Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
Location: Books & Such Main Office, Santa Rosa, Calif.
You’ve waited for years and envisioned a variety of potential covers for your “baby” book, the book you’ve been creating, modifying, rewriting, revising, and fussing over for years. At last, the email comes with the attachment that will unveil the cover. Ta-dah!
Oh, no! It’s awful! It’s unfaithful to every delicate intricacy you’ve woven into the manuscript. It’s, it’s, well, as one of my clients said when he saw the cover for his first book, “I want to kill it with a hammer.”
I thought he might be exaggerating. Then I looked at the cover and thought, “Could I kill it with a SLEDGEHAMMER?
Before we look at some covers that had to go through a bit of a metamorphosis to arrive at the final design, let me say that no publisher sets out to make 1) an ugly cover; 2) a cover that would hurt sales; 3) a cover that doesn’t convey the right message for a book. Most of the time publishers are uncanny in their ability to appeal to the market with just the right message in a cover. But every once in a while publishers miss the mark, and sometimes they miss badly.
What should you do if you are presented with a cover that’s shocking in its lack of accurate depiction of your book, that you want to “kill with a hammer”? First, find some samples from Amazon of what you had in mind. Send them on to your publisher with the suggestion that “We need to do some more work.” Second, don’t whine. Be professional and explain why the current version won’t work (besides that you don’t like it). Be specific. Third, invite the publisher to join you in a conversation to find a cover that works more adeptly with the content.
The first three covers below are part of a series. I’m showing them because I think it’s instructive to see how the look for the series evolved.
I adore the first book’s cover. It’s simple, clean and clever. Using the Let Them Eat Cake title, the designer chose to show petit fours rather than a cake. (Since the novel is about a woman who opens a French pastry shop, the darling French-named cakes are all the more appropriate.)
For the second cover in the series, the design veered in a new direction. Apparently the sales and marketing staff thought the cover needed people and to suggest more of a location (Paris, which admittedly is a pretty attractive setting for a novel). So they made a grand leap from the Let Them Eat Cake cover to arrive at Bon Appetit‘s cover.
I gotta say Bon Appetit’s cover disappointed me as soon as I saw it. The photo of the stack of pastries makes the cover seem jumbled to me. The colors of the pastries, their shapes, everything lacks artfulness. This would not appear in a cookbook or a foodie’s magazine. And with the cover divided in half, my eye can’t figure out where to go. Fortunately they still used the curly-cue font for the author’s name, but unfortunately the letters in Bon Appetit didn’t show the font’s best side.
For the third cover in the series, the better qualities of the designs on book 1 and book 2 were blended to create a banquet for the eyes. The top half of Piece de Resistance suggests love has been found–in Seattle, hence the Space Needle. The bottom half depicts a creative and yummy-looking wedding cake.
Okay, I want to dive into the feast that this cover suggests I’ll find in the book’s pages. And because of the way the colors carry over from the top half and the bottom half, my eyes easily move from one to the other.
Below are two cover options for the same book. Rather than spilling the beans about my thoughts, why don’t you tell me: Does either appeal to you?
I like the third one. The title stands out and it looks more masculine than #2 or #4. The first one is too busy!
This has been an interesting set of posts. I can’t wait to start choosing a cover for my novel. I have an idea in my head, but there might be a better one for it.
Excellent read. I would personally pick the 3rd book cover. It says book club more to me than the others. I like the composition and typography more as well…
Eh, I agree on the first set of covers: I like the first and third, but the second is off-putting.
Re: Smotherhood and Smotherly Love… I actually don’t like either cover. The first is very cartoon-y, and the second is too busy.
I like the third cover of “Bad Ground” best. I like the colors of the first one, but I don’t like that the picture was interrupted to throw some humans on there. The second one makes me think of family conflict, not entirely sure why, and the fourth just looks… mmm… The third has nice, simple colors, a clean set-up, and a scruffy man standing on his own.
I like the first Bad Ground cover best. The first one is the only one that is actually underground, which is apparently a major book setting, and quite frankly, I’m pretty sure it’s the only cover that my husband wouldn’t write off as a “chick book” (assuming that he didn’t have some specific other reason to pick it up).
The 4th cover is a runner-up: it shows a lot of exposed earth, and still has some gritty feel to it.
The problem is that the three bottom covers seem, to me, to focus on the tenderness qualities of the book. If that’s what you’re going for, great, but if central story is (as it seemed to me from the summary above) about “digging a mammoth hole using a man-eater of a machine” and “death-defying work”… then #1 is the ONLY cover that implies even a hint of it, to my mind.
