The Art of Choosing Cover Art (and a Giveaway!)

Self-publishing has become easy and viable for many authors. Even mid-list and best-selling authors are self-publishing either new books or books from their backlist. Choosing cover art, which is something most of us have little experience in, is suddenly a crucial decision we have to make. In the midst of all the other new techniques we have to learn it can be more than a bit intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Ideally you’ll want to hire a graphic designer, but finances being what they are that might not be possible. With a little practice you can design your own covers. Here are a few tips to help you on the way. 

Once I’ve written a synopsis and have a fairly good idea of the story, I start searching the stock photo sites for images I think will work for a cover. There are a lot of stock photo sites out there. Some of them are insanely expensive, while others are reasonably priced. The most I’ve ever paid for a cover photo is $70, but most are somewhere around $30. If your cover will be figural it’s a good idea to find photos that look as close to your characters as possible. Obviously, if you’re self-publishing you can base your characters on the photo. Even when I traditionally publish, I attach any stock photos I like with the art form from the publisher. It’s a bit of a crapshoot, but they’ve used it more than once, and it certainly can’t hurt. A lot of writers use celebrity photos for inspiration, but to me, stock photos make more sense as you can actually use those pictures if need be. If you’re working with an artist, keep in mind when looking at the pictures that a good cover artist can change such things as hair and eye color, and even skin color within a certain range. Tattoos can be added or removed (though I understand removing can be a bit of a pain). It’s more important to convey the proper mood and concept of the story than to have exact representations of your characters.

Size:    The vendor sites are requiring absolutely huge files these days, but you also must keep in mind that the first time a reader sees your cover it might literally be the size of a postage stamp. That being the case, it’s a good idea to use clear, crisp images. Highly cluttered images don’t read well, especially when reduced down to microscopic sizes. I always open a picture in Photoshop and look at it as small as possible to get a good idea of how it will look on the vendor site.

Orientation: This would seem to be a no-brainer, but I’ve seen some covers made with horizontal images. This just looks…wrong. Most of the stock sites will let you search with a filter for orientation. This limits the frustration of finding the perfect image with the wrong orientation. A good artist can do some cropping, but it’s best (and cheaper) to start with a good image to begin with.

Color: This is just a personal observation, but dark colors don’t seem to “read” as well on the vendor site as brighter colors. Obviously, if your book is a dark police procedural with serial killers and whatnot you’re probably not going to go with bright pinks and yellows, but you might want to add some lighter colors so the image “pops” more visually.

Fonts: Some beginners make major mistakes as it pertains to fonts. There are a lot of fonts out there and it’s easy to get caught up in all types of funky designs and special effects. That is not a good idea. It looks amateurish and it’s unreadable when your cover is the size of a postage stamp. Stick to one or two crisp and easy to read fonts. If you’re going to have two fonts on a cover they should be opposites, for instance, a nice traditional serif font with a script font is usually a safe bet.

These tips should help you calm any qualms you have about choosing a cover that’s perfect for the book you’ve worked so hard on. 

***

Roslyn Hardy Holcomb is the author of the best-selling novel Rock Star. Her most recent books are: Hot for Teacher, Dark Star and Pussycat Death Squad The Lion in Russia.  She grew up in North Alabama and currently lives in the Atlanta area with her husband and two young sons. 

Leave a comment below for your chance to win a copy of Roslyn's most recent book, Pussycat Death Squad The Lion in Russia. 

Guest author Julie Luek: What's your writing personality?

Julie Luek

Julie Luek has her MA in Education and Counseling and is a freelance writer living in the mountains of Colorado and is published in regional, national and online publications and is the author of two blogs A Thought Grows and In Fine Company. She is also a biweekly contributor to the international writing site, She Writes and has appeared as a guest blogger on sites like WOW (Women on Writing), Chiseled in Rock, and others with writer-based content. She can be found on Facebook and Twitter and enjoys supporting the community of writers.


