New covers, website, and lessons learned #writerslife

First new cover!

Fearless finally has a cover it deserves! Though I'm already itching to make another. I'm telling myself to wait until next year. I need to get some writing done!

The book got a little boost in downloads when I changed the cover on Amazon, but it has settled back into its normal rank. It does all right. It always has downloads every month, but does it convince readers to buy my other books? I don't think so.

Writer Lesson #1: Times have changed. Free books do not lead to sales of your other books.

The TOTEM series!

I LOVE these new covers for the TOTEM series. I spent much more time on them than I anticipated, but it was worth it. The covers are much more urban fantasy than the previous ones.

There have been no bumps up in sales when I changed the covers and the keywords on Amazon. Yet I haven't done any promoting either.

Writer Lesson #2: A great cover and a fantastic story aren't going to sell books. Promotion is key. If you have the means, buy ads.

Feeling quirky!

For the Sasquatch Susies trilogy, I was inspired by my cozy mystery friends. I love their simple and fun covers. These were easy to make and I really love them. I'm going to do up new covers in this style for my other erotica titles. But next year. Need to write.

Writer Lesson #3: Write first. All the other author business can come later.

I've also been fussing around with my website. I left the hosting company and that was a mess. They'd been perfectly fine until I expressed my desire to leave and take my domain name with me. I finally managed to get my domain name from them and registered it with another host. It was half as cheap, and I was feeling good. Then I discovered that if I want to actually use my domain name with my new host, I'm going to have pay more for it. They didn't say this upfront. I had to go digging for it. And the price to use my domain name with them was much more than my former host.

I'm not paying that much money just to attach my domain name to a site. BUT my domain is registered with them, and I can't change that fact for 60 days. I can't even get a refund.

So I've currently moved to a free site on Wix. It will likely be my permanent site from here on out. I like the way it's designed, and it's easy to use. I'm also going to stay here on Blogger for a while. I need to get around to catching up with everyone!

Two lessons learned here.

Writer Lesson #4: Always read the fine print, even when you have to dig for it or ask. Ask for the details even if you don't think there is anything else to know.

Writer Lesson #5: I surveyed several author friends, and many feel that readers don't go to author websites anymore. It isn't essential to have your own site these days. (Don't waste money on your own domain name!) Usually only writers check out other writers' websites. Being present on social media is important, but an Amazon page or a Facebook page is enough as a home base.

It's been a while, but I'm writing again. It's a short Samhain story for my pen name, but at least it's something!

What lessons have you learned lately that you would like to share?

The Making of a Cover - Of Gods and Sorrow

The cover for Of Blood and Sorrow (OBaS) was designed by a professional. Erin Dameron-Hill is tremendously talented. I had no idea what exactly I wanted for a cover, but she knew just what to do. I saw the project go from the simple model image to the cover you see above.

A year ago, I received a month long subscription to BigStock, and I bought two images of the same model on that cover. I was determined to expand my skills and make the next two covers in this trilogy.

Of course, nothing ever goes as planned.

I've been practicing and improving my designing skills. My husband bought me a newer version of Photoshop, and it has so many more tools to play with.

Having finished the first draft of book two called Of Gods and Sorrow (OGaS), I set about making the cover with the image of the same model. It was going to be spectacular. I knew what I wanted. All I had to do was... use a different image.

The model is standing in an odd position. Does anyone naturally stand like that?

So I went through the many images I had collected and found one that worked much better. It's not the same model, but she looks very similar. She's squatting like on the cover of OBaS. Apparently my protagonist, Erin, is super at squats.

The coloring of the image was better for what I wanted too. One of the locations in OGaS is an underground cavern with a lake of fire. I wanted the drama of it. It would be a good contrast to the starkness of the OBaS cover. But it still had to feel like it was part of a series... and not just because Erin is squatting.

The trick to making the cover was layers. Many layers. Twenty-four layers, in fact. Some of the layers are little bits, but other layers are full faded images. If you look at the cover of OBaS, you can see several layers, and they blend together so nicely.

I had to change the coloring to make it look like a cave with a fire. I messed up Erin's hair, gave it some redness from the reflection of the fire. She needed pants too. Erin rarely wears dresses. Then the awesome weapon and some graffiti on the cave wall. Erin doesn't have tattoos, but she has spots. So yes, many layers.

The title font was hard to match, but I made it work. I originally wanted to go with a green surrounding glow, but it didn't look quite right. My plan had been to use blue for the final cover, but blue worked perfectly against this fiery cover.

My tips if you want to try your hand at designing a book cover:

1) Be flexible. What you have in mind might not work out. Always have a Plan B. And C.

