Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson here, today asking for some feedback from those who read the Maine Crime Writers’ blog.
I’ve written twice before about the 1993 historical romance I’ve been completely rewriting to shift the focus to the heroine’s journey. You can read those here and here if you’re interested. Finally, Treacherous Visions is just about ready to launch. Only one more proofread (I hope!) to go. Well, that and writing the promo/cover copy and designing the cover.
That’s where I could use some help. The basic book description isn’t a problem. Here’s what it will probably say:
In today’s world, she would be called psychic, or a channeler, or perhaps a person with a gift. In the first half of the seventeenth century there were other names for such people—words like witch and sorcerer.
On the surface, Mercy Browne seems like an ordinary young Englishwoman, but she has known since childhood that she must keep secret the fact that she has disturbing visions. That they always involve violence and death is bad enough, but when she is in the thrall of one, she enters a trancelike state. Every vision throws her into treacherous waters, for if the wrong person notices her odd behavior, in England or in the New World, she will be in mortal danger.
Just for grins, this is what AI came up with from a description
In the case of most books, cover copy also includes blurbs—quotes from other authors or from reviews of the author’s previous work in reputable review journals like Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal, or (in the case of historical novels) Historical Novels Review.
Therein lies the problem. I already have plenty of potential quotes, but I am not sure which ones to use. Further, I am not sure it’s fair to readers to use quotes that don’t apply to this specific book, even if I specify what book they do refer to. Yes, I could ask writer friends to read the new version and blurb it, but that route has, frankly, always bothered me. Of course my friends are going to say nice things about it. And I’m not at all convinced that readers think another writer’s opinion of a work is all that important anyhow, at least not compared to the opinion of a professional, unbiased reviewer.
What do you think? I’d really appreciate your comments, especially in relation to the sampling of quotes I’m including below.
current front runner for cover with review quote
Reviews of original 1993 version, which had a different title, different character names, started in what is now Chapter Six, and was 24,000 words longer than the present book:
“a unique, action-packed, well-written supernatural historical . . . an exciting novel that readers will want to finish in one sitting.” The Talisman
“Vivid.” RT
An “enchanting tale.” Maine in Print
Reviews of other historical novels I’ve written:
“Rich and lushly detailed, teeming with passion and intrigue, this is a novel in which you can happily immerse yourself in another time and place.” RT on The Pleasure Palace
“Emerson skillfully crafts a strong heroine.” Publishers Weekly on Between Two Queens
“A solid historical with a refreshingly willful, sexually liberated heroine.” Publishers Weekly on By Royal Decree
“A first-rate read.” Booklist on By Royal Decree
“Emerson has written a wonderfully absorbing novel that . . . beautifully depicts the difficulty of living in a treacherous period.” Library Journal on At the King’s Pleasure
“Gifted author Kate Emerson crafts a fascinating novel by weaving historical facts into a winning piece of fiction.” Single Titles on Royal Inheritance
alternate cover background (it’s a boulder in the woods)
So, to reiterate my questions:
Is it cheating to use review quotes from the earlier version?
Is it better to use quotes about other historical novels I’ve written (clearly identified) even though none of them involve paranormal elements?
Has a blurb from a well-known writer or a writer you like ever persuaded you to try a book by someone you’ve never heard of?
Do “customer reviews” such as those at Amazon or on Goodreads make effective blurbs?
Thanks in advance, everyone, and feel free to chime in on cover art as well.
also an alternative, but probably not enough white space for text
Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett has had sixty-four books traditionally published and has self published others. She won the Agatha Award and was an Anthony and Macavity finalist for best mystery nonfiction of 2008 for How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries and was an Agatha Award finalist in 2015 in the best mystery short story category. In 2023 she won the Lea Wait Award for “excellence and achievement” from the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. She was the Malice Domestic Guest of Honor in 2014. She is currently working on creating new editions of her backlist titles. Her website is www.KathyLynnEmerson.com.
I’d agree that your current front runner for cover and blurb are best! HNS is recognizable, quote is solid, and about the right book. Good luck!
Thanks, Matt
I like the cover you have chosen. It would attract me to the book just because it is so bright and colorful. The down side is that it doesn’t give a lot of information about the content of the book.
Yes, I do read the the blurbs on book covers and they can persuade me to buy the book. That being said, sometimes when I read the book, I wondered if the reviewer did as well?
I like all the reviews you have. My favorites that I would say “keep” are RT on the Pleasure Palace, Library Journal, and The Talisman. I think it is fine to use reviews from former books. I’ve seem many authors do that.
I do look at Amazon reviews in terms of number of people who have reviewed and the strength of the review. The description of content on Amazon is the part I pay the most attention to.
Your list of awards is essential. You worked very hard for it, so flaunt it.
Thanks, Beth. The back cover, which I don’t put together at Draft2Digital until I’m ready to launch, will have the description and one or two quotes and the rest will be inside where the “look inside” feature will pick them up. Space is a problem, but you’re right. I need to reveal a bit more to connect to the Mt.Kineo scene on the front.
Anonymous is Beth Clark. WordPress does not like me.
In Ad school, led by a marketing guru, we are taught a completely different approach, and some of that is that the readers looking for books usually only look at a book for maybe two or three seconds, when scrolling (different on the shelf of a bookstore, but still fast) so they don’t pay much attenetion to quotes and awards etc. I think your cover copy is good. I like the image, but it needs some something to place it in time, and place. Maybe a masted ship or a period dress person???
I take your point, but unfortunately putting in a canoe and white people wearing Wabanaki dress would only confuse readers. This is Mt. Kineo and it is the location I really use in the story . . . just back in the 1640s.
Love the cover you have chosen, but agree with Anonymous above that it needs something to anchor it in time.
Thanks Kate. I’m thinking I could change “a novel” to “a novel set in Colonial New England” –not as visual, but I really don’t want to crowd too much into the background. What I want people to see clearly is the title (and, for what it may be worth, my name).
It is not cheating to use an earlier review of your own work. And yes, a review by an author or Good Reads often sends me in search of the story.
Thanks Judy
I think the coastal cliff cover with the review by the Historical Novels Review is perfect. Perhaps add either the Publishers Weekly (2 Queens)review