Book Covers by Joyce Lavene

Book Covers

Book covers are exciting or colorful or scary. Or something in between. They have a few seconds to catch a reader's attention before that person's eye moves to something else. Your poor little book can't jump off the shelf into a reader's hand. But a good book cover can make a reader pause, thumb through, and finally buy a book.


Berkley Prime Crime does an awesome job with their covers (which you can see from my book cover from A TIMELY VISION and Elizabeth Spann Craig (writing as Riley Adams) book cover from Delicious and Suspicious).

Readers have remarked many times about how beautiful the covers are for my Peggy Lee Garden Mysteries and that the covers of the Ren Faire Mysteries made them pick up the books because they looked like fun.

Writers don't have a lot to say about their covers. Editors ask what you think as the cover is being drawn up. They ask for suggestions about the art before the cover is started. After that, it's up to the artists who design and create the book covers. They are talented and fast workers. Like everyone else on the team that gets the book ready for stores, they're on a deadline and have to finish the product to keep up with production.

I think one thing that makes Berkley covers so good is that they tend to stay away from animals and people. I don't know why, but figures don't seem to translate well to this form. The people can be too big for their surroundings or their faces can be frightening. Animals are usually just plain weird looking.

People compliment me often on my book covers. I'm not sure what to say since I had nothing to do with it. I usually mutter politely and change the subject. I can only take credit for the writing inside.

So here's to Dan Craig (www.ba-reps.com/artists/dan-craig)
and Lesley Worrell (www.covercafe.com/contest/2005/AR-res05.html)
Ben Perini(www.123people.com/s/ben+perini)

and all the other Berkley cover artists and designers. You guys rock! You make it easy for writers to get compliments they don't deserve and to sell our books!

Joyce Lavene
PS - Just for the record, I have nothing to do with the change in cover style between large print and mass market paperback either.
A Timely Vision (and another fine cover)
May 2010 from Berkley Prime Crime

Time to Update!

I love when it's time to update our website because that means it's time for a new book! In this case, it's Ghastly Glass, the second book in the Renaissance Mysteries from Berkley Prime Crime. Jessie's back in the Village!

I'd like to tell you this book was made up of blood, sweat and tears, but it would be a lie. Jim and I laughed until we cried while we were writing it. We wanted to write this series to remind people of the good times they have at Ren Faires and festivals across the world. It's one of the best times we know of, like a playground for adults!

So if you're expecting to read something introspective or something that will make you cry, this is NOT the book for you. If you like Ren Faires, you'll enjoy it. With GHASTLY GLASS, if you like Halloween; ghosts, ghouls, goblins, vampires and werewolves, it's the place for you too.

Jim and I both loved Halloween growing up and were thrilled when Berkley liked the idea of setting this mystery during that time.

Halloween and Ren Faires are a match made in heaven. Our local Ren Festival in Huntersville, NC has a Halloween night event while they're open in the fall each year. When you read this book, you'll know why Jim and I try to be there!

So take a look at our updates and sign up to win a free copy of Ghastly Glass while you're there. We hope to see all of you at the faire this year!

Ghastly Glass
Ren Faire Village Mystery, #2
September 1
www.joyceandjimlavene.com

EBooks

I got into a discussion the other day about the future of reading and books. It's a popular discussion for writers. People think it's only our generation of writers who are talking about it but from reading author's biographies, I know authors have always talked about it. They probably always will.

Of course now, we have EBooks. Depending on who you talk to, EBooks are going to take over the world or they won't ever do anything. I'm somewhere in the middle. I think there will always be paper books but I think they might be too costly for anyone but the very wealthy at some point (history again) and I think everyone else will read EBooks.

It sounds bad for those people who can't imagine reading anything but paper but I like EBooks and I'm confident that authors will make money on them. Our new Berkley Books are out on Kindle and have been doing very well. Local college students are starting to download textbooks on E readers and laptops. They are cheaper and easier to carry around. Just think how great it would be for elementary school children not to have to carry 30 pounds in backpacks each day.

I like reading EBooks because the screen is backlit and the text can be whatever size I want it to be. We've had letters from people thanking us for the Kindle books (not that we have anything to do with it) because they can read again for the first time in years.

I guess it all depends, but I think it must be like the first time paperbacks came out. No doubt hardback lovers were deeply offended. But as long as the words are there and they tell a good story, I don't care what they're on. Things change. Sometimes we have to live with that and learn to love it anyway.

Jim Lavene

TIME

Time is fleeting.
Time for fun.
Never enough time.
Too much time on your hands.

There are plenty of time slogans. Some of them work with us. Some of them feel like the enemy breathing down on our necks. For many of us, time feels out of control. There has to be time to wash the clothes and feed the kids and work our jobs. There’s time for soccer and time for homework. The only time we have left over for ourselves is time sleeping in front of the television!

People always ask me; where do you find the time to do everything? I don't have an answer for anyone but myself for that question.

There is no magic formula that can make time your friend. The only slogan that really applies to us as writers is that you can make enough time for anything that’s really important to you.

How important is your writing to you?

Important enough to give up the new season of TV shows? Important enough to make changes in your life to work on your craft? An hour a night. One TV drama or two sitcoms. One hour of news that you already heard that day. If you’re a morning person, one hour of lost sleep to sit down and actually write those ideas that are fluttering around in your head.

Time is your commitment to your writing goals. Your writing can only mature and grow if it’s exercised. Thinking about it won’t work. Talking about it won’t put a book with your name on the spine in the stores. Only putting your butt in the chair and facing the computer or word processor, typewriter or pen and paper, can make the difference. No one succeeds at a dream until it takes up some of their most valuable resource. Time.

What are you doing with your time today?

Joyce Lavene
Wicked Weaves
Berkley Prime Crime
September 2008
www.joyceandjimlavene.com