2) Layers. It might look daunting when you first start, but if you do it piece by piece, it's easier.

3) Have other eyes on it. I have great critique partners that have seen all the rough trial covers. They'll help point you in the right direction.

And now, what you've been waiting for. The finalized cover of OGaS.

What do you think? Have you ever tried your hand at cover design?

P.S. I'm focusing on writing for the rest of the month. I'll see you on the first Wednesday of February for IWSG!

Shattered Spirit (Totem #4) with a not so shattered cover!

A haunted house isn’t going to stop Ametta Dorn from doing her job.

Frustrated that her family has left her out of the search for the missing totem tokens, Ametta Dorn loses herself in her work. She’s offered a dream job of a complete interior renovation of a famous Cremaschi house. Not even discovering the house belongs to Lucky Osberg can dampen her enthusiasm.

Lucky’s plan to spend more time with her as she works goes awry when the spirit who protects his home tries to murder her. Ametta won’t be scared off, despite being tempted to run and never come back. She was going to flee Alaska and pursue her designer dreams anyway, yet that means giving up on Lucky and the totem that is just within her grasp.

Coming January 9th, 2017.

Pre-order the book on Amazon.

Add to read on Goodreads.

I think this is one of my most striking covers in the series so far, and it's because of the model with her awesome hair. There's a gorgeous old house behind her, but you can't take your eyes off her. I'm so excited about that, and yet nervous in that I want to share with you how I created this cover.

In the spirit of sharing my experiences creating book covers, I'm going to tell you what I did. BUT, be forewarned, it is likely you won't look at the cover the same way again.

Here's your spoiler warning! Stop reading here if you don't want to know my secret.

I'll give you a minute.

*nom nom yummy cookies nom*

Are you still here?

Okay. That means you want to know what I did.

The model is a composite of several bits and pieces. Yes, it's true. The face is from a different image than the rest of the body. It's the same model, but two different images. The original image I wanted to use had the model with plastic wrap around her neck. When I purchased the image, I thought it looked like frost or ice on her neck, but nope. It's definitely plastic wrap. No amount of fiddling around in Photoshop could change that.

To keep that face, I had to put her on a different body. But then I had another problem: the hair looked too cut out. It was flat and lifeless with obvious snipped edges.

So I took hair from other images (five in total, actually) and gave Ametta that magnificent mussed hairstyle. I learned a bunch of cool hair blending tricks that day.

Please let me know what you think!

Word Witch Wednesday - the same images again and again

Earlier this year, I spent a lot of time looking at images for book covers. When I say a lot, I mean dozens upon dozens of hours. I went to bed those nights with achy eyes.

Being well acquainted with the pictures on a huge stock image site, I have seen them all over. It seems what draws my eyes does the same for the majority of people. Unless it is an original piece of artwork created for a book, most covers I see use the same images.

It stunned me at first. Then it made me panic. The models I picked have been on hundreds of other books! Maybe even thousands. Some have been poorly photoshopped and others have been beautifully done, but it's still the same models. Sometimes it's the same pose too.

I see this particularly in the urban fantasy and paranormal romance genres. (They are the ones I focus on, after all!) There is a little more variety with the female models, but the male models are much fewer and thus seen more frequently on covers. The same beefcakes over and over again. I'm rather tired of them.

Seeing the same male models used so often has made me reconsider what I want to do with the covers of books #4, #5, and #6 in the Totem series. I was going to put the heroes on the covers, but the models I chose are extremely popular. Yes, my covers as a whole are different from everyone else's but not those male models.

I had already been considering keeping the women on the covers before this started to bother me. Now I'm leaning even further in that direction.

I'm curious to know whether you notice the same models on different book covers. Does it bother you to see the same ones used over and over?

Friday Five for August 19th, 2016

1. Hello, everyone! It's been a while since I've had a Friday Five. Things have been super busy in my world, and then every single person in my household got sick. Not with just a little cold either. Horribly sick. My poor husband still hasn't recovered from his terrible bronchitis after a month. With all of that, I'm way behind where I want to be writing-wise. I'll be blogging only once a week for the next two months in an attempt to catch up.

2. My little guy started grade one, and he's loving school. Grade one is a big jump not only for him, but for us as parents too. It's so different than the fun and play-as-you-learn activities kindergarten. Reading and math assignments, spelling tests, social studies, and science.

3. I revealed the first three of my Totem series covers this Wednesday. It finished up my summer series on the mad science of book covers. I'm immensely pleased with the way they turned out, and I've gotten terrific feedback about them. Now I need to come up with taglines and blurbs. Yikes!