For over twenty years I worked in the field of higher education, much of that time spent working as a career counselor. One of the ways I helped students discover their major and career choice was by administering a personality inventory called the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). It’s based on the theories of Carl Jung, famed psychologist who believed, in short, that there were temperaments or “types” of personalities.  The idea for students, of course, was if they could identify their personality preferences and learn to apply it to evaluating job functions, the fit might be better for both parties.

As I’ve ventured into the world of writing, I’m brought back to this inventory and have reflected on how it might relate to my writing style. Although in consideration of space, this is a very short and non-scientific look at the application, it provides an interesting angle on our writing personality.

The Types

Extrovert (E)—Have an external focus and energy source. They like to talk their ideas out loud and will process as they do. They are stimulated by their external environment—for example, music may energize them and writer’s groups are wonderful for processing.
Introvert (I)—Have an internal focus and energy source. They can get lost inside their own heads with little need to verbally process. They tend to like quiet and find external stimulation distracting. While not always loners, their need for socialization is more limited than their extroverted counterparts.

Sensing (S)—Into the details: the who, what, where, when and whys of things. They often enjoy precision and research and are exacting in their attention to details.
Intuitive (N)—Into the big picture. They love brainstorming and ideas. They are dreamers, but have a more difficult time and find it more tedious to get down to the “brass tacks” of an idea.

Feeling (F)—Make decisions through their heart. The first question they often ask is how do I feel about my choices? How will it influence others? Is it a kind/merciful decision? They lead with their hearts and may process decisions based on emotions.
Thinking (T)—Make decisions through their heads (even though they are aware of feelings) and ask questions like, does it make sense? What are the consequences? Is it just? Decisions, and even relationships, may be filtered through their sense of logic first.

Judging (J)—Enjoy a planned, organized lifestyle. High amounts of loose ends and unplanned interruptions will disrupt a judger’s sense of calm. They’re great with checklists and love the sense of completion of getting a task crossed off. Deadlines and a clean, organized workspace are comforting.
Perceiving (P)—Enjoy a more fluid, open-ended lifestyle. Although messes aren’t ideal, a sloppy desk isn’t a reason to panic; a Perceiver knows where everything is. Perceivers are more flexible with interruptions and have a higher need for variety. They’d love to be more organized and appreciate the need; they just seldom are.

In the theory of the MBTI, you would choose one type/letter from each of the four categories and this becomes your personality “type”.

What Does It Mean?

For me, being an INFJ means I can work, and in fact prefer to work, for hours in complete silence—only the hum of the refrigerator to keep me company. I love solitude and don’t crave writers’ groups, even though I know they are good for me. I love to brainstorm ideas in my own head and have a tougher time with the details, especially those pesky grammar details. I lead with my heart—I love to converse and relate to readers on a heart level. Despite my aversion to details, I crave organization. I keep bulletin boards with organized projects, a list of due dates for articles and love a sense of completion when I submit a piece.  I can’t stand a cluttered work desk—it makes me nervous. The downside is I tend to sometimes get overwhelmed if there are too many due dates or open-ended projects on my to-do list.

Looking at this list, how would you describe your writing personality? Does this help shed light on your style? Are you a planner or a pantser? What does your work space look like?

For more information on the MBTI, visit here.

Tips for living with a writer? A list, deconstructed.

A few weeks ago, I was reading my Facebook news feed when I came across a graphic posted by one of my friends, offering yet another "Top 10" writing advice list. Its title? “How to Survive a Relationship with a Writer: Top 10 Tips.” The graphic offered no author for the list, but a website was cited at the bottom: Writers Write.

Graphics such as this often are played at least to some extent for the humor, with some tidbits of truth and/or wisdom thrown in to anchor the whole thing. I went through the list, conjuring memories or pet peeves that matched up with the “tips” listed, or things my wife, kids and friends have to endure as they tolerate the writer in their midst. So, I decided to post each of the infonuggets here, along with my take on them:

1. Never ask when the book will be published.
   This one makes no sense to me. I love when somebody asks me this question. It (usually) means they’re interested in what I’m doing. I’m always telling people when my next book will be out and I keep a running “monthly wrap-up” on my blog, detailing the progress of every project I have in the hopper. My regular readers appreciate these updates, and they know they can ask me about the status of a given project at any time. What can I say? I’m an attention-whore.

