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Afraid of the Dark: Vanessa Williams |
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Written by Jamie Saloff
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 The moment I saw Vanessa Williams' cover, its images drew me in. At first glance, I saw a tree swing in the woods, then I realized it was more like puppet strings and crinkled paper. If one stares at the crinkles long enough, like clouds in the sky, one begins to see images in the wrinkles, like the face of someone watching over (perhaps an angel). But maybe that's only my imagination and hope.
It feels odd to say that I love this cover. How can I love something that depicts such a tragedy? Yet I do like how it draws me in, makes me want to know more, makes me dare to care. What I can say is that I love how there is light in the dark, that the author tells a story of recovery and hope, a story that will perhaps help others who are Afraid of the Dark.
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Read more: Afraid of the Dark: Vanessa Williams
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Bump in the Night by Michael Johnson |
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Written by Jamie Saloff
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 When a cover stops me in my tracks and makes me say, "Hello? What's this about?" then I know I have to dig a little deeper to know more. (Hint: This is what a cover is supposed to do.) A good example is Bump in the Night by Michael Johnson (cover designed by Bethany Williams.)
Why I Love This Cover: Michael says in his promotional materials: it's "a story for brave children who know that the thing in the closet is real, and for adults who are not too grown-up to know that our stories can save us from monsters." But I got that from the cover. (Yes!) Take a tour with my eyes and see how they processed this message:
What's that thing in the middle of the book? A demon or something? It looks like a kid drew it. I don't know what that girl is doing. Does the rest of the cover tell me? Looks scary. There are monsters, eyes, teeth, hands. DARKNESS. Why is there a blue teddy bear? (Kids must be involved.) Is that an angel?
Anyway... it was enough that I went and looked up the description and found my eyes had been pretty much on the mark. I ended up reading an excerpt on Goodreads as well.
Book covers don't get much attention these days. It's all about "Did you tweet?" or "Are you on Facebook?" "Did you write a blog?" But when a cover draws the looker in, it becomes a sales tool, and this one, Bump in the Night, "made me look." Ready to have your own peek? Click here.
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Read more: Bump in the Night by Michael Johnson
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3 Off the Tee: Make it Happen by Lorii Myers |
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Written by Jamie Saloff
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3 Off the Tee: Make it Happen, by Lorii Myers, caught my attention today and is this week's Cover's You Can Frame feature.
What I Love: This cover design puts the viewer in a golf state of mind. There's the ball just inches from the hole and the golfer "helping" it along to get in the hole. The greens are immaculate, the sky is a perfect blue, BUT... as we explore further, we begin to realize that this is not a book on golf. It's about SUCCESS, which helps the reader to fully understand the subtitle... Make it Happen. Yes! A visual message that carries the theme. It's not always easy to do this on a cover, but Myers (and her cover designer) pulled it off. Ready to read more? Click here.
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Read more: 3 Off the Tee: Make it Happen by Lorii Myers
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Written by Jamie Saloff
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 Richard Brown's Titanic with Zombies takes this week's Cover Art You Can Frame pick.
What I Love: I have a feeling, based on his book's description, that Richard Brown has a sense of humor. So I hope he will understand when I say: when I saw this cover, I couldn't stop laughing. (I mean that in a good way.) Somehow, in the split second my eyes glanced over the cover, they received, transmitted to the brain (brains... zombies... ha ha), and understood a message something to the effect of, "oh, look, a nice little Titanic book, uh-oh, comic-book-like zombies, ohgod..." (actually, my brain rambled on longer than that. You can fill in the blanks with your own ramblings.) What I love? That the message came through loud and clear, with giggles, quickly, and the idea of zombies on the Titanic works... it works really well. Ready to read more?
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Read more: Titanic with Zombies
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The Way of the Modern Warrior: Stephen F. Kaufman |
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Written by Jamie Saloff
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 Let me start out by saying that the only things I know about martial arts were learned by watching movies. (Basically nothing.) So you may be surprised to learn that I like this cover. Written by Stephen F. Kaufman, the Way of the Modern Warrior becons to be opened and read.
While simple and pleasing to the eye, it has a lot going on when you stare at it for awhile. You can barely tell here, but there is some intricate detailing on the sword blade, but that's not really what I mean. The designer of this cover understands how to use words, design, and color to draw the eyes to see what is meant to be seen, and in the order it is meant to be seen. That is an art, and one many an author should learn and understand.
I also like how this book plays on some other popular titles - I'm pretty sure that was intentional, and it worked (for me). I did take a look inside, there is a nice preview for the book on Amazon, which you can see here.
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Read more: The Way of the Modern Warrior: Stephen F. Kaufman
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Concordia: The Briton and the Dane |
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Written by Jamie Saloff
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 Concordia: The Briton and the Dane, by Mary Ann Bernal. I love it when a cover catches my eye, and I have to stop and look more closely. That's what a cover is supposed to do! The first thing I saw was the ornate, golden sword. ("Sparkly thing!" a friend always says.) Then we are treated to the Celtic knots and aged book background. The cover, designed by Steven Novak, is rich-looking and full of interesting textures.
This book immediately proclaims it's readership and demands to be held. (Imagine if it really were old textured, weather-worn leather!) Be sure to check out Mary Ann's book. Ready to read more? Click here.
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Read more: Concordia: The Briton and the Dane
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Normal for Norfolk by Mitzi Szereto and Teddy Tedaloo |
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Written by Jamie Saloff
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After a week off for the holiday, here's this week's Covers You Can Frame featuring Mitzi Szereto and Teddy Tedaloo in Normal for Norfolk. I've been following Teddy for a long time on Facebook (he has his own), and he really cracks me up with this Teddy talk. (He's also a huge advocate for shelter animals.) Tho, I have to admit that when I first started writing, I wrote the tales of "Theodore" (who was my Steiff teddy), so I am partial to Teddy for that reason too.
What I Love about this cover is that it puts me in the mind of a teddy actually driving down a Norfolk street. I suppose it's a little Mouse on a Motorcycle-esk, but it works for me. Okay, so I'm also a Mini Cooper fan. My son finally sold his this year, and we all thought it was the nicest little car we'd ever seen. Disclosures made, I think the cover does a good job pulling the reader in and making them curious. It worked for me, I caught myself reading sample pages instead of... posting this. Want to read for yourself? Click here.
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Read more: Normal for Norfolk by Mitzi Szereto and Teddy Tedaloo
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Dark Lie - Nancy Springer |
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Written by Jamie Saloff
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 Nancy Springer's Dark Lie is this week's Cover Art You Can Frame pick.
What I Love: The first thing this cover demands is that you see the title, and I think that is important, because the title is embued with ambiguity. Immediately we know something believed is wrong. Stoplight red tells us there's danger afoot. There's no need to drip the lettering with blood, slash the paper with sharp-bladed knives, or leave a smoking gun on the ground. The cover artist has, instead, allowed our imagination to fill in the fear. The colors, the title, and the shadow tell us all this and more. I also like that the shadow is upside down. It tells the reader to expect a twist in that magic of juxtaposition where as we are sure we have it all figured out, Springer will tell us how we've gone wrong, and all the while pulling us through the pages as fast as we can turn them to find the real answer to the Dark Lie. Ready to read more? Click here.
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Read more: Dark Lie - Nancy Springer
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