It's Writing Wednesday and I'm doing everything except writing today... so thought I'd take a break from the madness and at least write a blog post.
Why the chaos? Many reasons, the first of which is Mexico. My husband and I had a lovely vacation last week, and my wonderful parents stayed with the kids... and now I have a ton of laundry and housework to catch up on. And work on our new addition begins soon, so need to clear out the part of the house being demolished. And it's school vacation week, time to go check out colleges with #1 son... am I complaining too much? I don't mean to complain. Sorry.
ON to today's topic.
Cover Reveals. What are they and Why do them?
Cover Reveals serve one main purpose: they "generate buzz" about an upcoming release.
On the flip side, when a cover reveal is spreading around the blogosphere or Facebook, the book usually isn't available yet. It's usually still weeks away. Or a month. So... some people think you shouldn't be putting your book out there too early, because with today's short term attention spans, people will forget that they thought your book looked cool, and forget to buy it.
But... cover reveals are about more than mere buzz. Yes, that's the promo part that's important for sales, but in a way it's also a self-affirmation for the author.
After an author has poured so much of his or her soul into writing the book in the first place, it's nerve wracking to wait to see what the cover artist will come up with and see if it *fits* your vision for your book. And cover art is the first tangible "evidence" you can show others that yes, in fact, your book is REALLY coming out soon. So when an author finally receives the proposed artwork and approves it (or in my case is head over heels in love with it) ...it's a big deal to be able to share it with friends, colleagues and the world.
And you want others to share in your joy, and help spread it to the world.
So you ask your fellow bloggers and Facebook friends to participate in "cover reveals" - sometimes highly organized for a one-day blitz, sometimes less formal and scattered over the course of a week.
And you want to include a little blurb about the book itself, so when people see your pretty cover, they can also read what the book is about. And maybe have people add a link to the author's own website, in case anyone wants to know more. You want people to get talking about your book, and by extension you as the author.
This week, my friend Maer Wilson received her long-awaited cover art and was super excited to share it. Her book, Relics, will be released on May1st from Crescent Moon Press (2 weeks before my book makes its splash) and she received her final artwork at the beginning of this week.
I'm reading an ARC of her book right now, so I know the dagger on the cover is one of the "relics" being searched for. The blurb for her book reads like this:
Most of Thulu and La Fi's clients are dead. Which is perfect
since their detective agency caters to the supernatural. So, a job finding
relics for an ancient daemon should be simple.
The daemon needs the relics to keep a dangerous portal
closed. His enemy, Gabriel, wants the relics to open the portal and give his
people access to a new feeding ground – Earth.
Stunning humanity with their existence, portals to other
worlds begin to open and the creatures of magic return to Earth.
When Gabriel threatens their family, Thulu and La Fi's
search becomes personal. The couple will need powerful allies in the race to
find the relics before Gabriel does. But maybe that's what grateful dead,
magical allies and daemonic clients are for.
When the creatures of myth and magic return to Earth, they're nothing
like your mother's fairy tales.
Maer’s Bio
After a successful career being other people, and later
teaching others the many tricks of that trade, Maer Wilson has decided to be
herself for a while. Turns out she's a writer. She's always loved stories,
especially fantasy, mystery and sci fi. Maer was born in the Year of the Dragon
and has a dragon-themed room in her home, but sadly no dragons in the back
yard.
When she's not writing, Maer plays online video games, teaches college
and reads. She also co-hosts the literary podcast, “MythBehaving” and writes
for two gaming fansites. She lives in the high desert of Southern Nevada with
her two dogs, a chihuahua and a poodle. Relics
is her first novel and will be released by Crescent Moon Press on May 1, 2013.
You can visit her website at maerwilson.com.
Links
What do you think? Are cover reveals important for buzz generation? Or do you prefer it when a book is already available?
