So, somehow I haven't managed to post yet this year. Oops! How did that happen?? Oh well, blame it on the post-holiday break and need to get some work done that took all my brain power :) I'm back now, and may be trying to post only once a week for a while. As much as I adore blogging, I'm working on economizing my time more this year.
Anyhow, the fabulous Kai Strand sent me an email a few weeks ago, asking if I'd like to join in on her project with Mary and Katie. I've enjoyed their posts over the last year and definitely wanted to join in! They posted last Monday, but I'm up today because...well, because I forgot. That's the honest answer. This month's topic is book covers, something I totally love. I mean, as authors, it's kind of like someone creating (or for the super talented, creating themselves) a distillation of your novel. A little window into the world inside, with the hope of catching the attention of people who will want to read the book to truly explore what it contains. I've been very lucky to have excellent cover artists, and have to admit that I absolutely *love* to cover to Travelers. (I'm probably not supposed to have favorites, but hey, this one just does it for me!)One thing that has always amused me is the trends that happen in covers. It seems that suddenly I'll be wandering the bookstore shelves and almost all of the covers have some massively similarity. One that I've seen a whole lot of is the back-to-the-reader female with some kind of pose. Often there is some kind of very fancy dress involved:
Yes, I've noticed similar trends to what you've mentioned. There have been so many YA covers that have featured a young woman with part of her face obscured or cut off that it's kind of become a running joke in the industry, though clearly it's a technique that is still in use.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to have you aboard the #InkRipples bandwagon! And, seriously, no pressure to post the first Monday of the month. We're all about flexibility.
What I've noticed, particularly with YA and romance, is the females depicted are stunningly beautiful white women.
ReplyDeleteI swear I'll read any book that has a beautiful dress on the cover. It's like my guilty pleasure. But the trend with the simple image (often bloody) does capture my attention as well.
ReplyDeleteGood to have you join us. Post any ole day you want, we're just happy to have you join the conversation.
I think there's a lot of jump-on effect from artists who'll go with what's working this month for covers. Some of that's in-house, and some of that are artists for hire.
ReplyDeleteEven on Instagram and other social media, girls are doing the selfies with half the face obscured. So it means this is the trend now.
ReplyDeleteThere's been some trends I've noticed in covers as well. Always fun to see what's hot.
ReplyDeleteI love illustrated covers, always have. But yeah, it is strange that covers follow trends. I think people are looking for something different and when they see that, they decide that's different from most of what's on the shelves.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed the same trends. The dress covers really irk me because most of the time, they have nothing to do with the stories! I had always dreamed of having a magnificent painter like Michael Whelan do my covers.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed those trends too. The giant dresses trend so pervasive, I've seen many of them on the cover of historical novels, when they wouldn't be appropriate for the period, situation, or social class of the characters AT ALL. When it came to my own historical YA cover, I knew I did NOT want a dress for that reason.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, enough dress ranting. :) I hadn't heard of #inkripples, but now I'm thinking of joining in too, since folks can hop in later in the month.
Similar and appealing. :)
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