Survey Says...
It's about that time, time to get creative, time to get artsy. Which is ironic since my artistic capabilities begin and end with stick figures.
My editor and I are discussing cover concepts for THE MARK. We're looking at motifs we like, images that stand out, fonts, colors, the whole literary package goodness. And since I'm all about appealing to the masses, I'd like to know what some of your favorite book covers of all time are (I'm allowed to use the word your as though I'm speaking directly so you because, well, my doctor told me I could).
THE MARK is a thriller so the cover has to be fast, intense, lively (without being cheesy), but I also want a certain elegance to it. I want to know what kind of covers make you (My doctor said I could say that) pick up a book and flip to page 1.
A debut author has to do everything he or she can to make their book appealing to Joe Bookbuyer (he's related to Susie Bookbuyer) in stores, since he's not buying your book based on name recognition. Yet. Then once Joe picks up the book and reads a page, he's hooked. And then Susie yells at him for forgetting to pick up the milk. They have a troubled relationship.
Anyway, what are your favorite covers and why? So in the words of Mr. Jeffrey Lebowski, "Her life is in your hands, Dude."
P.S. Forgot to post the next chapter of GILLIS this morning, so to make up for it I'll put up TWO chapters tomorrow. Feel the love.
It's about that time, time to get creative, time to get artsy. Which is ironic since my artistic capabilities begin and end with stick figures.
My editor and I are discussing cover concepts for THE MARK. We're looking at motifs we like, images that stand out, fonts, colors, the whole literary package goodness. And since I'm all about appealing to the masses, I'd like to know what some of your favorite book covers of all time are (I'm allowed to use the word your as though I'm speaking directly so you because, well, my doctor told me I could).
THE MARK is a thriller so the cover has to be fast, intense, lively (without being cheesy), but I also want a certain elegance to it. I want to know what kind of covers make you (My doctor said I could say that) pick up a book and flip to page 1.
A debut author has to do everything he or she can to make their book appealing to Joe Bookbuyer (he's related to Susie Bookbuyer) in stores, since he's not buying your book based on name recognition. Yet. Then once Joe picks up the book and reads a page, he's hooked. And then Susie yells at him for forgetting to pick up the milk. They have a troubled relationship.
Anyway, what are your favorite covers and why? So in the words of Mr. Jeffrey Lebowski, "Her life is in your hands, Dude."
P.S. Forgot to post the next chapter of GILLIS this morning, so to make up for it I'll put up TWO chapters tomorrow. Feel the love.
posted by Jason Pinter at
10:08 AM
5 Comments:
Stick figures?
Remember The Saint.
True, though that stick figure had a theme. It was recognizable. Mine merely look like someone with epilepsy trying to draw a picture of Olive Oil.
Hoot!
I do coat hangers.
Hmmm. I love the cover for Presumed Innocent. The red fingerprint on the black background is really evocative. Gives a good idea of what the book is about (even if the title already hadn't) and it's very simple and dramatic.
I also really like the cover of The Crimson Petal and the White (although I confess I wasn't crazy about the book). It's beautiful. It gives you such a good idea of the book's "feel".
But honestly, I don't look much at covers, really (except in romances, where I *gasp* prefer clinch covers, because I like medievals and at least those covers give you a good idea of the period right off the bat. But that's a special situation.) I like titles. A bad cover might turn me off if it's really bad, but if I like the title and the back cover, and I flip through the book and see a few interesting or well-written sentences, I'll give it a try.
But I'm kind of wierd, I think.
I think the cover for CRIMSON PETAL is terrific too, and it's easy to forget that PRESUMED INNOCENT was one of the first covers to use a fingerprint, which is pretty common nowadays.
Blurbs matter to me as well, though I need to feel that the blurb was given due to the quality of the book and not the relationship between the authors (i.e. like seeing Al Franken blurb chick-lit). Something tells me they didn't read it all that closely...
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