CHILD 44 by Tom Rob Smith. Seriously, my heart is still pounding. Absolutely scared me silly.
On another note, I would like your help. I would love your thoughts about cover art.
Any cover recently made you pick up an author you hadn’t read before? Do you like guy only, woman only or couple? Whose historical, contemporary and paranormal covers do you like? What covers repel you?
Knowing that the authors have little to know no control over covers, this exercise is just for my benefit but I would love to hear any and all opinions.
Thanks.
that would be “little to no control”. I have got to stop doing two things at once.
Kate
I really like covers where you can’t completely make out the people (since when they don’t match the story it drives me crazy
and I mostly like couples for example Dianne Castell’s Hot and Bothered, and I like when you can see a little more clearly but not all like Sylvia Day’s Passion for the Game. Also, I like covers that are just the guys, but same thing not so much faces, more blurred or only partial if that makes any sense. Of course one day I’d love to have a cover I have no control over so I guess that’s why they intrigue me so much .
I ordered What Happens in Vegas recently strictly because of the cover. While I read this genre I’ve never read any of the four authors, Copeland, Bast, Dane, or Tunstall. I don’t love tattoos, but something about the cover grabbed me, the title is the tattoo, I guess it has elements I like on covers in general. On paranormal covers I really like the ones that contain several elements like Jaci Burton’s The Darkest Touch. Enough of my long rambling post!
Top o’ the mornin’ to ya, Kate! Except, by now it’s after the noon hour in NY.
I absolutely love seeing sexy covers. Solitary men are my favorite–hot bods only because I have a fertile imagination to put a face to the body. Couples can up the heat level, though. Extreme sensuality is always a plus. I fell in love with my debut’s cover, Strip. Nine-factor heat!
I hate cartoon covers. I won’t buy a book that has one even though I like humor. And it irritates me if the people on the cover look nothing like the characters in the book.
For me, it’s about expectations. I expect a sexy cover to frame a sexy book; a suspenseful cover to frame a suspenseful book; a fun cover to frame a romantic comedy. Because I read (and write) a lot of romantic suspense and mysteries and thrillers, my biggest pet peeve is a good, scary cover wrapped around a romantic suspense that is light on the suspense.
For a sexy book, I don’t like in-your-face sexy. I want subtle sexuality. Sylvia Day has some good covers. Karin Tabke’s upcoming medieval romance has a great cover. I’ve always liked the use of color and light on Shannon McKenna’s covers.
If a book is a romantic suspense that is light on the suspense, I’d expect the cover to reflect that. I’ve been tricked too many times.
Okay, I just got off the phone with my mom, a reader only. She won’t buy a book with a “clinch” cover (not her words–her words were “half-naked couples.) If it’s an author she likes who has one of these covers (or any other cover, she said, where there’s a lot of skin) she’ll buy it, but won’t read it in public. Most of the books she buys are based on the name of the author more than the cover, but she won’t try a new author if she doesn’t like the cover (but she remembers authors, even if she only read one book.)
As a writer AND a reader, I just want the cover to reflect the content.
Guess I didn’t go far enough on covers and commented on romance only.
I agree with others here: specific types with specific genres and sub-genres. Naked couples on mystery and suspense covers doesn’t get it–unless the folks are dead or strung up or bleeding…to reflect content.
I’m a huge fan of edgy mystery and suspense and I’ve been know to pass on a book by its cover. Frankly, I’d rather NOT see people on those covers.
I thank you all for your input. It is much appreciated.
It frequently comes down to the fact that while some covers may not reflect my own preferences, nevertheless, they sell.
That’s what makes this job so interesting – the balance between content and commercialism. I love this job!
Kate
My sister buys by the cover and has refused to buy books by authors she enjoys because of the cover (thinking of the Pilsbury Dough look alike in dress whites on one of Suz Brockmann’s Navy Seal books a few years ago). She likes attractive people. Hmmm…
Me? I’m attracted by artistic composition. I’ve bought books by authors I’ve never read because the covers were so pleasing to the eye. I like bold colors, but I did not like the cover for Sophie Kinsella’s “Remember Me?” or Katie MacAlister’s “Playing with Fire.” (Not commenting on the books themselves as we all know you can’t judge a book by its cover.) I loved the covers for Madeline Hunter’s “Secrets of Surrender” and Amanda Quick’s “The Third Circle”. And the cover for Alexandra Ivy’s “Darkness Everlasting” is incredible!
I like clinch covers, but not when it looks like the image is taken from the middle of a love scene…the beginning, yeah – the end – maybe.
I love the covers Brava has done for me and I’m eager to see what you all do in the future. 
Some covers that caught my attention (and therefore I bought the book and fell in love with the author) were Karen Marie Moning’s Highlander series and Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series. Both paranormal, of course. A few Julie Garwood covers caught my eye, too.
For me, the cover needs to be catchy and tailored to the story. It’d be nice if the people on the cover looked like those in the book, but I know that can be too much to ask for.
Stock photo covers are okay, but I like the ones that are creative.
