Cover Story by Amanda Wilson

Having recently published my first novel and sold a fair amount to keep me content, my thoughts have turned towards arranging a second print run.

In the four months that the book has been available in paperback I've received some fantastic feedback from readers, and what's been especially encouraging is that the feedback has not just come from regular churchgoers but also from 'special occasion goers'. You know, those who only attend for weddings, Christenings, funerals and the occasional Easter service when cajoled by an aging aunt. Basically, it’s not just Christians who are reading the book.

But if there's been one thing in particular that has provided me with a considerable amount of amusement and much food for thought, it has to be the reaction I've had to the image on the front of the book - the one which depicts the main character, Pastor Haley Brown.

I recall sending a draft copy of the cover to a colleague of mine, which she said she really liked. She later admitted that when she initially looked at the cover she was baffled as to whether the image on the front was supposed to be a photo of me - after all I am a black pastor - despite the fact that she'd known me for almost 15 years. After I explained that it wasn’t a photo of me, but a stock image that I had found on the Internet, she was rather relieved, safe in the knowledge that she did actually know what I looked like when we weren't together. But she wasn’t the only one to give this response. A number of individuals who had purchased the book directly from me at local bookstalls asked similar questions. Was it me? Was it supposed to be me? To which I'd always answer in the negative.

So the fact that the book was due for a second print run, and had received some minor formatting changes inside got me thinking about whether this was also an opportunity to get a new cover designed. Not because I thought there was anything wrong with the original cover - I think there will always be something special about that first cover design - but more because I wanted to be absolutely sure the cover really was creating the impression I wanted it to. In fact, it was this, coupled with the fact that I'd recently watched a TEDTalks video with talented book cover designer Chip Kidd, that made me really think about having a new design created.

So I did a bit of self-reflection - self-book cover reflection. What did the cover really say about the book? Well on first glance you'd know it was something to do with church and perhaps think there was a religious element to it. A person wearing a clergy outfit is a sure giveaway where that is concerned. You may also think it's something to do with karaoke, thanks to the title and the image of the microphone. But would you know it was a work of fiction? And would you get the impression that it was a book which contained a fair bit of humour? Possibly not.

I then went on to consider whether the fact that there was a black character so prominently depicted on the front cover would limit the market the book would sell to, despite the fact that any pastor from any church in any country would be able to relate to the storyline. Now this might make some squirm, the possibility that a book wouldn't sell because it has a black person on the front, but we are living in the real world and in some parts of that world race is still a big issue.

For instance in America and in particular in the southern states, race is still a big issue and one which was highlighted when the covers for Kathryn Stockett's widely acclaimed novel The Help were produced. As with most books that are printed in several countries, the covers for the UK and US versions of The Help were both very different. In 2009 a journalist from the Telegraph website by the name of Jessamy Calkin wrote an article about Stockett’s novel. As part of this article she looked at the differences in the two covers that had been created for the US and UK markets:

"The British cover to Kathryn Stockett’s novel The Help – about the experiences of black maids in Mississippi in the early 1960s – is a period photograph of a little white girl in a pushchair flanked by two black women in starched white uniforms – the 'help’ of the book’s title. 

The photograph, which was found in the National Congress archives, was deemed too controversial to be used on the American cover. The spectre of racism in the South is still raw and political correctness works overtime."

With this in mind - and I'm sure I could find similar examples - am I restricting my audience? Could I sell more books if I had an image of a white pastor on the front cover? Or would that be considered as  'selling out?' What if I didn't have an image of anyone on the cover; would this be 'chickening out?'

Putting the race issue aside, the other point to consider is whether having an actual image of a pastor - of any race - on the cover prevents the reader building up in their imaginations, their own image of what the main character might look like. I know when I read a book I build up pictures of the characters I am reading about and when I then see the movie version of that book there is often a deep sense of disappointed that the casting director got it so wrong.

Ultimately there are many things to consider when designing the cover for a novel - and the best-designed covers are those that will cause the reader to take the book off the shelf, and give it a chance.

And to be honest, that's all I'm looking for.