Judge a book by its COVER!

It's that time again; time to show the old cover versus the new cover for my soon-to-be-released novel, The Middle Aisle, the sequel to Lancaster House. It will be released on December 1st.   I love to show everyone my old and new covers. It was such a hard decision! I agonized over the choice. But, I'm happy with the results.

When I was ready to publish my novels, I thought I had completed my covers. I was happy with my choices. But my daughter felt they were boring. I resisted for awhile and then I realized she was right. While the covers  spoke to the story-line inside the books, they didn't say to the reading public, "Hey, read me!" They weren't eye-catching.

That was when I made the decision to change my covers. After all, my books were going to be sold online. All readers would see was a thumbnail image. (sometimes, a little larger) But they wouldn't get to see it on a bookshelf and hold it and admire it, etc. My daughter was right! The cover better be beyond amazing! The cover better reach out and grab people's attention. In this case, everyone judges a book by its cover!

So here it is, my old cover for The Middle Aisle:

This cover took some tricky manipulation with the house image! I wanted a house on a cliff edge overlooking the ocean. (this house is featured in The Middle Aisle) The problem is that the house is just too darn big. The ratio between the cliff edge and the house just don't seem right. The visual gets the point across and is perfect for the description inside the book, but it's not quite . . . right.

There was one other thing that bothered me about this cover. The picture kinda looks like an island, right? (although it's supposed to be a rocky shoreline) Yet, the title is The Middle AISLE. I figured people would think I misspelled ISLE. A logical assumption when combined with the picture!

Regardless, I do like this cover. One glance and I am transported to the corresponding scene in the book.

When I decided to go with the 'hand reaching out from the grave' cover for Lancaster House, I was stumped over what to do for the sequel. Then I ran across a similar picture from the same artist. It featured--what looked like to me--a Cypress tree. Monterey, California is known for its Cypress trees. It was absolutely perfect! Part of The Middle Aisle takes place in Monterey, California, one of my favorite places on this earth! (one of my daughters was born there)

Here's the new cover:

The colors are a little retro, but in the end, I'm super happy with the Lancaster House and Middle Aisle covers. 

An interesting tidbit: My youngest daughter stood behind me as I scrolled through possible cover pictures. She is the one who pointed out the 'hand' picture and said, "I think you should use that one for Lancaster House." I'm not sure I would've thought of it, to be honest. My other daughters LOVED the new covers for both books and here we are!  Done deal! What would I do without my fam for advice? I'd probably still be agonizing over the decision, to this day!

So, what do you think? Which cover do you like the best? Or would you have chosen something else entirely different?

To see the old and new covers for Lancaster House, click here.