New Covers for Sorcerous Moons!

 Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is "Tick-Tock trends—have you tried any reading or writing trends?" 

I'm leaving in the misspelling, just so you get how clueless we are. ~ Shakes cane at kids on lawn ~

Regarding TikTok - lol! - a social media property that originated in China, no, I don't follow or attempt the trends. I sometimes feel like I should. I do have a TikTok account - https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffe_kennedy - and I even have over a thousand followers there, even though I almost never post anything. The followers are due to very kind and generous fellow authors who do the Tiks and Toks better than I do. (Shout out to Vela Roth and Lisette Marshall!)

So, I know that I really should post to TikTok, and I sometimes think about it, and even occasionally do it. But I also remind myself of advice I've been giving since the beginning of social media, which is that you "should" do only the kind you enjoy doing. Social media is social and if you're hating it and faking being social and happy and fun, it shows. 

Therefore, instead of discussing reader trends or writing trends or TikTok dances, I'm going to share these beautiful new covers for my complete, six-book Sorcerous Moons series!!! The spine design with all six together is so gorgeous even Taylor is gasping in admiration! The print editions can be ordered via my website store or the usual retailers. 

Cover Tough Love

 Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is "Judging a book by its cover: cover trends and what you look for as an author or a reader."

There have been excellent posts this week exploring why we buy covers, what we look for and love in covers, even being misled by covers. What I'm going to talk about is what a cover ISN'T for an author. And yes, this is something that's hard to hear. Stop now if you're not ready for a little tough love.

What a cover isn't: It is not an expression of the author's creativity.

I say this because I've heard more than one - usually a newer author - say that they want it to be. I recall one time that my aunt asked me to talk to a friend of hers who was a first-time author working with a small press to publish her memoir. She was super unhappy with the cover they developed and fighting with them about it. I think she fully expected me to give her ammunition in that fight. Instead, I gave her this tough love talk:

The cover of the book is not an expression of your creativity. The BOOK - what's inside the front and back cover - is the expression of your creativity. You got all those words and pages to convey the story you want to tell. The cover is not, and should not, be an extension of that story. 

Now, I'm not saying that the cover CAN'T reflect the story, but a book cover has two jobs:

1. Catch the reader's eye in a pleasing, enticing way.
2. Convey genre or some sense of what kind of story it will be.

That's it. Simple, but also very difficult. That's plenty of work for an image and a few words to do. Those jobs don't need to be further complicated by putting the author's story-vision into an image. In fact, when authors try to insert that vision, they can get in the way of the primary two functions of the cover.

So, I know it's hard. I have been there and I have had covers I hated, where the characters looked NOTHING like what I had in my head. I have had covers I loved that did nothing to sell the story inside. I've had horrible covers that I'm convinced tanked sales. I've had covers that readers rhapsodized over for no reason that made sense to me. When I work with my cover designer on the covers of my indie books, I really have to take off my author hat and put on the publisher one - and remind myself of the two rules. Tough love for myself, too!

Book Cover Deliberation

Books wouldn’t be nearly as much fun to pick up if they didn’t have amazing covers. Covers give you a glimpse into the story, they set the scene, and they set expectations. And for me, book covers mean different things depending on if I’m looking at them as an author or a reader. 

Reader View: If I see the back of a woman running away in the dark, I’m getting a mystery thriller, possibly some romance. These covers don’t do much for me, likely because I don’t read a ton in the genre. If I see a big ol’ sword in hand accompanied by anything foresty, I’m expecting an epic fantasy. If I see flowers or snakes or another inanimate object surrounding a sword then I’m expecting a different kind of fantasy, one likely written by a woman and there’s a good chance there’ll be kissing. If I see a solid colored cover with anything tech or medical related I’m expecting a thriller, hopefully sci-fi bent, especially if the image evokes robotics or machinery. 

As a reader I clearly use covers to tell me what kind of book I’m checking out. I frequently pick up books because the cover art caught my eye, especially fantasy books with incredible art. There are many book covers out there deserving of their very own gilded-frame!

Author View: I’m looking at book covers to tell me what kind of press/publishing house produced them to then decide if it’s the right kind of look I’d want for my books. The covers with a photoshop image superimposed on a background with un-matching font isn’t a place I’m going to look into. Covers with the right tone for the genre, well matched font, and/or beautiful art are definitely places I’m checking out. 

