Welcome to my stop on Rosalind James Virtual Book Tour for Just For Now. Please make sure to leave a comment or question for Rosalind below to let her know you stopped by. You can enter her tour wide giveaway by filling out the Rafflecopter form below.
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You can judge a book by its cover—and people do it all the time. Your cover has to convince YOUR target buyer that this is her type of book, and that it’s a good one. The tips below, gleaned from ten years in marketing for the publishing industry, helped me create my own covers. I pass them along in hopes that they help you too.
1. Hire a professional. It isn’t as expensive as you may think. Three eBook covers cost me less than $100 per book: A small investment that has already paid for itself many times over in book sales.
2. Choose the right professional. I did a web search to find designers in my genre (Romance), then looked at their websites and portfolios. Who designs covers that appeal to you and make you want to buy the book? When you’ve found somebody whose work you like, ask for a quote.
3. Know your market. Think about authors whose books resemble yours. Those authors have succeeded in attracting your market. Look at the covers of their books, and you’ll see trends. (Shirtless heroes? Flowers? An ornate font, or a simple one? Big, bold block letters on a red background, for a thriller?) Copy the links to your favorite covers. You’ll want to share them with your designer.
4. Define the effect you want to achieve. Your cover is your brand. Even if you only have one book out there now, you’ll want a “look” that people identify with your style. A good designer excels in translating “feelings” into art. This is the direction I gave my own designer: “I want a simple, tasteful, intelligent cover (no half-naked heroes!) Something that still says ‘romance,’ but not ‘embarrassing.’ The books are funny, playful, sexy, and occasionally tearjerking. Not completely frothy, a serious story in there too. I want to convey that--plus ‘exotic New Zealand locale.’”
I also had three books, with a fourth to come, so I needed to tie the covers together. The designer achieved that with the use of color and layout.
5. Research stock art. You’ll get better results and help your designer if you take the time to find stock imagery that conveys the look you’re going for. I used
Dreamstime. The designer used the image I found for my first book,
Just This Once, but found different (better!) images for the other books,
Just Good Friends and
Just For Now.
6. Work the design, and get feedback. After you get the designer’s first pass, ask people who have read your book for their reactions, then evaluate the feedback and give ONE response to the designer. If it isn’t quite right, keep working. (It took me three or four rounds.) Don’t give the designer specific direction (“could you put the title under the picture?”) Instead, try to explain the “feeling” that isn’t quite right (“It doesn’t look playful enough”).
7. Admire your beautiful book cover! I hope it sells great!
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Just For Now(Escape to New Zealand #3)
by Rosalind James
Date Published: 8/30/2012
Contemporary Romance
Buy Links:
Amazon
There’s no place like home . . .
For teacher Jenna McKnight, nothing spells “heartbreak” like finding her husband with somebody else–in her bed. Clearly, it’s time to reinvent herself. A new body, a new city, and a new job later, she’s done just that. This isn’t really her home, though. Or her family, however much she wishes it were. And playing house can be a dangerous game.
New Zealand rugby star Finn Douglas is just looking for a temporary nanny. Not a girlfriend, and definitely not a wife. He can’t resist Jenna’s cooking, it’s true. Who knew that he’d have so much trouble resisting her? He wants to do what’s right for his kids. But waiting is so hard . . .
Excerpt:
“Hello,” she smiled up at the tall man who answered the door at her ring. “Mr. Douglas? I’m Jenna McKnight. I think you’re expecting me.”
“Come in. And call me Finn, please.” He took her umbrella from her with a raised brow. “You got pretty wet. Couldn’t you find a parking space?”
“No car. Shoes off?” she asked, glancing at his stockinged feet.
“If you don’t mind,” he agreed, and watched as she bent to pull off her boots. “You’ve learnt Kiwi ways, obviously.”
“I’m a permanent resident, actually. I may not sound like it, but I am pretty much a Kiwi at this point.”
“You do know that this job involves driving,” he commented as he led the way into a spacious lounge, its
original rimu flooring polished to a high russet gloss and covered by a large Oriental rug.
“I can drive,” she assured him. “And I have a clean record.”
“Yeh,” he said absently, gesturing her to a seat on the big leather couch and picking up her CV with a frown. “You have good qualifications. Six years teaching Year One. You’re not . . . exactly what I was hoping for, though. This is a temporary job, but it’s a serious one. You’d have a couple days off each week, but otherwise you’d be here with the kids. Twenty-four hours a day some of the time, though there’s
additional help you could call in. I travel a fair bit, as I’m sure you know.”
“Did you say that on the phone? I don’t recall that. But of course it’s a serious job. It’s taking care of your children, after all, and that’s serious business. I wouldn’t have applied if I hadn’t been prepared to do that.”
He didn’t seem to be warming to her. Was it the hair? She put her hand up to it again, then pulled it away quickly. Tried to project more calm than she was feeling.
“You don’t know who I am.” It was a statement, accompanied by a piercing stare from his light blue eyes.
“Should I know? Are you an actor or something?” She looked at him doubtfully. He was certainly striking, with his height and powerful build, but his features were much too rough-hewn to be called handsome. And that gravelly voice—he could play villains, she supposed. He must have some kind of lucrative career, anyway, to be able to afford this house, in its exclusive neighborhood. He looked young to
be a successful businessperson—early thirties, maybe.
“I’m a rugby player,” he answered briefly, still looking at her. “You didn’t know that?”
“No. I don’t follow sport.”
“You didn’t look me up online, before the interview? That isn’t why you’re here?”
“What?” She was staring at him now. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“Look.” He sighed and set her CV down. “I’ve tried to do this discreetly, but somehow, most of the candidates have turned out to be attractive young women. I advertised because I needed a temporary nanny and housekeeper. Not a girlfriend, and definitely not a wife.”
Jenna sat with her mouth open for a moment, then shut it with a snap. “And astonishingly enough, I came here today, on the bus, in the pouring rain, to interview for a job as a temporary nanny and housekeeper. Not to . . . what? Audition to be your girlfriend? Sleep with you? Maybe you should look in the mirror. You aren’t that good-looking.”
She forced herself to stop before she said anything even ruder, and stood up to leave. All she’d lost was her time and some bus fare, she reminded herself, taking a couple calming breaths to prepare for a dignified exit.
As Finn rose to join her, those eyes even harder now, the front door banged and excited voices rose in the hallway.
“Daddy! We got so wet!”
Jenna turned in surprise as two familiar little figures rushed into the room, then skidded to a stop, staring at her.
“Jenna!” Harry rushed forward and gave her a hug that Jenna reflexively returned. “Why are you here? Did you come to visit us? Where’s Oscar?”
She smiled down at him and reached out to smooth his hair. “No Oscar today. I came to see your dad, but I was just leaving, buddy.”
“Hi, Jenna!” Sophie came forward for her own hug. “Did you come to talk to Dad about being our nanny?” she guessed. “He said he was going to talk to some ladies while we were gone. Are you going to stay with us? That would be so cool.”
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Author Bio:
Rosalind James is the author of the Kindle bestseller Just This Once and the three subsequent books in the Escape to New Zealand series. She is a former marketing executive who has lived all over the United States and in a number of other countries, traveling with her civil engineer husband. Most recently, she spent several years in Australia and New Zealand, where she fell in love with the people, the landscape, and the culture of both countries.
Visit www.rosalindjames.com to listen to the songs from the books, follow the characters on their travels, watch funny and fascinating New Zealand and rugby videos, and learn about what's new!
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