FINISHED!
And there you have it. Two altogether exhilarating words for anyone who has ever poured months, years, lifetimes into writing a book.
Despite multiple drafts, rewrites, painful edits, etc … etc, there comes a day when THE END really is THE END. And you jump up and down, and sing, and shout, and thoroughly enjoy the delicious taste of accomplishment. But, uh, then what?
THE EMPERORS NEW CLOTHES
There are pages and there are covers. They go together for fairly obvious reasons, the biggest being that pages without a cover aren’t really books, they’re just — well piles of paper covered with words. In other words STARK NAKED.
INTERIOR ONTO THE EXTERIOR
So, lets be honest. You really do judge the book by it’s cover, don’t you? I know I do. Mostly because our eyes don’t tend to wait for permission from our brain to draw us toward things that appeal.
We know the importance of covers as a reader, so now amp up the volume and you have a pretty accurate idea multiplied by a gazillion of the angst a writer experiences when the time comes time to outfit their newborn.
Because it isn’t just about what will make our pages look their knockout-best in a vastly crowded room, it’s the quest for that which will best represent our stories and characters. Especially when one considers that the wrong party dress can spoil not only an evening, but quite possibly the entire social season.
WORDS INTO PICTURES
If it’s true (and, of course it is) that “a picture is worth a thousand words” eighty thousand words, this additional pressure can potentially generate emotions bordering on hysteria. Considering that this little truth now elevates the importance of an intriguing cover to include the goal that this aforementioned window dressing effectively conveys something of what is lying there in wait between the covers. 
IT’S A BOY … GIRL … BOOK!
I can’t help but feel wildly excited for any author who succeeds in landing the *Perfect* cover for their book. Oftentimes it’s something that lands with the force of a miracle, particularly when several variations have come and gone without igniting the necessary spark.
My own search for the Holy Grail *Perfect* cover to outfit my impending release (September 18 … Woo Woo!!!), a literary novel titled Asleep Without Dreaming, was a pins and needles quest at best. But at long last the ballgown has arrived from the seamstress and the tailoring feels just right.
AND SO … TA DA
My book has now done the decent thing and put on a cover!
Would surely love if you care to share your thoughts 😀
Do you–have you–ever bought a book simply because you loved the cover? Or likewise left one on the shelf because you didn’t?
Barbara Forte Abate 
Love the cover!! Congrats on your new baby–er, book 🙂
Hey, Alina. Too funny — I was just visiting over on your blog and now I know why you weren’t home, you were stopping by over here 😀
Much appreciation for the good word and kind thoughts.
Love it, Barbara! The yellow moon is stunning and suits the title. Congratulations on your upcoming release. Books certainly have a long gestation!
Thank you, thank you, Sharon! Of course you provide a perfect example of the case-in-point, considering that you’ve right now riding the wave of high excitement with the release of your own beautiful shiny new book “Love of her Lives” — which just happens to have a rather stunning cover 😀
Congratulations back at cha!
What a great book cover! I love the moon rising over the treetops and the matching yellow in the title. Very, very cool. Way to go on finishing and “dressing” your baby! 🙂
Aww, shoot, Tami, *BIG, BIG TOOTHY GRIN,* thank you for the awesome boost to my New Cover Confidence. I have serious moments of being a Fickle Fanny when it comes to what I love today vs what I’ll love tomorrow, which probably explains something of why it takes me years to get to the point of THE END. Regardless, it feels simply delicious right at this moment to have the guest of honor dressed and ready for their entrance.
Beautiful~ The moon is a wonderful touch!
Sincere appreciation for stopping over and sharing your thoughts, Courtney! I have true love of a full moon in real life, so was absolutely thrilled to have this mysterious beauty land on my cover :-).
Your cover is COOL! All the best with your upcoming release. If you want to do a guest blog post or send me promo stuff, would be happy to put it out there! Congrats…
Good gracious, Liv, but you are so incredibly thoughtful and generous! I thank you profusely for sharing my giddy, goofy, gushing excitement, and for offering to take a ride (or rather, for offering to drive) on my book bandwagon 🙂 You have such an uber cool blog it would be a thrill to stop over and enjoy your hospitality 🙂
If you were going for enigmatic, mysterious, rich, enticing… I’d say you’ve done it. Love the haunted feel, and add ditto to Sharon’s assessment of the touch of color: stunning, indeed.
EUREKA! *Swooning, swooning.* Thank you, Sherry! Everything I might hope to convey and more! (Hense all the EXCLAMATION’S!!!)
oh, what a compelling cover! Moody and mysterious. I do love it!
This, from you, Kat, an author with her own collection of AMAZING covers (“SWEETIE” is my absolute favorite, although the covers for your three “GRACES” books are magnificent, and look so lovely lined-up spine to spine on the shelf …) leaves me joyously joyful 😀
Love the moodiness and sense of fore-booding on both your book covers. As an avid reader that type of cover draws me in above all others. So happy for you Ms Babs, can’t wait to get my copy and begin reading!!
BIG BIG thank you, Lynn! You know how hugely I value your opinion, and the fact that I can always count on you for straight-up delivery of your first impressions–particularly since I don’t always trust my own :-O
And I can’t wait for you to get a copy and start reading!!!
Barbara, your cover is stunning, and I’m so excited for you!
Of course, the night scene works beautifully with your title. The cover sets an immediate mood of being haunting, so I think of fear and secrets. The color of the moon in contrast to the blacks and grays is extremely eye-catching, and the shadows remind me immediately of the beginning of that wonderful Alfred Noyes poem, The Highwayman (“The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees. The moon was a ghostly galleon, tossed up on cloudy seas…”).
I think a cover can make or break a book, especially fiction. Keep us posted on launch dates. I’d love to help you promote this. I’m embarrassed I haven’t written a review yet of your earlier book but I WILL!
Hey Elizabeth! Speaking of *Moons,* it’s no exaggeration to say that I’m over-the-moon thrilled with your incredibly thoughtful and provocative comments in regard to my shiny new book cover 😀
Make that, wildly, exuberantly, thrilled (The HIghwayman!!!). Honestly, but it will be impossible in future for me to not think of those lines when I gaze upon this cover–and I will admit to a good deal of *gazing* these days 😀 😀 😀
My most heartfelt thanks for sharing your thoughts and the gift of offered support. I’m as excited, nervous, all-out-giddy, as any author tends to feel with at impending release, but the sense of joy leaps a gazillion degrees with sentiments such as yours, and I thank you most sincerely.
And, absolutely, much appreciation for reading my firstborn pages, “The Secret of Lies.” 😀
First ~ that cover is amazing! It’s intriguing!
Second ~ yes, I have bought many a book based on it’s cover and passed over some not so interesting covers.
Yours, I would pick up. Congrats!!
Thank you for coming by and sharing your thoughts, Kim. After so many weeks of “pre-release book stress” it is now officially impossible for me to see Asleep Without Dreaming in anything other than the most harsh and blistering light. Thus it is with much appreciation that I find myself luxuriating in your comments 😀 😀 😀