The saga of the refrigerator is over…and apparently successful. After finding out that the cleaning I had done to get to the garage door wasn’t what the guys delivering it was expecting or pleased with. They had to take the door handles off the old one and the actual doors off the new one to get them switched. But, here we are. It doesn’t match the rest of the appliances, but who cares? We’ve started to fill it with the essentials…Diet Dr Pepper and ice packs. A refrigerator is essential, isn’t it?

Today’s stop on the Virtual Book Tour is also about essentials. It’s on Book Cover Junkie and is an interview focused on the importance of a great book cover among other things. The Marvelous Mechanical Man has probably the best cover I have ever had. It was created by the brilliant Brad Fraunfelter.

A great book cover can make the difference between a book selling and not. And you have to listen to people who know what they are doing. I designed a cover for another of my books, Mutiny on the Moonbeam from Mocha Memoirs, and I really liked it.

As an author intimately familiar with the story, I thought it completely captured the book in one image. Unfortunately…though some people looked at it and admired the atmosphere, it didn’t sell books. The publisher has re-covered it, and it will hopefully sell better. Here’s the new cover:

It does have a more dynamic feel, but it is still to be seen if the change will bring in sales, or if it is too late.

Another reason to change covers is a new publisher. I’ve had several orphans that were picked up by someone else. Sometimes, there is a rewrite involved first:

My first novel, The Blood that Binds became The Luckless Prince.

The second, The Lute and the Liar has had three publishers (and is now being rewritten…) Each version has had a different cover:

The Right Hand of Velachaz has also had two different covers for two different publishers.

The cover is the first thing a potential reader sees. You want it to be the best you can make it. This post is a bit off the Conn-Mann topic, but covers are important for every book. (Including the Chronicles.)