I started writing Transfer Day, a historical thriller set in the
Danish West Indies, in December of 2008 to fulfill a childhood dream to write a
novel that would capture the unique history and beauty of St. Thomas, the
island of my youth. Very few people know that for 300 years Denmark owned
a sugar colony in the West Indies that was rich in folklore and old
legends about pirates, slave rebellions, sugar plantations, Obeah. I grew up
hearing about colorful characters like Henry Morgan, Blackbeard the pirate,
Black Sam Bellamy, and the exiled Mexican General Santa Anna, but
no novels existed that brought to life these colorful, exotic islands.
After much research I developed a story that takes place around the
time of the transfer of the islands from Denmark to the United States. The
world was in the midst of the Great War, when the US was determined to enforce the
Monroe Doctrine and keep Germany out of the New World. It became imperative for
the US to acquire the Danish West Indies for $25 million in gold bullion, an
enormous sum. Woodrow Wilson was determined to do everything possible to keep
the Kaiser from setting up a colony in close proximity to the Panama Canal.
The story is told through the eyes of a 16-year old Sephardic
Jewish girl who becomes embroiled in a German spy's plot to invade islands when
she rescues a deserter from a German U-boat. After several years of writing and
polishing several drafts, I was ready to start designing a book cover.
And this is where my education in book publishing really began.
In the Spring of 2011, I hired a professional designer and
described my vision for the cover, which included blazing cannons, Danish
soldiers, and U-boat medallions. Here are the results:
I started writing Transfer Day, a historical thriller set in the
Danish West Indies, in December of 2008 to fulfill a childhood dream to write a
novel that would capture the unique history and beauty of St. Thomas, the
island of my youth. Very few people know that for 300 years Denmark owned
a sugar colony in the West Indies that was rich in folklore and old
legends about pirates, slave rebellions, sugar plantations, Obeah. I grew up
hearing about colorful characters like Henry Morgan, Blackbeard the pirate,
Black Sam Bellamy, and the exiled Mexican General Santa Anna, but
no novels existed that brought to life these colorful, exotic islands.
After much research I developed a story that takes place around the
time of the transfer of the islands from Denmark to the United States. The
world was in the midst of the Great War, when the US was determined to enforce the
Monroe Doctrine and keep Germany out of the New World. It became imperative for
the US to acquire the Danish West Indies for $25 million in gold bullion, an
enormous sum. Woodrow Wilson was determined to do everything possible to keep
the Kaiser from setting up a colony in close proximity to the Panama Canal.
The story is told through the eyes of a 16-year old Sephardic
Jewish girl who becomes embroiled in a German spy's plot to invade islands when
she rescues a deserter from a German U-boat. After several years of writing and
polishing several drafts, I was ready to start designing a book cover.
And this is where my education in book publishing really began.
In the Spring of 2011, I hired a professional designer and
described my vision for the cover, which included blazing cannons, Danish
soldiers, and U-boat medallions. Here are the results:
I liked the covers, and have no
doubt I would have used one of them had it not been for a certain beta reader—a
gentleman who runs a book store—who pointed out that the majority of book
buyers are women, and for the book cover to work, it should reflect that fact
.
This added
a significant wrinkle to my situation. Since the male protagonist is a German U-boat
officer, I thought that guys would be more interested in reading Transfer Day. To
successfully market my book to women, I had to change the girl's age, change
several key scenes, and create a richer romantic subtext to the story.
I went
back to the drawing board, redrafted my book, and went to Guru.com to hire a
new book designer from India. The relationship I had with the artist was tense
and stilted, and this is somewhat reflected in the cover. Gone were the smoking
cannons, the flags, the shiny medallions. Instead, we inserted a beautiful girl
superimposed over an idyllic image of Charlotte
Amalie . This is the result:
While I generally liked the cover, I wasn't completely satisfied. I decided that the model was unsuitable, so I began to search through stock photo websites until I found a model that better reflected the WWI time period. This is the result:
I launched
"Transfer Day" in June of 2012, never realizing that my journey was
just beginning. As a thank you for sharing his expertise, I sent a paperback
copy of "Transfer Day" to my European military consultant (who is
also an avid reader) who promptly declared upon completing it that the book was
a spy thriller. A spy thriller? I was not expecting that. "That's
impossible!" I argued. "This book is historical fiction. Look at the
historical setting, the island vignettes, the international cast of
characters." "No, no," he answered firmly. "Transfer Day is
a spy thriller."
