The importance of a book cover

My novel No Wings Attached will be out soon. Originally I had planned end of May, but some unforeseen things happened and it's delayed. My sincere apologies if you are waiting, it's not going to be long anymore, promise.

Part of the delay is me being picky with the cover. Though some say, the cover is not important, it's what's inside that counts, I tend to disagree. Being a visual person myself, covers are the first that catch my eye, giving me a clue of the genre; then the title and after that the pitch (text on the back of the book). If all three fit my mood, I'll buy. If I'm not sure, I'll sample.

So the cover is important, why else do publishing houses have a marketing team that also decides on the cover? I usually have a very clear idea of what I want. Unfortunately, I'm not designer and that shows when speaking to people who are supposed to translate my ideas into covers that swoon me. Difficult, as I'm a difficult client.

I drew the first few covers of the book in Paint. A hard job and took ages, but I was pleased as I was able to see my ideas form into something visible. Of course I wouldn't be able to use it when actually selling the book. Thinking back, I went through all kind of covers, some I liked a lot, some I didn't.

My almost final cover is this:

We will tweak it a bit more, but the girl's perfect. Celia is 32, funny and warm-hearted. The book's a light-hearted romantic comedy with a paranormal twist. A bit like Bridget Jones meet Charmed.

I hope you'll like the final cover as much as I do and find yourself lost in the story, forgetting for your daily troubles for a while.

You can read the opening here:

No Wings Attached will be avaible on kindle and smashwords and later via POD.