Don’t judge a book by its cover. Hmm, this may apply to people but it definitely doesn’t apply to actual books. That’s exactly what we do. Covers are everything.
Having a good cover can mean the difference between selling or not selling your book. If you have a big publisher you probably won’t get much say in your cover. Actually if you have a big publisher, they probably won’t get much say in it either. Supermarkets very often have the last word on covers.
If you have a small to medium sized publisher there is every chance you’ll get a lot of say in your cover. I had a lot of say in the cover of Ice and a Slice. I love my cover. And thankfully lots of other people have told me they love it too.
It’s quite rare though for people to notice that there’s a message within the title of my cover. Interestingly, it’s often children who spot this. My friend’s daughters (aged four and six) saw it immediately. ‘Why do the red letters say, I Lie?’ one of them asked.
Because that’s what the character does, I explained, hoping they wouldn’t ask me why the text of the title is also slightly blurred. Luckily they didn’t.
But it’s interesting, isn’t it, what you can do with the title on a front cover.
And if you want to see if SJ, my main character, really does lie, you can click here to buy a copy of Ice and a Slice for less than the price of a glass of Chardonnay. Cheers!
Oh, I hadn’t spotted ‘I lie’. I used to think I was observant.
That is good. Very good.
I can’t believe I hadn’t seen it!
Wow! Very deep. Never noticed that.
It really is a great cover! x
Shall I let you in to a secret, guys. I am not clever. This was my publisher’s idea (Soundhaven.com). I didn’t notice it either – well not until I’d had a few not so gentle hints 🙂
But I love it now and it’s interesting that it’s children isn’t it that notice this kind of thing. Are we adults not so observant – or in too much of a hurry?
I love the cover too, but hadn’t noticed the I Lie! Very clever.
Great cover – and also great book!
Thanks Jenny xx