4. I finished revising Totem #3, and I'm ready to start writing the first draft of Totem #6. I'd hoped to be one more book ahead of this, but I'm pushing onward still shooting for my mid-October release date.

5. For the first time in over eight weeks, I'll have a quiet weekend. I have my local critique group meeting, but that's it. I'm going to rest and enjoy some quiet time with a good book.

Have a lovely weekend!

Word Witch Wednesday - the final Totem covers!

We're here! Thank you so much for joining me on this mad journey. I've gotten excellent feedback on this series of blog posts. I hope I've given some of you the courage to experiment with graphics yourself.

Make sure you've caught up on all the parts of the mad science of book covers to see my bare elements before I hacked them to pieces and glued them together!

Part 1 - knowing the book cover elements of your genre.
Part 2 - the basic elements.
Part 3 - image shopping and backgrounds.
Part 4 - cover models.
Part 5 - fonts and the remaining elements.

Remember back at the beginning when I said not to form a definite picture in your mind of what you wanted as your cover? When you see my covers, you'll understand why. I had to make several last minute changes, but wow, they worked out so well. It makes me giddy just looking at them!

I'm also going to include covers that did not make the cut. This way you can see why I wasn't around much last week. I had to tap into that creative madness.

TOTEM #1

Dark Dawning with our lovely protagonist, Ametta Dorn. I was lucky to find this cover model. She is Ametta to a tee! And thankfully, she fit well with the background.

Troubles: I had a golden eagle in the background. It's an important part of this story, but it didn't stand out. It also took away from the overall mysterious effect. After I had some other eyes on the cover who agreed, I removed the bird. In fact, I removed all the totem animals from the covers. It made them cleaner and allows your eyes to focus on the people. The biggest decision I had to make was the color of the background. If you remember the original image, it was gold. And I loved the gold. I still do. Blue or gold, blue or gold. When I saw all three covers together, I knew it had to be blue.

Watch out behind you, Ametta! There's a bad hunter silhouette! I think he has a gun. I'm not sure. He could be roasting marshmallows.

TOTEM #2

The middle sister with her geeky tendencies, Kinley Dorn. I had several poses of this one model, and I'd been set on using another one. But when I got frustrated with it, I tried this pose and wowed myself. It's kind of ethereal, and it suits her so much.

Troubles: the model, oh yes. I wanted to use the image of her standing there with her arms crossed in a black tank top. But it wouldn't work with the background. The lighting on the model was yellow, and no matter how I played with it, it wasn't working. I originally avoided the above image because of the hair. It's difficult to trim around fine strands of hair, but when I darkened the background, it matched the color of the model image's background. I didn't have to trim!

Secret fix: Remember when I told you to buy model images that had three-fourths or their entire bodies in the pictures? That one isn't a full body shot. In fact, she was cut off above the eyebrows. I added in the top of her head. Can you tell?

Months ago, I thought a snowy swirl at the bottom of the cover would look neat. What the heck was I thinking?

TOTEM #3

Don't tick Saskia off! I think the glare says as much. It's not the original model I wanted, but she has all the attitude I needed.

Troubles: Another last minute model change. None of the images of the model I chose for Saskia worked with the background. This time, they were just too bright. I was tempted to go buy another one, but I went through my image file and spotted this woman. Not quite what I imagined Saskia to look like, but she has the power and strength. Plus, the black jacket! I had to add on the top of her head too.

Oh man. That snowy swirl is hideous! And the middle model... a little stunned looking. Plus, I tried putting a tattoo on her. Ha! Thankfully with the model on the final cover, her hair covers her neck and chest, so I didn't have to worry about tattoos. Does the fox look like it's flying?

Whew. We made it. And nothing blew up! Well, maybe I did a few times, but I'm getting pretty good at putting tops of heads back on.

What do you think of the covers? Also, are you interested in seeing similar posts when I put together the covers for the remaining six Totem books? Yes, there are nine books in total! The next three will feature the heroes. The final three will have... uh, the couples or their animals. Maybe? I don't know! I need to write them first.

Word Witch Wednesday - the mad science of book covers (part 5)

Slip on your labcoats and adjust your goggles. It's time for another session of the mad science of book covers!

Here's a quick review:
Part 1 - knowing the book cover elements of your genre.
Part 2 - the basic elements.
Part 3 - image shopping and backgrounds.
Part 4 - cover models.

I'm going to cover the rest of the base elements, and I'll do my best not to rattle on. Though I think I could do a whole series about choosing fonts for the covers. Fonts haunted me for weeks while I designed the Totem series.

For my urban fantasy series, the basic elements for the covers are: mood creating background, silhouetted villain, unsmiling protagonist, and something to tie all covers together for the series. Possibly the shifter's animal.

