In my former life
as a magazine editor-in-chief I was fanatical about covers, knowing what an
influence they had on sales. We spent so much time on getting covers as right
as we could get them. Our circulations people who would let the editorial team
know in no uncertain terms why they thoughts sales had dipped or peaked.
When I edited a
gardening magazine we had to plan our covers a year ahead. If, for example, we
wanted to feature lilac on the cover we had to photograph a lilac cover in
spring one year to feature on the next spring cover. The production cycle being
what it was, we were getting those covers ready in the winter when lilac bushes
were totally dormant! Same with rose covers (often best-sellers!), pansies or
tulips.
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| Roses go well on the covers of gardening magazines (these are from my garden) |
On food
magazines, we had to do the same thing with seasonal fruit and vegetables.
Cherries were a particular problem. Cherries are a favorite fruit at Christmas
in Australia (Christmas is in summer Down Under) and we really liked to have fresh cherries in our Christmas
recipes. So again, cherry covers had to be shot a year ahead. Christmas issues
are usually worked on in September. There is not a fresh cherry to be found in
either hemisphere of the world at that time. I know from experience!
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| You have to plan ahead for cherries on a food magazine cover (also from my garden) |
When I
self-published novels I was determined to have good covers. I’m sure The
Castaway Bride would not have been the best-seller it was without the lovely
cover! (It was designed by the amazing Kim Killion at the The Killion Group.)
I have truly been
blessed by the cover gods for The Tycoon and
The Wedding Planner my July 2014 release from Harlequin Romance. I just love this cover. To
me it is deeply romantic and sensual in a subtle way. I love the way the cover
models represent the story and I especially love the heroine’s gorgeous hair.
The Australian
edition of the novel used the same image in a slightly different way. Again I
love it!
The UK cover is
also romantic and lovely and beautifully represents the story inside
How important are
covers to you? I’d love to hear your thoughts! I’m giving away a signed copy of
The Tycoon and
The Wedding Planner. To be in the
draw, please include your e-mail address in your comment.
Kandy’s second Dolphin Bay story for Harlequin Romance, The Tycoon and
The Wedding Planner is on sale now.
Kandy Shepherd is an award-winning author of contemporary romance and
women’s fiction. She lives on a small farm in the Blue Mountains near Sydney,
Australia, with her family and a menagerie of four-legged friends.
Visit Kandy at her website
