By Caroline Clemmons
As Suzanne Rossi’s post shared yesterday, book covers have
changed dramatically through the decades. She started with a 1914 cover and
moved forward. The difference was startling.
In the years I’ve been published, covers have also changed.
Consider, for instance, the cover of my first published book, BE MY GUEST, by
Kensington below on the left. I hated this cover! For one thing, the hero is described in the
book as having dark hair. For another, the heroine is described as having
auburn hair, not orange. I don’t know what the blouse bulging between buttons
represents, but I thought the image awful. But, this sale made me a published
author, and I loved that.
So, when I regained the rights to my book, I republished—adding
in all the suspense that had been cut to fit the line’s requirements. I used a
Jimmy Thomas stock photo against a spring photo I’d taken (photo above in middle). I was never happy with
that cover. Recently, Skhye Moncrief updated that cover for me with a couple
who fit the characters’ descriptions in the book.
When doing a series, it’s important that the covers
coordinate. I have to redo several of my series covers, but Skhye
Moncrief matched the covers for my Bride Brigade series. I’m completing RACHEL
now. There will be two more after her book, LORRAINE and PRUDENCE, but the
covers are finished and waiting.
Authors vie for your attention. We want our book’s cover to
grab your interest enough that you read the description. Not only do we want
you to buy the book, we want you to read and enjoy our work. (Of course, then
we want you to review the book on Goodreads and wherever you purchased the
work.)
By the way, we at Smart Girls Read Romance are having a contest to acquire new followers. Our
members include NYTimes and bestselling and award-winning authors. The aim of
our contest to get more blog followers. Win
a Kindle Fire and fifteen e-books to load onto the new reader. All you have
to do to enter is go to the blog’s sidebar and follow us. Simple, right? Those
already following are automatically entered in the contest. If you already have
a Kindle Fire, keep in mind that a major gift-giving season is rushing our way.
Ho, ho, ho.
The contest is open until midnight September 6. The winner
will be announced on this blog on September 8. We’d also appreciate more
comments. Just sayin’….
While I miss the classic mystery covers and wish more publishers would go back to that style, I think the romance covers look way better now. Back the 80s when I worked at Bookstop and was in charge of all the fiction in the store, the romance section would often be funny with so many covers facing out that had heaving bosoms. If it was not that, it was Fabio and all his look alikes.
ReplyDeleteNo more heaving bosoms onless it's erotica. I try for my cover to reflect the story in locale and main characters.
DeleteA cover is very important. I want the cover to hint at the story inside.
ReplyDeleteExactly, Mary! I hate when a cover has a blond character and then the book is about a redhead or brunette. I also like for the cover to set the stage for the book--sweet or sensual, suspenseful or romance only.
DeleteI'm loving these glances back at older covers! I do have a problem with book cover characters that don't resemble their characters.
ReplyDeleteGlenda, so do I. I'm so glad we've moved on from the covers of the 80s. I make an effort to insure that my cover reflects the main characters and the style of the book.
DeleteI've seen covers change just since I got into indie publishing. It's always a challenge to make the cover fit what the reader will find inside which involves the heat level too.
ReplyDeleteSo true, Rain. You can't have a sensuous clinch when the book is sweet or a sweet or pastoral cover for erotica. Picking the right cover is a big job, isn't it?
DeleteGreat post, Caroline, and what a great prize! I've got a Kindle Fire and use it a lot.
ReplyDelete