Cover Stories

If you’ve ever heard that saying, ‘Never judge a book by its cover’, forget it. It’s not true. Not of actual books, anyway. The reader DOES judge a book by its cover, particularly if the writer is new to them. They need to glance at the book and think, ‘Gosh, how pretty/intriguing/heartrending/soothing,’ just when they’re looking for a pretty/intriguing/heartrending/soothing book.

(They judge it by whether it’s in a two-for-one offer, has a chart position, is displayed face out and by how much shelf space it has been allocated, too.)

It’s kind of hard that what the writer has slaved over for so long, the pages inside the book, might not ever be seen by the reader - unless the reader likes the cover enough to pick the book up and look inside.

Choc Lit spent ages and ages over the cover of Starting Over. And they were great about taking my opinion into account, which was blissful. And they came up with something so pretty and appealing! Writing friends say, ‘Haven’t they given you a lovely cover?’ Readers tell me, ‘It’s so pretty, I had to have it.’

When work began on the All That Mullarkey cover, it needed to be different enough to be easily told apart but with a family resemblance. Recognisable kin.

I asked for the flowers to be babies’ breath (which gave the designer palpitations) because it has relevance to the story.

The butterflies are silver - that doesn’t show up, here, but should look mega on the shelves. And when we move on to the cover of Want to Know a Secret?, which is due out at the end of the year, I’m really hoping for silver helicopters. If you read the book, you’ll know why.

And, because I’m:

• on the subject of covers
• a cover girl for the first time ever
• and probably the last time

I decided to end with the cover of Writers’ Forum March 2010. Yup, that’s me.

And to reply to a host of friendly insults:

• Yes, the photo is two years old
• Yes, I’ve taken my glasses off
• Yes, make up was involved
• No - I have not been Photoshopped!