Comments on: How Covers Can Go Wrong and What to Do About It

By: Bill Giovannetti

Bill Giovannetti — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:20:33 +0000

Fun conversation, and it shows that you can’t please everyone. It’s art, not science.

Now, for my scientific evaluation…

The first cover (Smotherhood) is mean looking, and grouchy. The second is too busy, but I prefer it. I love the tagline, and the title Smotherly Love.

I could not make out the title (Bad Ground) on the first 2 choices… I like the typography of option 3 with the picture from option 1. I agree with others who say that 2,3, and 4 have a more feminine feel. I would not think “underground miner tough guys” from those covers.

Finally, my friend, whom you might possibly have quoted about the cover of his/her first book remembers saying, exactly… “I want to beat it to death with a hammer.” To which, you reputedly replied, “Ummmm, now I want to beat it to death with a sledgehammer.”

Love this stuff.

Bill

How to Keep Your Inner Mess From Trashing Your Outer World, (which has a GREAT COVER!
Check it out: http://tr.im/ruCr)

By: Janet

Janet — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:03:40 +0000

I don’t like either of the Smother covers, but the first one is especially off-putting. It’s ugly and the conflict makes it even uglier. I don’t sense any wisdom or humour here, so why would I look twice?

In the case of the four covers, the last one reminds me most of women’s fiction. In my case, that doesn’t draw me, but I’m not very mainstream. The second one appeals to me the least. The colours are drab and I get almost no feel about the story at all. It looks like a literary book about alienation.

By: Janet Grant

Janet Grant — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:55:03 +0000

So which covers ultimately were chosen for the two last titles in the blog? Smotherly Love won out over Smotherhood. And the third version of the Bad Ground cover was the one that appeared on that book.
What a great conversation, especially since opinions were so diverse.

By: Lynn Rush

Lynn Rush — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:30:50 +0000

Wow. Thanks for sharing the choices ultimately made on these.

Very interesting. This was fun.

By: Lenore Buth

Lenore Buth — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:06:02 +0000

Janet, thanks for giving visual images along with your clear explanations. They help a lot.

I agree with you about the cake books. First and third appeal, but the second leaves me uninterested.

I’d choose Smotherly Love, because Smotherhood so clearly looks like a mother and a teen screaming at each other. That doesn’t look like a fun read. Besides, it’s tricky to convey teens on a book cover using art or a photograph. Too many variations in development and personal style exist. This cartoon captures the one universal: the facial expression, with the cartoon hinting at a light touch.

As for the last group, I choose the first cover. It shows the setting and clues me these two men interact in an unusual and risky world. I’d change the title font, however, because it’s hard to read. Number three wins on that score.

Now, am I the only one who wants to know Erica Neone’s dream publisher?

By: susanne

susanne — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:24:57 +0000

The covers with food and the corresponding titles could be very misleading, giving the impression they are cookbooks. The fiction titles below are wonderful. Covers are so important that I’m negotiating cover art control with the publisher that will be publishing my three fantasy books. Thankfullly, they are willing to give me the moon and stars and let me bring in the artist I’ve chosen and design all the typeface. I know this is unusual, but art chosen for fantasy covers is crucial and I’d rather not be published if I get covers I don’t like. These wonderful publishers respect my vision and love the artist I’ve picked.

By: Erica Naone

Erica Naone — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:26:00 +0000

Strong preference for the third Bad Ground cover. #2 and #4 look too sentimental to me. The first one is all right, but doesn’t grab me.

By: Janet Grant

Janet Grant — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:14:19 +0000

Thanks, everyone, for expressing your opinions on the covers. It’s fascinating to see what draws/repels each of us, isn’t it?
Later in the day, I’ll let you know which covers were selected for Smotherhood/Smotherly Love and Bad Ground.

By: Genre Reviewer

Genre Reviewer — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:18:58 +0000

I’m female, I don’t tend to read popular/book club books, but I do read some “guy” books. For “Bad Ground,” I would pick up book cover #1 and seriously consider getting the book. I’d probably give cover #4 a second look and read the back cover. Both of these covers imply “dangerous work involving rock” to me and cover #4 suggests a large human element.

I’d think “nice cover” for cover #3, but the problem for me is that it looks too much like a book club book, and I’d be thinking it’s about an abused kid running away from home.

Cover #2 gives me little clue what it’s about–maybe a father and son with relationship problems, or maybe a mob or spy suspense novel. I wouldn’t look stop to give this cover a closer look.

I’m quite interested to see what cover was chosen.

By: Lynn Dean

Lynn Dean — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:43:23 +0000

I would definitely pick up Smotherly Love over Smotherhood. In fact, the cover of Smotherhood made me dislike the book before I even read the summary. The mother looks domineering, the daughter like a rebellious brat, and the title seems to ridicule an honored calling. Smotherly Love, on the other hand, implies with humor that sometimes with all the best intentions we can go a little wrong. Even in a thumbnail version, the characters’ expressions convey the title and subtitle. If I had the book in hand, I’d likely read all the busy little cliches, just to see if I was guilty of any, and then I’d flip over and read the back to see why the author thought they were a problem in parent-child relationships.

The second set was harder. I really like the first cover option. It’s bold and manly, gives me a hint about the setting, and plants a few questions. BUT if you want to convey a book club read that even women would enjoy, then I’d say the third conveys more of the human aspect of the story. Reveals little about the action, though, and might lose a few men in the attempt to convince women that a story about a tunneling machine could also be tender. That’s a pretty big order, I think.