I thought I would share my thought process behind the working cover for a novelette that I (Belem, not that staid and more conventional Rupert guy) wrote over the Christmas period.
Synopsis: Nikki is invited to a very different type of Christmas party where she and her friend Carole, among other people, will be the Christmas gifts, to be presented to other party guests for their delectation and delight.
The photo: I purchased this from CanStock, which offers royalty-free download and usage deals without any restrictions on what kind of works the images can be used in. If you read the Terms and Conditions for many stock image suppliers, they often have blanket clauses against the image being used in erotic or pornographic works.
The image is of a naughty girl in a Santa helper uniform. I think that sort of meshes with the subject matter.
I would have preferred the image be of a 40-something woman, but stock photo agencies tend not to put middle-aged women in these kinds of images. Alas.
The sub-title: “A Nikki Adventure” is a marketing and IP protection frame. Nikki will be appearing in other novellas (in fact, as I write this, I am percolating her next adventure). So I framed the sub-title to brand Nikki Adventure, which allows for an entire novella or novel series to appear and expand over time. It also allows me to copyright a book series named Nikki Adventures, if that is legally smart.
This is a working cover. If and when this novella is publicly published, I expect to have a pro create a new custom cover.