Nocturnal Journal–Mandy M. Roth

More Tips and Tricks

I put a call out to  industry friends—cover artists, authors, editors—for their thoughts and suggestions to help you help them and your book get the best cover for it. These are people who have “been there and done that” so their advice is always welcome. Here’s what one had to say.

Syneca—Cover Artist, Ellora’s Cave Publishing…

I think the most important thing an author can do is allow the artist to do their job.  There are times that an artist will have an idea that’s stunning, something that would catch the eye in a flash, but the author has been quite specific in asking for something else and so they end up with a less arresting cover.

Often authors think in a bit too specific terms … this "scene" from a book.  Well, we’re not creating scenes, but single shots - a moment frozen in time.  And is a specific shot from the book the best way to visually convey the tone or feel of the book?  Not always.  

A good example of an author working with an artist is found in the cover for Madeline Baker’s book Hawk’s Woman. 

  Being a true professional, Ms. Baker gave me an idea what her book was about - a wounded hero, heart-sick with loss and bent on revenge and the woman who gives up everything to help him.

That gave me an idea.  Focus on the emotions of the hero - let the reader see him in a moment where he’s longing for all he lost and wishing for justice.  Add elements that let the reader know this story has Native American elements in it and add into the background the suggestion of the heroine "watching" over the hero as she does in the book when she nurses him back to health.

Luckily for everyone, the cover turned out well, Ms. Baker and the publisher were thrilled and we all went home happy that day.

There are a lot of authors who put complete trust in artists and send up simply character description and a great synopsis and let us run with it.  That’s when artists get to shine.  Just as writers come up with words to reveal a story, artists come up with visuals to convey a feel and tone.

Finally, something quite important for authors is to always remember that the bottom line is drawing attention to the book.  A good cover that captures the eye may not be an elaborate shot.  It could be simple (for example, Roughing It by Vonna Harper  

Or one of my favorites, a cover by Darrell King for Ellora’s Cave.

In closing, I suppose my overall advice would be to work "with" rather than against the cover artist.  Chances are, you’ll end up with a better cover and one that will help the book get attention.

Hope this helps!!

Hugs-

Syn

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In Cover Art: From Form to Finish Part III, I’ll share with you the stages of the art process on my end. I’ll *gulp* put up my concept sketches, comps and finals. You’ll  get author bits/requests that appeared on the art forms I was working from. Later in the workshop, I’ll also walk you through taking your final cover art and creating a static banner ad to use for marketing and promotions.

WwW with Megan Hart

An Ode to my Alphasmart

My Alphasmart was the best tool I ever got. I’d been writing for years. Long-hand, to start, of course. Later I got a typewriter and some time after that, a word processor. By the time I got a computer I also had a husband and an infant, so while Word might have made writing a novel easier, I didn’t have the time to spend.

By the time my daughter was a toddler and naptimes had fallen on the wayside, I needed something else. I couldn’t spend hours on the computer (no matter how much I wanted to) and writing long-hand simply didn’t cut it any more. My thoughts outraced my fingers, not to mention the cramps my hands got after a page or so.

Enter Alphasmart. I wasn’t sure I could justify paying for a writing tool when I wasn’t actually earning money. But then I figured I never would earn any money unless I was able to write. So I got the Alphasmart and I started taking my daughter to a local indoor playground… and I started writing. Hard. Only a few hours a week but it was more hours than I’d had before and with the keyboard under my fingertips and the Alphasmart’s easy on-off function that allowed me to open and close documents with the touch of a finger instead of shutting down a laptop, I was producing. Big-time.

I’ve lost track of how many full-length novels, novellas and short stories I wrote on that little machine. My writing work-horse. I dropped it. Spilled coffee on it, more than once, when I started writing at a local coffee shop after the kids (now two of them) graduated from the playground to daycare. I replaced the keyboard once when it began to stick. I took it to the park, the beach, in the car, to the lake, to sports practices and games. I took it wherever I went, wherever I thought I might write.

I’m convinced I’d never have written as much as I have without it. So, thank you, faithful Alfie, for the years of service. I love you!

Just recently I bought a new Alphasmart, a Neo. Aside from being named after one of my favorite movie characters of all time, the Neo has a few upgrades the Alphasmart 3000 lacked. I gave my 3000 to my daughter, to write her own stories. Passing on the legacy, I guess.

I haven’t written anything on it, yet. I’ve been busy with edits and haven’t yet begun any new projects. I know what I’ll start on it, though, and I confess it feels a little funny to be contemplating working on a new story on a new machine.

But I can’t wait. I’m looking forward to another untold number of books and stories and novellas to get typed out on the Neo, which I’ll carry with me in the car, to the lake, in box and on a train and in the rain and in a house with a mouse…

You get the picture.

I would still be a writer without my Alphasmart, but I guarantee you I’d be far less productive.

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Megan Hart is published in almost every genre of romantic fiction, including historical, contemporary, romantic suspense, romantic comedy, futuristic, fantasy and perhaps most notably, erotic. She also writes non-erotic fantasy and science fiction, as well as continuing to occasionally dabble in horror.