This is an amazing coincidence. Or, if you're a Scandanavian advertising exec who wants to sell Bibles to all the cool kids, why you hire a smart Yank like Larry Norton to bring your vision to the United States. Jury's still out.
I think we should jump on this cover art trend immediately, though. Who wouldn't want to imitate a trend cover for the word of the Almighty? Or for the Bible, for that matter? In fact, it's already happening -- here's the cover art for latest inspirational chicklit Top Pick for October:
Sure, laugh now. Never mind that I said the same thing about cover trends like Running Suspense Woman and Headless Historical Woman and the Dude From Six-Pack Mountain. We'll just wait until all the books on the shelf start eyeballing us.
Seriously, though, what cover art trend doesn't especially thrill you? Post your gripe in comments.
I've never been fond of the cartoon chick lit covers; I was glad when I started seeing less of those.
ReplyDeleteI like the dude from six pack mountain, myself. *g*
ReplyDeleteMy only cover beef is the too similar look. This has, honest to God, led to me buying the wrong book and having to take it back for exchange. Even when I had the right title and author name written down.
Zoe wrote: I've never been fond of the cartoon chick lit covers; I was glad when I started seeing less of those.
ReplyDeleteThose were never my favorite trend, although a couple were cute and/or story-appropriate. I guess in my head I'll always associate cartoons with children's fic.
Charlene wrote: I like the dude from six pack mountain, myself. *g*
ReplyDeleteMe, too, although I feel morally guilty for it. How can I whine about women's bodies being exploited to sell products when we do the same thing to guys?
My only cover beef is the too similar look. This has, honest to God, led to me buying the wrong book and having to take it back for exchange. Even when I had the right title and author name written down.
Amen. There are some authors I have to be careful buying because their reprints are frequently recovered, so to speak. I've gotten into the habit of checking copyright pages to see if there's an "originally published" notation.
*The Dude from Six-Pack Mountain*
ReplyDeletelol. I'm a big fan of Six-Pack Mountain. (but god forbid we start seeing guys from Crotch Creek.)
I think it sucks the way the same photo is used and re-used for different books/authors, just with the image reversed, cropped, whatever. I really devalues the impact of the cover art for the individual writers. Particularly if that image had been used in a very strong branding campaign for a specific author previously.
The upper left one? I swear the publisher's house logo looks like an eyebrow ring and I found myself thinking: "Hunh. I don't remember THOSE being in the Bible...."
ReplyDeleteI don't like the trend of GIANT AUTHOR NAME / GIANT BOOK TITLE, extremely tiny full illustration scrunched down in the middle. I mean, what's the point of making that artist do all that work if you're not going to let it sing?
Vanessa wrote: I think it sucks the way the same photo is used and re-used for different books/authors, just with the image reversed, cropped, whatever. I really devalues the impact of the cover art for the individual writers. Particularly if that image had been used in a very strong branding campaign for a specific author previously.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, although with costs rising and sales down, I think we may be seeing more cover art being recycled/reused in the near future.
It's especially hard for the author who gets stuck with rerun art. I know I want my novels to at the very least have unique art if not a brand look. I don't believe I've had a rerun put on one of my books to date, but you never know. Back when I was writing as JH I had a lot of Running Suspense Woman covers; could be one of them was a recycle.
Stephanie wrote: The upper left one? I swear the publisher's house logo looks like an eyebrow ring and I found myself thinking: "Hunh. I don't remember THOSE being in the Bible...."
ReplyDeleteOh, thank you, Steph. I thought the exact same thing when I first saw that cover. Good to know my stigmatism isn't entirely at fault. :)
I don't like the trend of GIANT AUTHOR NAME / GIANT BOOK TITLE, extremely tiny full illustration scrunched down in the middle. I mean, what's the point of making that artist do all that work if you're not going to let it sing?
I'm still pissed at one publisher who did that to a friend of mine. The art in that case was absolutely gorgeous, and they reduced it to nothing. Title and byline are important, but I think beautiful art is what grabs the browsers.
Count me in as a non-lover of frequently recycled cover art.
ReplyDeleteI am tired of the butt shots of paranormal action heroines. Can't faces and profiles and frontal shots say, "I can kick undeas ass?"
ReplyDeleteShiloh wrote: Count me in as a non-lover of frequently recycled cover art.
ReplyDeleteNo one loves it, except maybe the publisher's accounting department.
Jeri wrote: I am tired of the butt shots of paranormal action heroines. Can't faces and profiles and frontal shots say, "I can kick undeas ass?"
ReplyDeleteI just get depressed when I see all those young nubile keisters, lol.
Faces can be tricky, though. When I proposed we use a female (if somewhat androgynous) face on the cover of Evermore, I think I held my breath for the six months it took for the art people to produce the initial cover look. I was almost convinced they'd stick me with some cutesy little cheerleader instead of the female warrior I needed. Fortunately everyone got it that time.
Upper or lower backs with tatoos. One is kinda cool. Five thousand is overkill.
ReplyDeleteI'm quite happy that Fabio doesn't seem to be on every historical romance cover anymore. I never found him all that attractive, and for about 10 years, all they did was change his hair color and which girl was clinging to his leg.
I know a lot of people like them, but I am SICK of tattoos. It seems not to matter if there is supposed to be a tattoo on the hero, he gets one anyway. It's paranormal/dark/urban fantasy, therefore the guys (and sometimes the women) must be tattooed. The more I see of random tats, the more annoying it gets.
ReplyDelete