Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Anatomy of an Awesome Book Package

I like all my book covers. Each edition--whether foreign or domestic--has their own strengths. I'd be lying if I said there weren't a few covers I wish I could tweak here or there, but by and large I'm very happy with how my covers have come out and thankful that my publishers have really put a lot of thought and effort into them. I was happy with my book covers. Until yesterday.

Yesterday I received the first copy of the UK edition of THE STOLEN, which hits shelves across the pond on June 19th (UK fans can pre-order here). And I don't just like this edition. It doesn't just make me happy. I LOVE it. 

This thing is just beautiful. Sometimes in publishing you hear someone say, "Seeing the cover online doesn't do it justice." Well, seeing the UK edition of THE STOLEN does not do its cover justice. The whole package--front, spine and back--has this very cool silver/metallic finish that catches the light, reflects and will stand out on a shelf like nobody's business. When I say this cover shines, I mean it shines. Even the back cover and spine look cool. It's hard to say if this package is my favorite out of all my books--but it's hard to say that it's not. My sincere thanks to my UK publisher for doing just an extraordinary job on this book. I even took photos to analyze why this package works so well:

The fantastic front cover. Perfectly captures the book's tone, while also offering a clear central image that gives the reader an immediate sense of what lies within. The font is atmospheric, and the neat smudges and burn marks make the whole thing look ominous as hell. This baby should be in a textbook entitled "How to create an awesome book cover."

Does everything a back needs, and does it well: A bold reading line, a synopsis that hooks you, quotes to let you know that other people besides my publisher and I think the book is worth reading, and full color photos of my backlist so you can catch up on the whole series.

Did I say this baby shines? I mean it SHINES.

Central image. Title. Name. Shiny. Even the spine is cool.

Each of my foreign editions (give or take one or two that haven't arrived yet). The fact that my books are available in so many countries and so many languages still blows my mind.

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2 Comments:

Blogger Tamara said...

Awesome cover, Jason. Congrats!

3:01 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Jason-You're right..the book shines! In the picture with all the books together, you can see the metallic shine to "The Stolen". Congrats!

4:46 PM  

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