Confident Reads: Heidi Garrett Talks Covers + a Cover Reveal + a Give@way!

Hello everyone! Confident Reads is a feature I have here each week and is a way to open communication between readers and Indie authors.  This  is to help readers feel confident in the books they spend their money on, and for authors to feel confident in the book they publish.

Today we're doing things a tad different today because Heidi Garrett has a new cover to reveal!  I don't do cover reveals usually but she told me she could write up a guest post about the cover.  So first of all here's the gorgeous new cover!  I haven't read this series yet, but if you have let us know in the comments what you thought of it!

The Queen of the Realm of Faerie is a fairy tale fantasy series that bridges the Mortal and Enchanted worlds. The main character, Melia, is an eighteen-year-old half-faerie, half-mortal. She lives in Illialei, a country in the Enchanted World, with her two sisters and their mother. Melia’s father has been exiled to the Mortal World, and her best friend is a pixie.

When the story opens in the first book, Melia is troubled by her dark moon visions, gossip she overhears about her parents at the local market, and the trauma of living among full-blooded faeries with wings—she doesn’t have any.

As the series unfolds, the historic and mystical forces that shape Melia’s life are revealed. Each step of her journey—to find the place where she belongs—alters her perceptions about herself, deepens her relationships with others, and enlarges her world view.

In The Dragon Carnivale, book 3 of The Queen of the Realm of Faerie, energies in the Enchanted World are shifting and new alliances are forming; the Battle of Dark and Light has begun. Melia is desperate to make things right with Ryder, the young priest from Idonne, but first she must warn the half-bloods in the Mortal World that Umbra is coming for them, and face the powerful Dragonwitch and her spectacular Dragon Carnivale.

The first two books in the series: Nandana’s Mark and The Flower of Isbelline are currently available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, and Smashwords. Nandana’s Mark is free.

The Dragon Carnivale is scheduled for a June 18, 2013, release.

Sign-up for Heidi Garrett’s new release email List and receive a lavender and gold Half-Faerie bracelet while supplies last…because you’re half faerie, too, right?

Cover Series

Chinese proverb. One picture is worth ten thousand words.

That is the power a book cover offers a novel. Catch a reader’s eye in a single glance, and they just might be intrigued enough to pause and explore what your story is about. That’s the hope, the purpose, and the goal.

How to achieve this?

The best book covers offer an eye-stopping image, but it doesn’t end there. When really effective, cover images, pictures, and symbols, pull elements from the novel that connect with the reader.

We all have our favorite book covers. Here are a few of mine:

 

Become

Fish Eyes 

Mind Readers

The Last Goddess

To me, each of these covers is visually compelling, and provides a feel or sense of the novel. I have no doubt these covers contributed to my purchase of the books.

Become features an image of the novel’s main character in a posture that gives a sense of her struggle, along with a sense of her world. Fish Eyes provides a gorgeous image, again, of the novel’s main character. Her intense gaze captures the feel of the character’s journey into a world that is new for her. Mind Readers is perhaps the more abstract of the one’s I’ve chosen. The water, in its literal sense, alludes to the novel’s setting. The image of the girl and what she’s wearing are more symbolic—a female character seeking to free herself from oppressive secrets. The Last Goddess showcases the two main characters, and as they’re paired, a common purpose.

I love book covers. However, I can also sympathize with those who express sentiments along the lines of: A cover shouldn’t be that important. The story is what is important. And of course…

Don’t judge a book by its cover.

That humans are visual creatures is the reality. Best to accept that and empower your book with the best book cover you can give it. Which brings us to:

How does an indie author who’s coping with a budget do it?

1.  Choose your favorite book covers and analyze why they work for you, as I did with my favorite covers above.

2.  Make a list of the key elements in your novel. Translate them into something visual. For my first book, Nandana’s Mark, the main character, Melia, is surrounded by blue lilies. The lilies serve two purposes: 1. They represent the natural beauty of Illialei, a country in the Realm of Faerie, and 2. They tease one of the main series elements: The Sapphire Lily. The indigo mark on Melia’s forehead is literal and represents the story arc of the first book. In the second book, The Flower of Isbelline, Melia shares the novel’s stage with her younger sister, Plantine. The issue of a wedding that may or may not occur is a plot element. The bouquet serves as a dual symbol of the wedding and...something else. The fortress in the background brings in the story element of place. We continue the themed book covers for the series in the third book, The Dragon Carnivale. Sevondi, The Dragonwitch, shares the novel’s main stage with Melia for this installment…and, well, she is a Dragonwitch! 

3.  Once you have some ideas about what you might want your cover to convey, the next step is either creating it yourself or hiring an artist.

Do-It-Yourself

I’m fortunate in that my husband is an artist. He uses the program Pixelmator http://www.pixelmator.com, which is a more affordable photo manipulation software than Photoshop http://www.photoshop.com. Right now, Pixelmator is running at $14.99 compared to Photoshop’s pricey $699. Don’t be fooled, Pixelmator is an unbelievable product for the price. For the images, we use Shutterstock at www.shutterstock.com. Shutterstock has various price points, depending on how many photos you purchase at one time. The most expensive is $19, the purchase of a single image. Be prepared to spend some time searching their extensive photo collections for the right images for your project. Then...be creative...and patient with yourself as you learn. My husband has made plentiful use of the numerous youtube.com videos showcasing Pixelmator’s functionality.

Hire an Artist

The first step in hiring an artist is research. Communicate with other indie authors. Their insight and experience will be invaluable. Set a budget. Your budget will define who you’re able to hire and the final product you will receive. In-demand authors who create original images will be at the top tier of pricing. Artists who specialize in photo-manipulation can vary from expensive to affordable. Once you’ve decided to contact an artist, they’ll want to discuss the items in step 2, i.e. some visual elements that you feel best represent your novel. Once you’ve reached an agreement with an artist that fits your budget, the rest is communication. If that goes well, you’ll end up with a cover that will be not just one of your favorites, but also one of the favorites of your readers!

A final note: If you’re an indie author, then you’re already familiar with the huge learning curve that self-publishing entails. Be prepared to invest time, energy, and some money into achieving that right cover for your book. You and your readers will be glad you did.


Author Bio

Heidi Garrett is the author of The Queen of the Realm of Faerie series. Her personal message to all her readers is:
Once upon a time, you lived in an enchanted world, too…
There is magic in all our lives; sometimes we need to look through different eyes to see it.
The Queen of the Realm of Faerie includes many strong female characters within an intricate fantasy land. It is also a fairy tale fantasy.
The first book, Nandana’s Mark, is one of those free ebooks; the second book, The Flower of Isbelline, is now available; and the third book, The Dragon Carnivale, will be released in June 2013.
The series was inspired by the 15th century French fairy tale, Melusine.
Heidi's hope is that when you read her books, you will rediscover the enchantment in your own life.
She currently resides in eastern Washington with her husband and their two cats. So far, she loves the snow. Being from the South, she finds it magical.

Learn more about Heidi and enjoy her stream-of-consciousness reading journal, Eating Magic, at: www.heidigwrites.blogspot.com.
If you want to say hello, give her a shout out on Twitter at @heidigwrites or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/heidigwrites.

Book Links
Amazon |  Barnes & Noble|  iBooks | Kobo | Smashwords

Giveaway exclusive to my blog:  Nandana’s Mark and The Flower of Isbelline ebooks with a lavender and gold Half-Faerie silicone bracelet.
To enter please leave a comment telling me you'd like to enter. 
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Ends 3/31/13

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