Why Authors should get to choose the covers for their books

Discussion in 'Traditional Publishing' started by MustWrite, May 7, 2014.

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  1. Keitsumah

    Keitsumah The Dream-Walker Contributor

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    This is my personal opinion as a current Graphic Design Student and fantasy writer myself. Yes, I believe the author should have a say in the design of the book cover, but to a certain extent. There is a fine line between what will sell, and what people will look at, only to put down and say "maybe later". Then again, it is also the job of the designer to be able to interpret the message of the book and be able to back up what choices they made in their design convincingly.

    There are also certain things that unconsciously help the reader find what books they prefer. For fantasy, I have learned that certain images, such as castles, magic, or certain clothing styles or creatures tell the reader beforehand what book they are picking up. Same goes for historical novels, horror, and romance as well as all other varieties of books. Then again, you can break the rules and do something completely different. However, look again at what kind of market that book is going for. Maybe they are trying to gain the attention of a secondary market.

    Honestly, If I were working for a publisher I would ask what their test-readers said about the book. What they felt was the main point, as well as one of the major events that happened, then use that combined with my own creativity as well as what i have learned. I highly doubt I would be able to read the book myself and be able to devise a cover within a reasonable amount of time, so I must depend on the reader -not the author who would speak of it like a perfect child no matter how honestly they try to talk about it. The publisher expects that a well designed cover be created as cheaply and as marketably as possible, all the while expecting me to be able to handle juggling around half a dozen book covers at one time.

    Then again, i may yet become a freelance Book cover designer. Who knows?
     
  2. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    I should never be trusted with any design decisions of any sort whatsoever. I have a very poor sense of what looks 'good', graphically.

    The further I am from the cover, the better for all concerned.
     
  3. Elease Singh

    Elease Singh New Member

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    That will tell the readers if they should or not to buy your book.
     
  4. NinaW

    NinaW New Member

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    I hate it. I absolutely hate it. I will go out of my way to not get a movie cover. I hate it even more when there are massive differences between the on screen character and the on page character and they still put them on the bloody cover. It's just out of place. Like putting Gerard Butler on the cover to the Phantom of the Opera book when in the book the phantom is sallow skinned and have a gaping hole in his face where his nose should be. Thankfully this hasn't been done as far as I know.

    The other example is the His Dark Material's trilogy. Not because of character inaccuracies, but because the movie was awful and who the hell wants to be reminded of that thing while reading the book. Same goes for Eragon. Movie covers are only a good idea if the movie doesn't suck so hard it get's the lined up sequels cancelled.

    To me the book and the movie are two very different things and I don't want the movie to interfere with what I see in my head while I'm reading.

    Wow, that was a bit more of a rant than I mean it to be. Oops.
     
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  5. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    But you are absolutely right!

    (Girl with a Dragon Tattoo and Enigma springs to mind)

    The trouble with movie adaptations is that each reader of the original book, will have their own idea of how the characters look and sound, then the films come along and for a lot of people, they spoil the whole book.

    But then, you can't ban movie adaptations just because some of them are a pile of tosh.

    The film, Stand By Me (which was originally a short story by Stephen King) was brilliantly done, as too was the first Jaws film (forget the rest of the Jaws films) but then you get books like Jurassic Park, Twilight and The Deep which, for me, all beat their film versions hands down.

    Saying that though, I wouldn't say no to having my fiction turned into a film so long as I had a hand in production! HAHA!
     

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