Hi Reader,

My friend, Caitlin, likes ugly men. No, I’m not being mean. She actually admits this. See?

I find this handsome.

She likes this. And this.

I’m sorry to all the Adam Driver and Johnny Flynn fans I offended. The unsubscribe button is at the bottom.

FOR THE REST OF US,

Sometimes I feel the same way about covers. I check the Goodreads. Everyone is like “OMGGGG THIS COVER” and I’m like

"....I hate it, thanks."

I seem to like the covers no one ever comments on.

Here's the thing. I'm indie publishing House of Smoke and the problem is I DON’T want to end up with an ugly cover. I've been looking at hiring a cover designer, but there are so many options:

1. Do you do a character or a face or do you do stick to pretty typography?
2. Do you like book covers with just the main character or the love interest?
3. Or what about just an important object?

I was going to make another poll, but I always have issues with them and then am stuck panic fixing it at 5am when my East Coast friends message me to say "hey your poll isn't working."

So instead of going through the hoopla of making another Google poll and having to fix it during my morning pee pee, please:

1. ​View this image​
2. Reply to this email
3. Let me know if you like the character art or the typography one better (they are not my book covers, just trying to gauge what the people like).

If you have any other words of wisdom about what you like and don't like in a book cover, you may impart them as well.

Please don't let me end up with an ugly book cover.

For newsletter swaps this week, we have snackity-snack sized short stories. Check them out.

Also, don't forget that my giveaway is still running. We're up to a grand total of 29 participants, so your odds right now are very good. If you'd like to enter you can do that here:

Finally, I got to be a guest on the Outspoken Artist podcast. We talk about overcoming rejection, writing tips and the importance of finding community. You can check that out here!

Best,

Sarah

P.S. Caitlin's actual fiancé is a cute Irishman. Please marvel. She also writes the most swoon fantasy. Her most recent story is a swan lake retelling with a goblin king and I am obsesseddddd. I'm sure I'll talk more about it. She's one of my best friends.