tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post8839638467152513296..comments2023-10-03T11:41:21.191+01:00Comments on The Truth About Lies: The glance testJim Murdochhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-85765739868001983052011-04-11T09:47:12.073+01:002011-04-11T09:47:12.073+01:00As a kid, Glenn, I had a number of hard backed boo...As a kid, <b>Glenn</b>, I had a number of hard backed books where the cover art was a part of the book. The only book I can remember having a separate dust jacket was a thesaurus and it wasn’t exactly art so I took it to be purely functional. It was only years later I started to realise that dust jackets were not just wrapping. My local library was the same: no dust jackets. Personally I find them annoying and take them off to read a book and they <i>are</i> a bit flimsy and too easily damageable. <br /><br />I <i>do</i> take your point about new covers making a work <i>feel</i> more modern than it is and I have been disappointed in the past when a book didn’t live up to its ‘modern’ cover; I’ve felt slightly conned.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-59617496695113183262011-04-11T06:51:34.838+01:002011-04-11T06:51:34.838+01:00When I worked in academic libraries during my coll...When I worked in academic libraries during my college years I was shocked to find they routinely removed the dust jackets - because the djs were too expensive to preserve? The public library had always put plastic over the dust jackets. It seemed remiss to me that academic libraries would discard the history of design displayed in dust jackets. <br /><br />I've been around long enough now to see a variety of covers for older books. A new design does seem to create the impression that the interior is new somehow, too. <br /><br />There are fads in design that are fresh at first - the printed cover that LOOKS aged or stained - I loved that the first time I saw it - but which get tired after awhile. Oh, I see, yes, this is another one of those covers designed to look tattered.Glenn Ingersollhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10674475308395975995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-18397866717307144962011-04-06T10:53:34.709+01:002011-04-06T10:53:34.709+01:00I’m not sure what I look for in a cover, Ash, othe...I’m not sure what I look for in a cover, <b>Ash</b>, other than something different. There are too many science fiction novels and romance novels where the cover has nothing to do with what’s inside, they’re just there to say ‘this is a sci fi novel’ or ‘this is a bodice-ripper’ and that’s it. I agree that many self-published books do themselves no favours by sporting poorly-designed covers. The thing is you can do a lot with very little <i>if</i> you just use a little imagination. As far as sex selling, yes, of course it does in fact as the protagonist in my first two books is a mammaphile I did toy with the idea of having a pair of huge breasts in the cover but I would never have been able to live with myself.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-43424508048690819762011-04-05T20:04:37.767+01:002011-04-05T20:04:37.767+01:00As an artist, I'm very visual and the cover of...As an artist, I'm very visual and the cover of a book is a big draw, or repellent, for me when it comes to browsing books. I look for art that conveys an emotion--if it seems dark and mysterious, I'm drawn to it. That just shows my genre preferences and that I base things on how it makes me feel. I was thinking as I was reading your post--is Jim a Virgo or Gemini? ;) You like clean, non-mussy/fussy cover art. When self-publishing, the cover art look/feel, I think, is a big deal and definitely needs to be a high consideration if an author wants to sell books with the glance test.<br />One of my pet peeves is romance book covers that only show the buff half-nude man and the sexy half-dressed female--that doesn't tell me that the story is about. Yet, I assume the "sexier" that genre's covers are, they better they sell? Very interesting stuff.Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11084736409124792641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-79272706484721326082011-04-05T07:28:02.255+01:002011-04-05T07:28:02.255+01:00I’d never heard of Tauchnitz paperbacks, Dick. I l...I’d never heard of Tauchnitz paperbacks, <b>Dick</b>. I like the plain covers but I don’t get why the covers were made out of the same paper as the pages. It makes them feel like magazines, things that get read and then tossed. I hate even throwing magazines out. I have two shelves full of <i>SFX</i> magazines that I never look at and yet I'd hate to part with.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-59036304960588941752011-04-04T22:33:23.837+01:002011-04-04T22:33:23.837+01:00I favour the minimalist too, probably because I am...I favour the minimalist too, probably because I am all too easily seduced by the beguiling design. Typeface in particular will have me trying to persuade myself that persuasive style is going to render up compelling content! For a long time I collected Penguin books from between the late '50s and late '70s, just because their absolutely minimal design brief led to such effective covers. And I still actively seek out the old Tauschnitz paperbacks for their plain white covers and period typeface.