Today I have the absolute pleasure of introducing you to one of my clients – Catherine Mede, a soon to be published New Zealand author, who has written the most beautifully set paranormal romance book. Today she wanted to talk about cover design, and how damn important it is to the marketability of books. I’m unbelievably stoked to have her here at Parchment Place for the day. It was an absolute pleasure to work with this woman on her first release. If you want to pick up a copy of her new book Cursed Love – you can do so in 9 days!

In the meantime – add it to your To Reads list on Goodreads! As a little release competition, for those who add it to their list – comment on this post, and you’ll go into the draw to win an e-copy of Catherine’s book when it releases.

No matter what people say, your book is judged by its cover.
It is important to have a cover that portrays the feel of your story and gives people an idea of what the story is about.

Some people are clever and able to create their own works of art for their cover. Others aren’t. And I fall into that category. I can’t get things to come together if I tried. I have no concept of the idea of placement or the general feel of how things should be placed together. So rather than botch it and make a hash job, I deferred to a professional.

It is important to find someone that you can work with, not someone who isn’t going to listen to you, and go ahead and create something on their own. You want someone who is willing to understand the underlying concept or theme of your story, will listen to any ideas you might have about the cover, and fit those things into the cover art.

I was lucky enough to know at least two people who do cover art. I chose a New Zealand based designer, because that is where I live, and I have fallen in love with the covers she has produced for other writers. If you don’t know anyone, check out with other writers who they use, whether they are happy with their cover artist or not. I queried one writer about her cover artist and she confirmed that she wasn’t entirely happy with them.

If you like a cover, don’t be afraid to check out or ask who did the cover art. Artists like to know that you found their work through word of mouth or mutual friends.
My cover artist – Kate, sent me a form for me to fill out, and followed up with some emails asking me about the story, a brief synopsis, and whether I wanted an eBook cover or full cover wrap for a paperback. As I needed both, I gave her the extra material she needed, such as the blurb, the ISBN number and the publisher details.

She came back to me within hours, providing me with a picture that was just gorgeous and fit with the story so beautifully. I couldn’t believe that she had picked out something so perfect. The final results are just absolutely amazing. Sales of the book will be based upon what others think of the her skilfully created cover.

My word of advice, unless you are trained and confident of your own work, go with a professional. They know what they are doing. A good cover artist will ask questions to get a feel for your story, and create a cover based on what you have told them, so be as accurate as possible. Leaving out a small detail, such as the story is a romance book, can make a huge difference.

You will probably need to pay for a good quality cover artist – but a good one will be well worth the payment.

I can’t believe the wonderful job that my cover artist has done. I am in love with her work, and the cover of my book. She is an unbelievably good and picking up the finer details and making them pop. In fact, I think I am girl-crushing on her and her artwork. So if you want a good quality cover artist, I can highly recommend Kate at Dwell Design and Press.

Who is Catherine Mede?

Catherine Mede lives in a rural village in the South Island of New Zealand with her husband, son and two cats.  She works when she can, doing whatever is available – within reason!  When not writing, Catherine likes to read, draw and work in her garden.

Romance and Speculative Fiction are what Catherine likes to write about because she understands the need to get lost in a love that sometimes seems mythical.  And adding Fantasy elements just fulfils her needs to be creative fanciful worlds.

When she was younger, she wrote to escape reality, now she writes it to allow others to enter a world where love has a happily ever after.

When she is rich and famous, Catherine intends to have a large library which will double as her writing space and own an Aston Martin Vanquish.  (Dreams are Free)

You can contact Catherine Mede through her website www.catherinemede.com and facebook, twitter and pinterest  or email her catherine@catherinemede.com – she loves to have contact with her fans.