Saturday, April 22, 2006

Boy/Girl

I've got a micro-poll on the cover art for the Darkyn novels: do you all like the male faces, or would you prefer to see female faces? (the cover art for Dark Need over there on the right sidebar is an example; that's Darkyn book #3)

Please post your answers and/or opinions in comments.

18 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:43 AM

    I like it with the male faces, but honestly, it depends on the Darkyn Main Character. Right now it is male that are mc's, if it was female Darkyn, it would be a different thing.

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  2. I don't necessarily care if it's the male or the female shown, provided they aren't locked in one those oh so familiar clinches.

    It's nice seeing some vamp books that don't involve the dude on the cover wearing the typical black cape.

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  3. Anonymous8:09 AM

    I have to agree with mikaela_l on this one. If the character is central to the story (not even the main character) then go ahead and have him/her on the cover.

    Just don't have a female face on the cover to have the reader discover that "she" is not in the novel at all or has nothing to do with it.

    I personally hate misleading cover art. If there is a six foot tall, green, featherless seven-eyed chicken on the cover - his name better be Bart and he better be a main character in the book . . .

    I'm just saying . . .

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  4. Anonymous8:53 AM

    Agreed with the others. As long as the face is one of the leads, I don't care whether it's male or female. No clinches.

    The covers are striking, by the way. Gorgeous.

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  5. I agree with them, with one small sidebar:

    That guy on the cover of #3 looks waaaaay too much like Tom Cruise for my liking.

    Just saying. :)

    trev

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  6. Anonymous9:28 AM

    The covers are striking.

    The faces are what stopped me at the display, hooked me into picking up the book and getting very addicted to the series.

    Kristen

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  7. I also agree that the cover should represent the Darkyn character the book is about. Really, the first thing I notice about the covers isn't that they're men, I notice their eyes.

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  8. I'd like the Dark Need model on all of my book covers. ... All of them. ;)

    Okay, honestly, I read romance novels to be romanced by the guy. So I think the guy has more effect on me. A girl on a romance novel can work. I liked the one for Dutchess of Fifth Avenue and Whisper of Eternity. But I would pick up something like Deeper Than the Night first. I'm more attracted to the cover.

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  9. I agree that the face on the cover should be central to the plot (male or female). Being female, I prefer to oogle at the men, although I would like to see some of the women step forward as well.

    I also agree that I love the fact that these covers aren't stereotypical. They're very unique and I really love them.

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  10. Anonymous2:56 PM

    I agree that both male and female covers can attract my attention. For me it depends on the main characters. With the Darkyn being male, that is pretty much what I expect. Marjorie Liu's covers have been female and are attention grabbers.

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  11. Anonymous3:55 PM

    Just wanted to echo some of the other thoughts here that mentioned that the male Darkyn lead on the cover makes sense, and if the female lead was Darkyn I'd like to see her on the cover at that time.

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  12. I think your covers are striking.

    Speaking as a reader...I don't mind book covers with the hero or heroine's face on them, but nothing gets to me more than when a book cover doesn't reflect the way the hero or heroine is described...like his hair was military short in the description in the book and the book cover shows his hair brushing his collar.

    As an author, I prefer a partial face to a full face mainly because I like for readers to picture the hero the way "they" think the hero should look. If given a full picture, then they don't have a choice in how to picture him.

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  13. He looks like Sawyer on LOST.

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  14. Lots of 'striking' out there. I'm with Sapphire, I like to ogle the men. However, since a romance is about a man and a woman (regardless of the supernatural), I'd like to see both on the cover, facing each other, maybe, to represent all that goes on in a romance: the apartness, the confrontations, the emotional connections, the lust, the togetherness, the love.

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  15. I ogle the cover for Dark Need every time I come to your blog.

    I love the male lead face on the cover. Especially him. He's striking.

    Ok. I'm shallow. *g*

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  16. Anonymous12:47 AM

    I disagree with Trev. Cover guy is way better looking than Tom Cruise (but if he did look like Cruise, that would be a deal breaker for me). Cover guy is also goodlooking in a nonthreatening I-wish-I-looked-like-that kinda way. I like him.

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  17. I'd stick with the guys. I think that cover art hits you emotionally, so the reasonable people who are being logical and suggesting that, regardless of gender, the Darkyn the book is about should be on the cover are not considering the emotional impact. I think, from reading comments on Romancing the Blog and from talking to die-hard Romance readers, that you should stick with the guys because the hero is who they read the book for. For me, personally, I'm more drawn to the guy faces and wouldn't be drawn to female faces. :)

    Linda

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  18. Well, the word that came to mind was stricking, but it's been used too much ;). I like the cover art so far and it is eye-catching (there you go :D). I was noticing in the store the other day about how the StarDoc and shared world novels have completely different covers so it's clear which ones are in the series and which are related. I don't know how much I've noticed that before, but still, having continuity in the series is a real draw while I find the unadorned male faces mysterious. That said, I don't think a female face done up in the same way would break the thread.

    So there you go. Pretty tangled if you ask me :p.

    Cheers,
    Margaret

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