Career Goals

One of the things every fledgling author is told is your cover has to sell your book. Make your cover say something about your book… Does your cover say Romance? or Paranormal Romance? and honestly? It’s not bad advice. Really. In all honesty, 90% of the time, a cover sells a book. I admit, I almost never NEVER read a blurb. Once in a while, if I’m really torn, I do, but not all that often.

On the other hand.. I have certain authors that I always read their books. Authors I grew up reading… I’ve gotten a little behind in recent years but eventually, no matter what the cover is, I read the book. In that list is Jude Deveraux, Catherine Coulter, Elizabeth Lowell, Julie Garwood, Johanna Lindsey, (btw, I almost named kid 3 Johanna…) Dean Koontz, and until she passed away, Anne McCaffrey. 

Yes, I know Dean Koontz and Anne McCaffrey are the odd men out there, oddly enough, they’re the ones I’ve been reading the longest…

Have you seen any of their covers recently? The best word that comes to mind is ABSTRACT. The covers have no models… Catherine Coulter’s Sherlock and Savich have never been given faces. Almost paranormal abilities? Sure. Faces? Never!

This is a goal of mine… to hit a best sellers list (as most of these authors do with nearly every release) with even the most abstract (even ghostly or smoky image on the cover…) To have people willing to drop $10 or more on a story just because my name is on it. When I was growing up, this was amazing…

Now, 20 years later, it still is.