sometimes, the small things are really satisfying...

[lagilman]

I just saw the preliminary cover for SCENE STEALER by Elise Warner (a quirky-cozy mystery I acquired for Carina Press), and it's a lovely, strikingly graphic (as in design, not gore) cover...but there was something that didn't quite work. I made a suggestion and got back an immediate response:

Ooh, good point on the [redacted], something was bothering me and I didn’t know what it was – the [redacted] is [redacted]. Thanks Laura Anne.

I'm not a graphic designer, nor do I play one on the Internet, but I did pick up a few somethings, listening to the people I worked with all those years... *grin*

Comments

[chaoticgoodnik.livejournal.com]

It may be bad form to link to another author's blog, in which case, I apologize ... but this reminds me of something from Kim Harrison's blog (http://kimharrison.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/covers/) that I read yesterday.

I kind of rolled my eyes at the paragraph about how all the elements are supposed to indicate particular things to the potential reader/buyer, but I have to admit that it makes a certain amount of sense. (Though I am probably not someone whose opinion should be consulted, since I'm more likely to buy a book without caring much about the cover, or despite it, and also because I stopped buying books in that series even in PB after ... #3? #4? I forget.)

[lagilman]

well, there are visual people, and then there are non-visual people. For visual people, a cover is as important a marketing tool as the copy or any quote-blurbs.

You can't let go of any viable marketing tool, ever.

(and she's pretty much dead-on about the breakdown of elements, with a certain amount of wiggle room. I have cover/copy consult in my contract, but I try to be pragmatic about it. Marketing tool, check.)