As an author I use covers as a quality gauge. The more professional looking the book, the more likely I am to put them on my list. Even if you have an agent it’s a good idea to do your homework and be knowledgeable of what types of books certain publishers produce. Then you’ll have an idea of what editors are more likely to enjoy reading your words. And when I say types of books I mean more than genre. Angry Robot is going to have a totally different fantasy flavor than say Wednesday Books. 

So, how do you look at book covers? 

Fantasy Covers: Elements Convey Sub-Genre

 This Week's Topic: Judging a Book by Its Cover

Cover Trends and What I Look for as an Author and a Reader

Hell yeah, I judge a book by its cover. If the cover looks like crap, I'm assuming the story was written like crap too. I don't have to use the "Look Inside" feature to know it wasn't professionally edited, either. Life's too short and my TBR pile is too big to waste time on a book with a shitty cover. A good cover is more than well-rendered art, there's the matter of the appropriate font too. I've seen eye-catching art ruined by bad font, and I weep. Anyone trying to resurrect ye ol' WordArt should be shot from a cannon, FWIW. Bad font screams "amateur" and "badly written content inside." 

Buuuuut, what about those covers that look like every.other.cover. in the genre? Are they bad for being too much alike? Ahahahah. Welcome to the wobbly line between delivering on reader expectations and trying to stand out in a listing of millions. Urban Fantasy covers tend to look a lot alike, and that's because readers identify that similarity with the genre so authors/artists deliver for the sake of sales (chicken->egg->chicken, yes). The core elements of a UF cover are: 

• Hot chick (or dude) on the cover
• Magic representation (aura, array, shifter-sidekick, etc.)
• Urban-ish nightscape
• Weapon (8 times out of 10)
• A gun or a sword are the most likely, though there is an occasional dagger or crossbow.  

Does the formulaic cover mean the book is formulaic too? Uh, maybe. Does it mean the story hits the big UF tropes? Probably. That's what the artist and author are trying to convey with the composition of elements on the cover. Wanna read a shifter novel? Look for an animal on the cover. Wanna read a vampire book? Look for the fang with a blood dribble. Witches? Pentagrams or familiars. Angels? Wings. Demons? Serpentine eyes. As long as the humanoid on the cover doesn't look like remedial Poser and the other elements have been properly layered and blended to create a cohesive picture, then we're headed in the right direction.

On the other hand, Fantasy books--be they High, Epic, Grimdark, Hopepunk, RPG, etc.,-- have a wider pool of "typical" from which to draw. Some don't have people on the cover at all, it's mostly symbols and swirls. Some have the caped man in various landscapes. Some have brilliantly illustrated--straight from a graphic novel--look to them. Regardless of the composition, it's the quality of the art and the appropriateness of the font that matters. Fantasy readers are picky as fuck about quality. It's not a genre where DIY covers are a good idea (unless you're a professional designer/artist in your other life). 

When it comes to using AI art on covers, keep in mind that most of the art produced by AI is stolen from artists and then remixed by algorithms; therefore, it doesn't have the appropriate commercial image licensing that's legally necessary for book covers. Yes, yes, yes. I know authors are publishing books with AI covers, but just because it's possible doesn't mean it's legal or ethical. 

Covering All That

Book covers are as much art as they are science and I mean that beyond the images. It's an art I'm not that good at. For that reason, I engage people who know more about book covers than I do - particularly people who know what questions to ask to elicit the most helpful (some might say most marketable) aspects of the story. Jeffe mentioned that the point of the cover is to catch the eye and to convey genre as quickly and completely as possible. If you can work story images into whatever ends up on that cover? Bonus. But more than once I've had to have a cover artist talk me down from the tree where I insist that some image from the plot needs to go on the cover. I never insist on having my way on covers - I hire professionals and then I listen to them. It's their livelihood. They know better than i what the trends are - but honestly, chasing trends is a fool's mission - the real issue is that the cover artists I hire have the experience to understand what a reader expects to see in a cover for a science fiction romance novel. Or an urban fantasy novel.

