You should judge a book by its cover

Appearance matters.

Imagine going into a job interview wearing a Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts.

Unless your job involves lounging around a tropical beach, you'll probably be laughed out of the room.

In the same way, the job of a book cover is to make a good first impression. As authors, our stories have to audition for your time. You only have so much to spend, and there are millions of new options being released every year.

For the first book of The Last Sin series, I reunited with Italian artist Leraynne to create the amazing cover below. This cover balances my main character's vulnerability and resolve as he faces down a looming supernatural threat:

If you are one of my many new subscribers over the last week, here is my blurb (WIP) for context:

In a land of sleeping spirits, an orphan escapes death by embracing Sin—now he must find a way out of her shadow.

For ten long years, Jacob has trained under his mysterious mentor, Lady Sin. She saved him from the medieval streets of Luskaine’s capital and taught him to be a weapon. One lesson remains until he is perfect. The one lesson she refuses to teach. She says he’s not ready, but he will risk everything to prove her wrong.

In search of her final lesson, Jacob discovers a secret about Sin that shatters the foundations of his world. Forced from his home and cut off by his mentor, he is more committed than ever to proving himself her equal. His opportunity arrives in the form of a dangerous quest into the lawless heart of Luskaine, where an ancient curse transforms the land and wakes the dead sleeping beneath the earth.

To investigate the curse, Jacob joins a group of veteran adventurers infiltrating a town controlled by ruthless crime lords and a scheming inquisitor. As his camaraderie with the group grows, it conflicts with Sin’s training, which teaches that attachment is a liability and love a weakness. But when the adventurers discover the source of the curse, all of Luskaine is put in danger, and Jacob must learn to step out of Sin’s shadow or let the dead reclaim the earth.

Disciple of Sin is a gritty, high-stakes fantasy that combines cinematic action, page-turning suspense, and a visceral exploration of power and corruption. If you enjoy the grit of Joe Abercrombie, the hard magic of Brandon Sanderson, and the lethal choreography of The Sword of Kaigen, then Disciple of Sin is for you.

Last week, I believed I finalized my blurb but based on feedback from other authors I did a rewrite. I think this version is a lot better but I'm sure there's still some work to do. It's a bit frustrating, but my journey to get my blurb just right will make a great newsletter, so it all works out in the end. :)

Until next time,