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-88287109260014920442011-04-04T12:55:38.159+01:002011-04-04T12:55:38.159+01:00Oh, Dave, there’s a whole science to displaying go...Oh, <b>Dave</b>, there’s a whole science to displaying goods. I remember a programme some years ago talking about how supermarkets kept changing where they put things and why. You think you mind’s your own until you watch a programme like that. I’m actually very good at not impulse buying. Actually I’m very good at not buying in general. Even when I had money to burn I could spend an hour in a bookstore or record shop and walk out with nothing. There have been a few things I’ve bought purely for the covers. I’ve talked about comics above but music too especially when LPs were still on the go. I mean you can <i>do</i> something with a cover 12" x 12". Much as I loved the convenience of tapes and then CDs the artwork was never quite the same. My favourite cover artist is <a href="http://www.the-masque.com/marillion1.html" rel="nofollow">Mark Wilkinson</a> especially his Marillion covers.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-23036703040762254102011-04-04T11:57:49.657+01:002011-04-04T11:57:49.657+01:00We seem never to be too far apart. I too picked ou...We seem never to be too far apart. I too picked out Whit and The Crow Road. From the Uglies I chose Little Monsters, Plain Ugly and the Ugly Duckling.<br /><br />Apart from thinking from time to time about never choosing a book... etc, I did wonder about the effect of the Book Sop itself and its displays. How they might affect customer choice. <br /><br />An absorbing post, though, and one I shall go on thinking about for a bit.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-16877651231164263742011-04-03T13:25:11.132+01:002011-04-03T13:25:11.132+01:00There are loads of authors who, when their books g...There are loads of authors who, when their books get reprinted, have them all done in a certain style, <b>Crafty Green Poet</b>, but what I liked about those early books by Banks – his non-science fiction ones at least – is that right from the off the publisher set the style and continued with it. I’ve already got the covers for my next three books designed and sitting on my wife’s computer. Not sure what I’m going to do with <i>Left</i> yet but it’ll be ages – years – before I’ll be worrying about it. I could do half an inkblot but it kinda loses something. So, for the moment at least, I’m stuck.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-62816957440971534352011-04-03T13:08:37.368+01:002011-04-03T13:08:37.368+01:00excellent post! I r eally like the black and white...excellent post! I r eally like the black and white covers for Iain Banks' books, they're well designed, eyecatching and complement each other. <br /><br />I don't think I buy books based on cover design but I dod know that a good or intriguing cover makes me more likely to pick the book up and therefore more likely to buy it. <br /><br />Like you I prefer minimalist cover designs.Crafty Green Poethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02486633917197181851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-89102431858215841182011-04-02T16:05:53.420+01:002011-04-02T16:05:53.420+01:00One of the reasons I got into the Moon Knight comi...One of the reasons I got into the Moon Knight comic book was precisely because Bill Sienkiewicz did the art. Brilliant stuff. There is one cover I would frame, actually. All black except for the glowing eyes and fangs of a wolf dripping blood over one of Moon Knight's crescent-moon-shaped shuriken. Talk about a symbolic and archetypal cover! Wow!<br /><br />So I'm glad you mentioned Sienkiewicz, among the rest of that artistic renaissance in comics from the eighties. Other artists who emerged at that time who I thought were terrific were Gene Day, Frank Miller (obviously), Dave McKean (I have two of his other art and photo books, and most of his other graphic novels), and a few others. I have the complete run of the original comics of Sandman, as well as the book anthologies. That's only one of the many great books that started to happen from that period. V for Vendetta. Etc.<br /><br />I totally agree with you about all these folks being Artists.Art Durkeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463180236975988432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-56363856388937654802011-04-02T10:40:45.349+01:002011-04-02T10:40:45.349+01:00I agree, Art. The covers of all my own books have ...I agree, <b>Art</b>. The covers of all my own books have been abstracts, inkblots, and I chose that motif because it’s one that appears frequently in my writing and one that I feel gets the reader in the right mindset for the books; inkblots reveal more about the viewer than the artist. The other thing about my covers is that they come out not too bad when reduced for the web. The inkblot is essentially my logo and by the time I have seven books out there that’s what I expect people to think of. So there is method in my madness. Uniformity was important.<br /><br />The real core of my article was the fact that covers in the 21st century are not what they once were. As you say, with an e-book there is no physical object. So, I think, more and more designers <i>ought</i> to be thinking about how they work is going to be seen. Okay, on their own website the publisher can have as big a graphic as they like but most review sites will still only have one about 200px wide or less.