truth. And denial is kind of the central theme of the book. All the major characters are in denial. So I thought it worked nicely and it stuck.
Tell us about the cover design process. Did you have a basic idea of what your book cover would be like?
Yes, in the sense that I knew it had to be genre-specific. In spite of the saying, people do judge a book by its cover. It needs to set expectations. So I wanted a cover that, right off the bat, would tell potential readers 'This is a murder mystery.' I also wanted it to be bold and graphical. The vast majority of my readers are on Kindle, so the cover needed to look good as a thumbnail.
Who is your cover designer and how did you find him/her?
My designer is Dominic Forbes. He did a cover I really liked for another author in the same genre, so I reached out to him.
What has been the readers’ response to your cover?
Very positive. Everyone has commented that it looks great.
What tips would you give to authors who are looking for a cover designer?
I think the key with book cover design is that it's not an art project. It's about setting the reader's expectations, particularly when it comes to genre. If you've written a thriller, your cover must look like a thriller cover. If you've written a romance, your cover must look like a romance cover. Otherwise, you're making it harder for yourself to market the book. You need somebody who can help you visualise that.
Anything else you’d like to say about your book?
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