Designing a Book Cover

 Hey there! I decided to design the cover for a steampunk romance novel I'm about to publish under my imprint, PH Press. First, I mocked up several cover ideas and posted them on social media, inviting friends to vote on a favorite. This is the first-place winner:

The favorite is eye-catching and the girl looks mysterious and compelling. But once I reviewed the book description I had written, I realized my friends' second choice was a better fit.

A story of passion and peril in alternative Victorian England.

It's the late 19th century. Bold inventions usher in a new age, while genetic and cosmetic sciences reinforce an age-old class system. For the rich, immunity to disability and disease justifies their hold on power. Born disfigured, Mordecai Michaelson has employed his musical talent to rise above a life of poverty. Philomena Paulson appears no less perfect and no more talented than her upper class world requires. But she has secrets only Mordecai understands. Acceptance, trust, and a passion for music compose bonds of forbidden love between them. When chance discovery of Philomena's darkest secret threatens scandal and revolution, she's determined to save Mordecai from the gallows. But Mordecai is just as determined to keep her from social suicide, even if it costs him his life.

After reading the description, do you agree with my choice? Because the alternative setting is pivotal to the novel's plot, I think picturing the setting on the cover will orient readers to the type of story they'd step into.

Now that I've chosen a design idea, I'll purchase the stock images at the proper size to begin cover design. I will probably post regarding that process, so stay tuned!

Resources for Self Publishing Your Book

I started self-publishing in 2011. At first I knew nothing about how to do anything! Now, it's pretty easy. I enjoy self-publishing for the creative control it gives me and the direct payoff in higher royalties vs. those I'd get from being published by someone else. Here are the resources that either helped get me on my way or help me turn my ideas into real print books, ebooks, and an audiobook.

Formatting

In 2011 Steven Lewis had online tutorials on formatting for Kindle. I believe he focuses more on social marketing today. I found his books about the self-publishing industry helpful, too. http://taleist.com/#home

 

I use the free formatting software, Calibre, to format my ebooks in formats for all readers and devices (ePub for iPad and Nook, mobi for Kindle, etc). Its UI has options for building a Table of Contents, testing your format out in a device simulator, and so on. I test drive all my ebooks with Calibre before actually publishing. The Calibre ebooks are also the files I give to reviewers. http://calibre-ebook.com/

 

Social Media and Marketing

 

I built my author platform across social networks mostly through Shelley Hitz's webinars. For instance, I learned how to set up a Facebook Fanpage and Twitter presence, and use tools to streamline my social marketing efforts. She packs extras into all her service packages and recently expanded her service offering. http://www.trainingauthors.com/

 

Guy Kawasaki is a social media guru. The best advice I got from him was on what and when to tweet. http://guykawasaki.com/

 

On my blog, for publicity purposes I have events that include random drawings for prizes. Rafflecopter is the web service that powers that: https://www.rafflecopter.com/

 

My New Releases Newsletter is facilitated with MailChimp: http://mailchimp.com/

 

Book Production

 

I cannot stress the importance of hiring an editor, getting professional cover design, and having a great back jacket book description. If you're going to spend money, spend it on this and don't flinch at the cost. I mean, don't you want your book to be the most professional product possible? Think how much brain sweat you put into writing your book. Don't you deserve to see your idea beautifully polished? Some reviewers of my books say that my book cover or my book description made them buy the book (and that's some motivator, considering that they'd never heard of me).

 

Derek Murphy designed for my vampire novels, Bloodroom and The Bad Death. He's stopped taking new clients (for now, anyway) but is branching into DIY design advice. http://www.bookcovers.creativindie.com/

 

 Daniele Serra designed covers for my short stories and my anthology Night at the Demontorium. His work has won several awards. http://www.multigrade.it/

 

Editing! OMG don't you dare publish your book without one! Pick up a book published by a big NYC publisher, read the acknowledgements, and you'll probably read the author thanking up to three editors. At least do yourself the favor of hiring one.

 

Glen Krisch edited my novel, The Bad Death, and my anthology, Night at the Demontorium. He cured me of some bad habits. He's also a writer. https://glenkrisch.wordpress.com/

 

Linda Wasserman edited my novel, Bloodroom. She's a grammar and sentence master. She's also a publisher. http://www.pelicanpresspensacola.com/id4.html

 

ACX is the audiobook wing of Amazon's publishing services. In a way it's like match.com for writers and narrators. You can call for auditions or you can browse for a narrator that offers the type of voice you're looking for and then listen to their audio samples. I'm not gonna lie; it was expensive, but I'm so happy with my audiobook! http://www.acx.com/

 

Marketing and Publishing Industry Wonks

 

I follow the blogs of writers who keep their ear to the ground in terms of how the big publishers are doing business, how self-published authors can get noticed in the ocean that is Amazon, and issues related to these topics.

 

In addition to crusading against sharks and reporting on latest industry developments, David Gaughran writes weird, thoughtful short stories and wrote a South American adventure novel. https://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/

 

In addition to advising on writing and making money from writing, JA Konrath writes thrillers and is hugely successful. http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/



 



Readers Vote on Book Descriptions

Congratulations to Aubrey Laine, the winner of a $25 Amazon gift card. To enter the raffle, Aubrey and other readers commented on which of two book descriptions for The Bad Death they found most compelling. I thought it would be fun to compile their input and share.

You can read the descriptions on my last blog entry. Option A was written by a professional book blurb writer I contracted with through The Serious Reader. I wrote Option B. Results: Option A won by one vote. I was really surprised to see the description I wrote fare so well. Hey, I can write a novel. But ad copy throws me like a wild horse.

Readers commented that Option A was "sultry and scary" and "matter-of-fact ...let's the reader know what he/she is in for". Others commented that Option B gave more insight into what the story is about, "drew me in", and "I would pick up the book if I read something like that!" Opposing viewpoints reminded me that one person's trash is another's treasure. For instance, while Option B snared some commenters, another said it was "poorly written". On a related note, when I get too scared of bad novel reviews, I remind myself how long the spectrum of opinion is. My novel, Bloodroom, has gotten 2 star reviews, but it's also gotten 5 star reviews. We humans are a diverse bunch!

Which description will I use? Both! Not at the same time, of course. Successful self-published authors change descriptions on books from time to time to see how each affects sales. That's what I'll do.

Thanks, all who gave their opinions. It's been a great help!