I Have A Book Cover!

I'm at the point in the book process where I can start promoting it. In order to do so however, I needed a book cover. I did some Googling to find out what the cover should look like. In a nutshell, for an e-book cover to come across as easy to view as a thumbnail, it needed to be free of small details that cluttered the image, have contrast between the font and background, and not be so smutty that Amazon rejects it. Sounds simple enough, but my Photoshop / graphic artist skills are less than zero. I knew I'd have to hire someone. Enter more Googling followed immediately by serious sticker shock. I know a cover artist's work is valuable but woah! No way I could afford those prices. Then I stumbled upon Melody Simmons. I liked her website. I liked her work. And I really liked her prices. Once I contacted her the whole process was easy. I let her know what I was looking for and she came up with this beauty:

I love it. After asking my Twitter and Facebook friends for some input I had her make a few adjustments. Several people suggested elements of SWAT and BDSM. I went back and forth on that, but ultimately decided against it. I had to remember to keep the cover clean. So I'll save those images for the back cover of the paper back version. I think that'll draw people in as they're reading the book blurb. Hopefully!

Here are my likes for the cover:
The colors. Very intense
The size difference between the two guys. Exactly how I picture them in my head.
The mood. Very sleek and sexy.
Front guy's expression. It threw me at first. But then I kept going back to it. Is he pouting as my friend Nat thinks? Is he trying to be tough like Feisty thinks? Or does he just have Zoolander cheekbones? I don't know, but to me it's interesting. He's got attitude.

My dislikes:
...

None! I really do love it. Fingers crossed readers love it as well. Let me know what you think of it in the comments!

In the market for a book cover? Check out Melody Simmons at http://ebookindiecovers.com/