My book cover quest continues

What makes you pick up or click on a book? I mean, apart from the author’s name and the title?

I had no idea how tricky this subject was until I started revising and posting my older books on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. After all, Harlequin does a beautiful job of creating covers for my Safe Harbor Medical miniseries, as you can see for my February release, The Detective’s Accidental Baby. All I do is provide the art department with a few descriptions and the storyline.

Among the books I’m reissuing are half a dozen Regency romances set in Jane Austen’s era. They’re traditional, which means lots of fun complications but no sex. I’ve been using flowers as the background, simply because I like them.

A fellow writer, Anne Glover, who maintains the Regency Reader site (http://anneglover.wordpress.com/) , reviewed one of my books, Lady in Disguise. She loved it—except for the cover. I emailed her to ask why, and we began corresponding. Anne prefers the traditional type of cover, featuring a heroine of that era in an old-fashioned setting.

She recommended graphic designer Kelly at customgraphics.etsy.com. Kelly has now designed a charming new cover for my Regency The Day-Dreaming Lady. It tells the reader right away what genre this is, with an elegant touch. I’m posting it here. I’ll be eagerly watching the sales figures!

Then there are my contemporary romantic comedies. How do you stand out in the crowd? After rewriting and updating Unlikely Partners, the first of two books that form the Runaway Heiress series, I got inspired…by my teddy bears. I created the cover shown here and another for the sequel, Capers and Rainbows.

What do you think? Cute or confusing?

Meanwhile, I’m grateful to Harlequin for the terrific way the art department handles my covers. Thank goodness I don’t have to do those too!