When I finally finish the SFR series, I'll have an opportunity to cover the books. I won't bother with trends. I will do my darnedest to make sure the covers for the two new books look as much like the previous three covers as possible. My goal will be to keep the branding visually similar. I want people to be able to look these books up on whichever online story they prefer and know just by looking that these stories belong together.

If I had the mental bandwidth to put a new cover on the incubus book, Damned if He Does, I'd work hard to get rid of ambiguous symbolism on the cover. Right now, the existing cover does a fine job of conveying that the story is a romance. But the cover includes all those flames. Lots of them. There's a plot reason for that - the incubus is in thrall to Satan and Hell. Unfortunately, in a romance cover, flames can also mean that the story is hot - erotic. In the case of this book, it was supposed to convey those fires of Hell. You can see how that image on the cover could be confusing. I'm concerned that readers might pick it up thinking it's a sexy read when it isn't. The heroine is Ace. The smexy just isn't as hot and heavy as those darned flames might mistakenly convey. In a perfect world, I'd have the bandwidth to update the cover. I just don't at the moment.

Book covers can be a great asset to a book and across the publishing world, you'll find all kinds of check lists and points to consider as you work on building a visual package to represent your story. They're worth glancing at. It's always worth glancing at what other authors in your genre are doing with covers as you think about yours. But it pays to remember that the cover has one job - get someone to crack open your story. That's it. And yes. It's a lot to ask of a static image. Buy maybe that awareness can help you take a step back. Sure. We all want our covers to be perfect. We worked so hard on the story, we want it dressed to the nines, dang it. Just consider what kind of audience you're going to attract if you dress your book like Wednesday Adams versus dressing it like a Kardashian or like Annie Oakley or like Madam Curie. Very different looks. Very different moods. Very different audiences. It's one of the tricks a cover artist taught me. Pan out a little. Consider the voice of the story. Then match the feel of the cover to that voice if you can.

That's the piece I'll add to Jeffe's advice of focusing on eye catching and genre. Figure out the voice of the story and lean into it in the cover.

When It's Time to Put New Covers on a Series

This week at the SFF Seven we're discussing Cover Trends. We're asking "What was, is, and will be "hot" in cover art/style for your sub-genre? If you have a say in your covers, will you chase the trend or will you stick with the image in your mind?"

There's a lot to be said on this topic, too much for even a week of blog posts. When I'm asked for advice on covers, which is a frequent request, I tell authors to keep in mind that a cover has two jobs: to attract positive attention and convey genre. This has to be emphasized because authors - both in trad and in self-publishing - tend to get caught up in wanting the cover to adhere to the story. One first-time author who was very upset with the cover her publisher gave her and came to me for advice said "but the cover doesn't illuminate the story." I had to tell her that the story's job is to illuminate the story. The cover does different work: attract the eye and convey genre.

It's that second that's most relevant for this week's discussion. Because trends change and a cover that accurately conveyed genre six years ago may find itself conveying something else entirely to a current audience. 

Case in point: I love the covers for my six-book Sorcerous Moons series. 

These were among the first book covers I ever commissioned and I particularly adore the cover for book one, LONEN'S WAR. It does come straight from a scene in the book - a pivotal scene that was, in part, the genesis image for the story - and the artist (Louisa Gallie) exactly nailed what I had in mind.

I will always be grateful for Louisa's gorgeous art and I will always love this cover.

But, recently, people have been pointing out that these covers no longer convey what kind of story these books tell. The fantasy romance genre has moved on. If I want to tell readers that this IS the kind of thing they're looking for, then I should consider updating to match current trends. 

So I did!

Behold: The new cover for LONEN'S WAR! 

I contracted with BZN Studio Designs to design new covers for all six books. Right now the series isn't available, but once I have all six covers, I'll re-launch the series with some fanfare. I'm super excited to see how they do with the new covers. I've heard some people (including my own assistant!) say scathingly that these look like all the other covers out there in this subgenre, and there's truth to that. 

AND THAT'S THE POINT.

The content is what makes the stories unique. The covers are doing the job they're supposed to do. Caught your eye, did it? I hope so! And I'm hoping you also know exactly what kind of story you'll get. 

The Art of the Book Cover

Hey all! This week's topic here at the SFF Seven is Cover Trends: What was, is, and will be 'hot' in cover art/style for your sub-genre? If you have a say in your covers, will you chase the trend or will you stick with the image in your mind?

