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RE: Cover Talk
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From: sue corbett <scorbett1_at_aol.com>
Date: Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:52:43 -0500 (EST)
 <<I am concerned with book covers that don’t match thei r contents.The Romeo and Juliet Club by Phoebe Stone comes to mind. I have no problem with the cover from an aesthetic point of view. My problem is th at is doesn’t have any appreciable relationship to the book w ithin. Nothing there says WWII London to me.>>
Ha! My children are all enamored of Converse sneakers so one of them picked up this book based on the cover, which shows entwined Converse-clad feet, and then threw it down in disgust upon learning that it was set in WWII, be fore, he assured me, Chucks had been created. He was actually angry. :)=2 0
Sue Corbett ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ www.suecorbett.com
Message-----
From: Barthelmess, Thom <tbarthelmess_at_dom.edu> To: Megan Schliesman <schliesman@education.wisc.edu>; ccbc-net, Subsc ribers of <ccbc-net@lists.wisc.edu> Sent: Thu, Feb 9, 2012 7:28 pm Subject: RE:
Cover Talk
This is a fascinating topic. I have a few observations:  1)     I find I†99m not so concerned with book covers all looking the same. It seems that, more and more, the books t hemselves are imitating other books that have sold well. It’ s no s urprise that their packaging follows suit. 2)     I am concerned with b ook covers that don ’t match their contents. The Romeo and Juliet Club by Phoebe Stone comes to mind. I have no problem with the cover from an aesthetic point of view. My problem is that is doesn’t have any appreciable rela tionsh ip to the book within. Nothing there says WWII London to me. The cover for Franny Billingsley’s Chime gives me the same pause. Here I w ill ad mit that the cover itself is not to my taste. But that’s only an is sue for me. The bigger issue is that the cover promises something very diff erent from what the book delivers. I really loved the book. The cover is j ust so, well, slutty. I am not looking for a bo ok cover to attract a large audience. I’m looking for a book cover to attract its own aud ience. But I could see where a publisher might indeed be looking to attract a lar ge audience. 3)     During a publisher pa nel at the Boston Gl obe Horn Book Award Symposium this past fall, a publisher rep talked about an increasing focus on what a book cover looks like postage-stamp size on a computer screen, as so many purchasing decisions are made that way. Makes perfect sense, and it had never occurred to me. 4)     This discussion has m e thinking about mos tly YA and to some degree middle grade fiction. I wonder why. I bet there a re trends in picture books and biography and science books and all kinds o f other books, too. That’s just a curiosity.  Cheers, Thom  From: Megan Schliesman
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2012 4:37 PM To: ccbc-net, Subscribers of Subject:
Cover Talk
В As we noted in our topic description, we've been seeing a lot of faces and feet on book covers. What have you seen--or perhaps just as important--NOT seen (for better or worse) on the jackets of books for children and teens?
Megan
February: First Part of Month: Cover Talk: For awhile, it was photographs of faces. More recently, it’s been feet , whether bare or decked out in AllStars, flip-flops, flats, or Doc Martens . There are trends in cover art just as there are trends in subject ma tt er when it comes to books for children and teens. We†99ll spend the first part of February discussing book jacket first impressions, hits, and misses, and pondering the mindset of marketing (accurate or not) when it comes to cover art in books for youth. (Check out the blog Ja cket Knack for more on cover art: http://jacketknack.blogspot.com/)
-- Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 600 N. Park Street, Room 4290 Madison, WIВ 53706 В 608/262-9503 schliesman_at_education.w isc.edu В www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ В
Date: Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:52:43 -0500 (EST)
 <<I am concerned with book covers that don’t match thei r contents.The Romeo and Juliet Club by Phoebe Stone comes to mind. I have no problem with the cover from an aesthetic point of view. My problem is th at is doesn’t have any appreciable relationship to the book w ithin. Nothing there says WWII London to me.>>
Ha! My children are all enamored of Converse sneakers so one of them picked up this book based on the cover, which shows entwined Converse-clad feet, and then threw it down in disgust upon learning that it was set in WWII, be fore, he assured me, Chucks had been created. He was actually angry. :)=2 0
Sue Corbett ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ www.suecorbett.com
Message-----
From: Barthelmess, Thom <tbarthelmess_at_dom.edu> To: Megan Schliesman <schliesman@education.wisc.edu>; ccbc-net, Subsc ribers of <ccbc-net@lists.wisc.edu> Sent: Thu, Feb 9, 2012 7:28 pm Subject: RE:
Cover Talk
This is a fascinating topic. I have a few observations:  1)     I find I†99m not so concerned with book covers all looking the same. It seems that, more and more, the books t hemselves are imitating other books that have sold well. It’ s no s urprise that their packaging follows suit. 2)     I am concerned with b ook covers that don ’t match their contents. The Romeo and Juliet Club by Phoebe Stone comes to mind. I have no problem with the cover from an aesthetic point of view. My problem is that is doesn’t have any appreciable rela tionsh ip to the book within. Nothing there says WWII London to me. The cover for Franny Billingsley’s Chime gives me the same pause. Here I w ill ad mit that the cover itself is not to my taste. But that’s only an is sue for me. The bigger issue is that the cover promises something very diff erent from what the book delivers. I really loved the book. The cover is j ust so, well, slutty. I am not looking for a bo ok cover to attract a large audience. I’m looking for a book cover to attract its own aud ience. But I could see where a publisher might indeed be looking to attract a lar ge audience. 3)     During a publisher pa nel at the Boston Gl obe Horn Book Award Symposium this past fall, a publisher rep talked about an increasing focus on what a book cover looks like postage-stamp size on a computer screen, as so many purchasing decisions are made that way. Makes perfect sense, and it had never occurred to me. 4)     This discussion has m e thinking about mos tly YA and to some degree middle grade fiction. I wonder why. I bet there a re trends in picture books and biography and science books and all kinds o f other books, too. That’s just a curiosity.  Cheers, Thom  From: Megan Schliesman
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2012 4:37 PM To: ccbc-net, Subscribers of Subject:
Cover Talk
В As we noted in our topic description, we've been seeing a lot of faces and feet on book covers. What have you seen--or perhaps just as important--NOT seen (for better or worse) on the jackets of books for children and teens?
Megan
February: First Part of Month: Cover Talk: For awhile, it was photographs of faces. More recently, it’s been feet , whether bare or decked out in AllStars, flip-flops, flats, or Doc Martens . There are trends in cover art just as there are trends in subject ma tt er when it comes to books for children and teens. We†99ll spend the first part of February discussing book jacket first impressions, hits, and misses, and pondering the mindset of marketing (accurate or not) when it comes to cover art in books for youth. (Check out the blog Ja cket Knack for more on cover art: http://jacketknack.blogspot.com/)
-- Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 600 N. Park Street, Room 4290 Madison, WIВ 53706 В 608/262-9503 schliesman_at_education.w isc.edu В www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ В
---Received on Thu 09 Feb 2012 07:52:43 PM CST
