Barb: I’m just back from Malice Domestic where I saw today’s guest, Ginger Bolton, for all of about 40 seconds when we were walking in a hallway. But that’s the way Malice can go!
Ginger is here to tell us about how the cover of her seventh Deputy Donut Mystery, Cinnamon Twisted came to be. And she’s offering a giveaway to two lucky commenters. See details below.
Take it away, Ginger!
How are book covers designed?
It varies from book to book, but here’s how the cover of Cinnamon Twisted evolved.
Before I finish writing a story, my publisher begins working on the cover. My editor asks for a short synopsis and cover suggestions.
Here’s a summary of the story: Emily is serving donuts and coffee at Deputy Donut, her popular café in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin. An apparently frightened customer offers Emily’s cat Dep a faux fur catnip-filled donut. One of the people who might have frightened the woman comes through the front. The woman flees through the back, dropping an earring in her panic.
Attempting to return the earring, Emily discovers the woman’s body.
Fallingbrook’s ambitious new police chief sends Emily’s detective friend out of town, ignores Emily’s suggestions about who might have frightened the woman, and concentrates on the envelope he found among the woman’s possessions. Strangely, it is addressed to Emily and contains an old photo of the first owner of Emily’s house and an almost indecipherable letter hinting of hidden treasure.
The new police chief snoops around Emily’s home. He might not be the only one . . .
Before danger can encircle Emily, she needs to untwist the connection between the present-day murder and a long-ago feud.
Knowing that my covers should depict donuts and Deputy Donut, the cat who kindly lent her name to Emily’s café and to the series, I send my editor a few photos and several cover suggestions that more or less match scenes in the book. I say “more or less” because Dep the cat is not allowed where food is prepared and sold. But she can pose there for covers. And she’s been known to accidentally (!) invade Deputy Donut’s dining room and kitchen.
For Cinnamon Twisted, one of my suggestions was: Dep is playing with a faux fur donut. The seam is coming unsewn, and stuffing and catnip are spilling from it. A table of cinnamon twist donuts is nearby, and at least one of the twists is broken and/or crumbled. The view out the window could be a street in downtown Fallingbrook or a wooded scene with a lake in the background.
Now, here’s the funny thing. This is the photo I sent with my cover suggestions:
When I saw the cover, I forgot which photo I’d sent. I figured that I must have sent this one:
After I received the artwork for the cover, I had time to add details from the cover to the manuscript. Mary Ann Lasher drew a menu on a chalkboard, so I revised Cinnamon Twisted slightly, adding some of the donuts on that menu.
I love the cover of Cinnamon Twisted so much that I hope people will judge the book by its cover. For a few years, without conscious thought, I nearly always chose to read books with blue covers.
Readers: What draws you to a book cover? Two commenters will each receive a signed copy of Cinnamon Twisted. US and Canada only, please.
About Ginger Bolton
Ginger Bolton writes the Deputy Donut mysteries—coffee, donuts, cops, danger, and one curious cat. As Janet Bolin, Ginger wrote the Agatha-nominated Threadville Mysteries—murder and mayhem in a village of crafty shops. The seventh Deputy Donut Mystery, Cinnamon Twisted, came out April 25. Three more Deputy Donut Mysteries are in the works.
Website: https://gingerbolton.com/
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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16834862.Ginger_Bolton/
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/ginger-bolton
Where to buy: https://gingerbolton.com/where-to-buy