5 Tips For a Stellar Cover Design in 2025

Picture this: you’re browsing your local bookstore, letting your eyes drift over the many titles. Suddenly, it appears — a book with a cover so enticing, you simply have to take it home.

Something like this has probably happened to you at some point… but have you ever wondered why? What elements go into a cover design that’s truly irresistible? 

And as an author, how can you harness those elements to make your own cover a success?

Well, wonder no more: in this post, I’ll provide five handy tips to help you design a stellar cover of your own! I’ll also examine a few captivating contemporary covers that have applied these principles to gain success in 2025. Let’s get into it!

1. Experiment with genre expectations

A book’s cover should, first and foremost, signal its genre. Horror is full of disturbing imagery and foreboding color schemes, while cozy fantasy covers tend to be whimsical and inviting. And thrillers? Those cover designers love their photographic realism.

There’s nothing wrong with leaning into these tropes — quite the opposite! You should work with cover design trends so that passerby can identify your book’s genre at a glance. Stray too far from these conventions and you risk alienating your audience.

So try to build on the strengths of popular trends, and innovate just enough that your book stands out from the crowd, but not so much that potential readers won’t recognize the genre.

Take romance, for example. 2024 saw the release of Funny Story by Emily Henry, One Star Romance by Laura Hankin, and The Rule Book by Sarah Adams — see the similarities?

Each of these covers follows the same vector-based art style popularized by Sally Thorne’s The Hating Game back in 2016. They all also feature their main romantic pair front and center, so their genre is obvious to any errant viewer. With that in mind, let’s examine Lyla Sage’s Swift and Saddled to “illustrate” how you can iterate within your genre:

Romantic couple as the focal point? Check. Thick lines with a distinct color palette? Check. Compelling illustrations that are almost “cartoon-like”? Also check. Swift and Saddled might follow the typical design trends you’d expect from a romance, but the old-school, comic book-inspired art style gives it a unique visual flair that sets it apart.

2. Center your title with eye-catching typography

The retro aesthetic isn’t the only thing that jumps out about the Swift and Saddled cover — notice the old Western-style font used in the title? Some of the most lauded covers of the past few years feature bold, eye-catching typography that sticks with viewers. (Indeed, it can also be useful to use “signature” typography in your book’s promotional materials.)

The saloon-style lettering of Swift and Saddled only scratches the surface of what bold, typography-centered covers can achieve. Open Throat by Henry Hoke is another excellent example of this: the lettering is hand-drawn to resemble razor-sharp teeth, then distorted to fit inside the open mouth of a roaring wildcat. This creates a striking focal point which, when paired with the shocking neon pink background, is practically guaranteed to grab readers.

Meanwhile, Salman Rushdie’s Knife keeps things minimalist with an elegant serif font on a matte cream background. The star of the show here is the blade-like line in place of the “I”, as if a knife is literally slicing the title in half. The result is some dangerously clever interplay between the text and imagery — alluding to the serious subject matter that readers can expect within.

Speaking of which…

3. Use imagery to indicate thematic depth

Knife is not the only recent book to use symbolism in its visual design. Some of the most memorable cover designs from recent years have added intrigue by incorporating visual elements reflecting the story’s themes and central conflict. This idea is on full display on the cover of Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo:

Here, the viewer gets a top-down view of a chess board adorned with five distinct game pieces. The larger board, along with the players on either side of it, is hidden from view — implying that the reader is not fully privy to whatever game is (presumably) taking place in this story. Each piece also casts its own shadow, indicating that this isn’t just a simple game between two players, but a tangled web involving multiple parties — each with their own agenda.

Your cover design doesn’t need to go into quite as much depth as Intermezzo’s, but including a few alluring, narrative-foreshadowing details will take your cover from good to great.

4. Design with mobile in mind

Of course, great cover design isn’t just about creating eye-catching artwork — it’s also about making sure the cover “works” at different sizes. Bookstores aren’t the only place that potential readers are finding your novel (if even there) — more often than not, they’re discovering it through social media, online retailers, or recommendation apps.

A cover that looks perfect in a full-page print display might lose its impact once scaled down and compressed for viewing on a tiny screen. So keep digital displays in mind throughout the design process! This doesn’t just mean phones and tablets, either — from Kobo to Kindle, digital reading is all the rage these days, and many popular devices only display in black and white.

Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead is mostly monochrome to begin with, so this cover looks outstanding no matter the filter. You needn’t take the Demon Copperhead approach and largely discard color, but it is a possibility to keep in mind throughout the design process.

If you want your cover to translate well to grayscale, avoid using too many similar mid-tones, subtle color gradients, or small, detailed illustrations with minimal contrast. 

5. Test, test, test!

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder — so to ensure broad appeal, you should get many beholders’ eyes on your cover before you finalize it. Remember, the cover is an essential part of your book’s marketing process, so it pays to be thorough!

To ensure your design captures the core appeal of your story, try asking a team of beta readers for their thoughts. What tone and genre do they think it evokes? Does it feel like anything is missing? Don’t be disheartened if their feedback doesn’t align with your expectations — it’s all part of the process.

Lastly, if you’re not confident in your visual design skills and this article has you feeling overwhelmed, consider hiring a professional designer for your cover instead. It may cost you a pretty penny upfront, but it’s an investment in your future book’s success: the stronger your cover, the more likely it is to drive sales.

Whether you choose to DIY your cover or bring a professional aboard, remember that this is your book — don’t feel pressured to conform to what’s popular in 2025. Who knows? Maybe your idea will shake up the formula, inspiring a fresh new wave in cover design. The only way to find out is to get designing.

---

Savannah Cordova is a writer with Reedsy, a platform that connects authors with the best publishing resources and industry professionals to help them publish their books. In her spare time, Savannah enjoys reading contemporary fiction and writing short stories.

When Creativity Ebbs – and How to Recharge It

Writer’s block. Lack of inspiration. Writer burnout. Passion dead.

They all cause a writer’s creativity to end. And often depression to set in.

There are some excellent articles and even books that deal with these issues. Possible causes, ways to work through it, ways to work around it…

What we’ll focus on today is involving oneself in a different creative endeavor. Other ways to express oneself creatively outside of writing. Ways that will take the pressure and guilt of not writing away while still feeding one’s creative needs.

And not only feeding but encouraging them!

Let’s look at other creative outlets:

Photography
Painting
Paint Figurines
Adult Coloring Books
Drawing
Digital Artwork
Sculpting/Pottery
Woodworking
Making Ornaments/Figures/Statues
Floral Arrangements
Jewelry Making
Card Making
Decopage
Candle/Soap Making
Sewing/Knitting/Cross-stitch
Scrapbooking
Wreath-Making
Metal Working
Wood Burning/Carving
Origami
Jigsaw Puzzles
Model Building
Build Doll Houses
Doll Making
Fairy Gardens
Puppet Making
Gardening
Cooking & Baking
Charcuterie
Preserving
Cake Baking
Charcuterie
Playing/Writing Music
Dancing
Theater/Acting
Singing
Cosplay
Fashion Design
Pet Training
Learn New Language
Learn New Skill/Craft
Learn New Sport or Exercise
Learn to Play an Instrument
Designing _______
Collecting _______
Teaching ________
Researching
Volunteering

As you can see, there are a lot of creative options out there! Pursuing one or more might just be the incentive you need to rekindle the writing fire.

What other creative endeavors can you think of?

Amazon Ads: Taking the Leap

By Melissa Maygrove

Have you ever put off doing something because of fear then, when you finally got the nerve to give it a try, you wished you’d done it sooner?

That was me and Amazon ads. I thought it would be complicated—and paying per-click without guaranteed sales was downright terrifying—so I put it off. Talk about regret... I wasted a lot of years not making nearly the money I could have.

Let me pause to give some caveats.

1. I’ve been running Amazon ads for a few years, but I am by no means an expert. The purpose of this article is to encourage you to try it and offer some basic instructions for setting one up.

2. Ads don’t work the same for everyone. There are a lot of variables. But they are worth trying, and they’re surprisingly $afe, so long as you set reasonable bids, daily limits, and keep an eye on your ad dashboard.

3. I’m located in the United States, so I’m writing from that perspective.

Some things to consider before setting up Amazon ads:

• Does your book have a professional cover and an enticing blurb? You’ll pay for ad clicks whether the customer buys the book or not, so you want the elements of the retail page to shine and entice them to buy.

• How long ago was your book published and how many reviews does it have? If it’s a new release, Amazon won’t have much to go on if you choose to auto-target. It’s probably best to run one or more manual-target ads first, so Amazon can gather data.

• Is the book first in a series? If so, you’ll get more bang for your advertising buck in the way of read-through if each book’s back matter links to the next book.

