As many of you know, I’m getting ready to publish my second novel, This Sea Within, later this year. But as I get further into the process of doing so, I’ve become lost in a swirling sea of questions that must be resolved soon. Like now. So I’m looking for input and hope you will help.

Since I’ve started formatting my novel I have to nail down the title. The working title is This Sea Within. But the working title of my first novel was From the Far Ends of the Earth, which I changed at the last minute to When Things Go Missing. I don’t want to make any last minute changes to this one. Especially since I’m ready to hire a book cover designer. So I need to nail down the title NOW.

Here are my questions for you:

Is This Sea Within a good novel title?

The title This Sea Within is supposed to evoke turbulent/passionate/restless/conflicting emotions within the protagonist as well as the world she lives in (and we live in!) It’s supposed to be give the reader the expectation that this novel will be an adventure/thriller with literary/poetic/romantic potential. The novel description and tagline will make all this clear, but as readers are scrolling through book title, they won’t know what it’s about aside from the title and book cover (which we will get to in a minute.)

So, if I go with the title This Sea Within, does it convey for you what I’m hoping it will? Or will it convey something that doesn’t line up?

For instance, I changed From the Far Ends of the Earth to When Things Go Missing when I received feedback that the first title/cover sounded/looked like a travel book, and didn’t give the reader a sense that this was a family drama saga. It did elude to a journey, which was my aim (each character parts ways as they go on their own journey to personal wholeness, and each makes their way back to each other and family wholeness at the end). But people weren’t getting that connection. When Things Go Missing gave a clearer sense of the anxiety, longing, and sense of loss that the book was about, a well as the things one does when things go missing–you go looking for what’s lost.

Should the book cover reveal my novel as book one of a series?

Or should it remain a stand-alone until book 2 is ready to publish?

The problem is that some readers might put off purchasing book one of the series until there’s a book two to read as well. They’d be more likely to purchase a standalone.

Other readers who enjoy reading series may be more likely to purchase a book one, knowing there’s another coming down the road if they enjoyed it.

The book can be read as a standalone. There are no cliff-hangers. The character arc is complete by the end of the book. And I think readers will feel satisfied by the ending and have a sense of things having come to a conclusion. However, the last chapter does refer to a new adventure that the protagonist is about to embark upon, which I hope readers will look forward to, if they enjoyed the first book

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this as a reader. And if you are also a writer who has some experience with this dilemma, I’d love to hear that also.

Should the title of the first book and the title of the series be the same, or different?

If I go with This Sea Within as the title of a stand-alone novel, there’s no problem. The cover will just include that title and the author’s name, nothing else.

But if I decide to advertise this as book one of a series, then I have this choice: I can name the book This Sea Within, Book One. Or I can have a different title for the first book, and call the whole series This Sea Within.

Many series are named after the first book in the series: The first book in The Hunger Games series is called The Hunger Games. The same with the Divergent series and Throne of Glass and Twilight.

Or, since book 2 and book 3 will have unique names under the Sea Within series banner, I could give the first book a unique name as well. Maybe something like:

THIS SEA WITHIN

Restless Uprising, Book 1

What would you advise?

Which of these book covers do you like most?

When looking for a cover designer I needed to give them a sense of what I was looking for in a cover, as well as examples of covers I liked that could serve as inspiration.

Here’s what I told the designers:

My series is an epic adventure and love story. It has a romantasy vibe, but it’s historical fiction set in the 70’s in Central America during a revolution. Mayan myth, poetry, and art play major roles, but its central theme is the tumultuous sea, symbolizing everlasting love as well as endless conflict, as history repeats itself. I’m looking for a collage-like cover that can weave together important elements from the novel, or something with a Gaugin feel that conveys a sense of adventure and romance, as well as peril in an exotic setting.

Here are some covers that I love. The first 3 are by Micaela Alcaino. Unfortunately, she’s not available to design mine. The next one is by Richard Ljoenes, who I’ve reached out to, and the last two are by Owen Gent, who designed the cover for my first novel, When Things Go Missing.

Which covers stand out to you or would draw you in as a reader?

What I’m looking for is combined in the two trends described below in Book Cover Trends for This Year

Visual worlds built layer by layer

These covers reward curious readers. At first glance, they feel rich and atmospheric—but up close, they reveal layers of intricate details, ornaments, symbols, and storytelling elements woven into the design.

Illustrations are dense and intentional: borders, patterns, hidden motifs, and carefully crafted scenes all work together to build a complete visual world. Every element feels placed with purpose, inviting readers to slow down, explore, and discover something new each time they look.

Genres: Fantasy, Mythology-inspired Fiction, Cozy Fantasy, Epic Adventure.

 Covers that feel like real works of art

This trend embraces imagery inspired by fine art: painterly textures, expressive brushstrokes, and compositions that feel handcrafted rather than digitally polished.

Instead of chasing realism, these covers lean into emotion, atmosphere, and symbolism. The artwork feels timeless, intimate, and often slightly imperfect, which makes it more human and memorable. Such covers invite readers to pause, look closer, and feel something before they even read the blurb.

This approach works beautifully for stories that value depth, reflection, and literary weight, where the cover sets the emotional tone rather than explains the plot.

Of course, this is all so subjective, but I’ve found that getting feedback from others helps me to narrow down my choices or rethink them. Just putting together this post helped me to clarify what my choices are.

I really would welcome any thoughts you have on any of this.

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BREAKING NEWS! The cover of my novel When Things Go Missing was listed in Reedsy’s 20 Best Book Covers for 2025. It was one of two literary book covers chosen. Here’s what they wrote about the covers:

Literary Fiction

Literary fiction may not technically be a standalone genre, but that won’t stop us from including our two favourite lit fic covers on this list!

Author Deborah J. Brasket knew she’d found her foundation for When Things Go Missing when she discovered Colorful Architecture, a public-domain painting by Paul Klee. This presented designer Owen Gent with a unique challenge: how could he transform a piece of fine art into a functional book cover, while still honoring the spirit of the original?

Owen started with some minor tweaks to the original artwork, then added a few narrative-friendly elements like the whited-out house and silhouette. One fittingly elegant font later, and voilà: a book cover that bridges the gap between gallery and bookshelf.

Jackson Cleary’s Searching for Her is a novel about a deranged young man’s search for his soulmate, which designer Richard L. captured with an appropriately unhinged collage. Richard layers a number of disparate elements around a young woman’s face — vintage maps of Los Angeles, palm trees, streets signs, and newspaper clippings — to create a visual representation of the protagonist’s scattered psyche. The hand-lettered title scrawled across torn pink paper adds a raw, urgent energy as well.

I can’t thank Owen enough for working on this with me. I’ve reached out to him and to Richard to see if either of them are available to design my cover. Fingers crossed.

When Things Go Missing is available at at Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, and other major outlets.