(Several people contributed to this article. For the full list of contributors please see the footnotes. In some places I have paraphrased or quoted material sent to me. In others, I have inset contributors comments in italics.)
øYou cant judge a book by its cover," runs the adage. But every day in bookshops you see people doing precisely that. In fact, even before a book reaches the shelves, it must get past the buyers who, with hundreds upon hundreds of books to choose from and severely limited time, may pay closer attention to the cover than anything else. Cover design is increasingly focused on øpickupability". Books which are being heavily marketed will be sent out with their own display case in which books are displayed with the cover side facing out, just as booksellers shelve certain popular titles. Titles which make it into the booksellers own promotions are arranged on tables and racks, again all with the cover front and forward.
øThe author shall not unreasonably object€"
Authors may have ambivalent feelings about covers. While the illustrations of picture books often involve in depth consultation between author and artist, the further up the age range titles go the less likely it is that there will be any communication between the two. Many covers of young adult titles are made in-house by the design department, or outsourced to otherwise unknown artists. Theres considerable variance in how much input an author has in this process.
In this Armadillo, Tabitha Suzuma mentions being shown sixteen different cover designs for A Note of Madness and stating which three she preferred ¨ only to be taken aback when a proof arrived of a completely new and different cover entirely. Dianne Hofmeyer has a more satisfying story of the care Simon and Schuster took with the cover for Fish Notes and Star Songs, keeping her in the loop and sending her images of the developing artwork all along the line. She lists the stages of the process with illustrative examples:
My own experience tends to be that cover drafts are sent to me for comment, by which point theres a considerable amount of investment by the marketing and design departments in the work theyve produced. My first ever cover for 'Hex I loved ¨ and it had a positive response from readers as well. The sequel 'Shadows was rather less successful, with the face on the cover looking unfortunately like a troll doll (a plastic toy with distinctive pointy hair). The cover was adjusted when I pointed this out but not enough to completely erase the resemblance. But the artist did me proud with the third cover ¨ easily my favourite of the three.
As a new author I wasnt sure how much I could criticise. The rule seems to be that you shouldnt object 'unreasonably. But what constitutes an unreasonable objection?
Mary Hoffman writes:
I have had over eighty books published and have been on the whole extremely lucky with jackets. In the case of picturebooks this is a tribute to the illustrators such as Jane Ray, Caroline Binch, Christina Balit and Karin Littlewood, with whom I've had the good fortune to work. They couldn't turn in a duff jacket if they tried. But it's harder when it comes to fiction for older readers with minimal or no internal illustration.
If you are lucky, the jacket illustrator reads the text. If you are not, it will be those jackets that stick in your mind. "Mermaid and Chips," a Banana Book of mine that came out in 1989, was the story of Bill, a boy who caught a mermaid on a fishing expedition. It caused him no end of trouble trying to keep her concealed. He was helped by his best friend, Mickey, whose mum ran the village shop and dad owned the fish and chip shop next door.
The cover shows "Marlene" the mermaid trying on fishnet tights sitting on the floor of the village shop - something she would not have risked doing since a lot of the plot revolved round keeping her tail a secret. But by the time I was shown the cover it was too late to change.
Published in the same year "Dog Powder" begins "Parrott's Pet Shop didn't have any pets." Yet the cover clearly shows Colin, the hero, playing with a puppy in what is obviously the pet shop, with a barrel of dog treats, birdcage etc.in the background. Neither book was a long read - 3,000 words and 4,500 respectively, yet the artist obviously hadn't managed it. Not even the first sentence in the latter case.
The most upsetting was "Bump in the Night" (HarperCollins 1993), which had at least two mistakes in the art and three in the blurb - another vital aspect of what happens on jackets. It shows a boy sitting up in bed being menaced by a vacuum cleaner! Goodness knows what plot the cover artist was illustrating because "Reviving Ivy", the ghost story it apparently refers to, is about the ghost of a housemaid who haunts a girl's bedroom in her new house. Ivy died of influenza in 1918 and wishes she had had modern labour-saving devices like vacuum cleaners. Nothing like the jacket at all!
