Welcome to the new season of #BehindTheScenes everyone! In this edition, I am going to talk about my book covers. I have always received mixed reactions to them. I mean, they are pretty plain with a generic picture on each.
Let's look over my first book, A World So Bright and Dark. Basic title, author and picture on the cover. Yes, nobody could see why I would choose a black and white picture of empty benches. Marketing experts that I spoke to did not let me explain why I chose what I did, stating strongly that it was plain, had no meaning, and would not get me any readers.
They were right. I am not criticizing that. But it left no room for me to say that yes, there was a meaning to the picture. The book is written in the voice of a young girl. She is bullied and abused, seeing herself mostly alone. The picture of the empty benches is the equivalent of her speaking to a friend, i.e. her journal.
They are fictional characters. But in Lizzie's world, the journal is a real friend versus invisible. She is telling her friend all her secrets. Since it is between the two of them, nobody else would know.
Does it make better sense now?
Well, that would not have brought the right readers, come to think of it. The same thing happened with the other books. Casting Shadows had the spiral staircase. The Circle is Broken had candles. Through the Meadow displayed the butterfly on the flower. Revolution is less exciting with its forest view.
Each of them had meaning. The staircase was what I imagined Dorth House had, a location close to the main character of the first two books. The candles represented not only the light in the dark, but also the secretive nature of the escapade. The butterfly in the meadow symbolized vulnerability in open spaces. The explosive revolution isn't so boring once you knew that the main setting of the latter half of the book was set in the woods.
None of those told you what kind of book I have. Most of you would not catch the symbolism, to be honest. But set to the background of stone and light, you can clearly see crowned books.
It's a work in progress to make an author marketable. When you are on your own, nobody is always going to understand you. You WILL be judged. You WILL experience ups and downs. But someday, you WILL understand how to do something without thinking about it...because we got better with practice. It's the same with me. Besides, I plotted the rest of the series much the same way and will continue to advertise the books the same way, even if the color and the schemes don't make sense to you.
PS Watch out for the next piece of the cover for From Across the Sea. I am planning to post it here on the blog middle to end of October. Again, the full picture will be revealed 6:30 PM EST on New Years Eve 2024.
Namaste! Have a great day!
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