Cover Art

Today while I will be spending quiet a bit of time writing I also am working on a few side projects including more Rescue Me stories for my charity anthology series, getting my bathroom remodel going again and a few ideas for covers. I have ideas for both Sharing Strength, my PTSD book and for Survivor, a short story about domestic violence. All of my projects today are important to me but the one that has captured my mind for the past few days in fact are the covers.

I am planning to self publish Survivor and while I am going to be submitting Sharing Strength along with my romance story Breathe for agents and traditional publisher consideration I still have a working idea for Sharing Strength that was given my a wonderful supporter and I haven't been able to let it go. It is amusing to me that the one that is sticking in my head so deeply is most likely one that will never be used.

I do have an idea that I am almost equally passionate about for Survivor and seeing as how that one will be self published and much sooner, I am hoping by early summer, it is the one I should be focusing one. The problem is, and I have it a lot, that I am unsure if it is the right direction to go with the cover. I know the story. I know it far too well since it is for the most part my own story of surviving domestic violence. The idea I have represents a very pivotal scene from the story but I am not sure it is the correct image to draw in readers.

However because I have conjured this picture in my mind I have been unable to come up with alternatives. For me and my perspective it seems so perfect but I am now going to have to find a way to make up a mock cover to get feedback. Once I do that I need to be prepared if others don't see it the way I do. This story is important for me to share and I want a cover that will do it justice. But as I have gotten tunnel vision about this project it made me wonder about other writers and how they feel about their covers.

Are we as the writer the best person to objectively pick an image for our cover? Do we become too invested in our own visions to be able to step back and see it as our readers might? Are we able to separate what happens in the book with the teaser we must portray in order to give a true look into the story without revealing too much? When is it art and when is it simply being stubborn holding on to an image that may not be correct? These are the questions I am struggling with and hoping to find an answer to shortly as I do my best to bring Survivor to life.