Book Covers

Book covers are important, they draw people in, make them want to read and tell something about whats inside. And getting one designed for an ebook can be expensive.
But that's not why I did my own.
I like completing a project. The cover is part of the whole book and I do have some things I want to show. And I love art. I paint, draw and do other kind of brochure, design work on the side so the book cover is something I want to do.
In Soul Mates the main character goes to heaven; see sky and clouds. She comes back to earth as a dog; see paw prints.
Now I worry that this cover is a bit simplistic. I worry if people will get the right message. I want the readers who like dogs and maybe a bit of the heaven-god story peeps too.
The only thing I don't have is the actual dog and I vacillated quite a bit over finding a dog to put on the cover. Then I wondered if this wasn't your kind of dog would you turn away because it wasn't the dog sitting at your feet. So dog came off the cover and now I wonder if THAT was the right move. Decisions, decisions, decisions.... So? Opinions?

Next Project

As I wait for Soul Mates to go up on the Kindle store I'm contemplating my next project. I have several books finished in first draft but need to think about genre. Blurb for Soul Mates: After a tragic death on mean city streets, a woman meets God and begs him to let her reincarnate to bring the heavenly message of unconditional love to the world. Follow the adventure when she is tossed back to earth as one of the smallest dogs on the planet.
So should I stay in the same genre. I mean if I want to create a name for myself? What if my next book is a tad darker? Serial killers, demons, darkness...would I blow my chance at forming a readership? I'm guessing people who like animals and feel good stories should like this story.
Or should I come up with something softer, more in line with Soul Mates? I do have a few ideas. I also have a Vampire story I'm having fun writing but that is so far out of left field that I'm thinking it wouldn't make good next book for the Kindle store. So now I spend my writing times rocking back and forth on which to work on, what should I be aiming for and playing with my T-shirt designs. Crazy Painter T's

It's close...almost ready to upload to Amazon's Kindle store. Editing, editing and more editing, cover work, formatting problems, formatting solutions and now...soon...up it goes.
This is scary as hell.
It's like telling the world to take your talent, ego, and hopes of success and tie them up in a big knot and stomp on them. Fold, spindle, mutilate. And this is only a novela. Something small and cute. Not the giant wordy thrillers I've been trying to pare down. I'm putting this up as a test. Can I really do this? Be the writer I see in my heart? Actually sell a book?
Scary
Exciting
Scary
Exciting
>insert deep heartfelt sigh here<
In the mean time I'm working on another book. A more serious book far away from the genre of the first. (that worries me--that my writing spans several genres and how am I ever going to develop a following?)
And I'm making T-shirt designs. Crazy Painter T's
It's what I do when I'm not writing or painting because sitting still isn't an option. If I sit still I think about these the scary prospect of strangers reading and critiquing my work. I know you can't please everyone. I'm really not interested in trying. But still...
Scary
Exciting
How do you guys shove your work out there and still stay sane? Does it get easier with the next book? Does the anxiety ever go away?