We've covered backgrounds and the unsmiling protagonist, and I'm leaving out the silhouetted villain. Instead of featuring the shifters' animals, I'm adding in a different totem animal on each cover which they'll be hunting in each book. These I'll blend into the background, and truly, if you don't have the Photoshop skills to do it, this is something that can be skipped. Something I have battled with myself and remain undecided about.

The next vital element is something to tie all the covers together for the series. I knew what I wanted to do ever since I came up with the concept. I wanted frost creeping up over the edges of the covers. Just a touch. It will be the same on every book. Easy, right?

Nope. I tried so many different types of frost. I wanted it to look icy, but it wasn't working. Why wasn't it working?

Instead, I stepped back and looked at it as if it were a puzzle. I ended up piecing together bits from a frosted pane of glass. This is what the original image looks like:

Pretty on its own. Plus, it's a good way to make sure my Totem bear logo is clearly seen on the bottom corner of each cover. The logo will contain the number of the book.

Now you've seen all my bare images. But just as important as the pictures are the fonts you choose. Check out my post about finicky fonts for tips on how to choose yours.

Fonts are difficult for me. I tend to lean toward plain types. That can be a good thing. You want your readers to be able to read your title and name after all.

Seeing the title for my first book and my name, you're probably wondering why did I stress so much over it? It looks simple. And that's good. It's my job to make it attractive and easy for people to read.

If you click on the image, you'll see the title is textured. Like cracked ice or birch bark. It's subtle, but it adds a lot of character to it. I used the craquelure effect in Photoshop.

Choosing colors for the fonts was difficult too. Each of my covers have different backgrounds. There's a wide array of colors going on which make it hard to see fonts of most shades. I hadn't intended to go with white, but it works with everything. The light gold of my name stands out enough but doesn't draw all your attention.

Whew. I didn't blow anything up. I call that a successful mad science session.

Next week, I'll show you the completed versions of the first three covers of the Totem series.

Feel free to ask any questions. Or share your cookies. Cookies would be much appreciated.

Word Witch Wednesday - the mad science of book covers (part 4)

It takes a lot of science and a bit of madness to create great book covers. You can catch up to where we are with part 1, part 2, and part 3. And where are we? Oh yes, image shopping.

We have our backgrounds. Now onto the unsmiling protagonist, because it's against the law to smile on urban fantasy covers.

I spent several hours looking at images of models for the heroines of my Totem series. I'm going to guess over twenty hours, maybe closer to thirty. Crazy, I know, but that's the perfectionist in me.

Did I find images of women that I thought looked exactly as the characters do in my head? No. And that's okay. Readers are going to imagine the characters differently too.

Note: some books have the protagonist with her back to the audience or her head chopped off at the top of the cover. The reason for this is not to give readers a preconceived notion of what the character looks like. If this is your strategy, go for it. (It'll make image shopping much easier!) I know people who prefer that. For me, I like to see faces.

My requirements when shopping for images of models:
- it must be a full body picture or three-fourths. (You can chop it down later if need be.)
- the model must be standing against a plain background or one you can easily extract her from. (My Photoshop skills are average. When I'm cutting a model from her image to place on the cover's background, I want as little interference from other objects in the picture as possible.)
- it must be in color with good lighting. (You can do all the special effects later.)

My requirement specifically for my Totem heroines:
- they must be clothed. And the clothes must be appropriate for that character.
- they must be pale blonde and have little to no makeup. (Very difficult to find. Tip: type "natural" in the image search bar to find models with no makeup.)
- they must be strong without looking mean. Without smiling, of course.

Easy, right? Yeah, I know. It's like trying to find lost pirate treasure.

Totem #1 - Ametta Dorn
Ametta is the youngest sister and the one who gives me the most grief when I'm writing her. She's young, hip, artistic, and opinionated. She loves women's fashion and has impeccable taste while I do not.

Her general physical characteristics: short in height, short blonde hair, tasteful makeup, modern fashion, about twenty-five years old. (Tip: it's fairly easy to change a model's eye color in Photoshop.)
Her main personality characteristics: determination, confidence, a little sass.

What do you think? Can you see Ametta as a famous interior designer?

Totem #2 - Kinley Dorn
Kinley is my favorite. Yes, she's a geek! But an image of her was the most difficult to find. I could not find any picture of a blonde with glasses that suited me. And I really wanted glasses on her. Sure, she only needs them for reading, but how often do we see women with glasses on urban fantasy covers? I can't name one. I had to give it up, though, and focus on other aspects of her.

