Monday, February 27, 2012

What does a Cover Say?


Hi from Texas! Debra Clopton here hoping you have a blessed day. First I'd like to congratulate the Harlequin art department for bringing my hero of my September book Her Rodeo Cowboy to life in this cover. It was announced this month that it won the Judge a Book By Its Cover Contest in the Inspirational Category, sponsored by the Houston Bay Area RWA Chapter. Whoo Hoo! I think the art department did a great job with the cover because Luke Holden is a great guy inside and out and I thought the look in his eyes conveyed a steadfastness in him...this was the 1st book in the Mule Hollow Homecoming series. You can read the interview with Luke here or visit my website
www.debraclopton.com/about-debra/interviews/

This is the cover of the 2nd book in the Mule Hollow Homecoming series HER LONE STAR COWBOY out March 20. What do you think about Jess?

These are brothers in the series, and they have two completely different expressions. At first I worried what readers would think about Jess's expression. What does his expression say to you? I'll give you a cheat sheet but would love to hear what your first reaction to Jess was. He is actually a fun loving guy, determined not to let his past affect him. He and Luke and Colt, whose story will come out in August 2012 do have a hard childhood that they each have dealt with in their own way. So, what do you think of his expression? What do you think he's thinking about?

You can read about the story at my website under coming soon.

And the big question is, do you judge a book by it's cover?

I will tell you that years ago someone gave me a book with a horrible cover and told me I just had to read this book. The cover was so bland that it just really turned me off. I set the book to the side and forgot about it. About a year later I saw a friend reading a book, something about the cover looked familiar to me. She told me it was a wonderful book and started telling me about it and how it was affecting her. Suddenly it hit me--and I went over and dug the book out from under a stack of books--it was the same book I'd been given. I read the book and loved it!!! It is to this day one of my favorites and I always think about that terrible cover and how it almost caused me to miss out on this wonderful book. How about you--do you have a bad cover story?

(I'll have an interview here next month with Jess from Her Lone Star Cowboy if you want to find out what he's really thinking about)

16 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your win, Debra! That's wonderful. From Jess's expression, he strikes me as intense. He must be thinking of the woman he's trying not to love! lol

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  2. Thank you Karen,
    LOL that could very well be what he's thinking. Gabi Newberry gives him trouble from the very beginning of the book.

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  3. Deb,

    Love your winning cover!!! Luke's a doll. Jess is more pensive. Maybe more reserved.

    Congrats on your continued success!

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  4. Love them both! Congrats on winning the cover contest!

    My first thought on Jess's expression is that he's cautious. Not very trusting.

    he looks like some actor, but I'm drawing a blank!

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  5. Congratulations on the cover contest win!

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  6. Congrats Deb. Love both covers. The art department does such a great job most of the time. :)

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  7. Debra you are right about covers. I got given a book to read to review for an author of a friend. I didn't like the cover it didn't inspire me but when I finally read the book more cos I promised to read it I couldn't put the book down. It made my top reads of the year.
    The same happened for another book I won didn't like the cover although the blurb was good and again a great book.
    I agree a cover can make or break a book. There are many I have looked at and not been interested in because of the cover.
    I like your new cover and congrats on your award.

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  8. I'm glad you like my cover Jenny! I guess that teaches us to give the book a chance. I'm glad I did.

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  9. Congratulations!
    I really like both covers :)

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  10. Thanks Debby and Missy and Kim.
    And yes he is cautious about relationships.

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  11. Yippee! Congrats, Debra. Really happy for you. Of course, I haven't found a cover of yours yet that doesn't draw me in. :)

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  12. Hi Debra, it was fun to see these two covers and compare the brothers. I can see why that first one was chosen as a winner. The expression on the second brother makes him look more serious and guarded. I think readers will love it.

    I do think the cover is so important! Glad we have such great artists who design our Love Inspired covers.

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  13. Thank you Carrie,
    The artist are wonderful.

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  14. Love your covers Debra!! and Congratulations on the win.

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