Hello everyone! Today I am so pleased to welcome author Charley Descateaux here to Joyfully Jay. Charley is here to talk to us more about her new book Curious Sustenance, and one of my favorite topics, cover art! She has also brought an excerpt to share and a great giveaway! So please join me in giving Charley a big welcome!
Judge This Book by Its Cover Art
Thanks so much, Jay, for having me!
Cover concepts are hard for me—Dammit, Jim, I’m a writer not a graphic artist! Besides, I’d always heard authors have no say in cover design, and for a long time that was true. But it’s a brave new (ish) world we live in with e-publishing. And, boy, is it fun!
I thought long and hard before deciding on a drawn cover for Curious Sustenance. The conventional wisdom says photographic covers sell better, but even if that were my prime concern, I’m not a conventional kind of gal. Plus, Paul Richmond.
Okay, I could fangirl for a few hundred words, but I’ll spare you. If you’re reading Jay’s blog it’s safe to assume you know how amazing his work is, and could probably squee more eloquently about it too.
Two of the reasons I wanted a drawn cover are the men you see on my book. First, they’re not on anyone else’s cover. Some models are used a lot—because they’re hot. But these guys—Ross and Miles—they don’t get to hop around to anyone else’s book. I also love that they’re not perfectly hot model-types. Sure, Ross is a-dorable and Miles is suave and a little mysterious, but to me they look more like regular guys than cover models. That makes me very happy.
Photographic covers are great—I love the one Brooke Albrecht created for Directing Traffic—but you’re limited to photographs that actually exist. I’ve seen plenty of photos of gorgeous hunks bound in all manner of ropes and—well, other things—and they’re hot as hell. But I didn’t think that would be a fair representation of the story. Ross isn’t a muscle-bound hunk, and even when he’s consistent at the gym he usually sticks to the elliptical.
Last, but not least, I didn’t want the cover to shout—I’m a BDSM novel! There’s a little B but no D, S, or M; Curious Sustenance is a love story with a side of kink. It’s an important slice of kink, sure, but anyone looking for hardcore anything will be disappointed. And nobody likes to be disappointed. Personally, I don’t like to be the one doing the disappointing.
I asked Paul to give me a romantic (but not too kinky) cover, and he wildly exceeded my expectations!
Now you know what I like to see on an Erotic Romance cover, what about you? What catches your eye on a cover? Check out the excerpt and then leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Curious Sustenance!
Excerpt
Here’s an excerpt that takes place a few hours after Ross and Miles meet for the first time (sorry, but I skipped the hot-and-spoilery bits!).
Out on the sidewalk, the cool air against his skin and the slight breeze moving his clothes had him trembling by the time they reached the car.
“Do you need the heater?” Janet asked, after she started the car.
“No, thanks. I’m not cold.”
Janet took a moment to warm up the engine and then eased away from the curb, plunging the interior of the car into darkness.
“I can’t believe I did that,” Ross whispered.
She drove to the next corner and glanced at him before turning.
“No kidding. You went from oh, shit it’s a sex club to yes please tie me up, Mr. Hot Shibari Master in record time.” Janet raced through the intersection and onto the onramp before the yellow could change to red. “If it was anyone else, I wouldn’t believe it either.”
“What do you mean?”
“Shaggy. He’s… well, I don’t have to tell you the guy’s dripping with charisma. He’s sex on legs.”
“Have you….”
Janet sighed. “No. I would in a hot second, but he never asked.”
“So he usually… works with men?”
“No, sweetness. I’ve only seen him with women. But nobody knows much about him except Parker, and he’s not telling.”
Ross took a slow deep breath and blew it out through pursed lips. He could feel the end of every hair on his head where it touched his face and neck, and was unnaturally aware of where his waist began according to the mysterious man with the shiny black hair and smoldering gaze. Even the fact that his hairstyle appeared to be from the eighties didn’t seem to be a problem—on him it worked. On him, anything would work.
“What’d you think of Ami’s rooms? I’ve always wanted to re-do the living room and dining room at my place like that, but in red. Maybe we could do it together.” Janet grinned and eased off the highway.
Ross knew she hated to drive on the highways, especially at night, and was waiting for her to tell him why. He didn’t think it would happen that night.
“Why do you call it that? Her rooms.”
“She’s part owner so she has her own space.”
“Are you allowed to talk about it, or is it like Fight Club?”
Janet smiled and stopped at the light. She reached over and pushed Ross’ shirt away from his collarbone with a fingertip.
“I just want to see your rope marks.”
Ross unbuttoned two buttons and moved so she could get a quick peek before the light changed. He was strangely proud of them and sad that they’d already faded quite a bit in so short a time.
Warnings: This book features a corporate sensitivity trainer with an agenda, an awesome gal-pal, an unconventional sex club, a mysterious Japanese rope artist, and another taste of Portland, Oregon as seen through my twisted mind.
