Sexy designer covers

Did I capture your attention from the title of this post? I hope so… because it’s a simple example of how you title your work that captures the attention of your readers.

Never judge a book by its cover…

Whoever said that quote obviously had a cover that either didn’t capture their readers attention, or it wasn’t even comparable to the quality of work written within its pages.

Everyone around me seems to be designing or redesigning their covers of their novels at the moment, and I thought that since I have a design background - I would have a wee chat about this process.

Whether you are designing a cover, marketing, or even self-promoting. You are selling something, and it needs to be targeted at your audience.  David Carson is one of the worlds most renowned graphic designers. In an interview, he said something that all of us need to remember during this design process… “You have a general direction of where you think you’re going, but you also have to be able to do things the way that maybe you weren’t expecting.”

This is about having an open mind. This is about being analytical and critical. This is also about looking at the covers you are creating with a completely objective view as to what your target audience would be drawn to, and what they would pick up and buy.

After all… It’s about making money. That is usually the main objective of publishing a book. (Other than the glory of seeing your name and work in gorgeous black font against crisp white pages, for all the world to read.)

But back to this ‘making money’ notion… the publishing world is a selling game. It’s about the numbers, it’s about the audience, it’s about the stories, it’s about the rave reviews, and it’s about readership and potential future readership. You need all of these main things to ‘make it big’ in a relatively small publishing world. There are millions of writers out there. There are hundreds of millions of books. And on top of that – there are even more manuscripts that are either drafted, or in the making. And writers all around the world are playing the ‘publishing game’. They all want a slice of the publishing pie, whether it is ‘self publishing, or traditional publishing’.

So why on earth would you put together a crap cover with a crap title, that is not targeted at your main audience, and still believe that people don’t judge books by their covers? The cover may have everything to do with the book you have written… or it may not. E.g. I don’t ever remember a vampire holding an apple within the pages of Twilight… but it was a catchy cover, and readers around the world thought so too.

I said to a friend yesterday… ‘You don’t want your main title to drown out your main imaging. You want them to blend and compliment each other.’ Within the same day, I said to another friend, ‘The blurb and cover art should make enough of a statement – so you don’t really need to be theme all your fonts as well.’

What I mean with both these statements, is this: Dare to be different, but make sure it works. You have this huge idea in your head of how it should look, but you seriously need to ask whether or not it’s readable, eye catching and sexy, and whether or not it works with the rest of the cover. Most of all… you need to ask whether or not the fonts and titles will appeal to your target audience.

So… on that note – let’s have a look at some pretty amazing covers that seriously work with the story, as well as with the target audiences.

AIREL: Wow. I know. That’s one amazing cover. Yes, it does look similar to other covers in its field – like Fallen by Kate Lauren. But in reality, it is so much more beautiful and eye capturing. The covergirl has darkness, and light. It is formidable because she is kneeling in a darkened forest. And yet she is holding a white feather, usually known as a symbol of hope and life (the white dove feather). Some people may believe that this book cover is riding on the coat tails of Fallen, but in reality, this is what we all do. We are influenced by the success before us, and by mimicing it at the ‘right’ time, we will also succeed and capture the same target audiences. (This is yet another marketing strategy to look out for – if you can pull it off, it can work well!)

MATCHED: Gorgeous, simple, vibrant. What eye wouldn’t be drawn to a girl in a brilliant green dress, held within an orb? I cannot tell you exactly how appropriate this is to the opening pages of this book – but it’s incredibly accurate to how the main character is, in every possible way. Innocence, trapped within a bubble.  A simple design, yet effective. This cover forces the reader to read the blurb on the back cover to discover what is contained within the pages. A friend told me that she liked the cover of Matched because the colours are quite different from other YA novels, and therefore it stands out. I tend to agree with her sharp observation. I guess that the same could be said about the second book in the series – CROSSED

WITHER: I am going to admit, that when it comes to this particular cover design, I don’t know what it is about it that I love. Perhaps it’s the combination of complete randomness that captures my attention. Regardless of what it is, it is visually stimulating, and is also a playground for the curious mind.