Her general physical characteristics: tall, willowy, long pale blonde hair, no makeup, mid to late twenties.
Her main personality characteristics: compassion, strength, a bit of timidity.

If I could photoshop glasses on Kinley and make it look good, I totally would. (I'm also covering her midriff to make her wearing a tank top.)

Totem #3 - Saskia Dorn

Saskia is the eldest sister and she kicks butt. She's what you might imagine a stereotypical urban fantasy heroine to be but with a twist.

Her general physical characteristics: tall, lean muscles, long pale blonde hair, no makeup, early thirties.

Her main personality characteristics: ferocity, grit, willfulness.

I wish she was wearing black, but the expression is perfect.

Next time: the rest of the cover elements!

Word Witch Wednesday - the mad science of book covers (part 3)

Welcome back! I'm happy my rambling hasn't scared you off yet. It's been a few weeks since my last book covers post. Click on part one and part two if you need to remind yourself where we are.

Today we're talking about image shopping. You should have your notes on the basic elements you need for your book cover. You're not forming images of finished covers in your mind yet, are you? Don't do it. Not at this point.

I posted five image shopping tips in May. Before you decide where you're going to get your images from, do your research. Make sure the price is the best and the images can be used for commercial use. Usually they're unlimited for electronic use and limited to 100,000 copies for print books. (The latter I don't worry about. If I ever get to the point where I'm selling over 100,000 print copies, I will be able to afford to buy the rights to the print images!)

When purchasing the images, buy the biggest size with the highest resolution. Make certain the images are clear and in color. If you want blurry effects, black & white, or color washes, you can do those yourself later. They are simple to do in most programs.

Backgrounds: There are tons of cityscapes, castles, mansions, forests, and galaxies to choose from. If you have a real location, find an image that has a well known landmark so the reader will be able to pick it out. Otherwise, don't go searching for an image that is exactly what you're imagining in your head. Remember, we want to create a mood and portray the general characteristics of the setting. Is it mysterious you want? Or foreboding? Dynamic? Serene? Magical?

I was searching for a bit of mystery and larger than life awe. (If that makes sense!) I had a subscription to a stock image site, so I bought a few possibilities for each cover. If you can only afford to download one image for your background, you can get a sample of it and try it out with the other cover pieces before you purchase it. I highly recommend that you do.

For the background, you're walking along the edge of needing a scene that fades into the backdrop and yet very clearly captures the atmosphere. An experienced cover artist will know what they're looking for, but if you're like me, it will be a lot of trial and error.

A reminder of my basic elements for my backgrounds: late summer forest, base of a mountain, and tiny Native village.

Here are the backgrounds of the first three Totem books:

Oh yes. I'm taking you step by step with me! You get to see all my bare elements... and wow, that just sounded dirty.

Anyway, dark with a bit of mystery and awe. Book #1 was the first image I came across and I loved it. For book #2, that image is the tenth candidate. I settled on the fourth image I tried for Book #3.

Tip: you might find an image with something you like in it, but you don't like all of it. You can use part of an image. I've done that with almost every element I used for my covers. This is why you download the largest image. So when you chop it up, the pieces are still a good size.

Since these posts are turning out much longer than I expected, I'm going to continue on with image shopping next time. It will be about the most difficult part: the unsmiling protagonist.

What do those background images make you feel?

Word Witch Wednesday - the mad science of book covers (part 2)

Welcome to part two of the mad science of book covers, class! If you need to review what we talked about in part one, or borrow a few notes, please feel free to do so.

Now that you know the basic elements of your genre's book covers, it's time to take the next step and come up with a general concept for your own.

Do you have an image in your head of what you want the cover to look like? If yes, forget about it. Don't go into this with an idealized version in your head. You'll never be satisfied. Trust me, I know.

The basic elements I need for my urban fantasy covers are: mood creating background, silhouetted villain, unsmiling protagonist, and something to tie all covers together for the series. Possibly the shifter's animal.

I left out the villain. Why? It was just too much. Go as simple as possible. You want to hook a reader with your cover and capture their attention so they read the blurb. If the cover is too busy, they'll just be confused.

Background: my Totem series takes place in Alaska. Thankfully there isn't a lack of beautiful and mystical images of the northernmost state. But you need to be more specific than just a general area. Where does the most intense scene(s) of your story take place? Or, if you don't want to give that bit away, where does the majority of the story take place?

Totem book #1 - late summer forest.
Totem book #2 - base of a mountain.
Totem book #3 - tiny Native village.

Unsmiling protagonist: Do you have detailed descriptions of your protagonists? Good. Keep the notes stash them away, and make a very generalized profile about them. If you're very lucky, you'll find an image of a model that looks exactly how you imagined your character, but that's unlikely, and it's okay.

