Gift Cards Borders Perks Borders Rewards BordersMedia Kids DVDs music Kids Home
Babel Clash
paultremblay

More judging a book by its cover(s): Phantom vs. Phantom

by paultremblay on Nov.12, 2009, under Paul G. Tremblay

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 kind of anthology. And this was to be its cover:

Phantom I

Phantom 1

However, as the publication date approached, Prime got an unexpected (but most welcomed) bump in bookstore orders, prompting a change in physical size (so the book wouldn’t be lost on shelves) and a new, more eye catching cover.

Phantom 2

Phantom 2

What say you?  Do you agree with Prime that cover 2 would be more likely to be picked up by a walk-by shopper/browser?

Related posts:

  • 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...
  • 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...
  • The Trouble with Covers: Getting to Final with Finch
    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...
  • Cover cliches
    Ideally, a cover tells readers what’s inside the book, but also turns the book into a unique and precious object. It makes you want to touch the cover, feel the pages turning under your fingers. When I wrote about Jeff’s new novel on my blog, io9.com, one of the first...
  • 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...
:

5 Comments for this entry

1 Trackback or Pingback for this entry

Leave a Reply

Looking for something?

Use the form below to search the site:

Still not finding what you're looking for? Drop a comment on a post or contact us so we can take care of it!