tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967179224372520114.post2586888447912288196..comments2024-01-12T02:52:06.482-06:00Comments on what women write: Judging Books By Their CoversUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967179224372520114.post-16798256384728297042013-05-04T09:42:16.603-05:002013-05-04T09:42:16.603-05:00Mel, you are absolutely right on so many points he...Mel, you are absolutely right on so many points here. I think the cover tells the potential reader the genre (Sci-fi? Romance? "Literary" fiction?) and I think you are spot-on about what boys and men tend to read. What baffles me is the trend to produce so many similar covers-- remember when all the women on covers were photos taken from the back, or they were headless? We still see a lot of that in women's fiction, which is strange to me (Is the reader supposed to imagine themselves as the heroine? Maybe.) And these portrait outlines are appealing, but so similar it's jarring.<br />As for my cover... who knows. It's not in my hands, and from what I've heard from other published authors they have very little say-so in cover choice. (Our own Julie had a drastic cover change decision made by her marketing team right before publication.) At this point, I'm just trying to complete the best draft I can for my agent and then pray for her to do her magic. The rest is out of my control!Susan Ishmael-Pouloshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14902604968932512324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967179224372520114.post-59806596823747061072013-05-04T09:28:58.282-05:002013-05-04T09:28:58.282-05:00Suze,
Loved this post! I, too, am intrigued with ... Suze,<br />Loved this post! I, too, am intrigued with book covers and much of my daily work involves convincing my young library patrons--by way of the cover--that a book is worth checking out. I remember learning in my library media grad classes that the psychology involved in marketing books to young (and old) readers is something publishers and librarians should take very seriously. We even learned that boys are much more likely to check out a book that is smaller because it may fit in their pocket. Boys are also especially hesitant to check out books with covers that are in any way "girly." We often weed out our old books (with the painted 1960-70s covers) because there's no way in hell that the students will check them out. Simply getting a new, updated edition of a book can put it right back into circulation. <br /> <br />Yesterday my English department colleagues were chuckling about some of their senior girls who had gone out and bought Wuthering Heights and were asking their English teacher if she had heard of it. They were smitten. She was pretty sure they had picked it because the new WH cover (something involving a ribbon or rose as handcuffs?) looked strikingly similar to some of the Fifty Shades books, which the girls had their hands on the week before. (Yes. Sad, I know. Worse than our generation’s sneaky reading of Norma Klein and the later Judy Blume books?) <br /> <br />My bibliophile friends and I have also discussed how we hate it when publishers come out with the movie tie-in book covers. It seems almost a sacrilege to us, but I’m sure it boosts sales, and I guess we can stomach the whole thing if it gets our young folks to read those good books. The latest “blasphemy” making the media rounds is the new Great Gatsby cover. I have to admit, I think Leonardo makes a damn fine looking Gatsby, but I do lament the loss of the iconic eyes and lips on blue.<br /> <br />Do you have fantasy sketches of what your first book cover will look like? Do authors have a say in that decision? I can’t wait to see yours on a bookstore shelf. I will mostly certainly move it around for optimum placement. Love to you!<br /><br />Melissa<br />Melissa.Ashbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05198830226674247176noreply@blogger.com