Comments on: Best of the Blog 2009: Why a Book Cover Matters Anyway

By: janetgrant

janetgrant — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:29:01 +0000

Actually, Lenore and Eva, authors should have a say in their covers unless they are publishing with a house, such as Harlequin, that is producing so many titles each month they couldn’t possibly involve authors in the process. I always negotiate in my clients’ contracts that they will be consulted on the cover. How publishers interpret the word “consulted” varies tremendously. Some publishers are so committed to authors approving of the cover that they try not to move forward with a cover until the author agrees. Other publishers let the author see the cover but don’t take into consideration the author’s opinion of it. As an agent, I push for the author to have a chance to give input that is seriously considered.

By: Eva Ulian

Eva Ulian — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:24:48 +0000

Leonore, sorry if my comment just above yours misled you. I believe authors do not have much of a say as to the choice of the cover with traditional publishers. But since I am self-publishing, I have to do it myself, that’s why I found Janet’s post extremely useful.

By: Lenore Buth

Lenore Buth — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:20:57 +0000

Great post. Do authors typically get to choose our book covers? Or to have input? That would be welcome and wonderful, but in my experience with four books published by the same publisher, that hasn’t happened. When the books came out I, like everyone else, saw them for the first time. Nobody asked me.

Reading your post (and Tricia Goyer’s blog at the time) makes me think I was incredibly naive. Or does this vary from publisher to publisher?

By: Eva Ulian

Eva Ulian — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:36:00 +0000

Thank you Janet for this post, such useful advice which I shall ponder upon when choosing my book cover.

By: janetgrant

janetgrant — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:27:19 +0000

In terms of book covers often looking as if they were designed by one firm, sometimes publishers do get in a rut. I remember several years ago walking into a bookstore and being assaulted by the lineup of purple book covers. It’s as if the designers all designed it was the pick-me-up color for books that year. But that just means all the books blend together. Another year, a number of covers had the same stock photo, cropped a little differently for each cover but still easily identifiable. These are the times that try publishing companies and authors’ souls.

By: Britt

Britt — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:42:12 +0000

I think the playdough book looks a bit boring. Maybe I’m just tacky and don’t appreciate the more simple covers.

By: Camille

Camille — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:37:27 +0000

I love all of Seth Godin’s posts. As for the covers, I like “The Help” best, though I agree with whoever said they were more interested once they knew what the book was about. That cover could have benefited from a little extra text, as with the “Julie and Julia” cover.

However, since “The Help” is a novel, the title and cover would be enough to get me to look at the flap and back (as Godin pointed out).

By: Nicole

Nicole — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:11:46 +0000

Sometimes it’s easier to describe what I don’t like as far as covers go. I don’t like covers which seem to have nothing to do with the story–at least none that I can see. Through blog tours I’ve read a couple of novels whose covers didn’t do the story justice and even eluded to a different genre than the story actually told. I never would have bought the book from the cover design and the back cover copy, but the story was so much better than the blurb and worth reading.
The zombie cover will definitely reach its target audience. The other covers don’t float my boat, and I wouldn’t pick them off the shelves, although I think Julie and Julia’s cover is just right for the book.
I liked the cover of The Passion of Mary-Margaret and loved the story. Sometimes revealing faces influences how we imagine a character before we even learn about them. It’s a risk.
I actually prefer darker colors, but it does depend on the uniqueness of the design. For a while there it looked like a lot of novels from different houses selected the same designs and colors for their novels. Not a good idea, huh?

By: Cat Woods

Cat Woods — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:56:52 +0000

I’m a visual buyer. I won’t purchase a cookbook that doesn’t have pictures of the finished product. In that respect, I like to see what I’m getting.

To that end, I have never given it a thought as to how much the book cover plays a part in my desire to buy.

Thanks for the post. It gives me something concrete to focus on the next time I’m in the book store.

By: Janet Grant

Janet Grant — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:20:58 +0000

Hugh, I did check out your cover. It’s a good cover in that it suggests possible genres–sci fi would be my top guess, but speculative fiction of some sort.
It’s not a great cover because it’s trying to say too much. Why do we have the hand touching the planet in addition to the faces on the cover? Personally, I would eliminate the faces because they make the cover overreach. But, lest the designer take offense, please keep in mind I’m just one person, and as you can see by the comments on this post, opinions can vary.