Judging a book by its cover
In an ideal world, we would never judge anyone by their appearance, and yet most of us do. The impression may change if we get to know the person (and in fact, often does), but if we don’t get to know the person, that first impression, good or bad, will stay with us.
The same is true of book covers. See a book cover with at white picket fence and a cat, and it’s a fair bet that it’s a cozy. Now if you enjoy cozy mysteries, you’ll probably read the back cover blurb. If that grabs you, you’ll probably by the book.
As you can imagine, a lot of thought goes into designing a book cover, from the background color to the font and imagery used, and that process is left up to graphic artists, albeit with input from the author.
When it came to the cover design for Skeletons in the Attic, here’s how it went:
Publisher: What kinds of images do you imagine on your book cover? What elements from your novel would be important to represent?
Me: I think a skeleton would be too obvious, and the Skeletons in the Attic also refers to all the things Callie finds in the attic that lead her to learn more about her mother’s life. One major find was a locket from a man named Reid. I’ll send a jpeg of the locket that inspired the one described in the book. Callie also found six tarot cards: III: The Empress; IV: The Emperor; VI: The Lovers; The Three of Swords; XIII: Death, which are important to the story. The neighborhood itself might also provide inspiration; a typical 1970s subdivision in a suburb, where all the streets are named after wildflowers. Callie’s house is at 16 Snapdragon Circle.
 |
| The locket. |
Making the title pop is every bit as important as the rest of the artwork. You want folks to be able to read it from a distance, and there’s lots of experimenting with the size and color before making a final decision.
Next up: the cover endorsements by other authors. I was so fortunate to have several authors read my ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) and provide reviews. Selecting what goes where (front cover, back cover, inside the book) is debated between author and publisher.
Last but not least is the back of the book blurb. In the case of Skeletons in the Attic, there were nine revisions before we were satisfied. And here it is:
What goes on behind closed doors doesn’t always stay there…
Calamity (Callie) Barnstable isn’t surprised to learn she’s the sole beneficiary of her late father’s estate, though she is shocked to discover she has inherited a house in the town of Marketville—a house she didn’t know existed. However, there are conditions attached to Callie’s inheritance: she must move to Marketville, live in the house, and solve her mother’s murder.
Callie’s not keen on dredging up a thirty-year-old mystery, but if she doesn’t do it, there’s a scheming psychic named Misty Rivers who is more than happy to expose the Barnstable family secrets. Determined to thwart Misty and fulfill her father’s wishes, Callie accepts the challenge. But is she ready to face the skeletons hidden in the attic?
Judy Penz Sheluk’s debut mystery novel, The Hanged Man’s Noose, was published in July 2015. Skeletons in the Attic, the first book in her Marketville Mystery Series, was published in August 2016.
Judy’s short crime fiction appears in World Enough and Crime, The Whole She-Bang 2, Flash and Bang and Live Free or Tri.
Judy is a member of Sisters in Crime, Crime Writers of Canada, International Thriller Writers and the Short Mystery Fiction Society.
Find Judy on her website/blog at www.judypenzsheluk.com, where she interviews other authors and blogs about the writing life.
Find Skeletons in the Attic: http://www.imajinbooks.com/skeletons-in-the-attic
Find Judy on Facebook (www.facebook.com/JudyPenzSheluk), Twitter (@JudyPenzSheluk), Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/judypenzsheluk) and Amazon (amazon.com/author/judypenzsheluk).