Phoenix Blade Virtual Book Tour Part 3

Welcome everyone to a special edition of the Writer's Revolution.  I am your host, the author of The Phoenix Blade, Andrew Hess.  Today I wanted to share the final leg of my Virtual Book Tour with everyone.  In the meantime I would like to thank all of the hosts that had me on their blogs for interviews, guest blogs, reviews, and spotlights.  And a special thanks to the Virtual Book Tour Cafe for setting everything up.

Guest Blog @Into the Land of Books: Origin of the Phoenix Blade
http://etherealistic-reader.blogspot.com/2013/09/blog-tour-guest-post-excerpt-giveaway.html

Excerpt and Book Review @Books, Books, and More Books
http://dream-reader-dreamer2229.blogspot.com/2013/09/book-review-of-phoenix-blade.html

Reviewed @Kayla on Books:
http://susunanbuku.blogspot.com/2013/09/book-review-and-blog-tour-phoenix-blade.html?showComment=1379687146395#c9154537104730344610

Guest Blog and Reviewed @BKWalkerBooks.com
My Writing Process
http://bkwalkerbooks.com/book-review-guest-post-with-andrew-hess-the-phoenix-blade-book-tour-giveaway/

Interview @BK Walker Books
http://bkwalkerbooksetc.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-phoenix-blade-by-andrew-hess-book.html


I would also like to share what was supposed to be a guest blog from the other day.

Why Book Covers Are so Important

               

  They say the eyes are the window to the soul.  This is the way I feel a book cover represents a book.  They let the author express their book in one or multiple images.  To readers, they might feel it is unimportant, but I completely disagree.

               

  A cover is the first thing potential readers see when they browse the shelves.  If you’re looking around a bookstore, you have to think of what you would want to see on the shelves.  What would pop out at you?  What would pop out at others?  Those are the questions you need to ask yourself when designing your book cover. 

             

   Sometimes the image itself isn’t as crucial as the background.  A simple color or theme can make the standard image pop out and become eye catching to potential readers.  This was the case for my book The Phoenix Blade.  I had an incredible image that a friend of mine helped create.  Any color would look nice behind the picture, but I wanted something that would catch everyone’s attention.  I sat around for a couple hours, every day, for a week; trying different colors as the background.  I showed pictures to friends, family, co-workers; anyone that could give me an opinion.  I settled on a white background in the end; mixing with the bold green grass and fiery phoenix stood out perfectly against the white background.

             

   In the end, a book cover is your way of introducing your book to someone.  It’s a chance for them to see who you are as an author.  Your cover can either bring out the excitement and intrigue from the reader, or it could look like something they’ve already read or dislike.  

I'd like to thank everyone for hosting during my Virtual Book Tour and all my fans for following it.  This has been a lot of fun and quite a learning experience.  As a special note, the sequel to the Phoenix Blade has been re-written and will be ready to go early next year.  Stay tuned for more details.