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Monday, November 12, 2012

New Revelations: Guest Post and Review

Today, I'd like to welcome over Heather Topham Woods, author of First Visions and New Revelations, over for a guest post!


 Why Book Covers are So Important

Think of your book cover like the initial impression given on a first date. On the date, do you want to appear sloppy and wear a haphazardly thrown together ensemble? Not if you want to see your date ever again. Book covers need to be attractive while also conveying what your novel is about.

Have you ever avoided a book because of the cover? Many readers will be turned off by amateurish looking covers. I personally have skipped a few books despite rave reviews because of covers. It’s presumptuous, but I figure the writing and plot will be as unappealing as the front image.

If you’re self-publishing and have no idea about cover creation, consider hiring someone. There are graphic artists who will design gorgeous covers for you from scratch. Give them some conceptual information to work from and be an active part of the process. Also, there are book marketing companies that have pre-made book cover designs for sale. Browse through their catalogs to see if you find any suitable to your novel.

If you’re comfortable working with photo editing software and want to do your book cover on a budget, then you can make one yourself. Before you go down this road, make sure that the images you use meet the specifications for book retailers. For instance, paperback covers made through Createspace require a minimum resolution of 300 dpi.

Start out with an image. Stock photography images can be purchased online or you can use your own personal photo library as a starting point. Choose an image that represents your book. Girls in pretty dresses are a popular choice, but don’t always relate to the content inside of the novel. Choose a couple of selections before making your final decision. Play around with fonts and colors when adding title and author name. Show a few mock-ups to friends and fellow writers to receive feedback on which one to settle on.

Don’t use a cover for your book unless you love it. With an attractive cover, you’ll gain readers who are interested in the novel based solely on the front image. This will build readership and ideally help increase your fanbase.     

From Goodreads:
Life should've been perfect. Kate Edwards had won the heart of police detective Jared Corbett and was coming to terms with her psychic ability. Things were blissful—until the day she met Declan Brayden.

Declan also has psychic visions and wants to work alongside Kate. Kate doesn't trust the damaged and arrogant seer, but she knows combining their abilities would allow her to help more people. This becomes vital when visions of a missing fitness instructor turn into a race against time to save the girl's life.

My Review:
I really enjoyed this book! Besides having a beautiful cover (which just goes to show the guest post's point) it had a beautiful inside, even as the inside tortured me, because the ending of First Visions was pretty darn good, considering. And then came New Revelations, and Declan, who I just didn't like, he wasn't very nice, but he was helpful on some occasions.

I really enjoyed this book, even through my suffering, because it was just fantastic, great characters (mostly) great plotting, great mysteries, and great writing! I just really, really enjoyed this book, almost as much as I'm loving staring at the pretty cover! Because yeah, it's that good!

Seriously didn't like Declan, he just got on my nerves, which I think was the point, and then with the way this book ended, well, book 3 is going to be a very exciting read! And something that I'm really looking forward to!

All in all, this was a really fantastic book, and a great instalment in the series, so I hope you guys check it out!

Author: Heather Topham Wood
Series: Second Sight #2
Read: November 11th, 2012
Source: Reading Addiction Blog Tour Review Copy
Reason Why: Sounded really good and it has such a pretty cover!
Published: October 9th 2012
5/5 Hearts
5/5 Books
4/5 Stars



Bio:
Heather Topham Wood graduated from the College of New Jersey in 2005 and holds a bachelor’s degree in English. Working full-time as a freelance writer for publications such as USA Today, Livestrong.com, Outlook by the Bayand Step in Style magazine, she writes fiction in her spare time. She resides in Trenton, New Jersey with her husband and two sons.

New Revelations is the second novel in the Second Sightseries. First Visions: Second Sight Book One was published on May 1, 2012.

Follow Heather on Twitter and her blog to keep posted on her upcoming works.

Contact and Buy AKA Links:
Website/Blog


Stops on the Tour:
October 22 - Reading Addiction Blog Tours - Meet and Greet
October 23 - Lovely Reads - Interview/PROMO
October 24 - The Adventures Within - Review/Interview
October 25 - Whats On The Bookshelf? - Guest Post/PROMO
October 26 - Mom With a Kindle - Interview/GuestPost/PROMO
October 29 - Lov Liv Life Reviews - Guest Post/PROMO
October 30 - Kimmie's Bookshelf - Guest Post/PROMO
October 31 - The Other Shelf - Review
November 4 - Book Nerd - Review
November 5 - Words I Write Crazy - Review/Guest Post
November 6 - The Solitary Bookworm - Guest Post/PROMO
November 7 - Books Books, The Magical Fruit - Guest Post/PROMO
November 8 - Book Briefs - Review
November 9 - My Reading Addiction - Review
November 10 - Laurie's Thoughts - Guest Post/PROMO
November 12 - Taking It One Page at a Time - Review/Guest Post
November 12 - Words I Write Crazy - Review/Guest Post
November 13 - Kaisy Daisy's Blog - Review
November 14 - A Soul Unsung - Guest Post/PROMO
November 15 - Fiction Addiction - Interview/PROMO
November 16 - The Bookshelf - Guest Post/PROMO
November 17 - Read Between the Lines - Review/Interview
November 17 - For the Love of Film and Novels - Review/Guest Post
November 18 - Cozie Corner- Review
November 18 - Winged Reviews - Guest Post/PROMO
November 19 - Reader Girls - Review/Guest Post

1 comment:

  1. Thank you so much for taking the time to review New Revelations!

    ReplyDelete

I love comments, so comment away! I'll comment back if you leave a post-specific link for me to visit! If you leave that link, I'll always comment back, even if it's like, a month late!

This is an award free blog! Thanks for thinking of me but I just don't have the time to pass it along!