One of the things I learned from the marvelous cover artist who designed the cover to Of Blood and Sorrow was that covers aren't exact representations of the story inside. Readers are going to picture the characters in their heads totally different than you and from each other. What the model on the cover needs to do is portray certain characteristics like strength, sass, or vulnerability.

Write down the main characteristics of your character. If you aren't going to use a person on your cover, the place, animal, or object you do use should portray certain aspects that represent your story. Make these clear.

Something to tie all covers in a series together: You can do this in several ways. The same character on all covers, the same background with different characters on each cover, a theme like the four elements or pet loving ogres, different color washes for the same cover, etc.

As you've done your research, you will have seen how other authors in your genre tie the book covers in their series together. What do you like best? What would work with your series best?

For me, I created a partial frost border that will be the same on all of the covers along with a Totem logo which will contain the book number.

The final extra bit. The shifter animal: The Totem series features three sisters who are polar bear shifters. I considered putting a bear in the background on each cover, but it felt like too many bears. Instead, I went with totem animals since in each book, the heroes are seeking a different one.

These are all just pieces at the moment. Again, don't get an idea in your head of how it's going to look. You must collect each element first. How they fit together or don't fit together may surprise you.

Next class will be about finding the right images.

Word Witch Wednesday - the mad science of book covers (part 1)

I've spent a lot of time creating book covers this year. I put as many hours into them as I did writing the first drafts! Maybe I'm a little bit of a perfectionist, but readers do judge books by their covers. It is the first thing that needs to grab their attention.

I'm going to share with you my process over the next few months, and end with the reveal of the first three Totem covers.

The first important thing you need to do before you start creating is know your genre. This is vital. The cover will need to declare where your book fits. If it has a sub-genre, be aware of that too.

My genre: the Totem series is urban fantasy. My sub-genres: there is a strong element of romance, and the protagonists are shifters.

Once you have your genre, it's research time. Google makes it very easy. Do an image search and compare several covers of books in your genre. What are the common elements? What makes some covers stand out from the others? What makes you want to pick up a book?

Urban fantasy cover common elements:

- urban background at night. Usually cityscape or forest.

- protagonist the central feature. Typically ready to fight. And nobody smiles. (Seriously. It's like smiling is against the law on urban fantasy covers!)

- dark colors, sometimes misty, to create an ominous atmosphere.

- books in a series need to share a common look.

Sub-genre common elements:

- a little bit of sexiness for the romance. But not the oh-la-la type!

- the animal or a hint of the animal the protagonist can shift into.

Optional:

- silhouetted villain/danger lurking in the background.

- silhouetted love interest lurking being protective in the background. In human or animal form.

What makes me want to pick up a book? A protagonist that looks unusual. Not your typical beauty with a sword or tattooed beefcake. A background that tells a story as much as the character featured. A hint of brilliant color along with the dark and mysterious colors.

A big order, but I'm determined to fill it.

Next post on the mad science of book covers: your general concept.

P.S. I'm calling this the "mad science" of book covers because piecing the elements together is science. Yet there is something magical in making it all come together as a whole. An awesome cover artist is a little mad with the magic, and that's what makes their art stand out.

Word Witch Wednesday - finicky fonts

I've spent as much time looking at fonts as I have looking for images for my book covers. Fonts say a lot about a story. This includes the type you use inside a book and on the outside of it. They must fit the mood, tone, and voice.

Maybe I put more pressure on myself than I should when it comes to fonts. I am my own worst boss when it comes to these things. But if you look at your favorite book covers and take note of the title, you will see how much of an impact it has on your opinion of the story and the overall effect of the cover.

Here are five things to remember when choosing fonts for your books:

1) Fonts are like images. You can't use all of them without permission. Some you even have to pay to use. If you're on a tight budget, make certain you are using free fonts from sites like 1001 Free Fonts and DaFont.

2) Study book covers in your genre. You will see the majority of them use similar fonts. If you're unsure what types they are, here is an article with several popular fonts for each genre.

3) Experiment with effects. Not just the simple bold and italics. When I use Photoshop, there's a whole bunch of different font effect I can pick. Each one makes the font look so different.

4) Make certain the font is readable. No one will want to read your book if they can't figure out what the title is or if they get a headache reading the fancy script you chose for the story text itself.

5) Use a different font for the title and your name. Contrasting fonts draw the eye. Check out this article for a more in-depth explanation of contrasting fonts.

How do you choose fonts for your books? What types of fonts draw you as a reader?

Wicked Wednesday - thinking about covers

(The action cover where the young hero fights a pirate!)

