Okay. It’s getting scary now. I can live with pain. Living with
fear is different, but both can be debilitating. I am three weeks from running
a half-marathon and releasing my time-travel romance, and I’m afraid that because of my ankle injury I won’t be able
to train and be prepared for the race. But down deep, I’m more afraid of a
worse injury that would keep me from even walking to the finish line. I don’t really care how I get to that line—run,
walk, crawl. I just have to get there.
This morning, I’m also frozen by indecision (which translates into
fear) on the cover design for THE RUBY BROOCH. I have 5 drafts and no consensus
among the members of my writers’ group. The cover is the single biggest piece
of marketing this story will receive, it’s critical to its success, and can
single-handedly sell it. I want a simple image that packs an emotional punch. We
know red evokes emotion. White can disappear on a virtual shelf, but put a dog
on the cover and the crowd will love it.
Hey, maybe that is what’s missing in the five cover designs in front of
me.
According to Jeff Kleinman of Folio Literary Management in an
article titled “Judge Your Book By Its Cover,” experts seem to believe there
are three qualities that cause a reader to pick up a book: (1) Distinctiveness;
(2) Clarity, and (3) Connection. And a study by Random house said that readers
gravitate toward subject matter with 40% of book purchases based on storylines
or themes. So, if 40% of readers searching for a paranormal romance view a
virtual shelf, what will attract readers to THE RUBY BROOCH? Something
distinctive that will evoke emotion. I believe it’s right there in the name—a ruby
brooch. Or, I could change the name to THE RUBY BROOCH AND A DOG NAMED TATE—something
distinctive and a golden retriever. Bingo.
I’m not sure what the day will bring, but I most certainly need to
move past the fear, get in a 5 or 6 mile run, and make a decision about the
design. Sitting on my butt and tapping my fingernails against my teeth will
only lead to more fear, put me behind in my training, and leave me coverless. Jeez.
That’s no way to spend a Friday, especially a Friday when Kentucky plays LSU in
the SEC men’s tournament in New Orleans at 1:00. This time tomorrow, I might still be icing my ankle, but at least I'll have made a decision about the cover.
Happy writing and running, and GO CATS! Kathy
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