On the plus side, the amazing Ian Butterworth, who designed all the sumptuous jackets for my Stravaganza books (Bloomsbury 2002-5), reads every word of novels that have been 85,000 to 115,000 words long and delivers the goods every time. His ideas for my next Bloomsbury novel, "The Falconers' Knot" (forthcoming 2007) are richly mediaeval, with gold instead of silver.
Jackets do of course date and tastes change. The hardback covers of my storybooks about Grace with Frances Lincoln were considered a bit "schooly" for the paperbacks; hence the new look for "Encore, Grace". Children's Publisher at Frances Lincoln, Janetta Otter-Barry, is now of the opinion, after many discussions with booksellers, that books "probably need re-jacketing every couple of years." So in 2007, when the new Grace picturebook comes out we shall probably have all six books re-jacketed.
Whenever I am less than happy with a cover I remember the story of J.R.R.Tolkien's reaction to the American paperback of "The Hobbit" (Ballantine 1965), told in Humphrey Carpenter's 1977 biography. It showed "a hill, two emus, and a curious tree bearing bulbous fruit. Tolkien exploded: 'What has it got to do with the story? Where is this place? Why emus? And what is the thing in the foreground with pink bulbs?' When the reply came that the artist hadn't time to read the book and that the object with pink bulbs was 'meant to suggest a Christmas tree,' Tolkien could only answer: 'I begin to feel that I am shut up in a madhouse.'"
øWhere is this place? Why emus?"
Authors can be very invested in their own images of a character or place ¨ often an issue when they are depicted in the cover art. Readers are similarly invested. Otherwise satisfied cinema patrons will leave the film of a favourite book passing comments on whether the actors fitted their vision of the characters. As I see old favourites appear again in smart new jackets, Im intrigued by the changes of cover. On rare occasions Ill replace a much loved and battered copy with the new jacket but more often Ill reject them because Ive grown to love the cover I know. Im still sad that a friend borrowed and lost my Point Fiction edition of Howls Moving Castle ¨ the one with the black towering castle on the front. My new Harper Collins paperback is one of a themed series of Diana Wynne Jones books lavishly illustrated by David Wyatt. But to me, the man on the cover simply isnt Howl and I dont like looking at this imposter.
Even if you dont have a predefined vision of a character, a particular image can affect your vision of the book. Elizabeth Arnolds The Parsley Parcel was nominated for the Whitbread but judge, Simon Tait, told the TES he thought children would be øunlikely to proceed beyond the toothachingly prissy ragamuffin on the cover". The publishing company hastily chopped the image in half for the paperback to make it less prissy. Meanwhile the The Parsley Parcel now has a very modern cover with a definite air of Hilary McKays Saffys Angel series.
There are definite vogues for particular art styles and these can become associated with a particular type of book. Nick Sharratts covers for Jacqueline Wilsons junior titles made them recognisable to their intended audience. Josh Kirbys covers for Terry Pratchetts books were fabulously successful. Not only did they come to define the series, they spawned a host of imitations. If you wanted to write comedic fantasy, the message seemed to be, you needed a Kirbyesque cover or how else would anyone know what sort of book it was? Tom Holt and Robert Asprin are examples of this.
Partnerships like these are to be hoped for. In my own junior fiction for OUP, the Super Zeroes titles, Ive been fortunate enough to gain Tony Ross talents for the black and white internal illustrations and for the covers ¨ which appeal to exactly the audience I want for the stories. Increasingly when I think of the characters, its Tonys illustrations that come to mind. Its too soon to say what success the books will achieve but Im confident the covers are the best possible for them.
