Tag: Covers
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 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
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?
Judging a book by its cover
by morgan on Nov.12, 2009, under David Anthony Durham, Jeff VanderMeer, Paul G. Tremblay
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 thing up. I feel very badly for authors who pour blood, sweat and tears into their books only to see them miss out on an audience because of the wrong cover.
On the bright side, covers are stronger than ever. There are some incredible artists out there doing tremendous work. I’ve attached a few of my recent favorites, and there are many more that could easily have made this list. What are some of your favorites?
More fun with book covers: The Little Sleep
by paultremblay on Nov.11, 2009, under David Anthony Durham, Jeff VanderMeer, Paul G. Tremblay
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 features a private detective who blacks out and has incredibly vivid hallucinations that muddy the waters of his reality, so I knew we had to get the mix of odd with noir across with the cover. My pre-cover input focused on an image from a movie poster a friend had sent me: Anatomy of a Murder.
movie poster!
I liked the use of primary colors, the title being prominent, and the sense of general oddness of the silhouetted body.
Fortunately, my vague ramblings and movie poster landed in the hands of the incredibly talented Lisa Fyfe, book designer at Holt. The finished cover of The Little Sleep was featured at faceoutbooks (a blog devoted to cover design), where Lisa described her creative process in more detail.
The Little Sleep
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.
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The first novel in the brilliant new Newsflesh trilogy--about an America shattered by a terrible pandemic, and a race for the White House that no one may survive.
