Thursday, June 17th, 2010
Cover Question
Is sexier better?
I love my Wing Slayer Hunter covers:
But a bookseller was just saying she thought a sexier cover would increase sales even more. Sexy, maybe like this:
So I’m throwing it out to you–what to you think?
June 17th, 2010 at 5:16 am · Link
I like both. The first thing that caught my eye about BLOOD MAGIC was the nice, bright red cover. Followed by the title. Sexy men on the cover always catch my eye too. Sometimes, the title alone is enough for me to pick up the book and read the back. Whatever makes me pick up a book, what I read on the back has to intrigue me or I won’t buy it.
And really, Jen, I think the WS covers ARE sexy. Just the way they are
June 17th, 2010 at 8:51 am · Link
I think your WS covers look great, Jen. I like the slight background images and their understated sexiness. More importantly, the overall look of the WS covers is interesting – the bird and the moon over a pic of a man nuzzling a woman’s neck. The shirtless guy on Beast Within is nice, but what makes him interesting are the wolf silhouettes and the fact that his own pose mirrors the howling wolf. Anyway, just my opinion. Eye candy is nice, but I need more than that to satisfy me.
June 17th, 2010 at 10:04 am · Link
I think the WS covers are sexy. I really like the watermark background with the man nuzzles the woman’s neck. I think your covers say a lot more about the book than that it’s a romance. Nice abs are always a plus but it’s not what draws me to a book. I think a good title is more important.
Happy Friday Eve!
June 17th, 2010 at 10:05 am · Link
Oh I love your covers. I have bought many books because the cover looked interesting, not just sexy. Some covers the guys are just UGLY and yes capitalization is required there. We’ve read some for book club that I wouldn’t have picked up because the guy was just NOT hot. If your going to have a sexy guy just make sure he is Wing Slayer Worthy. LOL
June 17th, 2010 at 10:35 am · Link
I think your covers are just fine. When I choose new authors/books to read it is often the cover that catches my eye first, then the title. In fact that is how I got Blood Magic. While browsing at Wal-Mart I saw the cover and title, picked it up read the back and in my cart it went. But like Dawn if what is written on the back cover doesn’t intrest me, no matter the cover art I won’t buy the book.
Amanda also raises a good point, UGLY cover models are never a good thing. The other thing that frustrates me to no end is when there is a smoking hot dude with short blond hair, and blue eyes on the cover, but the hero has long dark hair and dark eyes. In my opinion if you are using cover models for the book, they should at least come close to matching the description of the characters.
June 17th, 2010 at 11:18 am · Link
Oh yes Val I agree, it irritates me to know end when they don’t at least try to make the model match up to the book. But I have learned in book club that sometimes the cover is completed prior to the book completion but I would think they would at least know the hair color and eyes of the hero/heroine.
I’m bad about not really reading the back covers lately. I tend to read the first bit of it but I won’t read the whole thing. I’ve had 2 books for book club that we were reading that spoiled the book because it gave too much away on the back cover and one of them was not even the correct description. It described something that happened half way into the book.
June 17th, 2010 at 12:51 pm · Link
Authors are right there with y’all on the cover models matching the characters. Sadly, we have very little input on covers. At some of the big publishers, authors have NO input. It’s up to marketing, and you can bet they don’t always read the book.
Jen, I love your covers! They stand out on the shelf because they don’t look like every other cover around them. Mantitty covers are fine for being eye candy but they don’t make me pick up a book any quicker.
June 17th, 2010 at 1:20 pm · Link
LOL @ mantitty covers. TOO FUNNY Silver
June 17th, 2010 at 1:21 pm · Link
I love your Wing Slayer Hunter covers! The bold colors and shadowed birds make them stand out. There are a lot of half-nude men on book covers, so it’s nice to see something different!
June 17th, 2010 at 2:19 pm · Link
Dawn, thanks. Of course now I’m going to worry about the back cover copy
June 17th, 2010 at 2:20 pm · Link
B.E. good point about the BEAST cover!
June 17th, 2010 at 2:22 pm · Link
Erika, this is a good point too “I think your covers say a lot more about the book than that it’s a romance.”
June 17th, 2010 at 2:23 pm · Link
Amanda, I’m with you on the man-covers. I was burned by an uninteresting man-cover once before.
June 17th, 2010 at 2:25 pm · Link
Val, that’s great to know BLOOD MAGIC caught your eye in Wal Mart!
So many readers are annoyed by cover models who don’t match the book. Authors fight for better representation, but the publisher usually has the final say.
June 17th, 2010 at 2:26 pm · Link
Amanda, back cover copy is another problem. Sometimes it’s written before the book is half done. Or other times, it’s written so late the author doesn’t get to vet it. Very frustrating!
June 17th, 2010 at 2:28 pm · Link
Silver, LOLOL! Very descriptive! I love my covers too, but I do listen when booksellers tell me things–not that I have all that much control over my covers
June 17th, 2010 at 2:29 pm · Link
Diana, thank you, it’s a relief to hear that! We’ll see what the artist come up with for NIGHT MAGIC–I’m hoping the stay with the general theme but maybe add a little sexier edge if they think it’s needed.
June 17th, 2010 at 10:13 pm · Link
Okay cover wh*re is here… I will be the first one to tell you that I some semxxy man on the cover of my books.. But Jen, I will be honest with you… I simply love your covers. That was one of the first things I noticed about your cover… and that was the difference that struck at me at Border’s when I find your book ~ was your cover. They are sexy as hell… But what’s more important…. Your covers actually fit your story. So, when I look your covers… I see the story. Simply put… your covers rock honey! I love the effects your covers have on me while I am reading… or gawking on my shelf!! Those are two of my favorite covers… Okay… I am going now…. Have a great night witches! Tomorrow is TGIF!!!!!
June 17th, 2010 at 11:20 pm · Link
I love the covers of your books because they don’t have the half naked man on it. I can take your books to the pool without having others give me bad vibes for reading romance books. I also like being able to use my imagination more when thinking about the characters rather than have a picture give me what I am supposed to be reading-does that make sense. I really like the bright colors of your books cause they pop out on the shelf more than the mancandy ones do. Mostly I like the contents of your books really-I would have read them regardless of cover pictures.
June 18th, 2010 at 7:48 am · Link
I love your covers, Jen. I think the industry has pushed the nekkid men far enough–almost every ‘romance’ has one on the cover. ENOUGH ALREADY! I’m getting tired of the over-sexed romances, because they are forgetting that the core of the story is supposed to be romantic!
Rant over…sorry….must be getting old and crotchety. It doesn’t mean that I don’t admire the well-muscled male body–I do, but I’m getting burned out with the over stimulation.
June 18th, 2010 at 10:46 am · Link
Cecile, Joanne and Margaret, thank you so much for your input–this has been really enlightening. I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s thoughts and reactions to covers.
June 27th, 2010 at 2:12 pm · Link
I like the covers. I’m in the england and I spotted blood magic on the shelf in the book store as it really stood out. I then had to order soul magic especially all the way from the USA took 2weeks.
June 27th, 2010 at 9:57 pm · Link
Hi Toni, wow that’s amazing that you bought BLOOD MAGIC in England! Great to hear it. Two weeks was a long time to wait for SOUL MAGIC, hope the book was worth it