2. Do not ask a writer if they wish they had written the latest best-seller.
   I’ve never gotten this question, but 1) All writers wish they had a best-seller, and 2) It depends on the book in question. I’m okay with not having written Fifty Shades of Grey, for example, but I wouldn’t mind writing something like Darth Vader and Son.

3. Never say you’re thinking of writing a book. Never ever say you’d also write a book if only you had the time.
   Okay, this one can bug me on occasion, mostly because it’s probably the one statement I’ve heard the most over the years. I frequently get asked some variation of, “How do I become a writer?” The most fervent askers of such questions don’t seem to like hearing that to be a writer, you have to...you know...write.

4. Don’t call the police if you happen to see a writer’s browsing history. The average writer is not planning to poison you, hire a hitman, or move to Afghanistan. It’s simply research.
   This, of course, is what we want you to think.

5. Leave the writer alone when the writer is actually writing. You have no idea how difficult it is to enter “the zone.”
   I agree with this one, for the most part. When I’m in my home office and the door is closed, that’s the universal signal for “Writer at Work.” Family and friends know that they open said door at their peril. You’ll know when I’m on a crash deadline, as I’ll have enabled the office’s protective guillotine and laser grid features.

6. Don’t pick unfair fights with a writer. Writers do get their revenge in print.
   And the dumber the fight or argument, the more painful your fictional namesake’s demise. For example: If you want to argue with me over how much you think the latest Star Trek film sucks, I’m sending you and your hovercar over the cliff on some winding Martian mountain road. Political discussions usually mean I’m going to make you the main course for a horde of zombies. Your mileage may vary.

7. If you do want to fight, make it memorable. The writer is always looking for material.
   I actually did craft an exchange of dialogue in one novel based on a string of comments from a Facebook discussion. Some of the more memorable conversations and/or arguments definitely make good fodder. However, no one from the original discussion died in the resulting book.

8. If your writer wanders off at a party, don’t panic. Writers love to inspect the host’s bookshelves and medicine cabinets.
   I can honestly say I don’t peek into cabinets or drawers in other people’s homes or offices. That’s just rude, but I do peruse your movie collection, if for no other reason than to see if you’re bold enough to display your porn alongside the mainstream titles. I’ll also definitely be checking out your bookshelves...mostly to see if any of my books are there, and I then judge you accordingly.

9. Buy your writer notebooks and cute pens as gifts. Do not buy flowers. Chocolate is also acceptable.
   I’m not much of a flower person, but I imagine at least someone out there would appreciate the thought. I’m okay with notebooks, but feel free to substitute “vodka” where it says “cute pens.” In fact, sub it for “notebooks,” too. On the other hand, the chocolate is always welcome.

10. Leave your writer alone when a rejection letter arrives. After the deadly silence, screaming, crying, moaning and muttering have subsided, offer your writer a cup of coffee or tea. And a cupcake. Add a huge hug.
    I know no writer who gets that worked up over a rejection. It happens to all of us, and it’s just part of the game, right? Personally, I shrug it off, see if there’s anything in the rejection letter I can use to improve the story I submitted, and then I move on. This goes double for bad reviews, which we all get, too. Stuff happens, but feel free to send along the cupcakes. They can’t hurt.

Most of these, we’ve heard before in one form or another, though the one about browser histories is something I’d never really considered, and any tip involving chocolate is a proven winner with me. Anyone have their own unique tips for successfully cohabitating with a writer?

Ye Olde Bait-and-Switch

by Sunny Frazier

I'll admit it—I'm a sucker for a good headline. The ones on the tabloids are so outrageous that I can't stop myself from reading them while standing in the check-out line. I love a good pun in a book title (my next is A Snitch In Time). I want to be teased, tempted, tantalized. What I don't want is to be tricked.