I write romantic fantasy, and best I can tell, most books in my sub-genre have aimed toward symbol and typography covers over the last few years. Black and gold are popular too, but then other covers go for bolder colors. Here are a few examples:

I have noticed, however, that some covers in romantic fantasy that contain more of a fairytale vibe are leaning toward these artsy, folkloric covers.

Luckily for me, I only have the Witch Walker trilogy to deal with for now, and those covers have been completed since 2020. I also had input, which I appreciated from my publisher. This happened because they thankfully trust my judgment and knew I had a vision for this trilogy. I made mock-ups, sent them to the publisher who then sent them to the cover designer, and here we are. I think they're really beautiful, and I cannot wait to see them side by side in hardback!

As for where I see trends going? I don't really know. Any book that's popular enough can sway the market. If you look at Atlas Six, a dark academia/romantic fantasy TikTok sensation that went trad recently, you'll see a very minimal and mystical vibe with a mostly black cover. But then if you take a peek at Daughter of the Moon Goddess, a fairytale romantic fantasy, you'll see all this gorgeous pastel artwork that is just breathtaking. I love them both!!

I don't have my thumb on the cover-trend pulse, but I know a good cover when I see one ;)

What about you? What covers do you love in the romantic fantasy genre?

Cover Reveal! The Dragon's Daughter and the Winter Mage

I'm headed out of town so today I'm just sharing a cover reveal for my September release! The Dragon's Daughter and the Winter Mage comes out September 24 and isn't this cover stunning??

Preorder here!

     

Invisible Loner

Gendra—partblood daughter of an elite mossback soldier and the only shapeshifter to achieve the coveted dragon form—is anything but interesting. She’s actually plain and awkward and … invisible. Every guy she meets either looks right through her or—worse—thinks of her as just a friend. Fortunately Gen is far too practical to wallow in self pity. Much.

A Search for True Love

But as Gen accompanies her oldest friends on a quest for Her Majesty High Queen Ursula, she can’t help feeling bitter about her lonely fate as, two by two, they pair off with each other. As usual, everyone but odd-woman-out Gen seems to be finding the happiness in true love that has always eluded her. And Gen’s pathetic attempts to come out of her shell have only met with social disaster.

Dragon’s Daughter

Still, with magic rifts plaguing the Thirteen Kingdoms and a strange intelligence stalking them from an alter-realm, Gen has plenty to deal with—especially when she’s cut off from the group, isolated and facing a lethal danger. It just figures that Gen is on her own, once again. But with no one coming to save her, she has only herself to rely upon.

And, perhaps, the help of a mysterious, stranded magician… 

     

Ravven: Queen of the Cover Artists

Our assignment this week at the SFF Seven is to give a shout-out to the non-author creatives who enrich our lives: illustrators, musicians, jewelers, painters, poets, voice-actors, etc.

This one is an easy pick for me because I just released THE FATE OF THE TALA, which means I've been posting the cover everywhere.

Fortunately, it's so freaking gorgeous that no one gets tired of seeing it over and over. That's because it's the work of Ravven, Queen of the Cover Artists. 


THE ARROWS OF THE HEART


Ravven and I have been working together for several years now, and every cover she's done for me has been amazing.


THE SNOWS OF WINDROVEN


I can't say enough about her. Not only does she create stunning images, she does such an incredible job of nailing my characters that I end up using the covers for inspiration as I write the stories.

THE SHIFT OF THE TIDE


Ravven is also a consummate professional, always responsive and delivering right on schedule.


SEASONS OF SORCERY


She's super fun to work with, and often comes up with visual elements that I incorporate into the stories because they're so perfectly congruent.



THE DRAGONS OF SUMMER


Ravven creates covers to order, and she also has an amazing set of premade covers she can customize for you. So check out her website! But I get first dibs on her schedule ;-)

Also, as a super fun thing with the release of  THE FATE OF THE TALA - if you subscribe to Pikko's House Book Lovers Box this month, a limited number of subscribers will get the first book that started it all, THE MARK OF THE TALA, for free!!

THE FATE OF THE TALA, the  exciting conclusion of the story begun in The Mark of the Tala!

