Which book cover design do you like most?
Your opinion please!
Dear Readers,
We’ve reached that exciting moment in the book-publishing process when we start looking at cover designs.
Please let me know which of the seven options below you prefer. I really do value your opinion!
I’m thrilled to be sharing these outstanding draft options from Margot Hutton of One Fine Line creative studio. Margot has offered two broad directions, classic and contemporary, with variations on each.
If you have only subscribed recently, this may be the first you’ve heard that I’m writing a novel set in my homeland of Zimbabwe. It’s in the same ‘spiritual fiction’ genre as previous novels, but for the first time I’m writing about Africa - and loving it!
Like the covers themselves, the back-cover description is still at draft stage, but will probably be something along the following lines:
When Rob Forbes returns to his childhood home of Zimbabwe after decades away, he doesn’t plan to stay long. A big job back in London awaits. But he finds himself questioning his priorities amid the open-hearted exuberance of people who have so little compared to his wealthy colleagues; a powerful reconnection to the animals and wild places he loved as a child, and his growing friendship with Tibetan guru and neighbour, Rinpoche.
What if it is possible to live with the same ineffable lightness as the intriguing lama? Why is the joy of ubuntu – community – felt in the most improbable places? And how might an orphaned elephant calf change his life?
Nature, inner wellbeing and transcendent wisdom are woven into this compelling personal drama from the author of the globally bestselling Dalai Lama’s Cat series.
If you’d like a deeper dive to provide context, you can read Chapter One here.
Title and series title
I have been sharing chapters with paying subscribers over the past months. We’re nearly up to the stage in the story where Diva suggests The Good Karma Refuge for Elephants as a name for the home being built for Kadiki - and it seems like a good title for the novel itself.
The Good Karma Refuge for Elephants & Other Sentient Beings has a quirky and distinctly Buddhist vibe to it but, seeing it on on the cover, it seems a bit wordy, so we may stick with the shorter version.
An Africa Buddha Novel points to my plan to continue with a series. We are only just scratching the surface with this first book, and there are so many intriguing elements to explore with our cast of characters, creatures, and the things that make Zimbabwe a uniquely enchanting place.
Cover 1 above
Cover 2 above
Cover 3 above
Cover 4 above
Cover 5 above
CONTEMPORARY OPTIONS
Cover 6 above
Cover 7 above
I’d value your vote on which of these covers would most make you want to lift the book off a store shelf, or click the cover during an online search, to find out more.
Please tell me in the Comment box below, where it says “Write a comment …” Simply note the number of your favourite cover and, if you wish, any additional feedback.
Please don’t respond by replying to this email or by adding comments on social media feeds - it makes it difficult for me to assess responses if they are scattered across cyberspace.
I hope you are as inspired by the options as I am. A tough choice to make!
I write this Substack newsletter with two main motivations: to pass on the life-enhancing wisdom of my own teachers and to raise funds for causes that matter.
These include: Wild is Life - home to endangered wildlife and the Zimbabwe Elephant Nursery; Twala Trust Animal Sanctuary - supporting indigenous animals as well as pets in extremely disadvantaged communities; Dongyu Gyatsal Ling Nunnery - supporting Buddhist nuns from the Himalaya regions; Gaden Relief - supporting Buddhist communities in Mongolia, Tibet, Nepal and India.
Please become part of our unique, global, virtual community and become a paying subscriber if you are able to help extraordinary beings like the ones below:
Roxy Danckwerts, founder of Wild is Life/Zimbabwe Elephant Nursery, with Moyo.
May all beings have happiness!
I like cover number 5 as the cheetah plays a role too as a very connected sentient being. I can't wait to get the hard copy. I love the HHC series and have read mine almost to tatters. Thanks for your great creative sharing and of the life lessons through the wisdom of the cat's point of view. Congratulations and best wishes for huge success with this new series.
Luanne
What a choice.
I Like the picture of no 5, which includes the cheetah too. I really like the colours of no 1 with the lotus.
I do think the cheetah wins for me though, as another essential character of the tale or should I say (tail)