The importance of book covers

Book covers. I guess they can sometimes be taken for granted, but when it's the first thing a prospective reader sees, their importance cannot be underestimated. A good cover should entice the reader to pick the book up, or in the case of eBooks to progress to the second stage, which is reading the blurb to see what the story is about. That's why I've never been happy with the covers I used for The Kult. It's been through a few incarnations, but none of the recent ones have felt or looked right. I mean for one thing, when you look at a cover, you should instantly know what genre the book is. The problem with The Kult was compounded because it was part of a series with Killers, but put the books side by side and you never would have guessed it.

I had been struggling to design something myself, and I'd seen a couple of covers by Karri Klawiter that I liked, so I hired her to design a new cover, and over a couple of days and a few emails we came up with something I'm more than happy with. I think both covers now give a hint of the story but they also create a sense of foreboding. I hope people agree:

The books can be purchased from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

And you can check out more of Karri's work on her website: http://artbykarri.com/tag/karri-klawiter/

Prosper Snow series and Hell up North

You can now download the Prosper Snow books, The Kult and Killers as an ebook set. It's cheaper than buying them individually. So for anyone who wants a serial killer thriller, here they are:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Prosper-Snow-Series-ebook/dp/B0075ZWOUW/

http://www.amazon.com/Prosper-Snow-Series-ebook/dp/B0075ZWOUW/

In other news I've entered Hell up North, which is part of the Hellrunner series. http://www.hellrunner.co.uk/ My intention is just to finish, but I'll have to increase my fitness to achieve that aim. At least I have until November to do so. I'll be running for the children's cancer charity, CLIC Sargent which will hopefully inspire me to complete the course. Now I just need to get lots of training done, but as I live in what's probably the flattest part of the country, it's not easy to find any hills to train on! I've now been jogging for about four or five months and my roadwork is getting better, but this is a whole different kettle of fish!

Promotion. How far is too far?

I’ve been blown away to have already received six 5* reviews on Amazon.co.uk for the new Prosper Snow novel, Killers. A couple of said reviews have even said they think it’s better than the first book, The Kult!

Now I know I’ve been blogging and posting about the book’s release, but it still surprises me how many people in certain places, such as on the Amazon forums actively dislike authors promoting their work (Amazon.com even went so far as relegate such posts to a single area titled ‘Meet our authors' forum). I find all this animosity unusual for people who supposedly like reading. I read a comment on a post recently where the person said that they would never buy a book from an author that promoted their work, because if the work was good, then it would speak for itself and people would buy it. I thought WTF. The problem with this theory is that people first have to hear about the book, and one of the best ways to get the word out is to promote. It’s the old catch 22 scenario really. I personally have no problem with people promoting their books. Hell, I know how hard it is to find readers, so anything that helps in this respect is good. I wouldn’t have heard about half the books I purchase if I hadn’t read posts by the authors themselves.

So what do other people think? Can you promote too much? Does it turn potential readers away? 

Killers (A Prosper Snow novel)

Prosper Snow is back in Killers.

Murder makes monsters of people. Prosper Snow knows that better than most. Now he’s back on the trail of another serial killer, only this time there’s far more to the case than meets the eye. Thwarted at every turn, Prosper unwittingly uncovers a human experiment more monstrous than anything he could ever imagine. Now the only way to crack the case is to work from the inside and join a shadowy government agency that operates outside the law. Only he might be too late as the experiment has spiralled out of control.

http://www.amazon.com/Killers-Prosper-Snow-novel-ebook/dp/B005U3KOUI/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Killers-Prosper-Snow-novel-ebook/dp/B005U3KOUI/

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/95053

Killers (Coming soon)

Coming next month, the latest Prosper Snow novel, Killers:

Murder makes monsters of people. Prosper Snow knows that better than most. Now he’s back on the trail of another serial killer, only this time there’s far more to the case than meets the eye. Thwarted at every turn, Prosper unwittingly uncovers a human experiment more monstrous than anything he could ever imagine. Now the only way to crack the case is to work from the inside and join a shadowy government agency that operates outside the law. Only he might be too late as the experiment has spiralled out of control.


If you want to catch up by reading the first novel, The Kult remember it's currently available for only 99 cents (86p) on eBook. It will only be available at this low price until the next novel is published, so grab it while it's cheap.

To purchase the eBook, check out the following link: http://www.shaunjeffrey.com/The%20Kult.html

It's also now available as a new printed book too. It's only available through CreateSpace at the moment, but will be appearing on Amazon and everywhere else soon. For those who want to purchase a copy through CreateSpace there's a $3.00 discount available if you use code: FKP4KTUJ

https://www.createspace.com/3674969