How often have we heard this saying, whether in life or when buying a book?
How many of us have impulsively picked up a book based solely on the cover then read the blurb on the inside jacket only to find it none too moving, but that cover…there’s something about it that grabs you and so you reluctantly purchase the book. I’ve done it and when I finish that “just okay” novel with the beautiful cover image I could kick myself. I honestly feel as though I threw money down the drain and who can afford to do that these days?
Consequently, how many of us have read a great book with a “just okay” cover, or a great book with a cover image which has no connection to the novel? Or, how about a book with just the just the title and no cover art? The Catcher in the Rye and Interview with the Vampire come to mind and happen to be two of my favorite novels as well. The novel “Euphoria” with its multicolored cover reveals nothing of the story line set in Papua New Guinea about three anthropologists in a love triangle. Again, one of my favorite novels but the cover art is okay at best.
When I am asked about the cover images for my novels I am flattered, especially since the cover image of Immortal Obsession is a photograph I took of Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. If you have read Immortal Obsession then you know that the main character, vampire Christian du Mauré spends a lot of time wandering and hunting there. I too love Bethesda Fountain and felt it important to use this image. Createspace, the company that published Immortal Obsession added the colors and the moon peaking through the clouds but the photograph is mine alone.
My second novel, Blood Tears, had a very different almost disturbing cover image featuring a beautiful woman shedding tears of blood. Again, this theme is prevalent throughout this novel as more than one vampire has cause to cry. The company which created my old website, WellVersedCreative, was able to purchase the image from the artist who I credit in my novel. Some find the image creepy as the shrouded woman cries very real blood, but again, the cover ties into my novel which I find important.
There is always the “ah ha” moment when the artist captures exactly what the writer envisions and it is truly magic. It’s a fun part of the entire process of first creating a story, going through numerous edits and then bringing it all together with great graphics, which add another dimension to the story being told, but then again, there is nothing like one’s imagination to conjure up images of a beautiful woman shedding tears of blood, or the favorite haunt of a vampire.