Glossy or Matte: The great debate.

I was having trouble deciding if I want a glossy cover or a matte cover on my soon-to-be-released novel, Silver Awakening. I hold a BFA with a photography emphasis, and when it comes to photo prints I know that I prefer the mature look of a lustre finish, which is semi gloss, a balance between matte and glossy. Then, as I looked at some of my favorite book covers, I noticed they were all matte finishes. So, I ordered my print proof in matte. I'm second guessing myself tonight though, which is normal for me. I keep thinking, "Wouldn't glossy make the title pop off the image and enhance the glow effect more than matte?" 

I have debated a million times over the details of this book, like page inserts for example. "Do I add page inserts to make the chapters always start on the right side, or not? Don't I want to separate the copyright page from the dedication?" Page inserts drive up the cost though, which I think is already pretty high. I had to price my book a few dollars higher than I had intended just so I could maintain a decent profit margin across the various distribution channels. I guess it's kind of a long book compared to some others in the fantasy/paranormal category, but it doesn't seem that long reading it. It's not like Game of Thrones or the last four Harry Potters in length. Mine's only 328 pages total. My husband says I'm stressing about details that nine out of ten people would never even consider. "Okay. Fine. I'm obsessing. It's my baby. What can I say?"

In the end, frugality wins over most of my preferences, and I hope it's not a noticeable loss. But the pagination of the interior is all me, exactly how I envisioned, precisely as I had asked for from my formatter...which wasn't a cinch to get to, but it got there. I asked for drop cap. I got drop cap. I asked for the moon graphic on the chapter headers with the chapter number and title centered on it. That's what I got. It's beautiful, how I imagined it could be. Besides, if I wanted to change it now to add additional inserts, my formatter would have to go back and renumber pages, which at this point would be another additional cost to me. So, my penny-pinching self is settled on the interior. Now, if I could just come to terms with the cover...Matte?...Glossy?...Matte?...

I'm excited to see the print proof though! Looky...it's on it's way!!



JNP