As many of you know, My Life With an Enigma has been an ongoing project for over two decades. I’ve dithered and I’ve dallied. I outlived a fine writers’ group who all published and moved on to other things while I hemmed and hawed. You, my faithful readers, replaced the writer’s group. I must say most of you have been too kind-hearted to offer much criticism. But your kindness and encouragement were the wind under my wings.
It is remarkable how a few kind words and claims of interest can be as effective at keeping up a writer’s spirit as a trail of M&Ms can lead a lost child out of the woods. For those gems, I thank each one of you who has stuck by me for so long.
At long last, the manuscript has been packaged and sent to my esteemed editor. He sagely advised that perhaps I should shift the focus of my blog posts from chapters to essays about the writing process. Ugh. Really? I’m not sure I’m up to that.
I realize I need to reexamine the focus of this higgelty-piggelty blog. I no longer have Yry to spur me on. While I regroup, I’ll throw this out to you. Against my own better judgement, I’m considering designing my own cover. All the experts warn against doing this, saying it is akin to being your own editor. This is especially dangerous given my total lack of artistic insight. But here are two versions of the cover I’m considering. They are essentially the same, but for the typography.
I welcome your opinions and critiques. Do you like one better than the other? Would this book jacket compel you to pick the book out of a shelf of other beautiful covers? Do you have thoughts or suggestions about this as a cover for what you’ve read about the Enigma so far?
Cover A
Cover B
Thank you for your magnificent support through the years.
Rangewriter 
Both covers appear the same to me, or what am I missing? Yry in her black chapeau…simply lovely. Not even knowing the story within, yes, I would scoop up that book in a heartbeat. Congrats to you. Well deserved. A beautiful tribute to your mother, an intriguing historical piece about settling westward, an honor to all women who grab the bull by the horns. You, my dear, are living proof of the results of her having done so with great success.
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
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Thanks Karen. Be careful of what you say! It may end up as a blurb on the back or inside of the book! lol The photos on the cover are exactly the same. It is the typography that is different. You might need to zoom in to see the difference..
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I’m with you however you go…
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Thank you, my friend.
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Love the photo. I prefer the script in the second. It is easier to read. People may stop to look at the photo but the script needs to be easy to read. Have you considered using a colour in the font?
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Oh thank you for the suggestion of color. What hue do you envision?
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I like the spacing in the second title better and “by Linda Paul.” I may be wrong, but with regards to the photo, if there was a bit more space that was there before cropping , I would like more to be shown on the left side of the photo, or, a little more taken off on the right side.It is good to have more space on the right where she is gazing, but with the tight crop on the left I think it needs to be a little tighter on the right. What about a subtitle, such as “an adventuress of the 50’s” ” true story of a strong woman.” a woman’s journey to the west” or about the enigma?
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Oh goodie Jane. All great suggestions. I’ll play around with those. Thank you very much.
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I didn’t realize you this far ahead in the plan to publish the book. It is wonderful and she is beautiful! I looked up “enigma” and ah, yes, a subtitle would work, or not. Those were wild ideas that I just tossed out previously and hope you would not use such weak examples.You will know. I have been enjoying the journey and hope you don’t leave us entirely but wish you well with your one of many published works.
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Thanks for sharing your ideas, Jane. It’s always helpful to have outside opinions from trusted sources. Several people have suggested a subtitle and those seem to be the rage these days, so I need to consider that.
I have no intention of leaving the blogosphere. Actually I started this blog long before I began using it as a writer’s tool to keep me slogging through the manuscript. I’ll be returning to the higelty-pigelty, diverse topics that I started out with.
Thanks for faithfully following and taking the time and effort to respond thoughtfully.
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I like B, but I think A would look fantastic in Gold!
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Whoa. You mean gold lettering? Wow. That’s a thought!
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Beautiful picture! I like the second font better, but maybe not quite so bold (heavy). I think you can take “by” off before your name on the cover. A few others mentioned adding a bit of color and I also like the idea of have a short, descriptive subtitle to further pique the readers’ curiosity. So exciting!
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Janis. I particularly love it when several folks have similar reactions to something specific like adding color or a subtitle.
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Wow, she was a stunning woman. I agree the second font is easier to read but the first font matches the feel of the photo better for me…a little old fashioned looking. And I like “by Linda Paul.” Otherwise my mind veered off to thinking that Linda Paul might be the name of the woman in the photo.
And…essays about the writing process? Actually, I’d be interested to hear about it! What it was like writing a book-by-blog? I remember your first draft was written off-blog, and then you gravitated towards using this site in the rewrite. I’d love to hear about it, even if just in a couple of posts. What was the difference between writing everything in private and putting it all out there in the blogosphere for anyone to read just as you were writing it? I’m curious!
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Thanks for those little topic digs, Dia. Just what I need. As always.
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I hope this will be received as constructive criticism from someone who’s been working with writers and editors for years, as well as page designers.
First, why these are poor designs for a cover:
1) The photo is too soft with weak contrast and the fade effect (vignette/center focus filter) is too simple (pros contour the edges and blend it with the other elements).
3) The typography (and background) incorporates many classic mistakes (outline, 3d, placed on a gradiant).
2) The title has a capitalization issue. Either use all uppercase or put “with” and “an” in lowercase. I would opt for strong ALLCAPS with larger initial caps on “My” and “Enigma”. Of course, if script, then only “My” and “Enigma” should be capitalized.
