Photos, illos, naked torsos? What's Your Favourite Cover? Tell Me & Win A Prize!

I attended an authors' conference recently where a design expert informed us all that, globally, different nationalities have very different preferences when it comes to what book covers they like and which ones make them run, gagging. 

According to the expert:

• American readers adore illustrated covers while the Aussies won't have a bar of them
• Don't even think about splashing a naked torso on a British cover but if you're selling in Europe, go hell for leather!
• And you may have won every award in the book, but readers just don't give a toss

What do you think about all of that?

I have always known that tastes vary from place to place. Really, it's just common sense, and the reason many products have completely different branding (names, packaging…) in different countries. But I never knew the differences were that stark, and I certainly didn't expect it was a nationality thing.

I thought it was simply a matter of personal preference and would make little difference to sales.

That's why I've decided to run a bit of an experiment with my Ghostwriter Mystery Series. This month I've gone back to the future—to my very first covers which were designed with illustrations (below) and later updated with photographs (see further below). You can check out the original and updated covers here or see the full set of illustrated covers now available exclusively at Amazon.

        
 

Which ones do you prefer? When I posed the question to some of my fellow cozy author/reader friends recently, I was surprised to find that the majority prefered the illustrated covers—even though they are all Australians. When I asked them why, many couldn't really articulate the reasons although some felt it was more about genre than nationality—cozies usually have illustrated covers, after all—while another told me photographs were too life-like and she wanted to create her own images in her head.

That makes sense to me. How about you?

I'd love to hear your thoughts—and give you a chance to win a prize!

QUESTION: Where are you from and which covers do you prefer?

WIN: The full e-book set of my Ghostwriter Mystery Series

Please drop me a line or send me an email and let me know what type of cover you prefer—the illustrated version (above) or the ones with photographs (below)? I'll be placing all the respondents' names into a hat and selecting one winner who will receive a full e-book copy of all six of my GHOSTWRITER MYSTERY series.

Respond to this message or email me now at: christina@calarmer.com
This offer closes at the end of the month, so don't hesitate to get in touch!

Happy (well covered) reading everyone...
xo Christina 

A Killer Giveaway (or 3)

My regular readers will know I've been dead quiet lately. Apologies for that. It's been a mammoth month with a lot of writing - but mostly other people's. 

As you may also know, my day job involves constructive editing for other authors and I've had the privilege of doing just that recently, editing first a memoir from the 1970s, and then a 'single woman's guide to real estate' (my working title, not hers, but I'm sure I can convince her).

Editing other people's words really is a privilege; I don't use that term lightly. As the author of 11 books, myself, I know the hurdles writers have to overcome to simply put pen to paper, let alone finish a manuscript and THEN have the courage to hand it to someone else to 'critique', so I thank those authors for their bravery and belief in me. It really has been fun.

Of course that doesn't help you, now, does it? All this editing means I have had to put my own writing on the back burner. Bummer. So, to make it up to my loyal readers, I will be running a series of sales that I might just call my 'Suck Up Sales', for obvious reasons.

And here they are:



• Suck Up Sale #1: It all starts with my current discount for my latest book Do Not Go Gentle.

The story of a dead woman's quest to solve her own murder before the granny-beckoning light whooshes her off to eternity, this is a fun, light read with a lot of dark humour. Actually, make that black humour! It's my darkest book yet, but there really is a lot of light and it's not all coming from the tunnel, I can assure you.

You can grab a copy of that NOW for just 99c.

• Suck Up Sale #2: From June 20, I will be running a fortnight-long sale of the second book in the popular Agatha Christie Book Club series: Murder on the Orient (SS).

This one features a real steamship, brought back to life in my imagination, just for the purposes of baffling my fabulous book club friends. Several passengers meet a grim end on the ship—as you'd expect—but it's the ending that will take you by surprise. So far, no one I know has worked out whodunnit! Can you?

That cozy mystery will be available for 99c from June 20.

• Suck Up Sale #3: And later in the month, I will do a flash sale of the first—and most popular—book that started the series: The Agatha Christie Book Club. That one will also drop to 99c, so keep an eye out for that (and for a loony husband who may or may not have murdered one of the book club wives).


Phew. I think that should cover my proverbial you-know-what, until I find time to get a new book out.

Until then, happy (discount) reading everyone!
xo Christina