Before and After: Hubris
It shouldn’t come as any surprise that design and copyediting make a big difference in the marketability of a book. With the permission of the author, I’m going to show you a case study on cover design and blurbs.
The book in question is called Hubris. This is a mystery thriller, with a lot of private detective callbacks but with more violence than you’d expect in a pulp story. Sort of like Remington Steele but with more blood. It’s written by Perry Wilson, who hired me to redo the cover and blurb.
The Originals
The blurb:
Charity Deacon is enjoying an afternoon latte when the sound of a car crashing breaks through her peaceful daydreaming.
Follow her as she digs into the reasons for the crash and uncovers the ugly underground world of Vancouver BC.
One of the main problems that jumped out at me immediately, when I took on this project, is that the cover didn’t really represent anything. One of the most important aspects of a cover is that it needs to represent the book in its entirety, and this image, although indicative of one element of the story, didn’t deliver a sense of the overall atmosphere. It also didn’t work at scale, and the font colors of the back didn’t really stand out well. The fonts themselves are indifferent. Covers need to be visually striking, and this one is not.
The blurb is simply too short. It doesn’t say enough about the book, and it doesn’t give any kind of hook to the story. This could be a result of not wanting to spoil anything, but too many self-published books fall into this trap and forget something to attract a reader’s attention.
The Process
We spent a very long time searching for a new photo. It had to be something that suggested the feel of the story, and the essential elements of the characters. I think we went through ten different versions, and several different iterations using patterns and filters. In the end, I did a sample cover using nothing but flat color – and it worked, instantly.
The dual silhouette is very visually striking, and works at the scale of an Amazon listing. This is the print cover, of course, and the use of color around the figure is a indication of danger, from within and without. This is a callout to the essence of the book – the external danger of the criminal underworld, and the internal danger of hubris.
Here’s the new blurb:
THEY SAY CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT.
For Charity Deacon, a private investigator with a nose for trouble, it’s just a way of life.
She witnesses a car crash that hides a brutal murder. The police don’t talk to PIs, but maybe they’ll explain why the victim had a bullet hole in his head in exchange for the photos and video she collected right at the scene.
Her latest client is a young streetwalker named Val. She’s used to fending for herself, but her sister Emma has fallen into something big, and anyone who shows too much interest in this particular business is liable to catch a sudden case of death. She needs the help of a pro, and soon, or Emma may not survive to be rescued.
Both are connected to the seedy underworld of Vancouver. As Charity traces each lead with Val in tow, they get closer and closer to the most dangerous criminals in the city – the Chinese gangs that like to kill anyone who gets too curious about them.
GOOD THING CHARITY HAS NINE LIVES.
It had to be longer, of course. This is all information that the reader finds out in the first third of the book, with a lead in to the rest of the story (Charity’s investigation, with Val helping her). The reader knows the stakes, and the danger. It’s also got a hint of hubris, a slight touch of overconfidence revealed in Charity’s nature that is so intrinsic to the story.
Conclusion
I consider this a very successful makeover, overall. The process took a lot of discussion – I could not have done it without reading and understanding the story. Having Perry on hand to answer questions was invaluable, and it was very much a collaboration between her in-depth knowledge of it and my expertise.
Of course, no self-published author is obliged to work with any one designer or copywriter, but I think this collaboration is the most vital aspect of having control over their work. A traditionally-published author cannot expect to have this level of input, and a designer and copywriter in a large publishing house cannot expect to have this level of access to the author. Ultimately, the ability to work closely on a project means that we brought the best of our skills to the table, and produced something that we are both happy with.
