Choosing cover models - it's rough!

If you're writing a sci-fi fantasy book, there are an infinite number of ways to visually convey the vibe/ flavor / style of your story. The background will likely be spacey, with ships, or lasers, or something to hint at the most intense parts.

If your book is a hilarious chick lit tale, you'll be using bright colors, possibly with a New York skyline backdrop. This shows the guts of the story instantly.

The vibe of the cover gets people to read the title.
The title (and subtitle) gets people to read the blurb.
The blurb gets people to buy the book.

So you understand how crucial it is to capture attention from the first glance.

Right now in the steamy romance short reads category, around 80% of the covers are of shirtless (or open shirted) burly men. That visual tells you within seconds that it's a steamy romance, with some kind of sexy muscular dude. The kind of guy to make all of the heroine's problems go away, so that she can end up living the perfect life we all fantasize about.

Right? Right.

So if beefy dudes are selling books, I need to have beefy dudes on my covers.

Listen.

Do you have ANY idea how many hours I've spent scouring page after page of shirtless, sweaty bodybuilders? Of bearded lumberjacks? Of men with rippled abs who just happen to be pulling their t-shirt off at the exact moment a photographer happened by?

It's a lot. I mean, a LOT.

Because it's not just enough to have a big, fit dude. If his eyes are showing in the shot, he needs to look sharp. Intelligent and caring. Not a drooling idiot, or overly aggressive. Maybe he needs tattoos, for this particular story. But they have to be the right kind, of course. Maybe he's a bodybuilder in the story, or maybe his muscles have to look more natural, since he's a roofer or an electrician.

And he can't be wearing a backwards baseball hat, or bizarre jewelry. (To that one model: that's too many chains. What are you, Mr. T.?)

It's even harder when you write in a series and need three dudes who look vaguely similar. Not just the size and proportions, but the lighting and coloring. Some of that I can fix a bit, but they have to start off in the same ballpark.

It's easier when it's a billionaire series, since all you need is a great jawline and a sharp, dark suit. With Sir Chesty McAbhunk, there's a sweet spot between "strong" and "way too puffy and veiny" that is a bit of a tightrope walk.

Which means plenty of hours surveying stock photo sites, using all kinds of search words to find the perfect trio of dudes who are handsome enough, buff enough, and have vaguely similar lighting.

Author life is pretty darn weird sometimes.

In other news, I now have to search for three hot firemen cover models. Wish me luck!