Make it Weird, Make it Memorable
what a unique vehicle taught me about an unusual cover
About four years ago, my farmer husband became obsessed with a particular kind of van. It was two vans, in fact, a small one for me, a big one for him. Mine would allow me to transport produce to small businesses for sale.
Also, our children.
His would allow him to do all the farm-work stuff he needed, but that would come later.
This is the story of my weird van. Because it is weird. The van he wanted was made by a company not known for making vans. The shape was usual, narrower and taller than a typical van shape.
And, for reasons I can’t explain, it was incredibly competitive to find in a family-size.
This van was important to him, and he was going to see it through to the end.
And, because I love this man and because I was married to him, I was pretty hooked into the where you go, I will go and videos you watch on YouTube I will half-watch on YouTube when it’s really important to you mentality.
So, when we entered a kind of cat and mouse game of trying to secure this new van, on a car lot anywhere in the southeast, I played the game with him.
Jim would get an alert a dealership within 300 miles of us had the van, he’d send me the details, and I’d call. Only to learn the van was already sold, was being sold as we spoke, or maybe never existed in the first place. It was an odd time, trying to convince someone to sell us this van.
Eventually the van popped up about two and a half hours from where we live, I called, they actually had it, and we put down a hold and went to get it.
Jim was triumphant, I had a new vehicle, all was well.
And learned I one of this hard-won van’s best attributes is how easy it is to locate.
It’s easy to find in a parking lot or garage. In the day-to-day of life not having to hunt through a passel of Hondas, Kias, and Toyotas when we’re all tired, cranky, and maybe carrying heavy stuff is a gift I couldn’t have predicted.
When I saw the cover my cover designer imagined for Then Comes Marriage, I felt the way Jim felt about his van: I had to have that.
Originally, Karla Peters, of The Inspired Foundry, was developing my brand. And in doing so made a faux mock-up of a cover for Then Comes Marriage.
This cover doesn’t fit with what most of us seen in the romcom and contemporary romance genre. It has a flavor of something vintage made modern.
I can’t explain it, but in the same way Jim wanted this unique van, I wanted that unique cover.
Does it stand out? Well, check here and see for yourself.
And in our current times of same-same, it could be better to blend than stand out. But as I work farmers markets and sell books, the unique (and gorgeous!) covers are what pull people in.
Of course, as the person who wrote the book, I don’t want to sell the book only by its cover. But in this instance, I will.
Because if you see the cover of Then Comes Marriage and it strikes you as beautiful the way it strikes me? Well, the book feels on the inside the way it looks on the outside.
Playful, beautiful, with a frisky, “what happens next?” energy. What you get in the romance, it’s all there in that cover.
If that’s your kind of book, on brand but with some small compelling difference, grab Then Comes Marriage on paperback or on Kindle or Kindle Unlimited.
And let me know, what’s a favorite book cover of yours? One that just feels special? I’d love to hear below!
Take care,
Emily