øSilver foil is a sign of love," I used to tell school students when I displayed the third book in the Hex trilogy. But increasingly its become cheaper to inlay foil on covers and designers are moving on to even flashier production gimmicks. Some of these can be quite beautiful. Mary Hoffmans Stravaganza titles have holographic foil ¨ although the old fashioned marbled endpapers are more beautiful still. Garth Nixs Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen had some of the most eye-catching covers utilising the 'charter marks that play an important part in the text.
This use of iconic images that occur in (or are inspired by) the text can be powerfully effective. Malorie Blackman's Noughts and Crosses had an exceptionally striking cover that continues to stand out in bookshops and the theme was carried on in the two sequels Knife Edge and Checkmate.
I dont know the full story behind the retitling of Philip Pullmans Northern Lights in the US ¨ but I suspect the fabulous image of the alethiometer on the cover in both UK and US editions might have contributed to Random House's desire to change it to The Golden Compass. For all the wonder and magic of the northern lights, its easy to see how the other title matches those of the subsequent sequels The Subtle Knife and the Amber Spyglass ¨ objects which appear on their respective covers.
Im sure all Armadillo readers will be familiar with the increasing popularity of covers that look like leatherbound books ¨ ironic at a time when new titles are less and less likely to appear in hardback at all. Bound proofs are replacing them as an instrument for collecting cover quotes and testing reviewer reaction to draft covers. Some bound proofs have a simplicity of design that is lacking in the final version, others can seem very crude. One rather over-engineered proof, for the Children of the Lamp series, arrived in a vast cardboard display box shaped like a book and bearing the cover of the 'leatherbound book themed book, in which the book itself nestled in a cut out hole like those secret drinkers have for their hidden stash. The whole process seemed unnecessarily meta.
But when the designer does take care and attention over an appropriate device, the results can be striking.
Elizabeth Kay writes:
øIt was only when I saw the mock-up cover for The Divide that I realised how much thought - and investment - was going into the production. I was absolutely thrilled. As the hardback opens down the middle (perfect, considering the title, although not so popular with librarians) it was an expensive cover to produce. The two subsequent books have also been done the same way, and both Finland and the USA followed suit with the concept, although they changed the design a little. Other countries have chosen a more conventional approach.
I like the cover for The Divide the most. Each book used something from one of the characters - feathers for the griffin for the first one, and the eye of a pixie for Back to the Divide. I didn't think that was quite as successful, so when the third book was in progress I suggested white fur, using a number of colours to get the right effect, and this was precisely what was done. (I did go to art school, and first met my publisher as an illustrator. This may help the "being taken seriously" aspect!)
The re-issued paperbacks are dead good, too!"
øNot all that glitters is gold."
How much difference does the cover make? Its hard to tell. Marketing departments can be insistent that they know what will appeal. The book buyers seem equally confident. But the results can be disappointing. Gimmicks can fail: odd sized books create shelving issues, too much foil can be blinding and of course, not all that glitters is gold.
After my overall positive experiences affair with my Hex covers, I fell instantly in love with the hardback cover of Waking Dream. Its dreamy blue-greens and misty castle were exactly the sort of image Id been thinking of. But sales were disappointing and the book was rejacketed. The stunning flame-haired siren who shades her dazzled eyes across the cover almost certainly gained me pickupability ¨ but I wonder how many would be readers put it down as fast when they realised it wasnt a teen romance.
The Rights of Passage sequence which remains stalled at book three of five, failed to find its audience. Oxford University Press threw out the first cover after disappointing sales and republished the first book with a new design. Unfortunately the new design was no more successful. Readers have found the books through recommendations and describe the covers as either neutral or actively off-putting. These were covers intended to show 'boy appeal with their androgynous leaping figure silhouettes. But in a series in which five of the eight principle characters are female, perhaps we should have thought longer about the female science fantasy audience with whom theyve been most successful.
Gwen Grant writes:
The book jacket I think about most is the one that got away.
Years ago, when 'PRIVATE-KEEP OUT was scheduled for one of its reprints, I received from my publisher one of the most beautiful jacket illustrations I have ever seen.