Things I wish I’d figured out sooner:

• For ads run in the US (.com), you can add a short bit of custom text to entice the customer to click on the ad. Below are two of mine.

• I wish I’d run ads in other English-speaking countries sooner (UK, Canada, Australia). I recently began getting organic sales in Germany. Since Germans are voracious readers, and many speak English, I decided to run an ad there. (At the time of the writing of this article, it’s too soon to know if it will be profitable.)

• I wish I’d run ads for the paperback version of my books. Just because I buy mostly e-books doesn’t mean everyone shops that way. I heard a best-selling author say he always attaches both the e-book and paperback versions of his books to his ads. I tried that, and my paperback sales began to increase.

How to set up ads:

There are many ad gurus out there to choose from. I found this video by the Kindlepreneur guy that gives good, step-by-step instructions for setting up ads. If you’re uber-visual, like me, you’ll love it.



Final thoughts:

It takes time for Amazon to gather data on a new ad and for that ad to start showing impressions. Don’t give up too soon. I let mine run for a month or so before deciding if it’s going to be a profitable ad.

You don’t have to set your bids high or at the amount Amazon suggests. Start low. You can go back and increase them later.

If you forget to add the paperback version of the book, you can edit the ad to include it without starting a new ad. (This was one of the reasons I put it off; I thought I’d have to create all new ads. LOL)

If Amazon has an event with greatly increased site traffic (e.g. Cyber Monday), or if you run a sale on a book attached to an ad, it can affect the number of clicks and thus your cost. Keep a closer eye on your dashboard during these times.

Most of all, don’t be afraid to try Amazon ads. You set the daily limit on ad spending (which Amazon almost never reaches), and you can adjust that limit anytime you wish. You can also turn an ad off immediately with the flip of a cyber switch.

You are in control.

###

Native Texan Melissa Maygrove is a mother, nurse, freelance editor, and romance author. When she's not busy caring for her tiny NICU patients, she's hunched over her laptop, complicating the lives of her imaginary friends and playing matchmaker. Melissa loves books with unpretentious characters and unforgettable romance, and she strives to create those same kinds of stories for her readers.

You can find Melissa here: website and blog.

Insecure Writer’s Support Group, Articles, and Links

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month and encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.

The awesome co-hosts for the June 4 posting of the IWSG are PJ Colando, Pat Garcia, Kim Lajevardi, Melisa Maygrove, and Jean Davis!

The June 4 question - What were some books that impacted you as a child or young adult?

We had some great guests and articles here this month -

Playing to Your Audience

You Get What You Pay For (with book publicity)

Balancing Heavy Topics with Humor


And don’t forget to connect with us elsewhere –

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Facebook

Instagram


What books impacted you?

Balancing Heavy Topics with Humor

 

By CL Montblanc

For some, it might seem blasphemous for me to suggest that heavy topics can coexist alongside humor, but I would even argue that comedy can easily enhance the delivery of these topics. Especially when dealing with young readers. Incorporating moments of levity into a darker narrative can accomplish many things; it can heighten emotional resonance, make deeper themes more digestible, and most of all, reflect a more authentic human experience. However, this can also be a delicate balance to manage—with some dire consequences if done wrong. Here, I’ll be sharing my personal viewpoints and strategies as someone who wrote a young adult dark comedy novel that tackles violence, bullying, homophobia, and more.

Why a dark story might not always pair best with dark themes

There are a few potential drawbacks to going all-out with darkness in a narrative. For one, too much negativity at once with little reprieve can be taxing for readers. Oftentimes people pick up a book for the purpose of escapism, hoping to relax and enjoy themselves, which means they might be less likely to pick something up that promises to be bleak the whole way through. Of course, there are exceptions to this, but I think it’s particularly true with kidlit—that audience tends to seek entertainment over, say, trying to expand their worldview or process difficult emotions. That being said, there’s still a need to have certain tough conversations with kids and teens. It may just be easier in some cases to mix those topics into something they’re more eager to consume, as one might hide veggies in other foods.

