tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13002022.post113682843732385497..comments2023-10-05T06:28:29.938-07:00Comments on Bookseller Chick: SB Day: Hit with the Pretty Stick (the “Come on Closer” remix)*Bookseller Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16740546395821645741noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13002022.post-1137033713229284682006-01-11T18:41:00.000-08:002006-01-11T18:41:00.000-08:00Amanda, I too hold a special place in Photoshop He...Amanda, I too hold a special place in Photoshop Hell for the Ellora's Cave covers, especially now since my company is no longer giving me a choice as to whether or not I carry the books. Let me have my little bit of optimism about the rest of the publishing world, please? I know I might be disappointed later, but I'm really quite enjoying the bright sunshine and rainbows. <BR/><BR/>Diana, vibrant is better than bright any day, trust me. One of my favorite covers ever (one I didn't even show in my examples), has the most lucious purple. It looks velvet--real velvet, not the cheap-ass fake kind. As for using your dust jacket at Borders, chances are they've seen a lot weirder (weirdos looooove book stores), but if you're afraid to get caught, trying doing it as a "face out" in the section it will also go in. It's always good to know who you will be next to alphabetically.Bookseller Chickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16740546395821645741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13002022.post-1136989724062322392006-01-11T06:28:00.000-08:002006-01-11T06:28:00.000-08:00Thanks, BS. It's really not very light in real lif...Thanks, BS. It's really not very light in real life. Not exactly "bright" colors but very saturated and vibrant tones. But I do have a dust jacket on hand. Perhaps I will try that at Borders this afternoon -- If I don't get thrown out for loitering around the tables!Diana Peterfreundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03681841474717604660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13002022.post-1136946405747355442006-01-10T18:26:00.000-08:002006-01-10T18:26:00.000-08:00I like the two covers you chose for this post, but...I like the two covers you chose for this post, but I don't see it as an overall trend, unfortunately. For each cover I feel is tastefully done (or at least isn't horrid) there is a minimum of one that's awful. Ellora's Cave has done more to singlehandeedly drag down romance novel covers than anything else, IMO.<BR/><BR/>Personally, I bought several bookcovers in different sizes & fabrics & use them all the time. They help preserve my sanity & keep the mm & qp in better shape & help keep the bookjackets of the cl titles crisp.Bob & Muffintophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12517851052183148808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13002022.post-1136920269214841872006-01-10T11:11:00.000-08:002006-01-10T11:11:00.000-08:00Michele, thanks. I often look at my blog entries ...Michele, thanks. I often look at my blog entries and think, "Shit, I'm blathering on again. Make it stop. Must. Make. It. Stop." It doesn't, of course, but I'm glad to hear that my blathering is helpful. I'm pretty open about what I'm reading, despite the ragging from my coworkers, but I don't go out of my way to advertise it by always sitting with my cover out to any audience I might have. I, too, like the peekaboo covers (voyeristic though they may be), but I think they've been overdone to a point, not to mention that they are often used as a cop-out coverart wise. <BR/><BR/>Diana, do you want a marketing analysis? If that's a copy of your cover in the corner, then all you need to do is take a cover flat with you to a bookstore and look at it in context with the section it will be sold in. Then you need to find out how much backing your pub is giving you (interviews, signings, print marketing, etc). Combine that all together and you'd have a pretty good idea of your chances. Your cover is pretty light, so that might be a problem, but I wouldn't know unless I could see its placement with books around it.Bookseller Chickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16740546395821645741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13002022.post-1136917647030286162006-01-10T10:27:00.000-08:002006-01-10T10:27:00.000-08:00Amazing post, and no, I don't think it's possible ...Amazing post, and no, I don't think it's possible to read too much into a book cover. They are far too important, as you covered in your earlier post. People won't pick up a book if the cover doesn't grab them.<BR/><BR/>I feel like I should be doing market research on mine now.Diana Peterfreundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03681841474717604660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13002022.post-1136915561021921522006-01-10T09:52:00.000-08:002006-01-10T09:52:00.000-08:00Man, I loved this post! I laughed, nodded in agre...Man, I loved this post! I laughed, nodded in agreement and was amazed at the volume of things one could say about this subject. I never paid it any mind before.<BR/><BR/>You are right! My DH now does not ask me "what am I reading". The cover says it all. However, HE cannot leave without making a sarcastic comment about either the "man" on the cover or what it shows them doing. For sure, I've been known to make sure the vivid cover stays on my lap or leg in an office while reading. Didn't want any schmuck thinking "off" thoughts about me due to my topic choice. If they HAVE to have those types of wild covers...then maybe do what I've seen and liked...the peek-a-boo cover. Outside is a plain background with a little "window' showing an innocuous scene ...that's related to something in the story. Open the first cover though and you get hit with your typical clincher/studly view. Maybe I like the hint that I could be a closet voyeur...who knows.??<BR/><BR/>Bottom line..no. I do not think you are reading too much into covers. You are spot on. And you wrote about it so well!!!<BR/>Thanks!Michelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08573730655117969888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13002022.post-1136871573894828922006-01-09T21:39:00.000-08:002006-01-09T21:39:00.000-08:00Rosina, I look forward to your thoughts. From wha...Rosina, I look forward to your thoughts. From what I understand very few authors have any control with their covers (something I'm going to try to explain--to the best of knowledge--in a later post), and I would really love to hear both sides of the story, so if you're friends with any editors/publishers send them my way. I think we could get a good dialogue going on.<BR/><BR/>Keziah, I think the big stumbling block for publishers is time. It used to be that an editor would only work on six books a year, lovingly ushering his/her charges through the whole project. Now a single editor has so many projects that s/he is lucky to spend a week on a single book. A good cover is usually a sign of how much an editor and the marketing department believed in a book, or what they thought they could piggy-back it off of.Bookseller Chickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16740546395821645741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13002022.post-1136850914506884282006-01-09T15:55:00.000-08:002006-01-09T15:55:00.000-08:00Why oh why do romance publishers think we're idiot...Why oh why do romance publishers think we're idiots with no taste? Don't they realise that non romance readers might just pick one up if they're not embarrassed to be seen reading one on the train? The examples you use here are great.Keziah Hillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10594349337977659150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13002022.post-1136839543933885712006-01-09T12:45:00.000-08:002006-01-09T12:45:00.000-08:00These are FANTASTIC posts on covers, really. I hav...These are FANTASTIC posts on covers, really. I have to think about it all and read them again before I leave you any substantive comment, but lemme say: I appreciate the time and effort that went into these. <BR/><BR/>And I dare not look at my own covers. In which I had no real say, I must point out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com