My last post talked about how misleading the first cover for Eyes Without A Face was. My book isn’t about the Unabomber, Jihadi John, or Trayvon Martin. It is about a female serial killer. And that was what wasn’t clear with the first cover.

I needed a completely different look. I couldn’t go back to my original designer. He and I loved the face in the hoodie. He wouldn’t be able to kill his darling and come up with a new image.

I asked a host of friends for recommendations. Some had students who were looking for a credit, but who had never designed a book cover before. Others offered names of their cover designers. Unfortunately, many were booked solid for months. I reached out to a writer whose covers I loved. Turned out she and her husband have a design firm…

The rest is history. We discussed how to make the central image female. There could be no mistaking the sex of the killer this time. There could be no mistaking that this woman worked in the medical community. We wanted a female, Dexter-like creepy vibe, but not so creepy that readers would be turned off by the cover.

There could be no mistaking the fact that laws were broken, crimes committed. Kristen came back with something completely unexpected. And spot on.

I’ll be rolling out the re-release of Eyes over the next few weeks. Let’s hope sales explode all over the place. Let’s hope readers get the point of the book. Let’s hope they continue to root for the serial killer. Yes, most readers find their guilty pleasure when they like her.