Authors Electric

 How do you choose which book to read? Are you persuaded by a fabulous five-star review?  Or does it take the personal recommendation of a friend to convince you? Perhaps you choose a book because you have read something by the author before. Personally, I know anything by Kate Atkinson or Louise Penny are worth picking up, and Elly Griffiths’ series of Ruth Galloway stories are always a winner. some of my favourite authors But when you are confronted in a bookshop, library, or charity shop with a plethora of books by unknown authors how do you choose? Do you judge a book by its cover? What a book looks like is very important. Is the cover design eye-catching? Ultimately your first impression may lead you to pick it up, turn it over and read the blurb on the back. Then you may discard it or turn to the inside pages. Presentation, the overall look and feel of a book, can be almost as important as the words themselves. They need to complement each other. If choosing a ...

 This week my books arrive from the printers. I am waiting in eager anticipation to open that box, redolent with the scent of newly printed paper. Longing to handle the weight of the book, to hear the pleasing creak of the spine as I flip through the crisp white pages. And to see the cover in all of its resplendent glory. I have had an image of the cover in a computer file for months, and it is stunning. Everyone who has seen it has remarked so. I am really very pleased with the design, and am eagerly anticipating what it will look like ‘in the flesh’. Will the colours be as vivid as I hope, will it stand out in a crowd, will it draw the eyes of potential readers, look good on the shelf of a bookstore? This particular cover was a collaborative effort. My cover designer had worked on the first book and so certain features were repeated for this, the second. The font, the stunning illuminated capital, and the off-white torn top section that represented the vellum used by medieval m...