From: Elizabeth Bluemle <ehbluemle_at_gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:50:01 -0500

As a bookseller, it's pretty easy to spot trends as hundreds of ARCs come into the store, and as we shelve the season's new books. I occasionally pull together some images and commentary for PW's Shelftalker blog.

Recently, it was a roundup of Girls in Gowns . This is a huge huge cliche in YA right now, and it drives me batty.

Earlier, it was The Season of Windblown Hair: Or, the Zeitgeist of Book Covers , a post that also included (among other things) the increasing use of silhouettes, a plethora of florals and foliage, and oodles of linked hands.

Last fall, I noticed *dozens* of (especially YA) books with black-and-white or black/blue covers, but lost all of my images before I could put the post together and didn't have the heart to download all that art again.

Mercifully, MG covers are more varied and less trend-driven, and often use illustration rather than photography. (Not that I always dislike photographic covers, but I think they have severe limitations and work against the imagination.)

(Thanks for reminding me of jacketknack! I have loved that blog in the past, and had forgotten its title.)

Cheers, Elizabeth

Elizabeth Bluemle Owner, The Flying Pig Bookstore 5247 Shelburne Road, Suite 102 Shelburne, VT 05482 802-985-3999 www.flyingpigbooks.com

Check out our PW blog at www.publishersweekly.com/blogs/shelftalker. For my author website, visit www.elizabethbluemle.com.
Received on Wed 08 Feb 2012 08:50:01 PM CST