So, I'm trying to learn what makes a good cover. And I think it needs to be clean and somehow related to the story, if at all possible. And eye catching across the room. But you know all these things.
My worry about the girl in the blue dress was that although Bree does a lot of running in this story, the cover might get dated rather quickly. My cousin commented on that to me. My brother agreed. And maybe it makes the book look more like a straight romance, which California Schemin' definitely is NOT. There is less romance than in Moonlighting in Vermont. I need a mystery cover for this book.
Then there is the bridge, which I like but many of you do not. Too boring without the dead woman. Too gruesome with the dead woman. Too much like Inspirational romance. Nothing against Inspirational Romance, but California Schemin' is not what an inspirational reader is looking for. Absolutely not.
A few people adored the green and blue cover but most of you hated it. So I was thinking about other images. I could have put Hammie on the cover, but the guy in my head (and collage) for Hammie is David Beckham. I doubt I'm going to get permission to use him on a cover. (Maybe I should ask?)
But an image I thought about early on, long before I started mocking up covers was of a skunk. There is a skunk. And they are cute creatures, if very smelly. And I like animals, and Bree like animals. And the skunk IS kind of KEY. So there you go. That's my rationale. Here's the cover:
Edited to add a second skunk cover. Will the cover renditions never end?
What do you think?
Posts
