Continuing the Publication Countdown: Cover Art, Page Proofs, and Author Photo, Oh My!

A good gulp of hot whiskey at bedtime — it's not very scientific, but it helps.

~ Sir Alexander Fleming

The publication process of my novel just keeps rolling on toward the finish line. And, let me tell you, it's a whole lot of work, and a heckuva lot of fun.

Last night I returned from a whirlwind trip to Columbia, South Carolina, where I spent a couple of nights with my aunt, zipped down to Myrtle Beach and back for a photo shoot (more on this), perused the stacks at The South Caroliniana Library for research for the novel on which I'm currently working (slowly, painstakingly slowly), and as a bonus, got to have lunch with an old friend.

Before I detail the trip, let me just say that I was by myself, in the car, for a total of 9 1/2 hours. I can't remember the last time I was alone in a car. I think it was about three years ago. I played my music, loud.

My road trip playlist:

Sugarland

U2

The Pogues

The Dixie Chicks

REM

Sam Phillips

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals

Brandi Carlile

The Corrs

Aimee Mann

Dolly Parton

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

Suzy Boggus

a mix my sister made for my bachelorette weekend (back in 2004)

"Here Come the 1 2 3s" by They Might Be Giants (yes, this is a kids' CD. I forgot about that fact until halfway through the first song, but it didn't matter, because these guys rock)

and soundtracks from Crazy Heart, Sweet Home Alabama, and Alfie.   

Yes, there's some serious woman power happening there.

I sang at the top of my lungs. I had a milkshake. It looked like this:

Photo Credit: www.grubgrade.com

 It was heaven. (I'm conveniently forgetting about Myrtle Beach traffic.)

In the short time I spent at my aunt's gorgeous 1930s bungalow in the Shandon area of Columbia, we drank adult beverages, ate delicious food, visited with another aunt and uncle, talked to her cat, looked at old photographs, went for a walk around the neighborhood--which is one of the prettiest, if not the prettiest, in Columbia, and just talked. I slept in my aunt's huge sleigh bed, and didn't open my eyes from the time my head hit the pillow until my alarm went off in the mornings. Much as I adore the little voice at home who shouts, "Mama! Daddy! Come get me! I had a very nice sleep! Mama! Daddy! Where are you?! I want out!" this. was. divine.

But back to work.

On Monday, I jetted down to Myrtle Beach for a photo shoot (for my author photo which will appear on the back of the book) with my ridiculously talented and gorgeous cousin-in-law, Paula Player. (You really should check out her web site, especially if you're planning a wedding or event anywhere in the Grand Strand vicinity, but also just to peruse her incredible photographs.) We met at Paula's friend's studio, Paula did my makeup (because I am, still, a tomboy), and had a great time. After, we went to lunch, talked nonstop about life and marriage and our kids, and the seeds were planted for what I foresee to be a beautiful friendship. 

I'm excited to see how the photographs turn out. And nervous. I asked her if she could make me look 10 years younger and 20 lbs lighter. She laughed.

Back in Columbia, within the lovely and hushed walls of The South Caroliniana Library, I played with research for the novel I'm currently writing. It's set in the 1850s in Charleston, South Carolina, just before the whole world is about to explode and change forever with Civil War (or as some refer to it down here: The Late Unpleasantness), and it's narrated by Josephine Scott, the great-great granddaughter of my characters in Keowee Valley, who's a sort of Southern Jo March. On advice from my new friend and pen pal, the writer Philip Lee Williams, I started to create a timeline for the novel by sifting through old newspapers of the period. I pray that this will help my complete inability to outline (or even really plan at all) the story.

Photo credit: http://library.sc.edu/socar/books.html

But The South Caroliniana Library. Oh, that library. It's gorgeous. Quiet. The staff are wonderfully helpful and kind. (Yes, they let me in the place in spite of the fact that my blood runneth orange.)

There's something so wonderfully old-fashioned and high-academic about it. You fill out a request, and they retrieve books from the stacks for you. You get to sit at these lovely desks with your own lamp. I could've spent hours there.

But I digress.

Currently, two booky things are going on in the world of Keowee Valley:

1. My publishers just sent me the Preliminary Page Proofs for the novel. This is exactly what the pages will look like inside the book itself. What I have to do--and what I'm doing now--is to go through the novel line by line, looking for any sort of mechanics errors. This ain't easy. It's a long novel. But fun, still fun!

2. My fabulous publishers have recently commissioned the artist M. C. Krauss to create the cover of Keowee Valley. While she mostly works in fantasy, she also works with individual subjects and covers. Her digital work is stunning, ethereal and cool, and I'm thrilled to see what she dreams up.

So that's what's going on in my world, at least on the book end of things. Add every day life to the mix, and in the words of my husband, minus the expletives, "It's a crazy-fest."

But I honestly wouldn't trade it for a thing.

Enough about me. I want to know: How are y'all? How are your summers going so far? What have you been up to in your writing, working, and reading worlds?  