I have to agree with Allison Brennan–I want the cover to be indicative of the type of story. I absolutely love the covers for every single one of my Wolf Tales books, even though they don’t look at all like my characters–they do, however, absolutely scream erotic romance, the colors are eye-catching and the composition really well done. I also like cartoon covers when the story warrants it–Dakota Cassidy’s Accidental Werewolf comes to mind. (mainly because it’s sitting here on my desk!) Ann Stuart’s “Ice” series have all got eye-catching covers–I think they’re probably photos rendered in Photoshop, but I might be wrong on that. The point is, though, that they catch the sinister feel of suspense in her series. I don’t like the old fashioned “Heaving bosom, bare-chested alpha male clinch” covers. They’re just a little too retro for my taste. Would much rather see a steely-eyed hero like the ones in Diane Whiteside’s Devil series. If I had the space, every one of those would be face out on my bookshelves!
The worst ones are the ones that are too explicit. I don’t mind a sensual cover, but when the people on the front are nekkid and looking busy so the bits are barely covered, I am reluctant to buy it. I also don’t like computer-generated characters that look like they belong in a videogame.
I love the man only covers, but it depends on the execution and style as to whether it catches my eye.
I’m really curious now to know if there is a certain type of cover that sells the best…
Even if you figure out what is currently working and why, you are constantly challenged by which covers will grow the author’s share of the market in 09 and as I keep calling it 010.
In my last historical trilogy, the middle book far outsold the other two. I think it was the cover. Book #1 was a full-length woman from the back in a field, book #3 was a man’s naked torso, and book #2, the big seller (believe it or not) was the torso of a scantily clad WOMAN holding a sword with a man in the background!
What? It’s NOT 010?
Photoshop covers puts me off, I have to admit. I’m more a fan of a subtle cover with clothed people…though JL Langley’s My Fair Captain has a torso on it that I could stare at all day
Photoshop covers puts me off, I have to admit. I’m more a fan of a subtle cover with clothed people…though JL Langley’s My Fair Captain has a torso on it that I could stare at all day
(and if this is duplicated, sorry, Safari is having a bit of a freak *sigh*)
I can’t think of a cover that recently drew me to a book I might not otherwise have selected, but I can tell you of a series of new covers that completely turned me off. Elizabeth Lowell’s Medieval Series and Western series were all re-released with new covers done in a similar style. IMHO, each one is worse than the one before. If I was a first time reader to these books, I would never pick them up to consider. Ever. I love those books. They rank high on my list of Keepers for All Time. I feel like dear friends just got insulted.
Cover art doesn’t really dictate if I’ll buy a book or not. Actually, in a way it does- but the opposite. Cover art might lead me to *not* buy a book if I’ve never heard of it and haven’t read the author before.
Although, sometimes gorgeous cover art will catch my attention – but then I’ll read the book blurb and excerpt then make a decision. If I’m in the store – I’ll do a quick flip through or something.
If I know an author’s work and like it, I would never allow a cover to dictate whether or not I’ll buy the book. I don’t understand that reasoning, especially from other writers (I CAN understand it from readers), because the author doesn’t have control over the cover. We can make suggestions, but in the end it’s the pub’s and artist’s decision.
I might not buy the book in a store if I find the cover embarrassing, but I’ll buy it on-line.
But then I do the vast majority of my book-buying on-line. Saves gas!
That said, I tend to like, for my own covers, when “only body parts” are showing, rather than whole people. This goes along with the bit about finding it disconcerting when the people on the cover don’t match the characters inside. However, for my pen name for Red Sage, the anthologies feature a clinch couple and it doesn’t bother me at all. For one thing, it’s erotic romance so if I’m uncomfortable with a clinch cover, I shouldn’t be writing it! For another, it’s a novella in an anthology, so the cover of course is more generic. I was lucky with my first Red Sage novella–the couple on the cover miraculously look pretty much like the couple in my story.
I dont like the Ellora Cave Covers. Altho’ lately they have been more appealing. I also dont care for those comic book looking h/h covers. Kind of sick of seeing the character running on the rom suspense books.
Do like the colorful or cutesy covers, Like Marilyn Pappano’s Bethelehem Series or Marcia Evanick’s Misty Harbor Series. SEP’s covers too. To me the Evanick and Pappano look like the same artist. Like the covers with the hero’s head cut off – let’s us imagine what WE want him to look like.
I like body parts— no, wait, that didn’t come out right! (Or maybe it did.) What I mean is I like to see a set of abs, the nape of a neck, a flexed arm, etc. Something that can set the mood of a book without giving me too much of a visual that sets me up to think that’s what the character looks like.
I HATE the old-time bodice-ripped-heroine-bent-over-backward-by-hero—can’t imagine myself in that position with any comfort, and that’s distracting/annoying. Cartoon covers like Mary Kay Andrews’ Savannah series are fine. But it’s got to be professional, not looking like a piece of art my son concocted during math class (and he’s very talented, don’t get me wrong). I prefer photographic art.
Something to the mood and suggestive, but not whapping me over the head with detail.
Just one girl’s opinion—
This discussion is very helpful to me. I thank you one and all.