Judging A Book By Its Cover with Malia Mallory

Today we have Erotic Romance Author Malia Mallory to talk about the value of a book’s cover. These days, the cover is more important than ever, since it has to catch the reader’s eye all by itself – no cute store displays, no table in the center aisle, no big shelf stocked with a hundred copies. Just that lonely little cover there in the virtual bookstore, along with all the others.

Now, here’s Malia:

Enticing Erotica Covers

I recently decided some of my covers needed an upgrade. I’d been looking around at the fabulous covers of my author friends and feeling jealous. In fact, I was becoming concerned it might even be hurting my sales. I needed to step it up.

So, what to do? I contacted a cover artist who had done some work I admired. She did a new design concept for my ABCs of Erotica series. I think the covers are looking awesome but perhaps I am biased.

What makes an enticing cover? As readers are browsing through the virtual bookstore, the cover is the first introduction they have to the author. The cover should be eye-catching and inviting. It needs to look professional. In just a thumbnail, the cover needs to convey something about the story – its theme or tone or maybe even its subject matter.

Before, my series covers were utilized the same picture and overall layout. The individual titles were distinguished with different colors. Unfortunately, they were just too similar. Now, the series has a unifying theme with the layout, look and feel of the covers. I’m changing out the photographs for each title and selecting ones that I feel depict the tone of the story.

Here are some samples of the “old” covers and the new ones that I’ll be using to update my titles. What do you think?

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new

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Here’s a little taste of The ABCs of Erotica – R is for Revenge

Grace pretended to pout. “Michael, really, tell me what you have planned.”

“I want it to be a surprise. And I think you will be surprised.” He smiled secretively.

“Give me an idea? Just a little one?”

“Grace, there’s a part of Victoria you don’t know about. There is a sort of stereotype, which happens to have a ring of truth to it in her case. She walks all over everyone. But honestly, what she wants is someone to stand up to her.”

“How do you know this?”

Michael shrugged. “Let’s just say, Victoria has another side. One I’ve never indulged with her before. But it’s there.”

The intercom buzzed. Michael answered the doorman and after a short conversation returned to the seating area. “She’s here.”

“She’s here? Victoria? Now?” Grace’s voice rose in disbelief.

He opened the door to the coat closet. “What I want you to do is step in here.”

“What? What is Victoria doing here?” Grace’s stunned confusion made her clumsy as she stepped toward the closet.

He gestured inside. “Grace, come on. She’ll be here soon. Take your wine glass.”

Grace laughed. “Alright, fine. I’ll trust you on this one.” She entered the closet and pulled the door shut. The closet had louvered slats, and if she held her head just right, she had a good view of the living room area.

Grace heard a knock on the door and saw Michael go down the hall. A moment later she could hear murmuring voices. Michael and Victoria entered the living area.

“Victoria, would you like some wine?”

“Yes, that would be lovely.” Victoria removed her wrap and tossed it over the arm of the couch. “I was so pleasantly surprised at your invitation. We should have done this before.” Her voice was warm and welcoming. Grace had never heard Victoria use that tone before. She had certainly never used it toward her.

***

I know you’ll love the ABC’s Of Erotica as much as I do, so click the links below to get the whole series!

Amazon – http://amzn.to/AuqLLl  Barnes & Noble – http://bit.ly/w1jI6C

AllRomance – http://bit.ly/wy34Wu  Smashwords – http://bit.ly/zMPrrv

Malia Mallory is the author of The ABCs of Erotica series, which includes so far A is for Anal, B is for Beach, C is for C*ck Ring D is for Domination, and now, R is for Revenge. The ABCs of Erotica covers the erotic spectrum from BDSM to ménage and everything in between. More releases in the series are on the way. She has also released Mia’s Cop Craving and Santa’s Backdoor Baby. She has hit the bestselling erotica lists at both Amazon and iTunes. Her books are available in electronic format at major retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes and AllRomance Books.

For a free copy of B is for Beach from The ABCs of Erotica, head to her website and sign up for the newsletter at http://www.maliamallory.com/Join_My_Mailing_List.php.

Connect with Malia Mallory

Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/@MaliaMallory

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/MaliaMallory

My Blog – http://abcsoferotica.wordpress.com/

Web Page – http://www.maliamallory.com