About Books

So, my agent called me today and said that we had gotten another awesome blurb from a fellow writer. Huzzah! Everything seems to be coming along nicely for Karma Girl. 😉

I’ll be posting the blurbs just as soon as I know which ones we’re officially going to go with. More to come soon …

I have seen the promised land! Well, not exactly, but I did get my first glimpse of the cover art for Karma Girl this week.

And it rocks! 🙂

The final version isn’t quite done yet, but it features a skyline, a big spotlight, and a character in a little black dress. I’ll be posting it just as soon as I get the final version from my editor at Berkley. 😉

Cover art is one thing that a lot of authors fret about. If you’ve been to the bookstore recently, you’ve probably seen lots of good covers … and plenty of bad ones too. I personally hate covers that feature a man or woman’s face. I’d much rather picture the characters in my mind than have a real-life representation of them on the cover.

What about you? What do you like on covers? Bright colors? Sexy guys? Inquiring minds want to know …

Well, I’m happy to report that Karma Girl has received another thumbs-up from a second respected author. 🙂 I can’t tell you who it is just yet, but I’ll be posting the blurbs from both authors on the Web site soon.

And, of course, shouting my good news to everyone that I meet. Stay tuned …

So, I’m going to a women’s expo event in late October, and I’ve been asked to make some goodies to give away.

And I have to idea what to do.

I don’t have cover art for Karma Girl yet, so bookmarks are out of the question. So is anything else I could put the cover on, like mugs, nail files, mints, etc.

I’m pretty much reduced to slapping my business card on something … I just don’t know what that something should be yet. I’m leaning towards chocolate, though. You can never go wrong with chocolate. Unless you put coconut on it. ;-)  Maybe I could find someone to make me some chocolate-shaped business cards. Not very practical, as they would get eaten, but they’d definitely be fun. Hmmm …

What about you? What sort of goodies do you like to give and get at conferences? What do you keep? What do you throw away? Inquiring minds want to know …

Agent Kristin Nelson has been blogging about cover blurbs this week. She’s got some really interesting insights. Check her out at Pub Rants.

I’m on the prowl for cover blurbs myself right now. Well, my editor and agent are on the prowl. They’ve sent Karma Girl out to some folks, and we’re waiting to hear back. For those of you who don’t know, there’s a lot of waiting in the publishing world. Empires can rise and fall in the time that it takes for someone to write a book and see it in print. Seriously. 

We’ve gotten one really great response so far from a paranormal romance author. More details to come. Rest assured that this author is definitely going to get a box of Godiva or something nice from me in the mail. 😉 So will anyone else who is gracious enough to give me a blurb. Are you listening, best-selling authors? Free chocolate! And all you have to do is read my book. 🙂

Supposedly, a good cover blurb can entice a reader to buy a book, especially if it’s by a newbie debut author like me. Personally, I’ve never paid that much attention to cover blurbs. I usually just give them a cursory glance. If it’s somebody I’ve read and liked, then I might be a smidge more inclined to buy a book. But just a smidge. The cover itself and the description of the book carry more weight with me than anything else.

But now that I need one, I find myself staring at every cover blurb I see, sounding out each phrase, parsing the words to find hidden meanings, examing each syllable for secret subtexts. I even check out the punctuation marks. Exlcamation points, good. Periods, not so good.

In short, I’ve become obsessed with simple phrases and sentences.

What about you? Do you pay any attention to cover blurbs? Whose blurb would make you pick up a new author’s book? Inquiring minds want to know …