I understand cover reveals can be a big deal, but it’s just not my style. I’m happy to get an attractive cover I like and one that represents my books well. When I do, well, I want to share it. Like right away.
So …. here is the gorgeous cover for book 5 in the Seven Troublesome Sister Series.
It really is beautiful, isn’t it?
What is she holding? It’s called a psaltery, and it’s a stringed instrument that was quite popular in the 1200’s. This 5th sister is a musician. (It’s one of the reasons she can’t keep quiet.)
Like it’s predecessor (cover 4) this was done by the fine folks at Deranged Doctor Design and arrived almost perfect. The way it showed up is on the left. I had a few minor concerns. A psaltery is too heavy to be held the way she holds it. The lighting effects made her hair look like she was going gray. She seemed rather too tall and thin to be a real woman and her arms, in particular, looked off.
Most if not all of these, of course, were artifacts of the sort of photo manipulation DDD does to make their stunning but still affordable covers.
Back came this version, which corrected most of my concerns, except for the oddly long and skinny arms. We had one more round to improve the arms, and then I decided I wanted the castle on her other side. I was all excited about how our brains are accustomed to going from left to right and felt that the castle on the left would better convey that she was leaving to go somewhere else. (See my post Better Covers: Does Your Brain Prefer Left to Right?) Flipping the castle didn’t make as much difference as I’d hoped, but I liked it okay and was happy to call it good with only these three minor revisions.
I’d love to know if other authors are more, or less, picky than I am about their covers. If any of you reading this self-publish, please speak up and let me know!
This was originally posted on my blog Seven Troublesome Sisters which talks all about that series. Check it out for more info on these books.
S. R. Cronin 
Comments on: "Isn’t she beautiful?" (2)
This is a great cover indeed, and your effort in making sure things are just right was probably the reason why it did turn out the way it did. I read your left-or-right post with much interest too. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Stuart. It’s hard to know when to decide something is “good enough?” isn’t it? Do you self-publish too?