Neither of the mother/smother covers really grabs me, but I definitely prefer the 2nd one, because it seems a little less cartoonish (yes, I know, they’re both cartoons, but I hope you know what I mean). The faces on the mom & daughter in the 2nd cover seem more real and loving (“I nag because I care”) whereas the faces in the first cover seem, well, mean. The mom is smirking, and the kid looks like she’s being a demanding brat.
I do, however, LOVE the tagline, “I know where your buttons are and I’m not afraid to push them.” Hee.
Just one reader’s opinion!
Hmmmm, it’s tough to choose. Regarding Bad Ground, I’d have to say the first one. For me, I like the darker colors, and then the little “light at the end of the tunnel” makes me connect with the fact that it’s set under ground. And the two shadows of the people walking toward the light. I like that.
As for Smotherhood/Smotherly Love … yeah, neither appeal to me. They feel a bit “campy.” I like the title SmotherHood though. That’s awesome. If I had to choose, I’d say the first one. It’s less busy.
I’ll be back, to see what the rest of you all think. Great post. 🙂
Great insight on covers Janet!
On the first set (of two covers), my favorite is the first — I tend to go for the crisp, clean look. From me, it elicits a more timely feel than the 2nd. I think the greens/browns of the 2nd version feel “old”. While there is color consistency in each, the leading lines on the outside of the 1st (in blue) make me read straight from top to bottom, but in the green/brown version I’m looking everywhere for something to target.
For Bad Ground, my eye went straight to the third one … with just the feet showing. Based on your description, it leaves more to the reader’s imagination and showing the ground that way implies it could be above ground, on the ground or underneath. Lots of questions pop up that would make me want to pick it up!
My thoughts! Thanks so much for giving us the opportunity to comment! 🙂
This is fun. On the “smother” book, I think the cover on the left appeals with the colors, fonts, and white space. However, the expressions on the faces are over the top for me. The cover on the left is less appealing in that it’s too busy with too many words, but the characters on the cover aren’t such a turn off. I guess I’d be opting for a combination.
For “Bad Ground”, I’d pick the third cover if I wanted to convey the idea women would like it too. It conveys to me that there’s a journey of “bad ground” for the character as well as the big hole. But that’s just me.
At the Dallas Christian Book Expo, Author Deeanne Gist shared with us the story of the cover for her book “A Bride Most Begruding.” The first cover sent to her was half lovely antique wedding dress and half ugly head of a rooster. Since the rooster had only a minor scene, she wasn’t too pleased. Thankfully, they later came out with a beautiful cover with the bride crossing her fingers behind her back.
I guess it sometimes takes a few tries to get something that fits the book just right.
Personally, I like Smotherly Love more than the other one. The other one is too chaotic, too angry.
I also like the second Bad Ground. The first probably gives a better sense of the setting, but the second, with the two men walking in different directions, gives a better sense of the conflict.
First of all–I would never, ever buy Smotherhood. That cover looks mean, and I am definitely not searching out how to be more mean in my mothering!
Smotherly Love, however, shows a stance and conversation I know all too well with two teens in the house. I am intrigued by the title–and curious about whether I’m a smothering mother. It opens up a window inside me–a question mark, and that might make me open up my wallet. Plus, having the word “love” in the title helps a ton.
I like the third cover in the line down of Bad Ground. It’s simple, but conveys emotion through the textures, colors and the portion of the man walking away… This cover reads well in many different sizes–especially as a tile or thumbnail. (See, we read your posts!!!)
In the top version I thought it said Bad Grouse 🙂 and as a woman, the red color scheme turns me off, feeling too eerie.
The bottom cover is so busy, and the insert of the man seems out of place. The second cover is bizarre-to me it doesn’t say anything about the plot–the two men are walking away from each other–separating–the title font is hard to read in an effort to insert a feminine element…
Anyway, it’ll be fun to see if I’m completely off! This is a great learning tool. Thanks!
How fun! I love this “behind the scenes” look at covers.
I totally agree about the first series, although on the third might have suggested the title banner even a little smaller (rule of thirds, you know.) But the lighter colors make it work very well.
On the second set, I love the first cover – the characters don’t blend into the background as much – but the second title. It visually carry the pun much more convincingly.
For the third set, I’d probably vote for number three. It seems to hit that gender appeal balance better than the other three – a man wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen carrying it but a woman would still be drawn to the cover.
Thank you, Janet! I’ve been enjoying this series on covers very much.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Wow. Thanks for sharing the choices ultimately made on these.
Very interesting. This was fun.
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.
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.
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)