Fangirl Squee

By Jenna Byrnes

I have to admit, getting new cover art is still one of the biggest thrills in this business for me. I can usually be found on various Yahoo Loops showing off the new cover while the book is still sometimes months away from release. There's something about seeing a beautiful book with my name on it that just makes me want to squee like a fangirl at Monkees concert.


Um, did I say Monkees? I meant Blink-182. Yeah, that's it.

As Lisabet mentioned yesterday, some publishers give the author more leeway than others. Most allow the author to fill out a form with their vision spelled out in a paragraph or two. Some even allow the author to send links to stock photos they'd like to see used. I've done it both ways, and I gotta tell you, looking through stock photos is tons of work. I've spent hours searching for the perfect thing and sometimes never finding it. But when I do--man, oh man, is that a great feeling.

Jude Mason and I chose the various photos for our Slippery When Wet series and Michelle Lee at Phaze put them together for us in a manner we were both extremely pleased with.

(See all four covers here)

Alessia Brio at Phaze did a super job on my Streets of Fire series with some minimal input from me- I loved the New York skyline, the heart shaped cuffs, and I chose three different men in various white shirts for each of the three covers. I think these came out great, even if they suffer from the chopped head syndrome. (Which actually doesn't bother me. Sometimes when the physical description of the character doesn't match the picture, it's better to chop off the head and go with a sexy torso.) I love these covers, and the one below is my favorite. I chose it for the cover of the print version, coming this month from Phaze. (You can see it in the sidebar to the right on this blog.)

(See all three covers here.)

Jax Cassidy at Phaze caught the feel of my novella, Play it Again, Sam, with the sepia tinted cover she created. This story is about two men who spend their afternoons hiding away in a run down movie theater, one working and one simply watching Casablanca, over and over again. Jax got what I was going for, and I was very happy with the cover.

I didn't have any say in the Noble Romance anthology Spank Me Once cover, but I have no complaints. What's to complain about? LOL This one generated quite a bit of buzz online. I guess you can see why. Artist Fiona Jayde definitely 'got' the concept of this book!


Total E-Bound has never done me wrong on a cover. I'm continually impressed with the quality of their work. April Martinez did my Cattle Valley covers and I think they captured the spirit of my little Cattle Valley lesbian tales quite nicely. I'm very happy with them, as I am with all my TEB covers. Quality stuff.



I'm pretty easy going when it comes to covers, but of course I like some of mine more than others. If you think I'm going to tell you which ones I don't care for, think again. I know who butters my bread. *G*

In other people's books, a cover might influence me when I know nothing about the author. But if the book is by an author I enjoy, the cover doesn't matter. Jude Mason could release a blank white page with black text that read, "Book by Jude Mason" and I'd snatch it up. *grin* I know a good thing when I see it.