People may tell you not to judge a book by its cover, but we all know they do. As an aspiring author, you might think you’ll have direct input into the packaging of your work, but the truth is, you rarely will.
Case in point: New Moon, book two in Stephenie Meyer’s crazy-bestselling Twilight series. She has this to say on the New Moon FAQ page:
Q: What kind of flower is that on the cover, and what does it mean?
A: That is a ruffled tulip. As for the meaning... If you've read the Twilight FAQ , you know that the apple cover had a lot of meaning for me, and I was an active part of the covering process. However, that experience is more the exception than the rule in the publishing world. Something to keep in mind if you intend to embark on a career as a writer: lots of things you might expect to be under your control are not. Covers, for example. Those are mostly up to the publisher and the marketing and sales departments. So I don't know what the tulip means—I didn't have anything to do with this one.
So now you know… the tulip doesn’t have any symbolic meaning. It just looks cool.
Of course, now that the movie version of New Moon is scheduled to come out in November, the book is being rereleased in September with a new, movie tie-in cover. Prominently featured are Bella (Kristen Stewart ) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner). Jacob looks stoically forward. Bella,tightly ensconsed in his arms, looks off to the side, seemingly mesmerized by the difference between his dark, bulging bicept and her skinny white one. Meanwhile, poor Edward (Robert Pattinson) has been reduced to a hazy, barely recognizable floating head in the background. I think it’s safe to say the author wasn’t involved in the production of this cover, either.
As a newly published author, I’ve been pretty lucky with my books so far. For my first, The Love of His Brother, I was able to give input to the design team. They then sent me the final cover image, which turned out great.
My next book, The Pastor’s Wife, comes out Spring 2010 but the cover is already done. Not only was I able to give input, but I was shown the cover in various stages of production and asked what I thought. I couldn’t be happier with the final result.
But what if I hadn’t liked the cover? What if I saw it and it made me cry? Some authors have the clout to ask for changes, but unless it’s really awful, I wouldn’t cause a rucus. If you do feel the need to challenge the graphic designer’s artistic vision, do it politely and with good humor.
In the end, there’s a whole team of people working to put out the best book they possibly can. As the author, your main responsibility is to draw readers in from page one and make them forget there even is a cover. Take a look at New Moon… the cover confounds even the author, but that sure didn’t affect the book’s sales figures.
Comments
Stephanie of course is correct. The larger publishers have an entire arm devoted to doing book covers, another devoted to edits etc. . . They're proffesionals. They know what they're doing. :) I was pleasantly surprised NOT to have to do my cover on my sequel. I live for the day when I have no input because I don't have a choice. That will mean I've made it to Stephanie Meyer or Rowling status.
I hate the new cover and certainly wont be buying it. Its annoyed a lot of fans. They are trying to appeal to the minority of jacob fans at the expense of Edward fans. Bizarre marketing logic.
Personally I think that it is the author's right - not privilage - to have a large imput on his or her book. They did after all create it and bring it to life so they should definately get a say on how the book's first impression to it's readers will be. That being said I also think it's important that the designing team gives their opinion on it and critiques it if necessary - only if it's that bad. But for the most part it should definately be approved by the author before being placed. I mean only a gillion batrillion people are going to look at it.
Do you seriously think they're trying to win over Edward fans... That's retarded. It is what it is, a series of 4 book that is entertaining. And what's with this Team Edward Team Jacob BS anyways grow up
Hi Jennifer, excellent article. As a new author myself, my experience with the graphics is similar to yours. For my book, "And Then I'll Be Happy!" due out in Decemeber, 2009, my publisher has been wonderful in showing me all stages of the book and cover and always asks for my input. Their professional suggestions are great and eye-catching and I have found that they know a great deal more about getting the book noticed than I do. It is all marketing and I am happy with the results.
The more I look at it, the more I find that giant disc tattoo disturbing. I don't remember reading about a tattoo, and it's just bizarre looking. Maybe the cover looks better IRL.
I think as a really big Twilight fan, that the cover is just showing how Bella is confused. The look on her face shows that. We all know starting with this book she is torn between two men in her life. She gets really close to Jacob. I think that putting Edward in the back ground shows he is still there in the back of her mind even though she is her with Jacob. I hope that makes since.
In response to "blah", of course these books hinge on Edward and Jacob! The whole series is about a young woman falling in love and wanting what she can't have. Without the guys, there's no love story. So fans going Team Edward or Team Jacob makes sense, even though it's useless, since the fictional story has already been played out.
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