Making heavy topics digestible

I personally believe that the best way to get through to YA readers is to capture a genuine teen voice and experience. How to write authentically for teens as an adult is an entirely different discussion, but one relevant point here is that they more than any other age demographic already tend to combine their humor with darkness. It’s tough to grow up in a world like ours, and to temper the darker part is only natural. Life is so absurd, and that’s especially true for some of its worst attributes. You’ll see plenty of examples of this on social media sites like TikTok—half of my feed consists of young adults telling stories about traumatic events in their lives in a humorous fashion. We laugh so that we don’t cry, right? Or maybe a little of both at once…

Identifying opportunities for humor

The simplest, easiest way to infuse humor into a story is through dialogue. That’s because no matter what horrors might be happening within the plot, there’s always a smart-ass character or two who might want to crack a joke about it. Of course, the solution here isn’t to just add in an arbitrary comic relief character to one’s story—though I do have quite a fondness for those! What makes dialogue comedic isn’t pure wit, but rather, having characters that clash, contrast, and play off of one another.

For example, many romance novels utilize tropes like “grumpy x sunshine” because those two opposite archetypes—neither comedic in nature on their own—lead to some fun dynamics, and thus good banter. There’s also situational humor, which might be more difficult to incorporate into a heavier book, but is certainly also a staple. A classic example of this one would be a cold, hard-ass character being forced to take care of a baby. Again, the plot really has to allow for humorous situations in the first place, which is why I chose to go with mystery as my debut novel’s main genre. Mystery-solving involves a lot of snooping and potential antics, which I thought would be an ideal medium for a dark comedy. This notion is supported by “cozy mystery” being a staple genre, with similar blends seen in other popular media like Knives Out and Only Murders in the Building.

Why timing is everything

One important thing to be wary of when infusing humor into a more dramatic scene is causing tonal whiplash. A poorly timed joke might dampen the emotional impact of a scene, or put the resonance of your message at risk. I dialed way back on humor around the “dark night of the soul” section of my novel, when the darkness was starting to hit its emotional peak. The main character’s situation was not funny at all, and so the only humor she could muster consisted of taking a jab at herself with self-deprecating jokes rather than being fueled by joy. On the opposite end of this, humor can serve as a strong punctuation mark when used at the perfect moment. For example, it might help us transition from a difficult scene back into a more tonally neutral portion of a story, lifting us out of the fog with an indication that things might become okay again.

In summary, heavy topics, while important, can often weigh on readers, which is why humor has the potential to help balance them out. (And of course, to avoid this combination going south, a lot of strategy and thoughtfulness is required.) But humor can be such a strong bridge that allows young readers to engage with complex themes, and because of this, I’ve personally chosen to take on an unorthodox blend of genres and tones. I’ve also been hearing that many teens are looking for lighter, more “fun” books lately, so perhaps we can meet that demand without abandoning these authentic—often tough—stories that we are so passionate to share.

CL Montblanc is a writer, producer, and escape room enthusiast. Despite hailing from Texas, CL is intimidated by both horses and very large hats. If you have any leads on where to acquire buried treasure, or a decent bagel, you can find CL on social media. Pride or Die is their debut novel. You can learn more at CL Montblanc website.

Playing to Your Audience

He may look like he's paying attention to you, but he is probably more interested in the nut he sees on the other side of the rock. Same can be said for some in the audience that you are trying to engage. They may be looking at nuts as well. It could be a package of cashews or someone that's off their rocker. Either way, they aren't paying attention, so don't fall off your rocker cause the squirrels aren't going to save you.

Guess what? That's just fine. You don't need rocker saving squirrels or eyes down in cashew eaters.

Some aren't paying attention because of the going ons. Some aren't paying attention because they have no interest. Some will come around. Some won't ever come around. Before we go round and round I'll get to the point. Don't want anyone vomiting on the poor squirrel.

Your audience is what you seek and need to engage with. Not THE audience. Don't beat a dead horse when they aren't ever going to look into what you are saying, your story, or even you. Don't beat a dead horse literally either. That is just wrong. You would get a different audience though.

Focus on the audience that is focusing on you. They are the ones who enjoy your work, get what your saying, and listen. They also can be great word of mouth to those of the same likes and tastes.

You will be far more genuine when not crying wolf from the rooftops. Or shouting on stage about how great you are, your work is, etc.

You are only great to certain people. Your work is only great to certain people. You can't please everyone with everything. Never can. Never will. If you aren't great to others, if your work isn't appreciated by others, or if others are just out to lunch then let them stay there.

Don't focus on changing those you can't. Play to your audience and allow the others to find the audience they want. If that is an audience for beating a dead horse...well...you are better off without them anyway.

Do you focus on everyone? Do you feel beaten if they all don't pay attention or like your work? How do you handle finding your audience?

