Mark Pryor--The Book Artist Official Cover Reveal

DEBORAH CROMBIE:  We have so much fun on Jungle Red--there's always something new and entertaining. Today we have a first ever (I think) for us--an official COVER REVEAL from one of our favorite authors, Mark Pryor. Mark is giving JUNGLE RED the first look anywhere at the cover of his upcoming Hugo Marston novel, THE BOOK ARTIST! I am a huge fan of this series so cannot wait to get my hands on this absolutely gorgeous book! Without further ado, here's Mark to tell us about it!

MARK PRYOR: There are many exciting moments in an author's life, and with a book release on the horizon there's much to look forward to. Top of the list is release day itself, and close behind is getting that big box of books from the publisher.

On a par with that, in my opinion, but months earlier, we first see the cover art for the next book. It's a little bit like Christmas except, with my publisher at least, I get to choose which present I want! (While my publisher has final say-so on which cover we use, they always consult me, and sometimes even listen!)

Oh, before I get ahead of myself, and since this is the topic of this post, please allow me the honor of sharing the cover for my upcoming mystery novel with you, the next in the Hugo Marston series, and say a big thank you to my friends at JRW for letting me do this exclusive reveal on their wonderful blog!

Here it is:

The fantastic artist at Seventh Street Books actually sent me three options, but this one was my immediate favorite. For one thing, all that color just makes it pop off the page. And I think the pinks and yellows tie in well with the title, and the subject matter of an artist.

The eternal question, of course, is how much difference does a good cover make? We all know the adage about how we shouldn't judge a book by one. But the reality is, we do. I know I do, absolutely. And I think it's OK, because a good cover can tell you something about what's beneath it, on the page. It can convey mood, and tone, tell you who one or more of the characters might be. But the most important role of a good cover, of course, is to make the browsing shopper pick it up from the shelf, or click on it while perusing online books. After that, it's up to the author to snag the reader's attention...

Now, I know many readers of this blog enjoy mystery series, like Debs's Duncan Kincaid / Gemma James novels, and those present publishers with their own challenges. Most notably: how do you keep the covers of a series consistent, but also fresh?

Take my first three books, all of which were basically black and white.

 

 

I loved them all but, as the number of books in the series grew, it became increasingly obvious to me and the good people at Seventh Street that we couldn't stick to black and white forever. So, while staying with the "obviously Paris" theme, we moved into richer colors with THE PARIS LIBRARIAN and THE SORBONNE AFFAIR. 

One of the mock-ups for the January release of THE BOOK ARTIST was quite similar to these but, once again, SSB and I went for something slightly different, the more colorful (dare I say braver?!) option. And as I said, I love it.

So I'm curious, JRW writers, how important are covers to you, and how much input do you try and give.

Likewise for JRW readers, how much attention do you pay to book covers? Are covers more important for stand-alone books than for series books (that you'd likely buy anyway)?

About THE BOOK ARTIST:

Hugo Marston attends the opening night of an art exhibition in Montmartre, Paris, and is less than happy about going until he finds out that the sculptures on display are made from his favorite medium: books. But soon after the champagne starts to flow and the canapes are served, the night takes a deadly turn when one of the attendees is found murdered.

Hugo lingers at the scene and offers his profiling expertise to help solve the crime, but the detective in charge quickly jumps to his own conclusions. He makes an arrest, but it's someone close to Hugo, and someone he's positive is innocent. Meanwhile, his best friend Tom Green has disappeared to Amsterdam, hunting an enemy from their past, an enemy who gets the upper hand on Tom, and who then sets his sights on Hugo.

With an innocent behind bars, a murder to solve, and his own life in danger, Hugo knows he has no time to waste as one killer tries to slip away, and another gets closer and closer.

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

BookPeople (where you can request a signed copy)

DEB: Mark, I can't imagine that you didn't make the right choice. I've liked your covers from the very beginning but this one is absolutely stunning! I would pull this off the rack--or off the Internet--in a heartbeat even if I'd never heard of Hugo, and that's what we all want.

READERS, Mark will be stopping in to chat today and I'm sure we have a lot to say about covers. 

And here's more about Mark--

Mark Pryor is a former newspaper reporter from England, and now a prosecutor with the Travis County District Attorney's Office, in Austin, Texas.
He is the author of the Hugo Marston mystery series, set in Paris, London, and Barcelona.

The most recent is THE SORBONNE AFFAIR, a "flawlessly constructed whodunit," according to Booklist. His previous novel in the series was THE PARIS LIBRARIAN, which the Toronto Globe & Mail says “has it all… a finely structured plot that’s one of Pryor’s best books yet.” The first Hugo Marston novel, THE BOOKSELLER, was a Library Journal Debut of the Month, and called "unputdownable" by Oprah.com, and the series has been featured in the New York Times.

Mark is also the author of the psychological thriller, HOLLOW MAN, and its sequel, DOMINIC, published in January of 2018. He also created the nationally-recognized true-crime blog 'D.A. Confidential.' As a prosecutor, he has appeared on CBS News's 48 Hours and Discovery Channel's Discovery ID: Cold Blood.