Here’s the story behind WILDE TREASURES’ new cover.
Though I like the original cover (photo on the right), it felt a little busy and hard to read–the title goes across the hair, there is a bright blue strap that doesn’t belong to anything, and the pink polka dots are distracting. And since the map doesn’t look like a treasure map, I felt this cover didn’t truly convey a treasure hunt story.
Searching through pages and pages of stock images didn’t yield a better picture, so I decided to do my own photoshoot with the help of my dancer/ actor daughter in front of the camera and my amateur-photographer mother behind it. Both were super excited to join me in the project.
Here is the picture of my daughter Julie we liked best from the photo shoot.
There was just one problem, though. The eye goes to the model and not to what’s spilling out of her hands. More gold would grab the reader’s attention.
Rather than redoing the photo shoot, I enlisted the help of Karri Klawiter–the cover artist who designed my Survival Race covers–and asked if she could add a stock image of a pile of treasure (I’m still new to Photoshop).
This is what she came up with.
Better, right?
Now all I needed to do was create the cover. I enlarged the image to match the other books in the series and then added the Candlewood Falls banner across the top, my name at the bottom, and the title.
Below is the final cover that is now available for sale in ebook and paperback.
I love it! Not only does it fit the story better, but it holds a special place in my heart because I got to share this fun experience with two of my favorite people–my mother and my daughter.
What do you think of Wilde Treasures’ new look?
After rescuing a sexy treasure hunter from her well, unlucky-in-love Willow Wilde gets swept into a search for centuries-old pirate booty that’s sure to solve her money woes & add to her man troubles. But what starts as an adventure chasing clues through the small town of Candlewood Falls quickly turns dangerous when rivals will stop at nothing to get the gold.
AMAZON
APPLE
BARNES & NOBLE
KOBO