You Get What You Pay For

 

For 25 years, I’ve been advocating for transparency in book publicity–a cornerstone of Books Forward’s culture since 2000.

It’s heartbreaking when authors come to us after their books have launched, sharing stories of disappointment with their initial publicity efforts. Many debut authors thought they’d hired the right experts, but were misled or let down. They ask if we can help get their campaigns back on track. While we do our best, it’s tough to fix an anemic publicity effort after a book has launched. Sometimes we can, but if we can’t, we’re always honest about that.

When you pay for a service, you are paying for the expertise, knowledge, contacts and creativity of a professional. Just as a lawyer charging $25/hour isn’t likely to be a Supreme Court litigator, or a $12 haircut isn’t coming from a top stylist, bargain-priced book publicity is unlikely to deliver the kind of buzz necessary to stand out in a market where more than 3 million books are published annually in the US.

There’s a reason that certain book publicity firms have clients who regularly hit bestseller lists and win major awards. Their value lies in their contacts, their ability to create compelling stories that the media wants to share, and their track record of securing stellar reviews. These qualities are built on years of experience, not shortcuts.

When you’re hiring a firm to represent your book–your blood, sweat and tears–ask tough questions. Be wary of “bargain basement deals” and understand what you’re truly getting for your investment. There’s a select group of highly sought-after publicists for authors who are serious about success, but they’re not a dime a dozen.

Great Clips is fine if you’re looking for a quick, generic haircut. But if you want to stand out , that’s probably not where you’re going. The same principle applies to book publicity: “Great Clips” prices will get you “Great Clips” results.

For all but a rare few authors whose books are “lead titles” for major publishers, the reality is clear: to rise above the noise of the other 8,000-plus books being released on the same day as yours, you must commit your resources–time, energy, and money–into promotion .

A top-tier book publicity firm will provide a detailed proposal outlining what they’ll do for you, how they’ll reach readers in diverse ways, how they’ll keep you informed about your campaign’s progress.

Their track record will show success with books like yours, along with insights into what works and what doesn’t…

Just as importantly, they’ll offer cutting-edge strategies developed by some of the most creative minds in the business.

Be deliberate when choosing a book publicity firm. Consider your budget of time, energy and money, and invest wisely in your book’s success

Julie Schoerke is the founder of Books Forward’s, an award-winning literary publicity company, and its sister publishing company, Books Fluent.

Some Common Fears We Writers Share.

JOIN US TODAY

 The awesome co-hosts for the May 7 posting of the IWSG are Feather Stone, Janet Alcorn, Rebecca Douglass, Jemima Pett, and Pat Garcia!

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

Remember, the question is optional!

May 7 question - Some common fears writers share are rejection, failure, success, and lack of talent or ability. What are your greatest fears as a writer? How do you manage them?

When I first started writing for publication, I could write “all of the above,” but that’s not true anymore. 

I don’t fear rejection. I just don’t like it.  When it happens, I find a safe place to hang out for a while, then I set out again.

morguefile

I haven’t failed because I'm still writing and publishing, so I can’t fear that. 

Too much success? Is that possible? 

But now we get to something that does keep me on the ropes. There are times I’m sure I’ll never write the story I want to because I don’t have the talent or ability, and I'll add knowledge because that's a huge chunk of what writing well is all about. I’m dealing with a lack of knowledge right now as I work on a new story that I want to write. 

morguefile

The problem is I keep running into barriers—gaps in what I know. My only recourse is to fall back on research, so I’m not making a lot of progress on the book, but my knowledge base has increased in several different areas: maritime research, cybersecurity, and Alaska. I've even learned how to make a wireless telegraph and a smoke bomb. You never know when you're going to need some of those.

I read a post by Jacqui Murray on research that inspired me to continue my efforts to learn as much about my topic as possible. You might enjoy reading her POST, if you haven't already.

If I manage to successfully combine all that I've learned into a cohesive story, I hope to come up with something that people will want to read. I'll probably be posting about this newest challenge for a while.

Now, I'm off to see how other members have answered this month's question. 

Have a wonderful May!

Reflections on Good Writing and Good Writers

What makes good writing, and how do I become a better writer?  

If you are a writer you have likely considered these questions.
Certainly I have, as a writer and as a teacher of writing for many years.

Surely writing is one of the most complex things we do as humans,

and pinning down what makes good writing

is as slippery as trying to catch a pollywog in a stream.