With my newest series, I'll have nine covers. I'd love to be able to afford a cover artist, but for nine covers? Yikes. So I'll be designing them myself.

And yes, I'm thinking about this way ahead of time. I've only finished the first rough draft of the of first novella. But I like to give myself a lot of time to think about important things. Covers are immensely important, after all. Most of us will say we don't judge books by their covers, but a gorgeous one will attract readers.

(The proud moment of accomplishment cover.)

The Totem series is paranormal romance (PNR) along the same lines as the 13th Floor series. Not all romance, but the relationships are pivotal to the plots.

I like to go simple when designing covers. I've learned some new Photoshops tricks since I made the 13th Floor covers. I believe I can step it up a notch this time. But which direction should I go?

Many PNR covers about shifters have the character(s) on the cover with their animals in the background. Or their eyes are animalistic in their beautiful human faces as they stare at the reader. Do I follow the standard formula? Or do I try to go my own way?

Here are my options. I'm curious as to what you as readers prefer.

1) These nine books are about three sisters. Each book will have one of the sisters narrating. They'll each get three books. I could focus on the women alone. Each cover would have the sister who's narrating, so readers will know who it is about.

2) Nine books. Three sisters. Three love interests. The first three books will have one of the sisters on each of them, and the next three books would have the men. The final three books would feature them as couples. I'm leaning in this direction because I believe PNR readers would like to see handsome men gracing the covers. (To this day, Xan still gets compliments!)

3) Nine books. Three sisters. Three love interests. Seven totems. If I don't want to use people on the covers, I could focus on the totem animals. Go with cool Inuit drawings. Yet the problem here is that only books 2-8 will have specific animals. Could I merge the totems with the models? Yes, possibly. I don't want to make my job overly difficult, though. But then what to do with books 1 and 9?

Right now, I need to stop looking at stock pictures and get writing!

(The what-the-heck cover that doesn't make sense when you read the story!)

Note: All the photos are of my son and Thee Bluebeard. He's a hilarious pirate captain looking for a new crew. He invites people on stage and makes them do weird things. It was the one thing my little guy wanted at the renaissance faire since he saw Bluebeard last year. He got his wish and it was awesome!

Wicked Wednesday - oh those pretty, pretty covers

Book covers. This is where I like to have complete control. Maybe not do the actual design myself, but to puppet a talented artist to do it just the way I want it. I used to dream I'd have Michael Whelan as my own personal cover artist.

All the books I've self-published, I designed the covers and I'm immensely pleased with them. I bought the images from a host site (Dreamstime), and I manipulated them to suit the stories. I spent as much time on the font as the images themselves. It's tough work making a cover perfect. It takes a long time. Time I'd rather spend writing.

For my Dice & Debauchery books, I have very little input on the covers. I filled out a questionnaire and described my main characters, but that's all the say I get in it. I knew I wouldn't have any control in this when I signed the contract. I weighed it against the benefits of having a publisher for this series. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I at least kind of like the covers when I see them.

Next year, I'm self-publishing an urban fantasy novel. I'm going to hire a cover artist to do it for me. I'll have much more input than I do with my publisher, but not as much as I do if I did it myself. I tried finding images that would work for a cover, but nothing stood out for me. Nothing I wanted for this book. It has to be unique. It has to be made to suit it.

If you're published, did you design your own covers or did someone else? Do you like having control or are you much more easy-going about it than I am?

Wicked Wednesday - a few things I picked up

It's been a while since I've done a Wicked Wednesday post. I hope to get back into the regular swing of things. So much has been happening, and I've been very busy with my 13th Floor series. I'm learning a lot about the genre and what's hot. This week I'm going to share a few things with you.

Werewolves are still a hot topic. You read on a lot of sites that the popularity of werewolves and vampires is diminishing. Perhaps agents and publishers are tiring of them, but readers still want more. The Alpha has already sold four times as many copies as The Marquis. People hear werewolf and their ears perk up. A new twist to the alpha trope? Now they're even more interested. I'm curious to see what happens when I get to the vampire's story in my series.

Paranormal romance fans like sarcasm and humor. The posts from my tours that received the most feedback were the funny ones. I think humor attracts people in general, and fans of this genre like a certain edge to their humor. I will never be Joss Whedon, but I'll do my best with this.

Covers matter. With The Marquis, people were seeing more urban fantasy. It wasn't sexy enough. The Alpha got more attention with Stefanie on the cover. Intense and gorgeous. The Dragonslayer has gotten the most attention. Shirtless Xan has caused a lot of people to drool. With paranormal romance, the hotness factor does count.