He never knew boundaries could be so sexy.
Ross Jenson is looking forward to a little midmorning delight to celebrate making Lifetime in Weight Watchers, but after he spent eight months losing ninety-eight pounds, what his lover gets him is a triple-layer chocolate cake. When Ross refuses to eat it, the newly minted ex leaves the country and dumps him via e-mail, with three sentences and a link to a chubby chasers web site. A few days later, Ross’s best friend and workout buddy takes him to her favorite club for drinks. Ross is shocked when he realizes it’s a sex club but warms to the idea in record time when a mysterious Japanese man and his silken ropes sweep him off his feet. Ross has never thought of himself as adventurous, but he can’t stop thinking about the man who makes his bones feel like gummy worms.
“A Little Side of Kink” Blog Tour:
November 15…………………………………. The Novel Approach
November 20……………………………. Guys Like Romance Too!
November 21…………………………………………….. Cup O’ Porn
November 21……….. Release Party on the Dreamspinner Blog!
November 24………………………………. Goodreads Chat Event
November 26…………………………………………… Joyfully Jay
November 29………………………………………………… Sid Love
November 30……………………………………… It’s Raining Men!
Buy Curious Sustenance:
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4392
Charley Descoteaux has always heard voices. She was relieved to learn they were fictional characters, and started writing when they insisted daydreaming just wasn’t good enough. In exchange, they let her sleep once in a while. Every guy deserves a beautiful love story even, or maybe especially, the ones who would usually be in the supporting cast. Home is Portland, Oregon, where the weather is like your favorite hard-case writing buddy who won’t let you get away with taking too many days off, and in some places you can be as weird as you are without fear. As an out and proud bisexual and life-long weird-o, she thinks that last part is pretty cool.
Rattle my cages—I’d love to hear from you!
- Blog: http://cdescoteauxwrites.com/
- Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/CharleyDescoteauxAuthor
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/CharleyDescote
- Goodreads: http://tinyurl.com/aqe7g7r
- Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/charleydescote/
- e-mail: c.descoteauxwrites@gmail.com
Giveaway
Charley has brought a copy of Curious Sustenance to give away to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment at the end of the post to enter. The contest closes on Friday, November 29th at 11:59 pm EST.
- By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
- Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
- If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
- Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
- Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
- By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
- Readers may only enter once for each contest. Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
- Void where prohibited by law.
I don’t mind the topless/headless torso covers (!) but I do like when the cover and the story are definitley linked, like this one. For me the blurb/reviews put me onto a story rather than the cover and there are some very good covers out there that dont solely rely on visual titillation! And Paul Richmond does some very fine work.
I’m with you — I usually don’t mind topless, especially when they’re also shirtless! 😀
Thanks for commenting, Suze.
I’m so intrigued by this book! I like your reasoning behind the drawn cover. I can’t always pinpoint what draws me to a cover, but I do hate it when the representation on the cover has very little resemblance to the characters described in the book.
HI Debra, and thanks!
I don’t know how some cover artists find the perfect photos they do. I suppose that’s an art itself. 🙂
I do judge a book by its cover. It’s very hard for me to overcome a terrible cover even though I rarely notice the cover since I read on a Kindle Paperwhite.
Please count me in for the giveaway.
I agree–but a compelling blurb can sometimes make me take that second look.
Thanks for commenting, Kim!
It is hard for me to overcome a bad cover too. I hate to say it but I do pass up books when the covers are so awful as to be amateurish. It just turns me off totally on a book. On the other hand, I have picked up many a book because the covers are so captivating. So I guess it works both ways.
A cover can stop me from reading a book initially but if the book is getting good reviews and word of mouth I will overlook the cover, sometimes it takes a while however. I prefer photographic covers because too many of the drawn covers look homemade and childish to me, unfortunate but true.
Thank you for the post and the giveaway.
Thanks for commenting, Allison! 🙂
That is interesting Allison. I think that one of the issues with drawn covers is that they tend to showcase the artist and his or her style more. Which I think inherently makes them more subjective than a photographic cover which tends to use more similar styles due to the stock imagery.
Please count me in. Thanks.
Thanks for visiting, Karl! 🙂
Some covers are dire, and do put me off, but if I really like a cover it does encourage me to buy a book.
Thanks for your comment, Dianna! 🙂
I tend to get drawn to a striking image or lovely font. Photographed cover models are fine if the picture implies real chemistry, and not just two hastily Photoshopped guys!
Ooh, I like that: chemistry. It’s important inside the cover so it should be outside too! 🙂
Thanks for stopping in, Trix!
Thank you for the chance to win what sounds like a wonderful book! 🙂
Have to add I love your daily emails and reviews! Thank you! 🙂
That is interesting Allison. I think that one of the issues with drawn covers is that they tend to showcase the artist and his or her style more. Which I think inherently makes them more subjective than a photographic cover which tends to use more similar styles due to the stock imagery.
