Comments on: Publishers: Want to Improve Sales?

By: Jessica Leader

Jessica Leader — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 23:42:56 +0000

I don’t think that’s a side point at all! I want a cover that intrigues me and wonder what the story’s about.

In addition, when I’m teaching literature, I always ask students to get themselves into the story by looking hard at the cover. If the cover’s a wash, or just a mood with no relation to the story, that can be confusing. So many young readers have a hard enough time getting inside stories as it is, and a purposefully designed cover could get them hooked.

I still remember, years ago, leading a 7th-grade class through previewing the “To Kill a Mockingbird” cover with the tree, the hollowed-out trunk, the mockingbird… Some of the students hit on events that turned out to be in the story, and some WAY-overanalyzed certain visual details to the point of my giggles, but they got themselves involved, and that made them love the book even more.

By: Ginny

Ginny — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 22:33:19 +0000

Elizabeth, thanks for this post! Sourcebooks would love to do this! Look for a note from us via email next Tuesday.

By: C. Stone

C. Stone — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:00:21 +0000

I agree! Once upon a time I remembered manipulated photo art being rare for a book cover and now they’re everywhere with the same range of poses (cut off heads, full view of the torsos, etc.) What I dislike the most is when some of “newer” editions of book switch to this style when the old drawn artwork was perfectly fine. For example, the Harry Potter books. Yes not everyone agreed with the original covers but I find that they had more character than the ones that are a photograph of a goblet or locket. I remember Mercedes Lackey books having gorgeous covers. The last YA series I discovered had this abstract almost animation style of drawing and it pulled me in more than the neighbouring books. We do judge books by their covers whether we mean to or not but seriously, in marketing, looks do count for something.

By: Audrey Auden

Audrey Auden — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 05:10:48 +0000

Thanks for a great post! I’m going to be getting a cover designed soon, and you’ve convinced me to go around to my bookstore friends and get their feedback on the comps.

By: Dianna Winget

Dianna Winget — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:05:47 +0000

The scariest thing about all this is how subjective it is. Maybe one reader loves a cover while another is completely turned off. My debut middle grade, “A Smidgen of Sky,” will be out next fall and cover concepts are being discussed right now. This is my first experience with book cover design so I’ll be holding my breath and hoping for a terrific cover.

By: The Wife

The Wife — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 23:12:51 +0000

I don’t blame you. I also wonder why sellers don’t carry all the books in a series. I was reading a series of Kresley Cole paranormal romances (she has like 10 in the series). The local bookstore had ALL of them — except book 4. And they had no intention of ordering book 4. Even when I requested it. I eventually had to order it online. I guess I just don’t understand how a lot of these decisions are made. BTW, some of her covers are very stereotypical (half-faced, bare-chested men, or a clinch, though the cover for A Hunger Like No Other was a *little* different) and there are a couple where the cover characters don’t resemble those in the book (and in one case was very off-putting). Though in one book, Demon From the Dark, the cover model was almost a dead ringer for the male character — it was really well done. I think her series of books (and the reprints) is a good example of changing tastes in covers. Even when they were better without the “popular” adaptations.

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:17:16 +0000

As an avid and high volume reader, fledgling writer and professional artisan, I completely agree about book covers. I have seen (and bought!) covers that I wanted on my walls, but there are an increasing number of “eh, whatever” covers. And a good cover WILL make me pick up a book, especially if it seems to have at least a little to do with the book’s subject.

Recent example: the awesomely cool steampunk dragon on the cover/spine of Havemercy is why I picked it up, and the back cover blurb did the rest of the job of getting me to buy it.

By: Elizabeth Bluemle

Elizabeth Bluemle — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:09:02 +0000

E-books are a completely different animal, I agree. As a bricks-and-mortar bookseller, I have to be concerned with what I’m selling on my sales floor. : )

By: The Wife

The Wife — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 21:17:54 +0000

Elizabeth, With the advent of ereaders, iphones, ipods, and ipads (as well as other tablets, laptops and desktops), one doesn’t even have to SEE the cover. Most of my eBooks? I’ve NEVER seen the covers for. I have an ereader and I have kindle apps on my devices, so aside from the ~6,000 paper/hardbacks, I have another ~1,000 or so electronic books. I don’t think that, with so many electronic options available and in use, most teens are going to be overly swayed by the nature of the cover.

And few are getting their books from the library (maybe a few more from the bookstore) so it’s not as if they’re having to be embarrassed by their choice in purchases because of the covers. I mean, think about these ebook releases. Have you seen the covers??? Ellora’s Cave, for example, puts out some of the most HIDEOUS sim/cgi covers you can imagine. And the m/m, m/f/m (or any other combination of “menage”) books are the WORST.

I really don’t think cover art is going to have too much of an impact on the youth market. I do believe, however, that it will continue to have an impact with “older” readers, since they are more inclined to purchase the physical books as opposed to the ebooks, and are still more likely to be swayed by the cover content (assuming they’re not just purchasing books by the authors they are rabidly devoted to).

By: The Wife

The Wife — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:56:24 +0000

Elizabeth, you should click on my name. Just sayin’.