I subscribe to a lot of industry-type blogs for information. I don't tweet, but there are people online who send out Twitter feeds and do the hard work for me. And yes, I'm suckered into opening these URLs because I can't help myself. I'm always looking for that Holy Grail of info that will reveal all the secrets of publishing and selling. Move over, Dan Brown!

I'm especially prone to anything with a number cited:

4 tips for completing your manuscript (oh, please help me!)

25 Ways To Be A Happy Writer (you mean I don't have to be depressed?)

12 Ideas for Email Updates That You'll Actually Enjoy Writing (email can be fun???)

Break it down in simple steps for me. This is what I'm looking for. Except, it's not.

When I open up these blogs, more often than not I find old news re-hashed. All the poster has done is slap a new title on stuff we already know. It seems the writer invested more time in coming up with a catchy title rather than content. I feel cheated. No, I feel used. I was looking for a new insight and all I got was generic information.

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice and I don't trust you anymore. I won't be lured to your blog again. Go ahead, dangle all the enticing titles at me that you can come up with. I won't take the bait.

I've decided to steal the premise of these blogs and do what the originator was too lazy to do—stretch my brain and come up with fresh info. You want to know “7 Odd Places to Sell Books?” Okay, here you go: Funerals. Coffee shops. Flower shops. Stationary stores. Social Security Office. Hospitals. Insurance offices. Yep, I've sold my books to all these places and I can tell you how I did it. I'm not one to make promises I can't keep.

I know many of these disappointing pieces are written because bloggers need to fill space. But, I don't have time for blather. Neither do any of you. Instead, make it a practice not to just read and absorb but read and riff off the unfinished idea. At least you'll get something productive in the end.

Great Beginnings

"Fury on Soufriere Hills," the fourth novel in the Caribbean Adventure Series, is finished, sort of. Although I have worked out most of the kinks, developed my characters, created and resolved tensions, I am still struggling with the most important part of a middle grade novel, the beginning.

While youngsters are more tolerant of flights of fantasy than adults might be, they are less likely to keep reading a book that does not grab them immediately. The main comment that I got from the critique group I attended a few weeks ago was that the action started too late, page 8 for goodness sake, definitely too late for a middle grade novel. I consulted with my local experts (aka my children) and they concurred. My son, an avid reader, mentioned that his friends disliked some of the books he loved and especially the ones that had a slow start. He was willing to stick with them, but many of his friends were not.

He suggested an alternate beginning. In this one, the action started on the first page, with Mark, the main character tumbling down a hill into a … wait a minute, you’ll have to read the book to find that out. Mark would then gripe about how he had found himself in this predicament, thus giving me an opportunity to go back a little in time and create the setting. I wrote it this way and sent it off to my first level of readers.

“I thought that this paragraph was here by mistake,” was the response to the very opening of the book. Clearly this did not work the way that I had done it. It is a great idea, but I had so much background to cover that there was too much (those pesky 8 pages) between the fast paced beginning and the resumption of the action.

So I am now on the fifth version (I can count, just did not want to bore you with each revision) of this opening and I think that I finally have the right balance. I hope you will too, when this book is finally published.

Flash Fiction

Still reeling from the disappointing results of my ebook experiment, I entered a period of depression, followed by a period of heavy drinking, and culminating with alternating bouts of anger, self-loathing, and giggling.  It was a rough time, I won’t lie, but it only lasted about an hour, and I’m over it now.

I’m not going to give up.  In fact, as long as people refuse to read my work, I’m going to keep writing.  That’s what it’s all about, I’ve decided.  So I’m revisiting one of my first loves, Samantha Horowitz of Paramus, New Jersey, for the hell of it.  And then I’m revisiting another of my first loves; flash fiction.

I can’t write poetry, but I can write brief stories.  What I like the most about flash fiction is that it forces you to be creative in a limited space.  It’s like painting a sunset with only two colors, and not the colors you want.  