There is a fabulous collection of book designs that are rated highly in terms of excellent design from 2011, which can be found at Hensher Creative. Well worth a look, especially for new and innovative ideas.

Dare to be different. Think outside the box.

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A quick update

I know that it has been a couple of weeks since I last posted, but life has been busy!

I am nesting, and trying to get this house in order before Bumpkin arrives on the scene… which isn’t that far away now, and believe me when I say this – getting the house into tip top shape is a very big job. I am also still working my Evil Day Job… and trying to make it through that each day during the week, even though I am working from home one day a week from now till I go on maternity leave. I’m the size of a large baby elephant, incredibly tired a lot of the time… mentally unstable during other times… I can’t sleep properly… and I’m pretty much living on the edge. And… just to top it all off, I have started writing a new book.

Oh my god. Yes, I know. I’m nuts to think that I can do all this at once… and this is possibly another reason why I haven’t blogged in a while.

But, the world hasn’t stopped rotating just because I’m about to have a baby, and have a lot on. No… the creative mind is a strong one, and I best be using it to its full potential while I can.

Writing Tijuana Nights was always on my agenda for 2012. I didn’t quite expect it to happen this quickly into the year… as I thought that I would still be doing research at this early stage of the concept. But after thinking about this book for the past 18 months or so, I figured that a lot of the research and plot development, I had already done. There was really no need to delve hard into research when I knew how to start, I knew my characters already, and I knew how I wanted this book to end.

This will be the first book in a long time that I am not going to completely plot out. I have a lot of it already… except in the ‘inbetween bits’. So… I’m going to wing it. I’m already writing chapter three, so the ‘winging it’ seems to be working for me right this moment.

On the other side of life, I have been painting our unborn child little animal pictures, and just today, we have been painting its room. It’s going to look really good once this room is sorted out, and everything is in there. And to think that it will all be done and dusted by the end of next weekend. Scary stuff!

I’ll make sure I post photos of it once we have completed it for you all to see. And on that note – I better get cracking. I have skirting and doorframes to paint before dinner, and then a second coat to paint after dinner. Where on earth do I find the energy?

Insanity. I’m telling you.

As an end note – I found quite a good article on Writing while Pregnant, that some of you may find interesting. Au revoir!

 

 

New ideas… new stories

Firstly, Happy New Year!

Since I am writing a new book very shortly, I thought that I would blog a little about my process, and how I work. Each writer’s process is completely different, and it’s up to the individuals to create their own process.

1. Dream up a situation:
   

   Kaz2 - Ghost Yacht. Click image for article

   - An example of this is of when I happen to be in Australia at the time, and I had been reading all sorts of articles about a ghost yacht off the Sunshine Coast of Australia. I then started forming new ideas, decided to write The Mediterranean Source, and I ended up keeping many of those articles, since they were the inspiration for the book.

   Does the book have a ghost yacht in it? Well… yes in a manner of speaking. But it’s a very short-lived ghost yacht. And it’s not the plot of the book by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a turning point for my characters.

   Everything else in the book evolved from this ghost yacht idea, including the plot, characters, location, and how it all fit together.

2. Characters and their profiles:
   - No matter what your story is about, it musthave some form of character in it. Or else… what’s the point?
   

   To see working character profiles - click this image

   I absolutely adore profiling my characters. This is something that I have been doing since the very first novel I ever wrote, (The Legacy). Those characters weren’t as robust as they could have been… in fact – I think that perhaps they were too perfect, and too good.

   Everyone needs a few flaws. After all, if you want to make your characters as human as possible, throw in a bunch of them. We all have our downfalls, but in the end, that’s what makes us stronger.

   When I dreamt up the Talent trilogy, I had to create multiple characters. (I think that’s the problem with writing fantasy – there are so many of them!) Naturally, to keep track of all these different characters, so I profiled every single one of them. I have at least 20 profiles of key characters, and more are developed when the storyline requires me to reuse or remember new characters.
   
