So I am super excited. My e-book officially, officially drops on June 15th, and in the meantime, I’ve hired a social media company to help me get my name out there. I think the investment will be well worth it.
I’ve also been working with a professional book cover designer to produce a great book cover.
After all, in the publishing industry, people really do judge a book by its cover…
But alas, I wasn’t so thrilled with the first batch of book designs presented, and had my designer scratch them all (I am picky when it comes to my book cover – what can I say?).
So I am back to the drawing board again with my book covers; but considering all the bills I have to pay, and all of the money I am putting out to make this venture as successful as possible, I recently found myself short on extra funds for new drafts on the cover designs.
Well, talk about God smiling on me and allowing me to have a little luck!
Wouldn’t you know, but a check came in the mail today, completely to my surprise, involving some some class action suit I was unknowingly involved in. Yep, that’s right, I benefited from a suit I didn’t even know had been filed on my behalf, from a former company I used to work for.
And get this: although the funds I received in this class action suit were tiny, almost pennies, it was just what I needed to pay for more book cover drafts, without having to cause further delays.
What’s my point in all of this? Prayer and hard work will no doubt come in handy once all of this is said and done, but I must confess to the sneaking suspicion that everyone needs a little luck, too.
And boy did I need it.
Anyway, I want to share with everyone the two basic book cover designs I am now contemplating using for my June 15th ebook release.
These images below haven’t been worked on yet, but I dig the look and feel of their basic layout, and over the next couple of weeks my book designer and I will come up with what I hope to be a real a crowd-pleaser.
Let me know what you think of the basic designs.
Drop me a line and tell me what you think at yamina@yaminatoday.com. Remember, the book is a collection of quirky, melancholy, dark and funny stories.
Here is the first image that I liked. It has a melancholy feel to it; in some ways its beautiful, and in some ways its sad. It’s a mixture of feelings perhaps, and that’s what my stories convey, I think.
Melancholy moods: beautiful and tragic
Okay, now here is the second image. One of my co-workers called it a grab-bag feel. The reader might not know what they’re gonna get when they open a book with a cover like this. And that’s all right. Perhaps it’s good to keep readers guessing, ha ha.
I guess the first one, in terms of the mood of a couple of the stories. Sad, weighty, emotional…
The second image, well, I just like it. And you don’t know what you’re going to get inside. And my short story collection is such a mesh of stories and ideas that maybe I want people to know that, hey, “you don’t know what you’re going to get inside.” Ha ha
I like the first one. The tones it gives off have weight, emotional weight, and the reader knows they’ll feel something or be made to think. The second one doesn’t say much and, at least for me, I think the cover gives me an idea of tone. I need that so I know how seriously to take the content and the author. My two cents.
And congrats on the “God smile”–I certainly know that feels when something drops in your lap at precisely the right moment.
Take care,
C
Thanks Christopher. So far, most people seem to like the first one. I hope there are stories with emotional weight in my collection. And it’s such a pretty picture, also.
Yes, it is nice when something useful drops in your lap at just the right moment.
Take care,
Yamina
I assume the 2nd book cover wouild have the name of the book on what looks like old parchment. I was told the cover shoiuld describe the contents of the book. If, that’s so, neither one gave me any impression.
Keep in mind, that’s my opinion, not sure it’s worth much. I wound of hating the cover of my first book.
Why did you end up hating the cover of your first book? Are you the one that chose it? Even if you did, I can understand changing one’s mind later on. As for the covers not giving you any impression, I think the first one has some shadowy, dark undertones to it, and many of my stories have dark tones to it. That’s what I was thinking.
Melancholy moods! 
Yes, I like that one the best, too.
How do these images tie into the book’s title? Just a thought. I love both of the images. Kim