What have you learned through promoting your books?

The Alpha blog tour and the 13th Floor tours in 2013

A great big thank you to everyone who participated in The Alpha's cover reveal. And I'm blushing at all the wonderful comments too. Thank you so much.

A few of you asked if I made my own covers. Yes, I did. I bought the model images from Dreamstime, and I played around in Photoshop with them until I had exactly what I wanted. I wanted something simple yet intense. I have the first four covers of the series done. The fifth one is giving me trouble. I have a definite image of Harriet (the banshee) in my head, and I can't seem to find any models that suit her. It's a case of wishing I could've had the cover done first and then come up with the character.

The Alpha's blog tour is scheduled for January 13th - 17th. If you'd like to host me on the tour or any of the tours next year, please send me an email at christinerains [dot] writer @ gmail [dot] com. All the dates for the tours and cover reveals are listed on my 13th Floor series page.

Please add 1302 - The Alpha "to read" on Goodreads.

Another huge thank you to everyone who hosted me on the 1301 - The Marquis blog tour. You guys are awesome. The final giveaway is still going on until the 27th. Check out The Warrior Muse's blog for details.

One final bit of exciting news: Fearless got a massive boost during my blog tour. It's still sitting in Amazon's top 100 free ebooks for paranormal under fantasy. It made it as far as #27. My brilliant editor added the first chapter of The Marquis after the end of Fearless. Hopefully this will help push up sales for it. So if you don't have your copy of Fearless yet, grab one, and get a preview of The Marquis too!

Wicked Wednesday - most popular paranormal romances

I've been checking out lists with the top paranormal romances. What do these books have that make them so popular? I see big authors like J.R. Ward, L.K. Hamilton, Christine Feehan, and Sherrilyn Kenyon. Each of them are different, but they've managed to sell millions.

Here are a few things that I picked out:

1) Every book in the most popular lists is part of a series. There are no stand alone novels. I think it's reasonable to conclude paranormal romance fans love series.

2) A lot of the books feature vampires. Yes, we're told that people are getting tired of vamps, but they still remain the main characters in several best selling paranormal romances. Am I suggesting you write about vampires? No, but if you are, there's still a big fan base for them.

3) Comparing the lists from the last five years, there are more YA books on it now. The YA paranormal romance genre is growing. Readers from all age groups love them.

4) The majority of the books are slow romances. The readers want to experience the build up of tension. Again, this is a change from five years ago where we had more fast romances.

5) The authors have definite formulas. While I enjoy reading books by those big authors, each of their books have similar plots. They've discovered what works for them and they can quickly write new novels.

6) There's still a lot of broad male chests and curvy women on the covers. Not so many couples in an intimate pose, though. I've seen a rise in covers that feature symbols or an object, but the most popular books still have a person or people on them.

What else do you see in popular paranormal romances these days?

Wicked Wednesday - covers

A book's cover can inspire a reader to pick it up. I know better than to judge a book by its cover, but I will pick up a book to see what the story is about if I like the cover art. I will also avoid a book if it has a cover I don't like. Oh, the power one page of a book that isn't even part of the story!

Covers of paranormal romances tend to have a particular look. Usually it's a woman - human or not - in a ready to fight pose with weapon in hand. Sometimes the hero is lurking in the background, his gaze dark and/or smoldering. Example: the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. Kate has her sword and is ready to fight, and Curran, in lion form, with his golden eyes burning into you.

There are the sexy ones. A woman in a lazy, come hither pose. Sometimes still holding a weapon or magic is sparkling from her fingertips. Not all of the woman's body is usually featured. Sometimes just the legs or everything by her head. Maybe even a silhouette. (Example: Poison Kissed by Erica Hayes.) It's common to have the hero on these types of covers locked in a passionate moment with the heroine. (Example: Play of Passion by Nalini Singh.) Or it could be the hero himself. Tall, muscular and dangerous. These men always look like they're flexing but relaxed at the same time. (Example: Vampire in Atlantis by Alyssa Day.)

There are the covers with symbols: torn hearts, spread wings, fragile flowers, splashes of blood, full moons. I'm sure you could name off another dozen yourself. These ones can be very stylized. (Example: Crushed Seraphim by Debra Anastasia.)

I'm not a fan of actual photographs or something that is photoshopped on covers. I like paintings, something dark and surreal. I can be attracted by any of the types of covers I listed, but I can also be repelled by the bad ones. I wish that authors could have more control over their covers if published by a big press. One of the things I love about self-publishing is that you get to create your own. Also, I hate the pressure of having to create something so important on your own!

What are some of your favorite paranormal romance covers? What sort of covers attract you to a book?