<br /><br />I take your point on clutter and it takes all sorts. The article obviously reflects my personal tastes. That aside I still think that many attractive covers – like the one for <i>The Water Theatre</i> - do the book no favours whatsoever. In many cases the cover is neither here nor there, it’s the name that sells, but I’ve never heard of Lindsay Clarke and if this book had been lying on a table in Waterstones I still wouldn't have. The only thing it has going for it is an intriguing title.<br /><br />In many cases, yes, a book cover is a onetime deal, for the author who only has one book but even if I only had one book I’d still be thinking about my second and my third. At the very least I’d want my name to be a logo, like a band logo, something that went with me.<br /><br /><b>Kass</b>, I know exactly where you’re coming from and there have been times I’ve had to stop myself buying a book with a beautiful cover because I knew I would never read it. Comics were different. I bought many comics purely for the cover art. I don’t know how much you’ve looked at comics recently or ever but from the eighties there was a real change in attitudes and everything to do with comics moved up a couple of gears. The guys who did the artwork were Artists-with-a-capital-A. One of my most precious possessions is a hardback book with all of <a href="http://www.mckean-art.co.uk/" rel="nofollow">Dave McKean’s</a> covers to <i>The Sandman</i> series – wonderful stuff. You can see the whole lot <a href="http://www.davemckean-collector.co.uk/page_864008.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>. But my favourite artist is probably <a href="http://www.billsienkiewiczart.com/" rel="nofollow">Bill Sienkiewicz</a>.<br /><br />I think when it comes to poetry, <b>Marion</b>, then I would always lean towards abstract. It is surprising the number of poetry books that have no art whatsoever; take Faber & Faber’s books. I’ll be very interested to see what yours looks like when it’s ready.<br /><br />I get attached to covers, <b>Brady</b>. The copy of <i>Nineteen Eighty-Four</i> I currently own is not the one I first read. I bought it to fill a gap in my library and I kinda wish I’d hung out for the one I really wanted. The same goes for the Silverberg that I mentioned in the article. If I’m buying a used book online I will check out the different covers. I’ve just put a book on my wish list and I chose an older edition simply because I preferred the cover.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-65937163104802285952011-04-02T05:57:29.943+01:002011-04-02T05:57:29.943+01:00Marketing can definitely get different results in ...Marketing can definitely get different results in different areas. I suppose that's why major brands spend so much money studying and catering to specific demographics.<br /><br />I wholeheartedly admit that I am often influenced by a cover. Unfortunately, bad covers tend to give the impression that the publishing house didn't think the piece was good enough to deserve otherwise. I know that isn't always the case, and it isn't fair to new authors who just aren't given as much attention as the sure things. Sometimes people have the best intentions but things just don't play out the way they expected. <br /><br />The copy of 1984 that I read was hardback and was missing the paper sleeve. The board was light blue with a dark blue binding. It had the title stamped in, but there was no fanfare about it. I think the book still ended the same, even if it wasn't all dressed up. :)R. Brady Frosthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16926505633531944151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-82618071058462566372011-04-01T21:43:44.376+01:002011-04-01T21:43:44.376+01:00Great post! Loved the slideshows :) I've alway...Great post! Loved the slideshows :) I've always really liked Iain Banks' Whit cover - the white on black one - such stark symbolism, it's an image that really sticks in the head. <br /><br />I've just recently picked my pamphlet cover picture, it's one of Roxana's. There's another picture of her's that I would have really loved to have used but unfortunately it doesn't go with my title at all. But anyway I love the one I'm using, it's kind of abstract, slightly surreal and gorgeously textured. I think her pictures and my poems work on a similar wavelength (in terms of themes and approach). That, plus the fact that her pictures are simply wonderful, meant I was in no doubt from the start that I would use one of her pics for my cover (with her permission of course!).Marion McCreadyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04657757253873577465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-13419704243001638612011-04-01T20:50:10.978+01:002011-04-01T20:50:10.978+01:00I've bought many a book purely because I liked...I've bought many a book purely because I liked the cover.<br /><br /><i>Dead Air</i>, the less graphic image was one I like a lot and <i>Whit</i>, the graphic one.<br /><br />I sometimes think of a title to things before I come up with the body of the text or poem.Kasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05233330248952156754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-85819512504025560042011-04-01T16:15:33.830+01:002011-04-01T16:15:33.830+01:00I think you're being too literal in your expec...I think you're being too literal in your expectation of what the cover gives you. If a cover has abstract art on it that isn't a literal illustration from the book, that still tells you something, and I don't have a problem with it. It becomes a matter of personal taste, after a point.