   

3. Setting the Scene:
   

   Mexico - the country where Tijuana Nights starts in

   - You need to have your book set somewhere… so therefore you need some sort of location or number of locations depending on what the story requires.

   Whether they are mythical locations, or real ones, it still means that you have to design it in some form.
   Key question to ask yourself is ‘why there?’ What is it about that location that makes you want to set a book there? Is it crucial to the storyline?  Is it somewhere where you have been before, or is it somewhere where you wish you could go? Take note of your feelings and emotions towards this place, because it’s those feelings and emotions that will no doubt show through in your writing.

4. Research:
   - If your character does something as a profession that you know nothing about, then you need to research it. If you have set your book somewhere that you have never been before, or know very little about – it would be a good thing to research it. After all, while I know that that this stuff is probably fiction, you don’t want to just go making it up and making it completely unrealistic and so far outside the boundaries that it’s a ‘hard to comprehend’ read for your readers.

   

   Click image to go directly to Wikipedia

   Wikipedia is always my first stop. I don’t know why – it just is. From there I can gain insight, and direction of what aspect I want to research next. Do not use Wikipedia as a one stop shop, because to be honest – it’s far too general, and most of the information is rather high-level. To gain depth of knowledge, you have to dig deeper.

   You would not believe the amount that I now know about diamonds, or diving, or about the island of Menorca. I have even had a friend who is based in Spain read through my book to double check authenticity. Of course she came back with amendments… as only a true Spaniard would know the intricate details of their country and the native quirks of the place. Research and feedback like this is absolutely golden.

   
   

   And these four points tie into something much, much bigger.

5. The Plot:
   – I could talk forever about plotting, cause and effect, and all that sort of jazz, but I’m not going to. To give you a brief summary, something must happen so that there are turning points and therefore character reactions in order to move the story forward.
   

   Exploding boat?

   Aka. SOMETHING NEEDS TO HAPPEN TO GET THE BALL (STORY) ROLLING. If nothing happens, then there is no justification for a storyline or even a book.

   Take what you will from this advice. But if nothing happens, then it’s going to make for a pretty damn boring story. But with the combination of the above four points, you should be able to pull at least something together.
   

6. Planning:
   

   - Some people are plotters, and some are pansters. I, myself, am a plotter. I plan everything – right from the very start of the story, through to the ending. Then, once you have finished doing that – read your plan from start to finish. If you think it will still make a spectacular story after you have finished, then you can go ahead to the next step.

   If you don’t think your plan cuts the cake in terms of storyline, you need to adjust the plan to make it a good story. Brain-storming helps! A big piece of paper and lots of colourful pens are the best tools to use for this particular activity. Then stick the paper on the wall in front of you, and dream up some new storyline or plotline that will make your plan even better.

   The most important thing to remember is that your plan is a ‘living’ document. Your plan should be continually updated and reviewed throughout the process of writing your book. That way, you have a good birds-eye-view of your story as a whole.…
   If you are not excited about your plan… or it starts to feel as though the story is a bit boring (happens to the best of us) then change it up.

And that is probably all I am going to actually say on the matter of developing new ideas and the plan of a new book. Everyone if different. Some people fly by the seat of their pants and can write a book organically – rolling and writing idea after idea. Some people like myself, need to plan everything out first. I personally like to have a bit of a roadmap. Both methods work. I find that as the years move on, I trust my gut a lot more now when I’m writing, and I’ll automatically up the stakes with my characters without actually planning for it. This is usually the time when I end up doing a bit of re-planning in order to walk the right pathway with my characters.

So… on that note – I guess I better get onto plotting out Tijuana Nights, and designing my characters. Oh, better throw in a little research while I’m at it. I’ve had this novel idea floating about in my brain for at least the past 18 months, and it’s about time that I extracted all this information and braindumped it all out on paper. This way – I might be able to sort it all out into something tangible.

Happy writing everyone!