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Re: Cover art
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From: Lynn Rutan <lynnrutan_at_charter.net>
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:58:43 -0500
Covers matter to kids. A good booktalk can often overcome a horrible cover but a good cover can sell a book just by standing face out on a shelf.
Some of my favorite examples are the covers of stellar Megan Whelan Turner books. The first cover for The Thief was awful and getting kids to pick it up took herculean effort. “Ignore the cover,” I would plead. My colleague and I refined our booktalks for the book over and over trying to capture the essence of that fabulous book. If we could get a kid to try it, they were hooked. Then along came the new covers and the difference was amazing. We stopped having to “sell” the book so hard. Circulation and demand picked up and those copies still need little encouragement.
Of course, reaction to covers is just as subjective as reactions to text. I didn’t mind the cover of Chime but many people were very put off by it and it certainly had little to do with the story. I was attracted to the cover of Where Things Come Back but most of teens I know haven’t like it. The girls in our area are very drawn to the lush covers so prevalent today though- gorgeous dresses and romantic backgrounds. I love the signature covers of Carl Hiaasen’s middle grade books but I’ve heard some middle schoolers complain that they look too young. None of my Mock Newbery kids liked the cover of either Dead End in Norvelt or Okay for Now - covers that had figures with obscured faces on them. Another book that was a favorite once they got past the cover was Bigger Than a Bread Box. They loved the book but hated the cover and all of our book club kids complained about the cover of The Romeo and Juliet Code.
I should mention a couple of covers that worked wonderfully too. Our kids adored the cover of Geek by E. Archer and that gorgeous cover of Bunheads was like a magnet for girls.
Like Maia, my own preference is for a cover that suggests rather than proclaims - giving me hints or the flavor of what lies inside but doesn’t give too much away. Not an easy task!
I too have often wondered about the cover selection process. How much field testing happens? Is that possible with production schedules?
Sorry - I seem to rambling this morning!
Lynn
Lynn Rutan Bookends - Booklist Online Youth Blog lynnrutan_at_charter.net
Received on Fri 10 Feb 2012 07:58:43 AM CST
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:58:43 -0500
Covers matter to kids. A good booktalk can often overcome a horrible cover but a good cover can sell a book just by standing face out on a shelf.
Some of my favorite examples are the covers of stellar Megan Whelan Turner books. The first cover for The Thief was awful and getting kids to pick it up took herculean effort. “Ignore the cover,” I would plead. My colleague and I refined our booktalks for the book over and over trying to capture the essence of that fabulous book. If we could get a kid to try it, they were hooked. Then along came the new covers and the difference was amazing. We stopped having to “sell” the book so hard. Circulation and demand picked up and those copies still need little encouragement.
Of course, reaction to covers is just as subjective as reactions to text. I didn’t mind the cover of Chime but many people were very put off by it and it certainly had little to do with the story. I was attracted to the cover of Where Things Come Back but most of teens I know haven’t like it. The girls in our area are very drawn to the lush covers so prevalent today though- gorgeous dresses and romantic backgrounds. I love the signature covers of Carl Hiaasen’s middle grade books but I’ve heard some middle schoolers complain that they look too young. None of my Mock Newbery kids liked the cover of either Dead End in Norvelt or Okay for Now - covers that had figures with obscured faces on them. Another book that was a favorite once they got past the cover was Bigger Than a Bread Box. They loved the book but hated the cover and all of our book club kids complained about the cover of The Romeo and Juliet Code.
I should mention a couple of covers that worked wonderfully too. Our kids adored the cover of Geek by E. Archer and that gorgeous cover of Bunheads was like a magnet for girls.
Like Maia, my own preference is for a cover that suggests rather than proclaims - giving me hints or the flavor of what lies inside but doesn’t give too much away. Not an easy task!
I too have often wondered about the cover selection process. How much field testing happens? Is that possible with production schedules?
Sorry - I seem to rambling this morning!
Lynn
Lynn Rutan Bookends - Booklist Online Youth Blog lynnrutan_at_charter.net
Received on Fri 10 Feb 2012 07:58:43 AM CST