The picture is of a young girl lying on a crimson carpet in front of a candle. She has a pencil in her hand, paper in front of her ready to write on and a stack of paper at her side. Shes wearing a red jumper with a white collar and a rumpled dark skirt. The skirt, like the girls face, neck and jumper, is touched with a gleam of candlelight so that the whole picture glows. All this beauty is set against a black background and the effect is so enchanting and radiant that even now I look at it constantly.
The girls face is lovely. It has such a sweetness to it that you long to know her. Shes resting her head on her hand and she breathes life and intelligence. Im certain this girl really existed and acted as a model for the illustrator, whom, wait for it, I DO NOT KNOW!!!
I never knew his or her name. If I had, I would have begged to be allowed to buy the original drawing as I love it so much.
I cant remember now what happened that it wasnt used on 'PRIVATE-KEEP OUT but out of all my book jackets, this, the one that got away, is the one I would most liked to have seen on a book of mine.
Any book.
If, by some miracle, the illustrator is out there and reads this, PLEASE get in touch.
Theyre tricky things though, are book jackets. They have to be watched because somewhere between writer, publisher and illustrator, they often acquire a life of their own, a life which, full of interest though it is, seems to rather slant away from the life of the story it is seeking to, well, illustrate.
I am thinking of another of my books whose proposed jacket illustration was excellent, the only slight problem being that it showed entirely the wrong season. In my story, it was winter. On the book jacket, it was summer. But, hey, it was such a striking jacket, I was almost tempted to change the story rather than ask for it to be done again.
In the 90s, the Society of Authors published a great postcard of a cartoon by Douglas Hall (1995). It shows a shocked and amazed person with wild hair and tongue wagging from an appalled open mouth, gingerly holding a telephone as if its the ghost of a dead writer, crying, 'The author wants to see the cover before we print it!
Wouldnt that be nice!
The author wants to see the cover before we print it!
Sometimes authors can change the future of a book by involving themselves with the cover process. At Bologna one year I heard of an author so disappointed by the covers proposed that they commissioned their own design on their own nickel. The publishing company preferred the new version, printed it, and the book was a runaway success. But more often authors will fall into line with the suggested version and quell any secret doubts when the marketing department sates forcefully that this is the way they want to go.
But least we get too despondent about covers making or breaking books, theres always the possibility for change. Companies like Barn Owl and Back to Front have brought back old favourites with new covers and breathed a new lease of life into books with a fresh look. Major publishers routinely re-jacket books now, which is less good news for those who are happy with their covers but its always interesting to see one of your books in a new jacket.
Ive barely touched on the subject of foreign language editions and alternative covers of childrens books for the adult market ¨ something that makes me wonder if there are really people ashamed to be seen reading a 'childrens book. On my website I have a page devoted to the foreign editions of Hex ¨ each very different and I wasnt consulted about any of them so the arrival of my author copies was the first I saw of them. Of one I can only ask, like Tolkien, øwhat is this place?" although it mercifully contains no emus. But in general Im simply fascinated by the way they evoke different ideas about the same book. And what about title changes? But that will have to wait for another article.
øWhats in a cover? A book by any other cover would read the same."
In a time when the market seems flooded by new titles, the cover is undoubtedly important and authors should beware of treating the decision process lightly. Successful blendings of author and imagery do carry a book further. But in all truth, you really cant judge a book by its cover and the discerning reader will see past pickupability and designed appeal and weigh the book by more literary measures.
The following people contributed to this article:
Elizabeth Arnold contributed example covers of the Parsley Parcel and her story of Simon Tait's criticism. Gwen Grant contributed a piece and image of a proposed cover for Private Keep Out. Marry Hoffman contributed the Encore, Grace cover and her impressions of cover discussions over the years. Dianne Hofmeyr contributed the covers of Fish Notes and Star Songs and remarks on Simon and Schuster. Elizabeth Kay contributed comments on The Divide covers and examples.
Thank you everyone for your generosity in sharing your stories and images.