Tag Archives: Book Covers

Toni Pike: Desolation Bluff

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I recently came across a post on Derek Murphy’s website titled Best Self-Publishing Companies for Indie Authors (that aren’t scams).

You can go to his website to read the entire post (which I found interesting and informative). Since this is a post about Toni Pike’s novel Desolation Bluff I want to draw your attention to a section of Derek Murphy’s post that I find fits perfectly with Toni Pike’s novel.

When you put your book cover, your hook, tagline or teaser in front of the right readership, they understand it’s the kind of book they enjoy reading. The benefits are obvious. They click on the cover and read the blurb. Sounds good. They check out the reviews. If they trust the positive ones, they’ll consider buying it and check the price.

Cover

 Blurb

Reviews

 Price

COVER AND BLURB

Blind romance author Oliver Cameron uses the pen name of Fidel Amore and thinks he has the perfect life at his country estate near Desolation Bluff. After a honeymoon in Paris, his wife Vanessa continues her work as his assistant. His friend Ray is the business manager who lives in the gatehouse and also acts as the public face of Fidel Amore, doing all those book-signing trips that Oliver never wanted to attend. Helen Dunkley is the housekeeper devoted to him since childhood – but she detests the two newcomers.

Complications set in when Ray, working on his old car, accidentally backs into Oliver. His injuries appear minor but the next day he suddenly regains his sight. Oliver wants Ray and Vanessa to be the first to hear his good news, but when he finds them he uncovers a shocking betrayal.
A game of cat and mouse begins – and with the arrival of a mysterious stranger, it turns deadly.

A short suspense novel that will keep you guessing right to the very end.

REVIEWS

More than 30 reviews on Goodreads . Most of them 5 Stars. Here are some of them:

Fast moving and suspenseful from start to finish (Peter Springer)

Packed with Suspense and Action (Sally Cramer)

Quickly engaging and a page flipper (Terri Schrandt)

From the first paragraph, I could sense something ominous in the atmosphere, which stayed all through the background (Sherry H.)

This book was a thoroughly enjoyable read with interesting characters and great plot twist to keep me hooked all the way through to a most satisfying ending!  (D.G. Kaye)

PRICE

$2.99 Canadian which is pretty inexpensive for three and a half hours of enjoyable entertainment.

As for the content, I was not disappointed. The cover, blurb and reviews delivered. It was a fun ride where justice is rendered by a shrewd blind man who accidently regains his sight and discovers that his wife is engaged in a love affair with his assistant. A story of betrayal between good and bad. Definitely a page turner.

Noir Fiction’s “little black dress”.

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