I never really understood exactly how important or how powerful a book’s cover can be until this past Saturday. I was a featured author at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery for one of their annual autumn weekend tour events. I know that sounds completely creep—a book signing and excerpt reading in the cemetery. Yuck. But you have to understand, it’s October and it’s Halloween season, and it’s the real village of Sleepy Hollow—as in The Legend of—so it actually makes sense. Especially since the book signing was right outside the Old Dutch Church and burial ground where famous people such as Katrina Van Tassell and Washington Irving are buried.

There were hundreds of people that came through the cemetery for tours and seasonal interest, and many of them flocked to my table. Why? Because my gorgeous book cover was blown up on a huge vertical hanging banner with the tagline, “Something evil this way comes, but it’s not who you think.” …and “Two hundred years of lies and horror are coming to an end...”

The book cover was like a magnet drawing people from all over, especially the teens. They wanted to know what the story was about. They were intrigued by the history behind the story line and how it related to where they were at that very moment—in the cemetery, right next to the people mentioned in the book. It was amazing and thrilling, and right then and there I realized having the right artist, who can capture the correct feel of the book and convey the basis of the story in a single picture, is worth everything. All the work an author puts into their story in terms of writing, research and editing will fall completely short if no one picks up the book to read. Your cover is your calling card as much as what you have to say about the story, and first impressions mean everything, so why not get it right from the beginning?

What you might not know is that the current cover for Hollow’s End is actually a redesign. When I weighed the first cover against some of the New York Times best-selling books on the market, I realized the original fell short. It was too busy, so I hired a different artist to take a crack at it. It was by far the best money I ever spent next to what I paid my editor. Professionalism and marketability is key, in editing as well as in the book’s presentation. A great cover and back cover blurb will draw the reader in; good writing and editing will make them your fan forever.