The last thing – and I mean the very last thing – I was expecting a month and a day before my book’s release date was an email that asked me…
“Hey, what do you think about changing your cover…oh, and your title?”
What did I think? I thought – Are you crazy? This thing is only a month and a day away. And by the way, I’m married to both. I married my title well over a year ago and I married my cover several months ago. One does not just up and get divorced from their title and cover a month and a day before their release date!
My beautiful original cover
That was my initial thought. However, I recognize that I’m no expert in this game. I’m a complete and total novice. A newb, if you will. And once I calmed myself, I replied that, although I loved what I currently had, I was willing to listen to suggestions.
Of course, I was paraphrasing the email. The question wasn’t dropped on me like that. It was presented very professionally. The concern about the cover was whether it was “young” enough to attract the right audience. The characters in the book are 18-22, which is considered New Adult. The target audience would start in that age range and go on up to infinity. (That’s my definition of my target audience.) They sent me some other examples of “younger” covers and I thought…okay, I can understand that concern.
The apprehension about the title was that it doesn’t directly convey what the story is about. Okay, I could understand that one, too. When I chose the title Legacy of the Dog, I recognized that it wasn’t your typical Contemporary Romance title. In fact, it’s not very romancy at all. But to me, it expresses the essence of the story and I hoped that once people read it, they would appreciate what it means.
After a little bit of back and forth, we arrived at a new cover – which I am thrilled to say that I love even more than I loved my first cover. We decided to keep the original title and add one extra line to the cover copy to explain the connection between the dog and the romance. It was a brilliant solution! Props to the Boroughs team for coming up with it.
My even more beautiful new cover
In the way that the title captures the essence of the story, I think the new cover does the same. In the book, Jessie is dealing with several very intense issues and the wistful look on her face really shows how much she is struggling. I think it’s perfect! Again, a huge thanks to the Boroughs team!
So now, with two weeks to go, I have a new cover and my original title and I’m very happy with both!
And in case you’re trying to get a hold of me, I won’t be opening any more emails for…oh, about 15 days.