My cover story...

Take a quick peek in my garden right now and you will understand why I am so in love with the new German cover for my second novel.  This is Droemer Knaur’s edition of Last Kiss Goodnight which is retitled  The Joy of Bright Days and is out in paperback in August.
Anyone would think I had picked the colours for this cover myself!  I really do feel so incredibly blessed re cover designs just now. Regular readers will know how much I also love the new edition of Recipes for Melissa in the UK which got its delicious new look to celebrate the release of my second novel.
Many people really liked the original cover for my debut but the more contemporary look is clearly going down well too. As I write the book is in the top #200 on Kindle so I am absolutely thrilled!!
But isn’t it extraordinary how my writing – the very same books - receive such different titles and treatments in different countries? I find it all absolutely fascinating.
Book covers are, of course, a MAJOR topic of conversation among authors.  And rightly so. It can be quite tense and emotional waiting to see a new cover and often the ‘reveal’ though  pleasing,  may not be quite what an author expects.
Like it or not, a  cover can make or break a book and so I’m learning that it is most important to be professional rather than purely emotional. First question has to be the bottom line, after all. Will this cover sell my book? Attract readers? Send the right signal to the right section of the market?
So just now I feel incredibly lucky that all my publishers (get me with the plural!) are putting in so much thought and work into my designs.
 In the UK my primary sales are on Kindle and so my covers here need above all else to be striking in thumbnail version so that they ‘pop’ on the page when potential buyers are skimming the Amazon shelves. I’ve written here before about the recent branding update which saw Recipes for Melissa given its beautiful new cover to tie in with my second novel Last Kiss Goodnight. Both novels now work extremely well in partnership, I think, and as I said earlier are selling very well at the moment so crossed fingers and three cheers for my publisher Bookouture for putting in this extra effort for me. I’m incredibly grateful.
Meanwhile back to Germany where Droemer Knaur are targeting book shop sales as well as ebook sales with their lovely covers.
For my first novel (retitled For All the Days to come) they went for sheer BEAUTY. A gorgeous hardback with gold front and backplates, a gold thread bookmark and a stunning design. It is a book to treasure. I am so proud of it.
Now – moving onto paperbacks, the German designers  have come up with this nature/berry theme  to tie my two books together. And I LOVE them!!  The new paperback for my first novel features forget-me-nots which tie in with the theme of the book just beautifully. And for the second? Well, as I said from the off,  someone must have told them about my garden.
So I will sign off here today with a little montage of all my covers so far (and some shots of my garden too so you will understand the colour reference). There are still editions of my debut to come from Israel, Korea and Brazil. I honestly cannot wait now to see what they come up with.
 

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