Judging a book by its cover
Posted by Darlene on 04 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Craft, Promotion
There are many things an author can control in her book. How long it is (more or less), whether there’s a HEA ending (of course!), what color hair her hero and heroine have.
One thing beyond her control? Cover art.
I hear readers say, “Why does such a wonderful book have a cover like that?” I think people not involved in the industry think the art department and publishers actually listen to what authors suggest! That’s seldom the case.
I’ve been fortunate in that my covers have all been outstanding, though not always what I envisioned. For example, Pirate’s Price featured a red rose, and my second book, Smuggler’s Bride, had orange blossoms as a theme. So when the publisher asked me what I wanted for Smuggler’s Bride, I said, “Why not put orange blossoms on the cover, keeping with the flowers motif?”
What I got was an orange blossom–an orange rose. It’s a lovely orange rose, and I like the cover a lot, but something got lost in the translation there. Incidentally, my third book, Captain Sinister’s Lady, was done by the same artist and this time had a passionately purple rose.
I wondered where the artist would go with my upcoming release, The Bride and the Buccaneer. I dutifully filled out the author form, describing the hero and heroine, the setting, the year, and some of the themes. I got back an absolutely lovely cover, which you can see here. It’s not at all what I envisioned, but that’s why I’m the author and not the artist. It’s the artist’s job to know what will sell books. It’s my job to write said books.
When I look at my cover it says “Romance! Pirates! Bride!” That’s selling my story even before the cover’s opened. I’m optimistic that when the book is released in December, it will appeal to readers who won’t even know how good the story is (and it is good), but will be attracted first by the cover.
So if you see a good book with a horrific cover, have a moment’s pity for the author. And if you’re attracted to a book by its cover, have a kind thought for the artist, whose job it is to attract you to the books like bees are attracted to roses. Even the orange ones.