I accepted his
assertion, but if "Transfer Day" was indeed a spy thriller, then it
would need new title and a new cover to reflect its true genre. I pondered this
dilemma for hours, but I was stumped. I couldn't think of a new title. And
then, right out of the blue, it hit me: "Spy Island ". Spy Island was
the perfect title for my book. After more intensive research, I designed a new
cover to reflect this new image:
I was
pleased with the results. But two months later, I got another big surprise. I entered
"Spy Island "
in a giveaway sponsored by a popular YA blog (since I was trying to break into
the YA market) and to my dismay, the reaction was lukewarm. The new cover
didn't seem to excite much interest. I was shocked because I thought the title
and cover would appeal to lovers of historical fiction and action/adventure
novels. But I was off the mark. Sales were lukewarm. Back to the drawing board.
This
time, I delved deeper into the study of YA book covers. Many book blogs contain
in depth analyses about current trends in YA book covers, and I studied these
blogs for hours on end, analyzing hundreds of covers, studying which images
worked best to attract readers. After more research and investigation, this is
the new image I came up with:
I was
pleased with the results. But two months later, I got another big surprise. I entered
"Spy Island "
in a giveaway sponsored by a popular YA blog (since I was trying to break into
the YA market) and to my dismay, the reaction was lukewarm. The new cover
didn't seem to excite much interest. I was shocked because I thought the title
and cover would appeal to lovers of historical fiction and action/adventure
novels. But I was off the mark. Sales were lukewarm. Back to the drawing board.
This
time, I delved deeper into the study of YA book covers. Many book blogs contain
in depth analyses about current trends in YA book covers, and I studied these
blogs for hours on end, analyzing hundreds of covers, studying which images
worked best to attract readers. After more research and investigation, this is
the new image I came up with:
While the new cover
captured the essence of my main character and the tropical setting of the
novel, the historical aspect was missing. After subjecting the cover to a focus
group, the conclusion I came up with was that most people felt the cover
projected a contemporary romantic look, not the sweeping historical espionage
thriller I had written. I heaved a sigh and went back to the drawing board.
Late one night after everyone had gone to bed, I was browsing through Shutterstock, looking for the right image. Then it hit me. I found a picture of a beautiful Croatian model with a turn-of-the-century hairdo that was just perfect. I knew I had found my Abby.
It took hours of searching to find this glamorous new model |
But what about the
background? After more consideration, I decided to go back to my original
background, the one that accurately captures the look of the island that I had
used for the original Transfer Day cover. My cover artist put
the cover together and for the first time in years, I had a feeling of total
satisfaction. After all those hours of work, I finally achieved the desired
results. The cover is attractive and intriguing, and conveys the historical
feel of the novel. My job was finally finished. Or so I thought…
After two years of
hard work, I learned there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to designing
a book cover. It is a complex subject best left to professionals. But if a
writer is compelled to do it, you should be prepared to make mistakes and learn
from them, as it is only through those failures that you will learn, grow,
adapt and change. The hardest lesson of all is accepting that what pleased me as
the writer is not necessarily what will please the reader. I had to let go of
my preconceived notions about what entails a successful cover and embrace the
market's needs. Now that I've reached this new plateau, I feel like I've passed
a crucial test. But when I look back on my journey, I'm grateful for all the
help I received. Mostly I'm grateful that I listened to the messages I
received, and that I had the flexibility to act on them.
***UPDATE 2016***
With the Centennial
Anniversary of Transfer Day approaching in 2017, I decided to go back to the
original title of "Transfer Day" and remake the cover in honor of the
momentous occasion. Yes, it was time to go back to the drawing board.
This time I wanted to hire someone with a proven track record of success in designing book covers. I searched online for some high-profile Indie Designers and found a graphic designer whose portfolio impressed me greatly. He worked for all the major publishers plus some bestselling Indie authors. I also found a new model via Shutterstock who I thought best represented the novel's protagonist, Abigail Maduro:
This model captures the look, the dress, and the age of my protagonist, but I decided her expression was too dour. I still hope to use her in marketing adverts. |
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