The publishers of so many books today must hope potential readers pay no attention to the covers. They may want you to know the title and the author’s name and that’s about it. How else would you explain how bland or standardized cover design has become?
Well, I’m here to tell you that some of us writers think the cover is an essential part of book design. It is the introduction to a great story. The calling card grabbing the
attention of a person who is looking for the next great read.
Take for example the cover image for my novel, The Spinster’s Hope Chest (2018,
Maine Authors Publishers). It is a photograph I took of a sample selected from a 1906
wallpaper pattern book. A piece of linen plays an important role in the story, and that
fabric, like the photograph, is a floral pattern of red roses on a creamy background. For
weeks I searched in shops and on-line image sites but was unable to find anything
appropriate. Then, in the archives of the Waterford Historical Society, I found a set of
antique wallpaper sample books with dark blue embossed covers. There was page after
page of rosy samples, with white, yellow, brown, tan backgrounds. Do you think I
selected the correct one?
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