UNIQUE COVER ART
I love books. I love book covers. I do not generally judge a book by its cover. While I do appreciate a good cover, I grew up reading books by Albert Payson Terhune that usually came inside a cover that looked a lot like this one:
I read a lot of books in covers like this. Not just Terhune's books. We had lots of books in this old, hardcover style. Some of those books had even less of a design than this one, and none of them had dust jackets. I learned early that a cover doesn't necessarily mean anything about the book inside. An excellent story can have any kind of container. But again, that doesn't mean I don't appreciate a fabulous cover. It just means that I know a fabulous cover doesn't always mean a fabulous book... and vice versa.
There is a trend in YA fantasy lately. Well, in YA in general. A lot of covers are starting to look rather a lot like... well... like these:
These three books are not related. They're not part of a series. They're not even by the same author. And yet... they practically have the same cover. And it's not just these, many, many, many of the newer (published in the last year or two) YA fantasy books I see at the library sport this same image.
Before I go any farther, let me just say: there is nothing wrong with these covers. They are very nice. I am not attempting to disparage them in any way. What I am attempting to point out is their similarities... despite the fact that these three books are very different from each other (with the exception that they are all YA, Fantasy, are written in 1st-person, from the perspective of a female lead character).
Can I just brag on my book-cover artist for a moment? Because working with Angelina is just another of the many, many reasons why I am rather enjoying being a self-published author. I get to work with the cover artist of my choice - a fabulous woman who takes the time to hand-paint a beautiful water-color work of art for each book, and then scans it into the computer to add the graphic design elements of Titles/Author Name/and Bar Codes.
Sure, being self-published is a lot of work, and sure, it's going to take longer to get my name out there and sell enough books to make any money at all... but I would trade easier fame for Angelina Walker's artwork any day of the week.
And don't forget to swing over to Anne Stengl's blog and enter for your chance to win a signed paperback copy of King's Warrior! Click HERE TO FIND GIVEAWAY. Giveaway ends this Sunday.