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That statement is so true.  Well, it’s taken a while (almost a year, actually) but I now have an original cover design for my ghost short story, “The DiVacci Curse.”

Only the cover has been changed.  The story and its contents remain the same.

When I first published the story last summer, I felt that it was more important to just get it published and out there, rather than delay publishing because of the cover page.  I opted to use one of Amazon’s predesigned cover pages that I liked, but was generic in nature.  I had no issues with the predesigned cover for a long time until I saw another book on Amazon (can’t remember if it was fiction or non-fiction) that used the same exact cover design…same font, colors, etc.  That’s when I realized that I needed to have an original cover design instead.

I now understand the importance of book covers.  Some readers do indeed “judge a book by its cover.”  Book covers can determine whether a reader investigates the e-book further or just clicks to another item or page, not even giving the book a second thought.

I prefer book covers that give the reader a general idea of the plot, rather than paint an overly vivid picture that is too demanding and busy for the eye. If too much is going on in the image, the message becomes confusing and complicated.  The author runs the risk of turning the reader off.  Sometimes “less is more” as previously mentioned in my post about “The Fog.”  This concept applies to book covers as well.

On the other hand, I’ve seen some book covers that are too simple and bland. They’re not interesting enough and don’t make the reader want to explore further.

For some readers, gory or excessively graphic book covers (ones that show excessive amounts of blood and gore, or are just generally graphic in nature) do nothing for them. It’s a big turn off.  They usually don’t give those books a second glance.  I think it’s o.k. to have gore and blood in the plot and contents of the book itself; after all, is it really a horror story without at least some of those elements?  But when it’s blatantly displayed on the cover, then the author runs the great risk of scaring the reader away (literally). Scaring the reader is good.  Scaring them away…not good.

Striking a proper balance with a book cover that isn’t too subtle or too excessive is challenging and something that I look forward to investigating and experimenting with as I write each new book.

I hope that the new cover design for “The DiVacci Curse” gives the reader a little more information (but not too much) about the plot, while staying true to the more sinister and darker aspects of the story.  I also hope that future readers will find the new cover intriguing and that it will coax them into giving it a closer look.

“The DiVacci Curse” (with new cover design) is available on the My Books page of this blog.

Thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoy the new cover design (and the book, of course!).