I need your help Sammamishians. My novel, The Dream Jumper’s Promise, goes to print in a few short weeks, and I want to perfect the cover before there’s no turning back. If you’ll be so kind, have a look at the two similar photos at the side and tell me which one captures your attention better. One uses more of the photo and allows more color on the page but the other leaves more to your own imagination. I’ll wait while you do that...
An initial reaction is absolutely crucial in marketing. Without a favorable one, the book is dead in the water. Now, if you look again, tell me which font you prefer. Does it help to know that the book is a mystery, women’s fiction, a love story, with a dash of the paranormal? (No werewolves or vampires!) Does the tag line “a broken promise has consequences” pique your interest?
A local photographer with a keen eye is helping me design the cover-- loricoulsonphotography and this is our final step before going to print. Readers hate to be cheated, promised something by the look of the cover, only to find out that the book has nothing to do with the photo. This cover promises blue skies, a beach setting, a probable romance, and a mystery, (“a broken promise has consequences”). The title suggests a hint of the paranormal, similar to The Time Traveler’s Wife. If I told you the story line, can you tell me if I’m cheating the reader?
The Dream Jumper’s Promise is about a Maui scuba shop owner whose husband has gone missing while surfing and is presumed dead. Without a recovered body, she finds it difficult to move on, even ten months later. When a former love interest returns to Maui, on leave from his posting in Afghanistan, he accidentally discovers that her dreams are clues to the husband’s location. He professes to have the ability to visit dreams, a wild claim she isn’t sure is true. Plagued by her haunting dreams, she must decide whether to allow him into her subconscious, even though he betrayed her years ago, or call his bluff and risk never knowing what happened the morning her husband disappeared.
The novel is for sale now on Kindle, and will be available in print form in January. Kindle also has a special option for those without reading devices, to download to their PC, or any other mobile app. This book will be available on Nook and all other sites in late February when Kindle releases it from the 3 month commitment in the Kindle Select program.
If you click on the title, The Dream Jumper’s Promise you'll go to the book's Amazon page.
Here’s what early readers are saying. These quotes are taken directly from the Amazon Reviews and it might interest you to know that Kindle novelists are now unable to post a review of another book, whether they know the author personally, or not—something local authors are opposing vehemently.
“ This is a little gem. The story is engaging, the relationship between Tina and Jamey builds nicely, the suspense keeps coming, and there are twists and turns that caught me completely off guard. And it all comes with this great paranormal edge. ” LaurieFree | 3 reviewers made a similar statement
“ I am not finished yet, but am guessing I will be staying up late again tonight to find out what happens.... great first book by Kim Hornsby! ” Eliza | 1 reviewer made a similar statement
“ I was hooked by the vivid imagery and relatable characters. ” G. Frick | 1 reviewer made a similar statement
" A mysterious skill that straddles the line between paranormal and possible, a woman mourning her husband lost at sea, and the sunny embrace of Maui all come together in an evocative narrative that quickly becomes a real page-turner.' Lisa Costantino, 4 reviewers made a similar statement
The novel has done well in the first two weeks, and I’m looking forward to watching the stats climb in the Kindle standings. My second novel comes out in April with a New York publisher, The Wild Rose Press. I had very little input on that cover.
If you are a reader of fiction, and you like mysteries, or suspense, I invite you to read my novel, which was an award winner in 2010 in the Cherry Adair Challenge.The Dream Jumper’s Promise
Thanks for leaving a vote/comment! Kim