We know good writing when we see it, but understanding what it is

and applying that understanding to improve our writing is an ongoing challenge.

Not everyone takes up that challenge the way that writers do.

Many people learn enough to be proficient writers

for their chosen path in life, plumber or phlebotomist.

And that's okay.  It's practical and proactive.

But for those of us who have chosen to write, that challenge is a lifelong passion.

Morning Pages

Aurora, Colorado, USA

June 29, 2024

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved

Do you remember the childhood magic of discovering

that you could make marks on paper and tell a story?

Few of us do because we were so young, perhaps as young as when we were toddlers.

I don't remember a time that I couldn't read or write,

but I have spent enough time in the company of young children

to see the wonder and delight in their eyes when they realize 

they can tell a story by making marks on paper with pencils, crayons, or markers.

I think storytelling must lie at the heart of what it is to be human. 

Just Scribbles?

This is my sister Bertie's earliest preserved writing at 2 years and 3 months old.

Lac Seul, Ontario, Canada

Circa June 1961

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved

At its simplest writing is visibly forming symbols

on a surface to communicate thoughts and ideas.

Whether it was a prehistoric man scratching with charcoal on a rock wall 

a Sumerian pressing a reed stylus into damp clay,

a Medieval scribe putting quill to parchment, 

or a contemporary person writing with a ballpoint pen on a notepad

or thumbing words into an iPhone,

humans have been compelled to communicate and to preserve their thoughts and ideas.

These intentions often start when we are very young.

Just scribbles?  

Take another look at my sister Bertie's earliest preserved writing,

a letter to our father.

Perhaps you missed the face, the body, or the arms holding something.

I was stunned when the scribbles first resolved into a definite image for me many years later.

Twenty-seven-month-old Bertie worked very hard on the middle section of her letter, 

and I am convinced that the person is holding our dachshund Gretchen in his or her arms.

I can see Gretchen's nose, eye, ear, and front paws.

Of course, as a reader, I am bringing my knowledge and ideas to her story,

but that is what readers do.

Bertie grew up to become a teacher,

but also the author of two published books, one fiction and the other nonfiction.

The intention to tell a story was innate in her, as it is for many writers.

Author Roberta (Bertie) Heembrock Shares Her Book Oscar the Herring Gull with Penny Graham

Penny has been a friend of our family for over 50 years.

She owns Mariner Cruises, a popular whale-watching business on Brier Island in Nova Scotia.

On the Bay of Fundy out of Westport, Nova Scotia, Canada 

July 31, 2014

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved

When we write we have the intention of communicating effectively.

The general consensus is that good writing includes structural and stylistic components,

with an additional literary component if the writing is creative. 

As writers we want to connect with our chosen audience in a meaningful way.

We want to engage readers, impact them, make them remember our writing,

whatever form it takes.

Good writing also has an emotional component, especially in creative fiction or nonfiction.

Connecting with an audience emotionally

makes writing more compelling, meaningful, and memorable.

Some might argue that Bertie's scribbles aren't true writing, 

because she is not using a recognizable language and its conventions.

Perhaps, but for its intended audience, my father, 

Bertie's scribbles would have had a lasting emotional impact.

He was flying around Northern Ontario in bush planes visiting remote Indian schools,

while my mother, we five, and Gretchen were living in a fish camp on Lac Seul.

Our father missed us terribly and was dreadfully lonely.

Portrait with Fish

Barbie, Me with my arm around Bertie, Roy, and Donnie

with three lake trout

Two Point, Lac Seul, Ontario, Canada 

Late June 1961 

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved

Gretchen with Roy, Me, Mom and Bertie

We don't have a lot of photos from this time ~ Film was expensive to buy and to process.

Attawapiskat Lake, Northern Ontario, Canada 

Early June 1961

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved

It is the emotional impact of Bertie's "story" that makes it unforgettable for me,

long after the death of my parents and our beloved Gretchen.

It makes toddler Bertie as vivid and alive to me as current Bertie. 

I would argue that her "writing" was compelling, meaningful, and memorable;

good writing.

As an IWSG Admin I have been given this platform to post on now and in the future.

My intention for new posts is to look more closely

at some of the elements of effective writing and how writers can become better writers.

What do you think makes good writing?

How do you work on becoming a better writer?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments. 

Till next time ~

Fundy Blue.

