On With The Bash

This week I have Kim Cresswell with me helping me to celebrate summer. Hi Kim and welcome to the bash!

REFLECTION:  Why a (Good) Book Cover is Important

As an author, reader, and an artsy-fartsy graphic designer type, I have to admit it...I love book covers! I particularly love romantic suspense covers.

Even though I try not to, I am guilty of judging a book by its cover. I'm sure I've passed on many fantastic stories after only reading the blurb simply because the book cover didn't convey the story inside.

In my award-winning romantic suspense, REFLECTION, reporter Whitney Steel is investigating an alleged human cloning project when she meets up with the hero, FBI Agent, Blake Neely, who's searching for his own answers. Everything from this point on focuses on Blake and Whitney discovering whether or not the villain has produced the world's first cloned human. They don't set out to fall in love. A relationship between the hero and heroine evolves because of the suspense.

How does an author and cover artist come up with a book cover that conveys both romance and   suspense?

My cover artist (Marion Sipe) began by gathering the perfect images. I loved the graphics. The DNA chain reflected the human cloning aspect of REFLECTION and the seductive image of the man and woman showed the book had a romance plot but the cover was missing something...an anchor for the suspense.

Before:   

So why is a good cover so important? Because a book cover is a window into the soul of a book, an author's first chance to impress by taking the reader on a visual journey.

After:  The final version was a perfect fit for REFLECTION.

BLURB

Florida investigative reporter, Whitney Steel, has lived in the shadow of her legendary father long enough. To prove herself she needs to find the “Big” story.

She found it.

Now it may kill her.

After Whitney receives a lead pointing to the world's first cloned human, now a small child, she vows to unravel the truth. However, sifting through the facts proves to have dangerous results, including death threats and murder.

When she's nearly killed, but is saved by undercover FBI Special Agent, Blake Neely, he refuses to let her get in the way of his own objective—at least not right away.

Caught in a lethal game between a billionaire obsessed with genetic perfection, his hit man’s thirst for retribution, and a Colombian drug lord fresh out of prison determined to make Blake pay for his twin brother’s death over a decade ago...

Can they save an innocent child before it’s too late?

Faced with tough choices, with deadly consequences for many—Whitney soon realizes that sometimes a story becomes more than just a story.

Praise for REFLECTION

UP Authors Fiction Challenge Winner (2013) "Cinematic writing, powerful visuals, sleek, fast, utterly sexy, notches above anything we have read before!" ~ UP Authors

"Action packed from page one...an impressively laid out passionate thrill ride!" -InD'Tale Magazine

MuseItUp Publishing | Amazon | AmazonUK | Bookstrand | Smashwords | CoffeeTime Romance | Omnilit | ARe | ibookstore | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Sony | iTunes

Available in paperback at Amazon & Createaspace

You can learn more about Kim and her current and upcoming releases by visiting

her web site:  http://www.kimcresswell.ca

Or her Facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/KimCresswellBooks