Judging Books by their Covers

Okay, so I have a bone to pick with the publishing world. This book I read last night, "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society," has the lamest back blurb I've ever seen. It has two sentences and then the rest is filled with critic reviews. That was part of the reason I stopped reading it. I had no idea what it was about, whether it was something I'd like, and where it was going. I actually had no idea that Dawsey was a man--so it really confused me when she addressed him as Mr. Dawsey or something like that. It's fairly pathetic when you think the MC's love interest is female for the first bunch of pages.

Let me just say this: I don't care enough about reviews that they can substitute for a summary. I don't know the people at "Newsday" or "The Guardian." Why should I care what they think? I don't. That was the problem. I felt a great "so what" after reading their reviews--especially since their reviews were all gushy and said nothing about the plot either.

So, here is the back blurb in its entirity:

"January 1946: Writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name."

Yeah. That's it. Lame, huh?

Here is my back blurb for it:

The war has left its mark on Europe and upon the souls of those who live there. Writer and socialite Juliet Ashton is searching for something more meaningful to write about than the cheery "Izzy Bickerstaff Goes to War." A copy of a Charles Lamb book she once owned inspires a man, a pig farmer, on the island of Guernsey to write to her. Dawsey Adams is one of the founding members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Drawn in by his stories and the society's unusual name, Juliet begs for letters from those in Guernsey who'd been completely shut off from the world during the German occupation.

As letters pour in from Guernsey, Juliet finds her passion for living and writing again in their stories. Despite a marriage proposal from a wealthy American, she goes to Guernsey to meet those she's corresponded with. Along with the horror of what they suffered she finds they share a simple joy for life and a love for her. As she falls in love with an orphaned child and the pig farmer who'd originally written to her, she can't help but wonder if perhaps this was what she's been searching for her whole life.

Anyway, that would have interested me a lot more than their lame blurb.

Speaking of books and covers, I made the cover for several books of mine for Lulu yesterday. (Yes, you can use their generic covers, but it's just not in me to do it.) These are just hardcopies for betas, so they won't ever see the light of the publishing world. It seems a little strange to spend so much time on them, but I don't care. I like how Scorched turned out--for being a free image that was blown up and manipulated by various programs. Honor Within is a "Paint" image. I miss Photoshop, but it would really bog down my laptop anyway.

Here are the covers for Scorched and Honor Within:

Day Twenty-eight- Getting all blurbular

So, now that it's done, I rewrote my back-cover blurb for Scorched:

Sidra is obsessed and teased by the thought of fire. It consumes her every waking thought and is the focus of all her art. Nothing matters as much as capturing the light and depth of reds, oranges, blues, purples, and the occasional common yellow.

Well, that's not true anymore.

There is something decidedly strange about the hot new guy in school, Asher. He doesn't seem to care about popularity or grades. Associating with her certainly guarantees his social life will go up in flames. Plus, he asks a whole lot of questions about why she is called "Scorch." When mysterious fires get closer, Sidra knows it's only a matter of time before they start asking "Scorch" questions. People are already staring--well, it's mostly just them--those guys that all look alike.

Hopefully, no one finds the paintings of the fires that she painted before they happened. She didn't set these fires, though. Really. She's too busy fighting ghosts that like to chew on her underwear and deal with her father's past sins that haunt her. He pretty much smoked their little family. She doesn't have time to set fires.

Asher, though--he's been at all the fires, and he casts a strangely dark shadow. What about that dog? The dog that sometimes is with him. It's huge and dark but disappears like a fire jarred.

As things start to make sense--someone else steps into the heated circle. The guy she's been dreaming about is real--like really real--and he might like fire a little more than Scorch. He certainly knows about heat.

Asher. Demons. Dogs. Fire. Maybe it's time to sit back and chill.

Scorch can't, though. What--are you kidding? She just loves to play with fire. She might get burnt, but with Asher around--she'll probably get scorched.

On a completely different subject, I want to work on querying Honor Among Thieves. I'm looking for two or three betas to read the first three chapters. Let me give you the low-down on it. Actually, I'll just give you the back blurb on this too.

Honor is accustomed to meeting monsters, so it should come as no surprise to her that the man she met in the bookstore is more than he appears. Speaking of monsters, the killer that has been dogging her steps for years has hunted her down. Honor may be a thief, but she had no intention of stealing the lives of those around her just for her own protection. Even if all these vampires are twice her size, can they really keep up with her?

The Tiger is coming for its prey, and Honor may have to be a team player if she wants to live. Sure this new guy can growl, but how's his bite? Wait... she knows that already.

As her past and present collide...

Who is fiction?

Who is real?

Who is just a monster anxious for her blood?

So, I'm looking for betas that WILL enjoy the premise of an adult vampire urban fantasy with a twist. I've had dozens of people that have enjoyed this book, so I'm looking for someone to make sure my hook is right and early enough and Honor's voice is clear. So, if you didn't enjoy Twilight... consider this outside your realm of interesting--even though it's a book for adults. I'm really overly protective about this book--so I'm also not looking for strangers. In fact, I might have Di help me eeny-meeny-minie-mo based on who would be the most helpful.

Wow. I'm quite the picky person to be asking for help. Please help...NO..NOT YOU...Anyone but you!!! Not you either!!!

Yeah. I'm a freak, but you all knew that.