 

How to Research When All You Have is Bones and Dirt

Thank you for inviting me to your blog today, Alex, to talk about how I research. I love researching a new book almost as much as writing it, but this is the first time I’ve explained how I do that. Let me know in comments if I miss anything.

Most authors flesh out stories by reading other books or visiting digital and physical sites, but my stories occur in a time before the written word or oral stories, up to 1.8 million years ago. Events from those ancient time frames are mostly rough guesses based on whatever artifacts survived the ravages of time. Nothing preserves about the characters’ dreams, passions, inspirations, or emotions, how they handled illness, worried about threats from vicious predators, or solved problems. For a fiction story, I need to know about family, community, culture, but bones, dirt, and rocks tell little about those. As a result, the story I first wrote was more textbook than life.

It took me a long time and much outside-the-box thinking to answer the questions that would breathe life into my characters. Here’s how I did it:

• I explored the great names in my topic.
I read everything written by topical experts like the Leakey’s, Donald Johanson, Desmond Morris, Ian Tattersall, and Christopher Wills. Each time I came to a question they couldn't answer, I dug deeper, found new experts. For example, (see below), answers about counting from experts didn’t satisfy me so I read the amazing Lev Vygotsky as he explained how different societies did or didn't use numbers and counting.

• I explored academic resources like JSTOR, Google Scholar, university libraries.
At first, the words and phraseology of papers from places like the Library of Congress and the University of Notre Dame sounded foreign, but eventually, I demystified the language. Once learned, it didn’t change.

• I visited museum websites (like the Smithsonian) for early man collections
Not just one—as many as I could access. Each has its own take on evolution with varied shading and nuances. After exploring a dozen (or more), I distilled a personal understanding that breathed life into my story.

• I read raw data from archaeological digs.
It’s easy to rely on a researcher’s opinions in his published work, but I wanted the raw data so I could peek behind the curtain, draw my own conclusions. In my case, this was archeological digs like East Africa's Olduvai Gorge, South Africa's Rising Star cave system, China's Dragon Bones, and many more. 1.8 million year old remains were primarily skeletons, tools, scat, and the animal bones around them, but these told me a lot about my characters’ health and diet, communities, and more. An example is these remains never included pottery which meant berries and water must have been collected in gourds, skulls, or the intestinal sacks of large animals.

• I didn’t just seek answers to questions. I sought understanding.
For example, I wanted to know the food Neanderthals ate. Scientists provided clues from what they found in teeth and bones, what was indigenous to the land, how climatic changes drove early man one direction or another, animal routes based on land bridges that came and went. I kept at it until a picture formed in my mind of the characters' lives, what inspired their movements, what shaped their decisions. Was it herds? Water? Or maybe a search for salt?

credit – Deposit Photos

• I became them.
When writing about our oldest human species, Homo habilis, though they are extinct, their evolutionary predecessors (chimpanzees and Great Apes) remain much unchanged today. I postulated that understanding these creatures would bring sense to earliest man. So I read everything about them from the authorities like Jane Goodall, Birute Galdikas, and Dian Fossey.
Additionally, my early man characters were primarily hunter-gathers, so I explored living tribes who still practice that way of life. I read everything possible about the San, Pirahã, Pygmies, the American Indians (OK--no longer hunter gatherers, but much is written about their early lifestyle). I spent hours--days--watching videos, walking in their footsteps, hunting for food and digging up roots with them, finding water where there seemed to be none.

• I made myself aware of their surroundings.
For example, necklaces and wall paintings didn't exist in man's evolution until Neanderthals arrived. Then, something in their brains made it important to string teeth and feathers around their necks and paint symbols on the walls of their caves. It was intriguing that they'd evolved as a genus to consider those important (for reasons we don't yet know).
“The content presented in this blog are the result of creative imagination and not intended for use, reproduction, or incorporation into any artificial intelligence training or machine learning systems without prior written consent from the author.”

• Google Earth has a time slider that will take you back 100 years into the past so you can see what the land looks like. This didn’t work for me, but if you're writing about that era, it is a boon.

Overall, researching what will primarily be raw data is both exhausting and exciting, challenging and gratifying. I would always choose to find my own connections over using someone else's.

Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular prehistoric fiction saga, Man vs. Nature which explores seminal events in man’s evolution one trilogy at a time. She is also author of the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers and Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. Her non-fiction includes 100+ books on tech into education, reviews as an Amazon Vine Voice and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics.
Find Jacqui - Amazon, blog, Pinterest X, and website

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