We all know the well-worn phrase “show, don’t tell” as it relates to writing. It means many things. All taken together, I believe it urges us as writers to use creativity to paint pictures, describe a setting or character or move along a story plot, rather than just stringing together words like paste jewels onto a cheap chain.

I’m learning bonsai tree pruning, and it reminds me so much of the editing process. You do a snip here and there, stand back, look at the whole tree. Then you see another place that needs snipping, and another. At a certain point, you have a perfect balance between the architecture of the tree trunk and limbs and the flow of the branches and leaves. That’s what you’re looking for in your writing.

We can’t help it. We look at the outer packaging and assess a number of things – is it a quality product? Does the information tell us what we need to know about what’s inside? How do we feel when we look at it? Does its outer packaging make us want to see what’s under the wrapping?

In the case of book covers, this is even more true. We know from numerous book buying surveys that a book’s cover design is an important influencer in purchasing decisions.