Novel Tag Lines & Cover Art

Credit: articlebiz.com

This has been an enormously fun and anxiety-inducing week in the world of readying a novel for publication. In the past few days I've discovered the following things:

1.) My agent and I chose the right publisher for KEOWEE VALLEY. They may be small in size, but they are mighty in generosity. In a huge publishing house an author's wishes are often lost, especially when it comes to cover art. Most of the time at houses like this, authors will not even lay eyes on the cover of their novels until they're already set in stone.

But at Bell Bridge Books--though the publisher ultimately makes the final call--the author (a.k.a me) is not only consulted on cover art, she is considered. And this is huge. I have spent the past few days in back-and-forth emails with the house's marketing director and cover designer, and most likely wore everyone down with my cover anxieties (I really don't want it to look like a romance novel, I really don't want a woman's face to show, etc, etc, etc). But they have responded with reassurance, generosity, and inspiration. And I'm so thankful.

credit: ushistoryimages.com

2.) There is virtually no good stock art out there of women in Colonial dress--or Colonial fashion in general, particularly representing the mid-18th century... at least not the kind adequately respresentative of my novel. Oh, there are heaping French dresses and shiny silk bodices and plenty of "pirate's ladies," but nothing quite suited to KEOWEE VALLEY, and to Quinn, my protagonist, who abandons a civilized Southern city and adventures into the wild Appalachian frontier. Who wouldn't have worn a ball gown into the the wilderness, but who also wouldn't have looked like a Pilgrim.

So we'll see what the creative team comes up with for KEOWEE VALLEY. There are talks of utilizing an artist, which big publishing houses often do, but for which smaller houses often lack the discretionary funds, and instead utilize stock art. No matter what, I'm (now, after the flurry of emails) confident that whatever image is chosen, it'll be a good one. And it won't be Fabio and his lady in a clutch.

Credit: romancebookcovers.com

Not that there's anything wrong with this image. It's pretty darn awesome. But it's not suited to my novel.

Whew... fanning my face and moving on....

3.) My tribe is creative, generous, kind, and unfailingly supportive. This week I enlisted their help with two things: my author photo for the back of the novel, and a tag line for the front. I posted three photos my husband had taken of me over the weekend and asked folks to choose, because doing so was making me, quite simply, lose my Cheerios. And they did--close to 70-something people responded, not only making me feel plain wonderful, but also giving truly well thought-out opinions. Putting your face on a book that (hopefully) many people will see is something I find to be terrifying. But I get by with a little help from my friends.

The tag line: I sent out an email to some creative folks I know for help with this one. A tag line is a pithy, punchy hook that appears on the front of a novel (movies use these all the time).

Some examples of catchy tag lines:

* from the cover of John Grisham's The Chamber: "Between the crime and the punishment is the truth..."
* from the cover of C. Hope Clark's Lowcountry Bribe: "A killer wants to make certain she buys the farm."

And a few from the movies:

* "The true story of a real fake" - from Catch Me if You Can
* "She brought a small town to its feet and a huge corporation to its knees" - from Erin Brockovich
* "There can be only one" - from Highlander

My tribe answered the call, even enlisting their own family members and friends to help. I gathered up their dozens of great ideas, mixed them with my own, and sent them to my publisher-s-who promptly found one they loved, tweaked it just a little, and we may have a tag line for KEOWEE VALLEY. Because of my Super Friends.

Writing a novel is often a lonely process. You forget that in a crazy world and in a highly competitive field, there are people cheering you on. And I'm finding that there's nothing more fun, especially at this point in the making of a novel, than sharing in the process.

The Author Photo

I should've titled this post, "Holy freaking moly, my photo is going to be on the back cover of a book that people are going to SEE."

To relieve my anxiety, I'm taking a poll.

Over the holiday weekend, my husband took some photographs of me at my family's lake house in South Carolina, one of which I may use as my author photo on the back cover of my novel. The setting is perfect (even though you can't see much of it), because behind me are the Blue Ridge Mountains, a landscape that's an integral part of KEOWEE VALLEY.

All the literature says that the best book cover author photos are forward-facing head shots that are in color, and that reflect the spirit of the author.

But trying to decide which photo to send to my publisher is giving me a receding hairline. And (more) wrinkles. Will y'all please help?

In the spirit of forthrightness, I'll let you know that I may not use any of your suggestions. But I probably will.

I beg you to be kind.

Please rank in order of importance (1 = like the best, 3 = like the least) the following photos. Or, heck, if you only like one, list one. Whatever works for you:


Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

I realize they all look ridiculously alike, and could use more "touching up." I swear this isn't a vanity exercise: I'm honestly anxious about the decision. So any help will help.

Big virtual hugs--and good joojoo--to all who respond.

P.S. We attempted some "serious author shots" (me not smiling), but I just looked ridiculous.

P.S.S. It wouldn't be unethical, would it, if I used a photograph of Salma Hayek instead?