Thanks again for having me, Jay!
It’s nice of your readers to help me figure out what to ask for on my next cover. 😉
It is a pleasure Charley!
Sometimes it’s better to just read the blurbs and the reviews because an awful lot of publishers regurgitate the same few models and designs and since I associate nudity with erotica I often skip over books with naked torsos on Amazon or publishers websites. I really love art and well designed covers so follow certain designers. Paul Richmond is one of my favourites. His depictions of characters always look so good humoured as opposed to the sultry antagonistic glower affected by so many photographic models.
Thanks for stopping in, Elin!
I agree–the sultry glower just doesn’t do it for me (although I love your description of it!). I’m a sucker for a couple of guys who look happy to be there!
I love Paul’s artwork! And I’ll admit to getting a bit tired of the same guys on every cover.
You’ve seen my covers! I am a major fangirl for Paul’s art.
If there’s one thing I Hate (with a capital H) about most photographic art… it’s headless torsos. I hate that. They all look the same to me. Every. Single. One. I can look at a ton of guys’ chests, but none of them tell me a bit about the story. I want something that tells me what it’s about. Shira’s book covers, for instance, (though they are partially cut off and that annoys me) at least show costumes and such to do with the story. But so many of them are nothing but a couple of torsos and all I want to do is just ignore the book. But even when it’s a full guy, you’re right, the photographs are almost all the same and get recycled over and over again. Drawn, at least, gives us something new to look at and, as you said, something more individualized/
I knew from the get-go that I wanted drawn art. I knew Paul’s was good, but I was too excited about art in general to be picky. But when I got the cover draft for Choices, I, literally, screamed. In the middle of Walmart. Paul captured Teman and Bathasar perfectly and I was SO in love with the cover, I couldn’t stop talking about it. (I have a 20″ x 30″ poster of it above my desk.) He did just as amazingly with the Deception art.
A cover isn’t going to stop me from looking at a book. But that might just be the author in me. I like art as much as the next person, but it is far from a deciding factor. The author and blurb go a MUCH longer way toward getting me to read.
(Also, do NOT count me in for the prize. I’ve been lucky enough to read this fabulous story already!)
I LOVE your covers, Grace!
You have a generous attitude about covers–I never thought about it like that, but I agree that the story is more important. The bad thing about the recycled hot-dudes is that sometimes I probably skip over a book thinking I’ve already read it because the guy looking out at me is familiar. I like to think I’m more observant than that, but I don’t have a lot of time to read so am usually in a rush when choosing what to start next.
(Thanks! *hugs*)
I think we have SO little time, it’s very easy to overlook something because it looks similar. I don’t have a ton of time, either, to be sure that what I’m looking at isn’t the same as another (except, of course, for authors I know or really want to read).
Oh yes, you have gorgeous covers Grace!
Thanks Jay! I am SO in love with them. It’s a little ridiculous. LOL
The cover does matter to me but only if it’s really bad. I remember someone told me about this great book but the girl on the cover had this asymmetric face and I just couldn’t get over it. I kept picturing her as the character and had to stop reading.
Thanks for the chance to win!
I don’t like the covers that look like posed Barbies or Kens. They are so stiff looking and off-putting to me. I think they must be computer generated and poorly done in my opinion. I think you will know what I mean without mentioning the most offending publisher. I will still read the book if I like the author but wince at the cover. Count me in please.
I prefer the cover to tell me SOMETHING about the story inside. I know that I am a cover whore and it is the first thing that draws me in besides seeing names I am familiar with >.< But it definitely does not have to be all about sex or sexy people per say…………just give me a hint of what is going on inside the covers.
Muscles will attract me but the contents will keep me.
Well said, Debra! 😀
I like when a cover gives me some sense of the story. Also when there is something unique about it. I do like drawn covers. And prefer those that show faces and expressions versus the muscle, headless torso shot.
Curious Sustenance sounds like an interesting, different story. It is on my TBR list. Thanks for the blog and giveaway.
What catches my eye on covers surprisingly are the fonts and how they look decoratively and in placement and size. If I don’t like the fonts or think they are too clash or overdone it really turns me off.
Paul Richmond makes beautiful art, and he makes beautiful covers. I think drawn are less accepted in contemporary books, but they are such a classic part of sci-fi/fantasy, so hurray for you for adding one more to the side of contemporaries. For me, the two (or more) guys with naked torsos is so prevalent that I don’t even notice them and may have nothing that draws me in, and when they are the headless, they almost repel me just because it tells me nothing.
However, I saw an interesting comment regarding the headless torso covers that I had never considered. This person said they liked them because then it wasn’t an author putting a picture of the character into your brain instead of their words. Oh. OK. I can see that, even though that’s not where I’m coming from. The only thing that bothers me about a cover model (drawn or photographic) is when they don’t match a crucial description, like wrong coloring or body type.
Thanks for the discussion and for sharing with us, Charley!