<br /><br />Your issue with SF covers, for example. One reason abstract art got popular for SF book covers in the 50s and 60s, when that trend began, was twofold: "difficult" and mind-blowing art was supposed to make people think of the future, to blow their minds the way the story would; and it's too hard to literally illustrate every SF novel, many of which have the same trapping but are otherwise nothing alike. You can't put a rocket ship on every cover. And how does a cover artist illustrate an alien race no one has imagined before? That did lead to a lot of clichéd SF covers (magazines especially) of the Bug-Eyed Monsters With All The Tentacles, and also to the clichés of putting rockets on the cover. At least the abstract art is more creative than the usual SF pulp clichés. <br /><br />Abstraction is where tone and mood come in, without being literally illustrative. A blue book cover gives you a different mood than a scarlet one, even with nothing else going on. That can reflect the contents very well.<br /><br />Even though your own book covers are symbolic rather than illustrations of events within the pages, I do think you're getting hung up on literal rather than symbolic depiction of contents. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, in which case, sorry. I'm just really aware of the history of book design, for various reasons.<br /><br />Your point about clutter not reproducing at small sizes is a valid one. But at small screen sizes, you can't read the cover type, either. The only thing you can see at a tiny repro size is an iconic splash of color that may or may not be recognizable as a piece of art. If a cover is already famous then you'll recognize it; otherwise, it's irrelevant.<br /><br />Designers don't make their choices based on how small Amazon is going to reproduce their covers online—nor should they. Book covers were being designed as physical objects, long before the Internet. Unless something is only published as an e-book, that's not going to change, nor do I think it needs. (Don't fix what ain't broke.)<br /><br />The only time designers think about repro at all sizes, tiny to large, is when creating a brand logo that needs to be recognizable at all sizes, and from a distance. The Penguin Books icon is a good example, so is the Nike swoosh. Book covers are one-time deals.<br /><br />And there are readers who LIKE clutter, who are attracted to it. If they like a messy novel, and the cover accurately depicts that book's style and tone and contents, symbolically or literally, then it's a successful match between book and reader. <br /><br />Which is really what that is all about: connecting the reader to what attracts them and they might want to read.<br /><br />One definition of successful marketing is to exactly that.Art Durkeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463180236975988432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-1189714476965633612011-04-01T12:44:50.452+01:002011-04-01T12:44:50.452+01:00I did think about the Harry Potter covers when I w...I <i>did</i> think about the <i>Harry Potter</i> covers when I wrote this, <b>litrefs</b>, and I think it’s interesting how they felt the need to market exactly the same content in a different way. I mean they’re <i>exactly</i> the same books, it’s not as if there’s an unexpurgated version for grown-ups or something. That I wouldn't mind. They do it with films. Why not books?<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-43642397431788403002011-04-01T11:54:52.359+01:002011-04-01T11:54:52.359+01:00Thanks as ever for the read. Though I can't ge...Thanks as ever for the read. Though I can't get worked up about covers, I think they matter, even in this e-book age. There are Harry Potter child/adult versions (and retro-fits of film stills) to compare.Tim Lovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00578925224900533603noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-76261772983186698332011-04-01T10:29:25.034+01:002011-04-01T10:29:25.034+01:00But that is the thing, Art, so much of the time th...But that is the thing, <b>Art</b>, so much of the time the artwork <i>doesn’t</i> tell the reader what to expect. The book I’m reading at the moment is called <i>The Water Theatre</i> - you can see the cover <a href="http://acommonreader.org/the-water-theatre-lindsay-clarke/" rel="nofollow">here</a> – and it’s a bloke walking through a gate. It tells me nothing. I’m sure somewhere in those 433 pages the protagonist walks through a gate but if he does the author attaches no great significance to it. It feels like a stock image and no real thought has gone into choosing it. I would never pick up a book with a cover like this in a million years.<br /><br />Agreed, though, if every book cover was designed by me it could get a bit boring but I <i>really</i> think that the more clutter there is on a cover these days the less impact it has on potential readers who, as I said above, are probably staring at a tiny icon on a screen; bookshops are a little different I admit. I also agree that picking the right type is important. I spent a long time looking at fonts before I decided which one I was going to use for my covers – it’s called Dream Orphans – and you could argue that each book should have a unique design but I was thinking about how good it will look when I have six or seven books all in a row and that day will come.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.com