New Cover, Tag, & Galley Proofs

by Elva Cobb Martin

Drum Roll! Here’s the new cover of my inspirational romantic suspense novel, Summer of Deception, being released by Pelican Book Group in March. 

Tag: A wounded warrior, a woman searching for answers. Can she  risk all to uncover the truth?

Nicola Martinez, Editor-in-Chief of Pelican, designed this cover, and I think she did an excellent job. In my next blog I'll describe the information requested from me to help her build this cover and what you can do to get ready for your cover!

Next to seeing the cover design, I really do love to see the galley proofs of the novel. The interior is designed like it will be in the final printed book and it finally looks like a book.

The important thing to remember is that the galley is the last chance to make any small changes, like catch a misspelled word. BIG editing changes would have already been made in other edit rounds. Also the galley comes to you in a pdf file. Any changes you need to make have to be listed on a separate sheet of paper and sent to your editor in a list like:
Page ____  Line _____Edit _______

I am so happy this publisher numbered the lines in the galley so I can easily list the line number if I find an error. Another editor asked me to count paragraphs with no line numbers! 

Here's a sample of the galley proof and first lines of Summer of Deception. Of course when you try to copy from a pdf, you do lose a lot of the format. But this gives you an idea.

Chapter One

5

6 Charleston, South Carolina

7

8 Rachel York gasped when the taxi headlights

9 pierced the stormy night and illuminated Barrett Hall

10 in all its southern grandeur. Her travel fatigue faded,

11 and she leaned forward, energized, as the cab

12 crunched its way up the tree-lined shell drive to the

13 entrance. At the gate, she exited the auto with her

14 umbrella extended, and the taxi driver placed her large

15 bag and tote at her side. Rachel thanked him, paid him,

16 and hurried up the front walk, pulling her valise

17 behind her. The vehicle disappeared down the drive,

18 and darkness closed in as she made her way up the

19 front steps.

20 On the wide porch, she propped her umbrella

21 beside her suitcase, took a deep breath, and tried to

22 ignore a shiver of disquiet that traveled up her spine.

23 She would discover the truth. This summer job in

24 Charleston was her first step.

I try to ask at least two dear writer friends to help proof the galley with me, mainly to catch misspelled words that can manage to creep in.

I also like to set aside blocks of time to proof the galley at a few sittings so I can keep a good grasp of the story and details.

How do you like the cover?  Have you gotten to the galley stage? Would love to hear your comments. And please do click on the social media buttons below and share this article if you liked it.

Elva Cobb Martin