Welcome to Najla Qamber Designs! We’re all about bringing your vision to life one pixel at a time. When we glance back at our portfolio, we're reminded how lucky we are to have worked with so many amazing authors and small presses. Today we're highlighting contemporary romance author, Maria Luis. Maria is the author of the sexy Blood Duet, NOLA Heart and Blades Hockey series. Below we share some of our favorite covers, including her latest Put A Ring On It series!
A Word On Branding
It’s important for authors to treat writing like a business. You aren’t just selling books, you’re selling yourself or as most people call it, your brand. While it’s not a requirement to use the same designer for all aspects of branding, it definitely helps give you a unified and professional consistency. Maria's covers are fantastic because they showcase this consistency. You know exactly what you're buying - fun and sexy contemporary romance, like the NOLA Series:
A Word from the Designer
I remember Maria's very first email requesting a cover design. It was such a formal email (ha!) to book time to design 'Power Play' the first book in the Blades of Hockey series we did together. After that initial email, and the very first book cover together, we ended up booking a cover every like 2 months and it has become so weird not to have Maria's name popping up in my emails every now and then. She's an absolute blast to work with. Especially, when we pick sexy guys and couples for her covers (wink wink). Though I wasn't the original designer of the NOLA series, it was super fun continuing these bright and sexy covers (with the original designer's permission, of course - she did an amazing job!). I'm honored to be part of her writing journey. Plus, she's SOOOO easy to work with, I count myself as the lucky one.
A Word from the Author
I like to think that the relationship between designer and author is a bit like a marriage. Well, I hit the jackpot. Not only is Najla one of my favorite people (ever) in the book world, but she stuns me with each and every book cover that she designs for me - and this is no exaggeration. I don't know how she does it, but she always seems to deliver on the very first try. Actually, I think I have a few emails in my inbox with me saying something along the lines of (with lots of caps and exclamation points), "I don't want to change a thing. It's perfect!!!"
Najla is both a designer and a mind-reader, that's for sure. With each new series, I love how we breakdown the feel of the series - what emotions do we want to emulate to the reader? What sort of vibe are we looking for? It might be weird to say, but I always tend to think of each session as making "our" cover rather than "my" cover. While I might choose the models and indicate the vibe of the book, it's Najla who brings the cover to life and nails it every time. I'm super lucky to have Najla in this author journey!
Coming Soon!
About the Author
Maria Luis is the author of sexy contemporary romances, though she may or may not have (read: she does) a few historical romances hiding in the cobwebs of her computer.
When she's not writing about strong men and the sassy women who sweep them off their feet, Maria is a historian/content marketing buff with a specialization in medieval England and 19th century New Orleans. What do the two eras have in common, you ask? Not much, except for disease, scandalous activities, and crime--Maria's favorite topics.
Maria lives in New Orleans with her better half, where she can generally be found hiking with her two dogs, Zeus and Athena, kayaking in Louisiana's intercoastal waterways, or curled up on the couch with a good book.