Here's the cover of my novel, The Threadbare Heart, which is coming out next May. I freaked out the first time I laid eyes on this cover -- and not in a good way. My story is a love story set in the hills of Santa Barbara during fire season. There is an avocado orchard that plays a prominent role in the story; a 47-year-old piece of lace; a lovely scene that involves a mishapen clay pot and garden gloves; an illicit kiss on a beach; and the terrible beauty of a forest fire in the night. I was expecting one of those images, and was so surprised by the whispy mood of this image, the romancy font, the whole vagueness of it all. I say I freaked out -- which is to say that I called a bunch of my writer friends and whined and complained, and I emailed the photo to a bunch of my reader friends and begged them to tell me what they thought, and I called my agent and demanded to know if she agreed with me (she didn't), and I was so busy doing all this that I failed to respond right away to my editor, who was the one who sent me the cover. She knew by my non-reply that I was unhappy. So when I finally phoned her back and said, "I don't love it," she said, "I know," in the way of a mother who knows the crimes you've committed before you've even confessed them.My editor is a wise and lovely person. She listened to me go on and on for quite some time. And then she very calmly elucidated how much she loved the woman's hand in the cover image -- how eloquent this hand was -- and she mentioned something about being moved by threadbare hem on the woman's dress. "But of course," she said, "If you hate it, I will go talk to the publisher and the art department and the sales people and we will try again."
I am not a celebrity writer. I do not have the right of refusal on my cover. I don't even have the right of input. So this was a very generous offer. But something in the back of my brain made me stop before I accepted it. "They all like it?" I asked.
"They think it will sell," she said.
Oh right. That. I was reminded in that instant that the moment a writer turns a book over to the publisher, it is no longer just the writers' story. It is a product. That must be sold. If said writer wants to keep writing. For better or worse, that's the reality. And so I did not protest.
Would you have?
10 comments:
Jennie,
While I think the cover is beautiful and eye-catching, I understand why you were upset. Still, I would have made the same decision as you; sales are a necessity. I think you'll find the book will sell just fine!
All the best :)
feraOh, Jennie! What a pickle! On the one hand I sympathize with being beholden to the 'business' machine of it all and it really doesn't seem as if there's any other choice. But on the other hand, personally, I would pick up that cover because I know YOU wrote what's under it and would want to read and taste from the table you have set - but as someone who didn't have a clue who you are honestly I would be embarassed to carry that cover on the train if I were still commuting in Chicago or pull it out of my bag in a waiting room or at lunch or on break at work. I maybe ought to email you instead of replying here for all the space I'm taking but it IS an image thing and to me it strikes me the same as say, Cheetos in the grocery store. I might reach for it and even put it in my cart for a second but before I get very far my second thoughts come parading through and I know there's a BETTER choice, a smarter, more nutritious, less air-y and junk filled choice if I just take another moment. But that's me...I almost always second guess my 'impulse' buys and in the present economy even more so on non-necessities.
Isn't it unfortunate that we must hand over our art to be misshaped and mangled by people who only have vague notions of what it means to create? I haven't read the book, but from what you say, I take it that the cover barely matches the tone of the of your story. Which begs the question: do these people even bother to read the book before they design the cover?
I mean, we've all been told not to judge a book by its cover, but it's an unfortunate reality in our very commercialized and consumerist lives: covers do matter.
I have yet to be published (I haven't even dipped my toes into the waters yet), but I feel squeamish over not having any control over an artistic piece of work that I slaved over. I hope they'll work with you and turn out a cover you do like!
I think it's beautiful. I don't read romance novels, but a cover is meant to catch a consumer's eye, so that they may take a moment to read the synopsis of the story. I think, as a consumer, this would attract my attention. And anyone who might be so superficial as to judge my reading material based on a fleeting image... well, those types of people would find any reason to judge another. I personally would be proud of the book, no matter what the cover looks like.
I'll still buy it. :) no, I like it! really.
(and I apologize if you saw me talk about your book and had the title slightly, um, wrong. all fixed in future.)
I can see how it would be frustrating to have a cover so incongruous with the book itself. Still, I have to confess that I like the cover. Yes, the whole "woman walking on a beach with a flowing dress" thing is probably a bit much, but there's something great about the purity of a (mostly) white cover that always catches my eye at the bookstore. I can see why the marketing people like it so much. This puppy is going to sell like hotcakes!
Also, (and this is not a small point). I think the font and layout of the text is great. Yes, the threadbare font is too romancy for my taste (though I'm probably not the market they're targeting), but the author name and the rest of the title really jumps out against the white background.
Of course, the bottom line is that the cover is there to sell the book, and once sold, it's your BRILLIANT writing that's going to keep people reading.
So congratulations on that!!
I probably would have done the same thing you did. The cover is to get them to buy the book, not to show them what it's about. But...I know where you're coming from. It's your creation, after all.
And it is a beautiful cover. Hope it flies off the shelf.
Great coments! Very interesting stuff, isn't it? Sales vs. story. I'm ok with choosing sales. At least for today.
Well, it is a lovely cover. And you do want it to sell. And the people who know say this will make it sell so I suppose you were right not to stir up trouble. That said, you would think they could have designed a cover that more closely reflected the book's content and would also help the book sell.
I like the cover. If I saw that in the bookstore or library, I would pick it up to read the back to see what the book was about.
It looks like a romance book from the font and image, but after hearing what you wrote about it, I was intrigued because it doesn't sound like a typical boy meets girl type romance novel.
:-) Good luck!
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