Derry, Northern Ireland

Derry, Northern Ireland
A book I'm working on is set in this town.

Saturday, February 25, 2017

I guess this is it...

This is the best cover I can come up with, at the moment, and I like it but I'm not in love with it. The covers for OT, RIHC6 and PM felt right the second I had them done. My other books, the covers were okay...and that's how I'm feeling about this one....which is not how I thought I'd feel.

 I love the artwork Zan did...but I don't think I really worked it out in my head as to how it would come together, and so I'm only satisfied with the final result, not enamored.

It's got Daniel and his shower curtain and shirt, with the pistol and the money. It's got Ace brooding over his left shoulder in a near perfect rendition of the character. It's got a guy who can be seen as both Tad and Van over Daniel's right shoulder. It's got the lodge in the background. It's got the snow storm. And their expressions are pretty dead on.

But does it draw you into the story? Does it make you want to read the book? That is what a cover's supposed to do...and I don't know if it does. I tried adding a laptop in front of the window but that felt cluttered and obvious. I tried adding keys around the edges of the art, but that was even worse. I even tried adding the reflections of characters in the window, but that just made things murky.

Thing is, I don't know what else I could have done to exemplify what The Lyons' Den's about. It's completely chaotic and off-the wall...and how to you put that into a cover? Can you put that into a cover?

This is why I'm bad when it comes to advertising -- no idea what sells or how to sell, even after reading up like crazy on it.

No comments: