THE COVER

What is it about a cover that draws the eye, tempts the reader?

For most of my writing life I've had no control over titles or cover art and I usually see it at the same time as the first readers, those who are members of Mills and Boon or Harlequin Reader Service bookclubs.

Sometimes it's a delight, sometimes I never want to see it again but hearing other authors complaining about their covers I know this is about the author's own perception of the book. The way they see the characters in their head. The reader isn't hampered by this and usually the artwork does the job, which is to sell the book.

Recently, however, I republished three books - where the rights had reverted to me - as eBooks and, for the first time in my life, I had the heady experience of choosing my own cover. 

And guess what? Maybe I can do a better job than the guys who have to put covers on more than a hundred book a month (can you imagine how difficult it must be to come up with something different every time?) because this cover has attracted more attention, raised more comments, and a lot more of the phwoar factor than the other sixty covers put together.

And if you want to take him home and keep him, he's free right now on Kindle UK, Nook, and Smashwords