Book Covers: U Will Be Judged By Your Book Cover

As the old saying goes, don’t judge a book by its cover. That is not true when it actually comes to your book cover.  A lot of people do judge. A lousy cover can sink a book.

I found that out the hard way with my first novel “Letter From Cyberspace.” The cover was awful. iUniverse really dropped the ball on that one. I am determined for that not to happen again.

So I have thought a lot about what I want for the cover of my blog novel “Monogamy Sucks,” which I am working with Lazy Day Publishing to turn into an e-book for a December launch. Last week Lazy Day sent me a book cover questionnaire seeking my input into my book cover. I was very impressed with their allowing me to provide my vision for my novel’s cover.

I knew more what I didn’t want more than I wanted — nothing garish, overly sexual, crass, or cutesy (broken wedding rings, boring gender symbols — all played out on other book covers). I would rather have a simple and straightforward cover with a black background and the words “Monogamy Sucks” in large white or gold block letters that jumps out at a potential reader than something overly clever or convoluted that doesn’t represent my book.

Before I sent back my book cover questionnaire — I went to Barnes & Noble and perused the book covers on the shelves. I noted which recent book covers impressed me and included them in my book cover comments as a guide for the Lazy Day graphic artist to use for inspiration.  At least that gives the publisher an idea of the kind of book covers I admire and what I envision for my book.

I remember one of my favorite science fiction authors Harlan Ellison complaining about a lot his book covers. I finally knew what he meant when it was my own book.

Lazy Day Publishing was very pleased with my book cover comments and my attention to detail. I have every confidence they will deliver an impressive cover.

As an author, it is important to stay involved in every aspect of the development of your book from the editing and cover to the publicity and promotion.

The cover is the first impression a potential reader will have of your work. It is no less important than what is inside your book cover.

Look for more blog posts about my journey through the publishing process with Lazy Day Publishing for my novel “Monogamy Sucks.”

George Pappas

First Edit of “Monogamy Sucks” for Publisher was Tough, but Rewarding

This week I completed my first edit of my blog novel “Monogamy Sucks” for my digital publisher Lazy Day Publishing.

It was a torturous process at times, particularly in deciding what to keep in my novel and what to take out. But as I got deeper into my edit, I realized that this an opportunity for me to take a different look at my novel following my publisher’s useful suggestions. Anything that didn’t move the story forward or bring deeper illumination to my characters had to go.

Ultimately, I wanted to make sure that I kept my character’s edgy and sardonic voice commenting on the bizarre and humorous aspects of his erotic journey. I feel I was able to do that. Keeping that humorous edge was important to me as much as keeping the erotic scenes intact. Without that humor, my book would just be another story about sex, but it is actually about a man’s search for a new and more exciting and satisfying personal and sexual life and the troubles he runs into along the way.

Because I have lived with this story for 12 years of writing and editing, I believe this made the first edit so daunting. Yet slowly but surely I could see my story take shape into a novel with this edit more than my previous ones (I think this is the 20th draft). Serving the story is paramount. It is easy to take your publisher’s comments personal, but you have to get past that and realize that everyone only wants the best book possible.

My publisher Lazy Day Publishing has been supportive and helpful which has made going through initial part of the publishing process easier.

I am excited to keep working toward bringing my long time story project “Monogamy Sucks” to fruition as a published e-Book in December.

I keep will keep updating this blog with new details about the publishing process I experience over the next several months.

George Pappas

Author of novel “Monogamy Sucks”

First edit cuts the deepest….

Well, I am learning about the book editing process.  So many writers have complained about it through the years and described how they have struggled to hang on to the integrity of their books.

It is of course a necessary part of the process.

Today I got back the editing suggestions from my digital publisher Lazy Day Publishing for my blog novel “Monogamy Sucks.” They want to put it out as an e-book in December.

After the initial shock wore off, I realized that their suggestions are helpful and will only strengthen the book. Now I am in an editing groove and feeling much better about having another crack at improving my novel.

Sometimes you can be too close to your book to see what needs to be done to improve upon it.

My goal is to keep it interesting and fascinating for the reader while making sure I don’t slow down the narrative and my character’s journey with too much background info.

“Show, don’t tell” is a lesson that has been ingrained in me since I took fiction writing classes in college and also from my journalism teachers and newspaper editors.

But as writers — we always need to be reminded of such lessons.

I realize that a blog is not a book, and I am working hard to retain the spirit of my novel that I diligently worked on and dreamed about for 12 years.

It’s going well….

Look for more updates on the publishing process here.

George Pappas, Author of blog novel “Monogamy Sucks.”

Look for Monogamy Sucks as e-Book in December — From Blog to book contract in Just 3 Months

Today I signed a contract with exciting new digital publisher Lazy Day Publishing to bring out my blog novel “Monogamy Sucks” as an e-Book by the end of the year. Very excited about this.  It happened only a little over 3 months after launching my blogs (and 12 years after I starting writing my book)
Here’s their Web site: http://lazydaypub.com
Here are my blogs

http://monogamysux.blogspot.com

http://monogamysucks.wordpress.com/

In the meantime, you can explore your inner Swinger with the first six chapters of my novel on this blog and my other blog on Blogger, and continue to follow Jake Dalmas’ intriguing journey when the e-Book comes out.

Look for other updates on the publishing process for Monogamy Sucks on this blog.