The storyteller John Daniel crafts massive little stories with only 99 words.  I can’t do that.  I need 150-250.  But with 150 words, you can make a story out of nearly anything, like this:

HOW TO BUY VODKA IN A RECESSION

“I don’t have a lot of money,” I told the liquor store clerk.  He knows me; we go way back.  “But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to sacrifice on quality.”

“How much do you have?”

I held up a handful of coins.  “$2.34”

He reached for a miniature bottle of Smirnoff.  “This is the best I can do.”  

“No.”  I shook my head.  “It’s really too small.  What else do you have?”

“Nothing, nothing at all, except,…no.”

“What?”

He sighed and pulled a liter bottle from under the counter.  The label was Russian.  “I don’t know if you’re ready.  It’s made from turnips.”

“What’s it like?”

“It’s a low-born vodka, sullen with a harrowing finish.  It’s the kind of tipple you’d want along on a cold November morning if you were stripping wallpaper in Minsk.”

“How much?”

“$1.17.”

I did the math.  “I’ll take two.”

If you’d like to read more, consider investing 99¢ and picking up a copy of The Mummies of Blogspace9.  It’s been called “original,” “evocative,” “mind-blowing,” “far-reaching in scope,” and “genre-bending,” all by me.  This could well be the best 99¢ you spend all day.

Writing is not for the faint of heart

My first two books were published by the now defunct Dorchester Publishing company.  A year ago Amazon bought out Dorchester and after two years of little activity, my books began selling again.  In the month of January I sold over three thousand copies of my first book.  My husband was ecstatic.  He was happy that I could actually make a living by my writing.  He couldn’t wait for the February statement.  I was, however, cautiously optimistic.  I know in the business of writing, consistency of remuneration is not always the norm.

When the February statement rolled around, I had only sold a few hundred copies.  My husband’s disappointment was obvious.  I calmly told him it was the nature of the business.  He told me he could never be a writer.  My response was, “Writing is not for the faint of heart.”


A professional writer’s life is one of crests and valleys, and a trial of patience.  You write a wonderful masterpiece, you edit it, you submit it to a publisher and you wait and wait and wait, only to be sent a form letter telling you that your masterpiece was rejected.  A person without tenacity or one who sees writing as a high-returns-low-investment scheme would give up.  After the sixtieth rejection letter even the dedicated writer might give up.  But who knows, the sixty-first could be the one who accepts your masterpiece.
 
Let’s say you’re fed up with the anxiety and stress of the traditional publishing houses and you decide to go the Indie route.  That still has its crests and valleys.  Many authors write and produce really wonderful literary masterpieces and publish them via indie publishing.  Some even offer free books and sweepstakes.  Yet often times the sales are erratic.  Sometimes they sell a lot, other times months go by and the sales are in the single digits.  Does it mean he or she should give up?  No, a true writer keeps writing regardless.  Even if a traditional publisher grabs up the book, sometimes the sales will be through the roof and other times they may lag.

Now you’ve gotten your book published and it is selling relatively well.  The reviews are good initially, but then you read one bad review on a blog that has an extensive comment thread, where people vow they will not purchase the book because of that bad review.  Do you give up?  Only if you are thin-skinned.  I remember reading a review of one of my books, where the reviewer began by saying all of the other reviews were good so she felt she had to give a bad review too even it out. Seriously?  No matter how good a book you write, there will always be negative reviews because not everyone will like your book, your writing style, or your characters.  So we have to grow really thick skin and like a duck, let the water slide of our backs and just keep writing.

So if you’re gonna write professionally there are a few things you have to do. 
1.    Get a backbone – you need it for the reviewers and critiques
2.    Be patient – getting published requires some waiting
3.    Ignore negativity – it’s not worth listening to naysayers
4.    Grow really thick skin-- again you need it for those negative reviews
5.    Be tenacious – just keep writing regardless
And finally, if you are going to be a writer, write for the love of writing.  If you’re in it for the money and not for the love of the craft, the anxiety, the stress, the waiting will kill you, because writing is not for the faint of heart.