An Uneasy Marriage,

An Unholy Alliance.

The tales tell of three sisters, daughters of the high king. The eldest, a valiant warrior-woman, conquered her inner demons to become the high queen. The youngest, and most beautiful outlived her Prince Charming and found a strength beyond surface loveliness.

And the other one, Andi? The introverted, awkward middle princess is now the Sorceress Queen Andromeda—and she stands at the precipice of a devastating war.

As the undead powers of Deyrr gather their forces, their High Priestess focuses on Andi, undermining her at every turn. At the magical barrier that protects the Thirteen Kingdoms from annihilation, the massive Dasnarian navy assembles, ready to pounce the moment Andi’s strength fails. And, though her sisters and friends gather around her, Andi finds that her husband, Rayfe, plagued with fears over her pregnancy, has withdrawn, growing ever more distant.

Fighting battles on too many fronts, Andi can’t afford to weaken, as she’s all that stands between all that’s good in the world and purest evil.

For Andi, the time to grow into her true power has come. . .

Available at these Retailers

   

 

My List of Top 10 Impactful #SciFi Romance Covers of 2019

There are two parts to this post – first, when I started thinking about doing a post on the most memorable-to-me science fiction romance covers I’d seen in 2019, I took my pen in hand and wrote down the ten which came immediately to mind. I see something like 3000+ covers a year (in 3 genres) while doing my weekly new releases column so if a cover stays on my mind that’s really impactful!

Please read on below the Top 10 for Part Two and my Honorable Mention covers!

(Drum roll please.....) 

THE TOP 10 IMPACTFUL COVERS!

Moving on to Part Two, I see well in excess of 600 science fiction romance covers a year while doing the report. This weekend I scrolled through every single SFR cover which made it to the blog in 2019 and ended up with 40 which caught my attention above and beyond the others. So about 8% (all numbers approximate). Obviously the ten I listed in Part One of this discussion are added to the 40 for a total of 50 (or about 8%) for 2019.

Before anyone rushes to apply my purely informal and highly personal results to their next book marketing campaign, I’m not any kind of an art or graphic composition expert! And there are giant trends in SFR such as the sexy manchest and abs, which I myself happily use on my Badari Warriors novels, and very much appreciate. I found that while looking at the 600+ covers for this exercise, most of those didn’t stand out to me as much as some others did when seen in a vast grouping of similiar images. They surely do catch my eye from week to week.  

I obviously am drawn to certain color palettes too…but who knows if I’m a typical reader?

On the weekly new releases posts, I include all the covers in the post itself (unless I really find a cover objectionable or too disturbing, or it's not remotely PG-13+, with total nudity for example) but I feature 8 covers each time in the social media promo for the post, including one that’s my highlighted image. I strive for variety there. In the spotlight of 8 images weekly, I try to mix professional-looking covers featuring individuals/couples/aliens/pleasing compositions/differing color palettes…I lean toward the covers which I feel will catch the eye of a potential reader as they browse through their streaming social media. My selection criteria on featured covers for the weekly promo are slightly different than the criteria I used for this massive end-of-the-year exercise.

So when I assessed my results on memorable covers of 2019, what did I find attracted me? What made me linger as I slowly scrolled my way through the list alphabetically by title? Sometimes it was the stock photo model’s face, or their eyes (I’m a sucker for piercing/soulful/gorgeous eyes) or the color palette or the ”scifi-ness” of the cover, or the couple together or just the power of the image overall. (I have to say for Tasha Black’s Tolstoy cover up above in the Top 10 it’s the sheer, infectious happiness of the man and the baby. For Lula Monk’s Dredge in the Honorable Mentions, it’s the unsettling power of the image. I find it hard to forget that one, very effective in its own way!)

Without further ado, here are the rest of the approximately top 8% of the hundreds of SFR covers I saw in 2019 which made me pause this weekend and take a longer look. Covers provided in no certain order!

And my thanks to all the wonderfully talented cover artists - if I knew all the names I would certainly share them here! Kudos to the authors who can do their own and make them outstanding. Feel free to add the artists' names in the comments if you so desire. 

Fiona Jayde does all of my covers, by the way and I loooove them.

Looking forward to savoring more beautiful, awe inspiring, sexy scifi romance covers in 2020!