What's going on with book covers?

As I near completion of my next book (due to come out at the beginning of 2022), its time to think about cover art. Since this is part of a series, I have to consider the other covers. Here's the thing. The Hoffman Grove Series didn't start out with a series map. It started out "accidentally" at the advice of my "then editor." 

The covers don't look anything alike. 

  A | BN | iB | K   

  A | BN | iB | K  

  A | BN | iB | K   

They're all small town (Hoffman Grove), and they all revolve around a family of friends. That's the unifying theme. Since it's been a while since the last Hoffman Grove was written (I got swept away with the Epitaphs, and then with the Hillendale novels), I thought I ought to check to see what covers for romance/romantic suspense currently look like for inspiration.

Holy cow. My options appear to be: 1) Shirtless man. 2) Cartoony. 3) Some sort of vague nothingness that doesn't really say anything about the book. Ugh.

Stepping back. Okay. I can work with this. I found an image that I like that could work, especially given the choices above. It is NOT 1) a shirtless man. 2) Cartoony. I wouldn't exactly describe it as vague nothingness, but it is more "moody." 

Except I also need a title. So far? Nothing. My critique partner suggested "Breaking the Mold," which might work. What's it about? 

Kayleigh returns to Hoffman Grove for her ten-year high school reunion, eager for a reboot of her life. She’s breaking away from family expectations and chasing her own goals now. But some things never change. The false friends she had back in the day are eager to repeat old patterns. She’s onto them this time, and new friends rise to the occasion— including Rafe, who volunteers to be her pretend boyfriend for reunion weekend. We all have to carry our own baggage, and if Rafe wants to move out of the “pretend boyfriend” zone, he'll have to let Kayleigh carry hers.

Spark any ideas with you? 

My Cover Model is Cheating on Me!

Scrolling through my news feed this morning (and I have a lot of authors in my news feed) I found one of my favorite cover models on someone else's cover.

When I was working up a composite for HEART FOR RENT, WITH AN OPTION, my cover artist found his face and sent it to me to approve, I was all thumbs up. Hey, he's a good looking man! Clearly, I'm not the only person who thinks so.

Just this month, I saw a new release that had the same cover couple that one of my writing buddies used on one of her books. Same people, same pose. How does that happen? Easy enough to explain.

Unless we're "A-list" authors who can justify custom cover shoots, most authors select their cover art from stock photos. There are cover artists who do their own shoots (shout out to the fabulous Killion Group) and offer exclusive rights, but that comes at a price. From the hundreds of thousands of stock photos, the chances of someone else picking your models, or designing it just the same way, are pretty slim, and yet it happens. For some of my books, I use my own background - and that writing buddy I told you about? She does the same. That option assures us that at least part of our cover is exclusive.

Back in "the day," romance novels all had the same model (well, not all of them, I'm using a broad, sweeping generalization). Remember Fabio? There was a time he was the hero ideal, and his face and flowing locks were on dozens of covers. Yes, I'd like my cover to be distinctive, but the cover is a first impression, something to draw you in. As a reader, once I start reading, I seldom go back to the cover to see if it matches the picture I draw in my mind (although other people might).

Big publishing houses are about the image, what the cover projects, and less about how well it matches the characters in the book. For them, its more about composition. The immediate impression telegraphs the genre, and it sometimes doesn't bear any resemblance to what's between the pages.

So my cover model is cheating on me. Considering my job is to objectify these people to sell books, I guess I'm okay with that. Every time I see this guy's face on someone else's book, I smile and pat myself on my back for my good taste in handsome men.