Guest Blog by Kendall Smith: June 15th, 2015:
Towards the end of September, I was completing my first round of queries to literary agents in order to find a home, or publishing house, for my thriller, Vault 21-12. That process took six months, and as a writer, I knew it was time to change strategies. The next logical move was to pitch independent publishing houses and start crafting a cover concept to share with prospective editors.
The idea of using the vault as the main image is relevant to a core theme in the book: What is in the vault? Given it is located in Switzerland and was opened during World War Two, there’s a mysterious element to the story. Frankly, it’s the main hook, and what better way to entice readers than to provide a visual of the vault itself.
That, on many levels opened a Pandora’s box. Hours, if not days were spent searching the web to find the perfect visual. I hired a graphic designer to assist in the process. This element of the pitch helped to sell the story and concept to the team at Percussion Publishing. The story sold them, but my graphic designer and I were on the hook to find and design the covers (front and back).
Given the challenge, we tried a few different approaches but in the end we simply had to find an image of the perfect vault. One night, late in February and well past the deadline, my designer found Brook Ward’s visual – a picture of a bank vault located in the Washington Trust Building in Washington, Pennsylvania.
The second I saw it I was enthralled and grateful. We finally found the perfect image to represent Vault 21-12! We had complete control over the layout and design, and when we submitted it to Percussion Publishing, they were impressed.
After five more revisions, tweaks and color treatments, Vault 21-12 came to life. The title has already received thirteen 5-star ratings on Amazon and is selling well.
We tip our hat to the photographer, Brook Ward, for his skills behind the lens. We will recommend him to other writers and editors and speaking as an author, I hope you’ll check out my thriller.
Kendall Smith (Author, Vault 21-12)
Available on Amazon, Kindle and Nook.
Amazon: http://amzn.com/0692460438
Kindle: http://amzn.com/B00YHLNAHS
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/vault-21-12-kendall-smith/1122001387?ean=2940151273169
Before...and After (my original photo on the left. The final book cover on the right)