The Trouble with Covers: Getting to Final with Finch
by jvandermeer on Nov.10, 2009, under David Anthony Durham, Jeff VanderMeer, Paul G. Tremblay
Finch Gun (3)
Finch Old City (2)
One of the great privileges of my life as a writer has been getting a say in cover design. As someone with a strong visual sense who originally published in indie press and also ran an indie press, I’ve always dealt with artists and graphic designers. So when it came time to pick covers for my own books, I was able to contribute in a constructive way. This isn’t the norm, and shouldn’t be expected by writers, but for me it’s allowed my long-term brand to have a certain consistency, and it’s resulted in some beautiful covers.
Now, the process to get there isn’t always perfect. Sometimes you get lots of iterations, and you also don’t know at times if the final cover you’ve chosen is (1) the ideal match for the project and (2) going to draw readers in. In the case of Finch, we had to have the cover perform two functions: to convey that this is a fantasy novel and also that it is a noir mystery novel. You’ll see the final solution that me, my publisher, and the designer, John Coulthart, came up with. But below you’ll also see the prior iterations, which range from trying to copy the Bantam edition of City of Saints to something grungy to something more like a traditional thriller.
Finch Thriller (1)
Finally, it’s great to be guest blogging here the next two weeks, and I hope readers will chime in with their own thoughts about the cover and cover process, for this opening entry. I’m in the middle of a five-week book tour and will be checking in from the road all this week and next to participate in the discussion.
Related posts:
- More fun with book covers: The Little Sleep Jeff is 100 percent correct in saying that his level of input on the design of covers is not the norm. Though like Jeff, I was fortunate that Henry Holt came to me for some pre-input on what feel/look I wanted for the cover of The Little Sleep. My novel...
- Hi Folks! I’m pleased to be here, hanging out a Babel Clash for at couple of weeks. Should be fun. There’s actually a lot of different angles to look at covers from. I’ll start small… Very cool that Jeff has always had input and creative influence on his covers. (Sounds like Paul...
- Judging a book by its cover The saying goes, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” When browsing through a store, no particular recommendation in hand, you really don’t have much else to go on. Stick a plain, boring or unattractive cover on even an outstanding book, and it is DOA. You’re not picking that...
- Face Out Books As I’m always happy to admit, I really don’t know what makes a good cover - not in terms of speaking to and grabbing tons of readers, at least. I do know what I like, and recently there have been a few covers that seem like winners to me. I...
- More judging a book by its cover(s): Phantom vs. Phantom Phantom is a forthcoming (should be available later this month, and hopefully I’ll have copies on hand at the Boylston reading) literary horror anthology that I co-edited with Sean Wallace of Prime Books. When we originally put the anthology together, we imagined it as a relatively small selling, pocket-sized, boutique...
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November 11th, 2009 on 1:33 pm
It’s very smart, I think, to have your book covers fit together to get a certain Vandermeer vibe, while at the same time, being their own beast as well.
The cover you settled on for FINCH is fantastic, btw.
November 12th, 2009 on 5:12 pm
I agree with Paul. The final cover for Finch is great, and it’s my favorite of the bunch.