Book Covers

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” –American proverb

This proverb was probably easy to follow prior to the 1900’s. In the 1820’s, book jackets were originally designed to protect cloth bound covers and were meant to be discarded. For the first couple of decades of the 20th century, book covers were frequently decorated with stamped floral or scroll designs. It was not until the 1920s that the modern book jacket became a staple of the publishing world. For more history on book jackets, plus photos of covers from 1920 through 1950’s visit Pictorial Covers:An Exhibition of American Book Jackets, 1920-1950.

Recently I ran across the blog of Henry Sene Yee who designs book covers. As today is the 10th anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings, I thought it might be an appropriate time to share the blog on how he came up with an suitable cover for the book, simply titled Columbine.

Although written in 2007, there is another interesting article at Esquire.com on how Chip Kidd, art director at Alfred A. Knopf, designed covers for Martin Amis, Cormac McCarthy and John Updike. There’s more on Chip Kidd’s cover art at Time.com.

Vanity Fair lists what they rank as the top 25 book covers.

A list of favorite covers of 2008 can be found at Book Design Review.

Have you ever bought a book based on the cover alone? Do you have a favorite book cover of all time?

Thanks for dropping by.

Tags: book covers, Columbine, Vanity Fair, Knopf,

Judging a Book by its Cover or Genre

Good news. Finally, the ArcheBooks Publishing, http://www.archebooks.com/, production list is showing activity again. I am now next on the list. That means The Ride could go into production as early as today. Of course, it may still be weeks or months, but I’m thinking positive.

One step in the production process is the design of the book jacket. I can’t help but wonder how it will look. Will I like it? Will it appeal to other readers?

Not too long ago, my daughter walked into the room and said in an incredulous tone, “You’re reading a book with a unicorn on the cover.”

Not only was I reading the book, M.B. Weston’s, A Prophecy Forgotten, http://www.elysianchronicles.com/MBWeston.htm, I was thoroughly enjoying it. However, normally (had I not known the author) I would not buy a Fantasy book, much less one with a unicorn on the cover. Consequently, I would have missed a really good read.

I realized that I was guilty (as was my daughter) of not only judging a book by its cover but by the genre, as well.

On the ArcheBooks production list, The Ride, is listed as Contemporary Women’s Fiction. It can also be categorized as general or contemporary fiction.

Worried that people might confuse Contemporary Women’s fiction with Chick Lit, or Romance or even with Feminist Literature, I did a little research to try to figure out the most marketable category. I was surprised by what I found.

I read, Women’s Fiction or Romance, A tale of Two Genres, by Lisa Craig, http://www.hodrw.com/womensficorromance.htm. She said, “Trying to wrap a definition around women’s fiction is a little like trying to put a fence around a band of wild mustangs.” The article went on to say, “After examining industry statistics from the American Bookseller Association and Book Industry Study group, one can easily conclude that Women’s Fiction comprises at least forty percent of adult popular fiction sold in the United States and approximately sixty percent of the adult popular fiction paperbacks.”

According to Dummies.com, http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/id-1843.html, virtually all the selections of Oprah’s Book Club are in the Women’s Fiction category.

Forty to sixty percent of the market with the possibility that Oprah may one day talk about my book makes Women’s Contemporary Fiction sound like the perfect category.

I am curious, however, about how you view the subject of book covers and genres.

1. Have you ever not bought a book because you didn’t like the cover?

2. Would you be more likely pick up a book marketed as Women’s Fiction, Women’s Contemporary Fiction, or simply Contemporary Fiction or General/Mainstream Fiction, or none of the above?

Let me know by leaving your comments on my blog or in my guestbook, or by e-mailing me at janekennedysutton@gmail.com.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

See you next week.

Jane Kennedy Sutton
Author of The Ride (to be released by ArcheBooks Publishing)
janekennedysutton@gmail.com
http://janekennedysutton.googlepages.com/


Tags: The Ride, Archebooks, Lisa Craig, Dummies.com, Oprah’s book club , M.B. Weston , A Prophecy Forgotten , Women’s fiction