Getting To Mr. Right: Choosing a Book Cover

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We all know that a lot of people judge a book by its cover. I the first. Therefore, I did a lot of analyzing before selecting this cover from the several interesting options Miruna Radulescu, a graphic designer, presented to me.

To add to the difficulty, mid way through the process,  I changed the title of my novel from The Dating Club to Getting To Mr. Right. Here’s what Miruna had to say about this:

After you gave the new title, wheels got into motion again and came up with the two other ideas. It’s amazing how a title can have such a different concept behind it!

 Finally, I decided on this cover for these reasons:

  • The image of the suitcase represents a journey of leaving behind the past in order to go towards the future. This is an important theme of the novel.

  • The suitcase also represents baggage which we all carry with us. The novel focuses on father/daughter relationships and its impact on a daughter’s adult love relationships. The stickers on the tattered suitcase are memories of these past relationships.

  • I like that the reader does not see the age nor what the woman on the cover looks like. I felt that this, hopefully, would draw the reader in by identifying with the character.

  • I also like the hilly road, symbolizing the ups and downs of relationships, which is present throughout the novel.

  • Finally, I found the cover had a mood of serenity and optimism to it. Something which I tried to convey in the novel.

As a bonus, which I did not expect, Miruna put Mr. in smaller letters than the rest of the cover title. It’s not that I think a Mr. is not important to a woman’s life. After all, my novel is largely about meeting Prince Charming. But through the novel, these women learn that Mr. Right is merely a cherry on the Sundae of their lives.

Here are some topics I’ll be posting (not necessarily in this order)  that are connected to Getting to Mr. Right:

The Editing Process

Kindle Apps

Book Launch

Father/Daughter relationships

The Setting

 

 

 

 

 

 

58 thoughts on “Getting To Mr. Right: Choosing a Book Cover”

  1. I really like this cover, Carol! It’s attention – getting, but not ‘overkill,’ if I can put it like that. An excellent choice.

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    • Maria, you’re the first one to comment on the title. What I also like about the title which I forgot to mention in the post is that Mr. is in smaller letters so what the reader catches is Getting to Right, which is what the 4 characters in the novel do about their lives.

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  11. I like how you managed to integrate various meanings and levels both in the title and the cover. Nice touch underlining Mr. while writing it in smaller letters, I think it captures the complexity of the matter and the fact that it will be dealt with from various angles.

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  17. Super cover. I love the quietness of the colours and the way it takes a while to ‘read’ it. So you see the title straight away, but you have to run your eye of over the illustration to make out the suitcase and the girl/woman holding it. For what it is worth, the word ‘dating’ in the title would have put me off – it suggests teen fiction. When is it coming out?

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  19. I really like this Carol and look forward to your upcoming posts. I have to tell you that ironically, my new book cover also involves a suitcase with words, being carried. How ironic is this? My new books is an anthology of essays on self-esteem. It is called ‘Words We Carry’, so the suitcase was also fitting for my book. How bizarre?

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      • What are the odds? It blew me away when I saw your cover lol. Yes, we must think a lot alike. Thanks for your compliment and great move on your title change. I think it’s more captivating! Maybe we can do book releases on each other’s blog when they come out? 🙂

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      • Book releases on each other’s blog is a great idea. Just let me know when yours is coming out. Mine should be out soon. I just have to fix a Kindle formatting problem. 🙂

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  21. I LOVE the cover. You two did a beautiful job! I’m late arriving at this important realization…that a daughter’s relationship with her father carries weight in her “romantic” relationships. Can’t wait to read your take on this important issue/journey.

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    • I’m really pleased, Ann, that you love the cover. Yes, Miruna did a great job. My using the father/daughter relationship started with one of the characters who is doing a study on the subject and eventually it evolved to include the three other characters and their relationships with their fathers. In all cases, the father is either physically and/or emotionally absent or is overbearingly controlling. It is how the women deal with this relationship that allows them to move forward or not.
      I hope that I’ll have done fictional justice to the non-fictional research on this issue.

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  22. Hello dear Carol, I know first hand all about the book cover process as my wife is a graphic designer. She mostly designs covers for a Norwegian publishing house with rather grim topics. I wish you every success with your new book, I will check it out and leave a review if it is for sale yet. Take care 🙂

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  25. Looks very good. Definitely a cover that would make me pick a book up and read more… Good luck and let me know ( I love to share new books in my blog). And thanks for liking mine.

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