New(ish) Covers for Old Books

A couple of books published eons ago needed a bit of freshening up. I also thought it was a good idea to put the title of those books as published after the release just so people would know that if they're thinking of buying "Tales of Abu Nuwas," but they already had a copy of "Setara's Genie." Same plot, characters, etc. I don't want people to get upset if they believe they're two different books. The same is true of "Quest for the Simurgh." If you already bought "Faizah's Destiny," you don't want to get essentially the same book. Here are the new covers. What do you think? Is having the title of the other book clarifying or confusing. Oh, and I will be dropping Setara and Faizah as individual books soon. I love those covers by Charlotte Volnek, but books are not the original versions.

Another advantage to re-issuing these books is that they are in the KDP Select program. Amazon Prime members can borrow them for free. People who sign up for the #KindleUnlimited program can take these books for their very own and not pay a penny.

And Yet Another Place to Vote

This time, the "Faizah's Destiny" cover by C.K. Volnek is in the running for the You Gotta Read Cover Contest. 

Voting open between January 21st to 29th. FAIZAH'S DESTINY #8. 

In the Top Ten for Best Ebook Cover in the Preditors/Editors Poll.

Previously won 2nd Place in the August 2013 You Gotta Read Video Contest.

You Gotta Read - Covers and Brailers

By some quirky twist of fate, my book, "Missing, Assumed Dead," is at both You Gotta Read sites.

Voting Opens Today on Both Sites

I didn't plan it this way, but it's kind of karmic that I have a shot at starting the mystery's release off with a bang by win, place, or show on either site.

The brailer was posted on the 4th of July, so I'm not sure how many people came in from their picnics and fireworks displays to take a look. Vote for #4 today at You Gotta Read Videos.


The cover spot was on the more fortuitous July 10th spot. Of course, it's great to have your cover or your book show up in the much more desirable pimp spot of July 20th (the last cover and brailer posts). Vote for #10 today at You Gotta Read Covers.


I vote on these two sites. Like so many others, I vote for people I know. Sometimes their cover or brailer isn't the best of the month, but we all know this is a popularity contest.

When a month comes up when I don't know any of the entrants or I know more than one and have to choose, these are my criteria for voting:

For Brailers:

• If a brailer is longer than two minutes, I don't watch the entire spot UNLESS IT IS SO FANTASTIC that I can't resist. Times this has happened? Zero.
• If a brailer was produced by a professional trailer company, it will have to be bloody spectacular. I favor the do-it-yourself authors who do their best to represent their book.
• If one of the slides contains the words: "world is turned upside down" or "little did s/he know" or "caught up in xxxxx" I'm unlikely to vote for it.
• From the remaining brailers, I go for the one that best presents the plot. If the transitions are a little shaky and slides too short to read (I'm guilty of this one), the brailer has less of a chance with me.

For Covers:

• If I can't tell the genre from the cover, then I don't think it works.
• If a cover consists of one or more nude or semi-nude people standing around looking sultry, it doesn't get my vote.
• Color, composition, symbolism: I had enough art appreciation courses to give these covers higher marks.

Book Cover Featured on You Gotta Read Covers

I hit a double this month. My book trailer is on:
You Gotta Read Videos (July 4th)
and my book cover is on the sister site:
You Gotta Read Covers (July 10th).

I'll remind you on the 21st to vote for both my cover and my brailer (is that a good short word for book trailer?)

The brailer covers both (I'm dying from these puns. Somebody stop me, please!)

Book's Gotta Cover!

Missing, Assumed Dead is no longer naked. The talented Suzannah Safi created a cool cover for the murder mystery. Now, just waiting and some more editing until the book comes out. And you WILL buy it!

*Note: That is an axe, not a bucket. Just tweaking my good buddy who saw a smaller, grainier version.

Back Cover Blurb:

When Kameron McBride receives notice she’s the last living relative of a missing man she’s never even heard of, the last thing she wants to do is head to some half-baked Oregon town to settle his affairs. But since she’s the only one available, she does grudgingly agrees.


En route, she and her rental car run afoul of a couple of hillbillies and their pickup in an accident that doesn’t seem . . . accidental. Especially when they keep showing up wherever she goes. Lucky for her, gorgeous Deputy Mitch Caldwell lends her a hand, among other things. Her suspicions increase when she meets the probate Judge, and he tries just a little too hard to buy the dead man’s worthless property.

Working on a hunch and trying to avoid the Judge’s henchmen, Kam probes deeper into the town’s secrets and finds almost no one she can trust. With Mitch’s help, she peels away the layers of prejudice, suicide, murder, and insanity. But someone in town doesn’t like her poking around, and when they show their intentions by shooting her through the police chief’s office window, the stakes are raised. Kam must find out what really happened to her dead relative before someone in this backward little town sends her to join him.

And she thought Oregon was going to be boring.

Animated Gif Tryout

Just checking out using an animated GIF for a signature line. Kind of small, but not too bad.