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| Author Rae Rivers |
Judge A Book By Its Cover?
Do you? I know you
shouldn’t but to be honest, as an avid reader, I do. Really.
A cover is my first impression of a book and in an overcrowded market where
choosing my next book can sometimes be overwhelming, I rely heavily on covers. An icky cover or a cover that looks rushed or
unprofessional ... um, pass. (And no, I
don’t use this approach to people!)
So what makes a
really good cover for me?
Images
An intriguing image is a must. It has to be eye catching, interesting and
enticing. The image alone can determine
whether or not I pick up a book. It also
helps me determine the gist of the plot or the genre of the book at a first
glance. Think romance novels! (And by the way, have you seen how gorgeous
HarperImpulse’s covers are?)
Consistency
One of my pet peeves about covers is when the cover on the
front doesn’t match the story. If the
heroine has red hair on the cover but turns out blonde in the story or there’s
a symbol on the cover that seems to have relevance but doesn’t appear in the
book, I’m disappointed. (Because I was waiting for the meaning behind that
symbol, you know!) As for a series, if a
book is part of one, I like to see a vague resemblance on the covers that
carries through all the books.
Colour
Although the use of colours is subjective as everyone reacts
differently, colour has a huge impact on emotions and is a great way to reveal
the tone of a story. Colours like green
and blue are calming and can be used to express sadness or feelings of trust
and security. Red, orange and yellow
evoke feelings of passion, warmth and energy.
(Ah, so that’s why my
publishers opted for those colours for the covers of my Keepers series! J)
Tag line
This is the brief line that sums up the plot in a nutshell
and hooks me to want to read more. I’ve been enticed to explore books further
and buy them based on their clever tag lines.
A great example is Paula Hawkin’s, The Girl on the Train: “You
don’t know her but she knows you.”
Professional polish
If a book meets all the above, has an interesting blurb and
looks professional, usually the chances are good that the writing will be too!
When I signed my Paranormal Romance book deal with
HarperImpulse, I was very flexible regarding the covers they designed but
insisted they had to be eye-catching, colourful and well ... perfect. My Keepers are three warrior brothers who
protect a powerful, modern day witch.
They fight to protect the balance of nature and innocent people. They all have magical elemental powers. Initially, I expected covers with half naked
chests and glorious muscles. Warriors. I completed a cover sheet giving more
information on the story and what I had in mind and this was passed on to Alex,
HarperImpulse’s fab cover designer.
The final product? No
warriors but lots of colour - and the right ones too! Red, orange and yellow – energy and passion
that conveys the plot so well. And
pentagrams which forms such a vital part of the story as it illustrates the
magical bond between my Keepers and their witch. A pentagram is a symbol of goodness and
depicts the five elements of nature – water, earth, fire, air and the spirit
that binds them together. My Keepers and
their witch are magically bound, strong as individuals but unbeatable as
one. As it’s a series, I also loved the
fact that there’s continuity between all the covers.
So no, the covers weren’t anything close to what I had in
mind but in the end, I think they’re everything a cover should be. Love them!
Thanks for reading.
Rae Rivers
RAE RIVERS
BIO
I’m an
avid reader and writer with a passion for writing romance novels. I live in
Cape
Town,
South Africa, with my gorgeous husband, two beautiful children and a zoo of
house pets.
Besides
writing, I love family time, the outdoors, travelling, watching TV series,
reading and
I can also
be found here:
Twitter:
@raerivers1
The Keepers series is published by Harper Impulse, the digital first romance imprint at Harper Collins.
Many thanks to Rae for such a fabulous post as part of the #HIFortnight celebrations!
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