3) This next comment is more editorial than design but since the title is a key part of the design, it’s important to talk about it. To me, the tile is strange, perhaps because my conception of “enigma” is of something substantial, powerful, overwhelming even, but indescribable or impossible to pinpoint. I know there can be “little enigmas” but they are not really worth a book, so this must be important/significant. The “with an” construction seems to render it incidental and, frankly, to my ear reads like this person has a disease called “enigma”. Perhaps reconsider the title as simply “Enigma”, Or “My Life and The Enigma”, or find a 2-3 word quote from the book that represents it.
How to fix the design:
1) improve the image substantially, get someone who’s good at photoshop to clean up the image, increase the contrast, and then “mask” the important bits and vignette or fade the rest, minimizing the effect, while still bleeding it off the page or into the other elements as needed.
2) Use a strong background (perhaps black or white), then contrast the typography (e.g., if black, then white text). Better would be a solid background on the back cover, and on the front, use a single, strong color, perhaps teal, to contrast with the black and white image. If you can’t use color then use either solid black or white.
3) Use a strong sans-serif font, or a classic script. It could take days to perfect the text, so the best thing to do is to work on one idea to completion than another and another until you have a range of options to view and choose from, then pick one or two and work on them some more. There are literally dozens of things you can do to improve the positioning, shape, texture of text, so give it more experimentation time.
4) Do include your name, but drop “by” … just “Linda Paul” but, and this is important, in a smaller version of the same title font.
Option) Get some sample designs (through your publisher or pay for them independently). Compare with your ideas. You may find you like another design immensely or want to incorporate a few other ideas. Stress to the designer these are samples. That you’re looking for ideas and creativity, not final, perfected designs. If you do like one so much you want to finalize it, go back and work with them to the end.
Hope this helps.
Brien
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Wow, Brien, THANK YOU! This is the type of critical analysis that I asked for and you put time and energy into articulating your ideas. I knew I was stepping off a cliff when I set about dabbling with a cover design and you’ve verified my concerns.
Your design comments make sense to me, but I might disagree with you regarding the title. My mother was an enigma to me. She was mysterious, puzzling, and difficult to understand. Her life was filled with puzzling perspectives and events that never quite aligned. That may not be entirely clear to readers of these short, serialized chapters that cover perhaps 2/3 of the book. The book is more than bio because my life is also intertwined with her life, hence the “My Life” part of the title.
But thanks enormously for providing your opinion and excellent advice. I will try some of your recommended tweaks and then find a professional to execute the final product.
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You’re welcome. I’m sure you’ll like the results. And to clarify the title point, my concern is not with the subject (you or your mother as an enigma), but with the construction of “with an” (indef. article) which to me just seems to not articulate the importance of this person in your life. “My life and the Enigma” (with a def. article) to me is a step in the right direction, so if you can work with that or come up with something similar, I think it would be stronger and more accurate. That’s all I’m pointing out.
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Ok. I see your point, Brien. I’ll mull that over. And I’m open to more suggestions if you’re willing. But don’t want to push my luck with guidance that goes uncompensated. Thank you. You’ve given me lots to ponder.
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As you might know I self-published two books and if I did it again I would spend a lot of money on a good editor and as for cover I too would look for an expert.
There must be millions of unpublished books lying about together with millions of published but unsold books. In my own case I felt that the doing it gave me most satisfaction. My siblings and remnants of the Oosterman clan will find my publication efforts in the dusty drawers of our house, after I am gone.
I liked the second cover better. It looked clearer.
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I know too well, the phenomenon you speak of. I’ve actually helped others publish their books, assisting in editing, book design, and all the details that take a book from manuscript to bound book. I’ve got a great editor and some good beta readers and am in the process of rewrites now. I think I need to heed your warning and Brien’s and hire myself a cover designer, too. I’ve got a good idea of what I want, but not really the skill to pull it off.
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Hi Linda,
I agree with Retirementally Challenged’s suggestion of a subtitle to give a hint of what to look forward to in your book, or a phrase that indicates how remarkable your mom is or your life with her, etc. I like the second title’s font. If I saw your book on the bookstore’s shelf, I would buy it because I like to read about strong women, especially those in that era. Are we still going to get posts from you? I would love your essays about the writing process…
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Thanks for the feedback! I really appreciate it. I like how I’m hearing duplicate suggestions. Gotta really pay attention to those. Subtitle, eh? I hate them. But I’m hearing strong arguments for them. Sigh.
You haven’t heard the last of me. The blog was going long before I started putting Enigma chapters up. (Although that did relieve me of trying to scrape the inside of my brain for topics to write about.) Essays about the writing process. Oh dear. No promises, but I’ll cogitate on that.
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Linda, I can read the second one better. I love the picture. She belongs in a Bogart movie. Bogie and Yry? Keith
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Thanks Keith. The consensus points to the second one. Funny…I think she wasn’t a Bogie fan. He thought too much of himself. 😉
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Wow – I’ve been off the blogosphere for too long, and look what I’ve missed! Congratulations on the progress made. I’m as puzzled as you are about the cover design, but Brien sounds like a Man Who Knows, and I’d follow his lead. How exciting – like coming to the end of the gestation period and wanting the very best for the baby! I look forward to welcoming the new-born 🙂
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Thank you Cat! I have been thinking hard about Brien’s suggestions and I know he is right. I have yet to do a full blown search for a graphic designer. I know there’s someone local I should be thinking of, but for the life of me, I can’t remember who that is. Isn’t that awful? I’m sure I’ll come up with some options once I look through my contacts and/or reach out to other contacts who are in the know. There is lots of talent in my area.
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