Beauty
It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.
~Leo Tolstoy
You can’t judge a book by it’s cover. IT’S WHAT’S ON THE INSIDE THAT COUNTS. Beauty is only skin deep… Hah! The practical side of your self might accept these ideas as the gospel truth but darn it, I have yet to figure out how to wear my devatastingly gorgeous inner soul on the outside of my body. Similarly, the good stuff in a book is, by necessity, hidden within a cover. If that cover happens to be a wallflower, can anyone really blame us for not wanting to cozy up and take a closer look?
Typically, I’m one of those readers who heads to the bookstore with my Dream List pain-stakingly compiled and numbered in descending order of desirability. I’ve read reviews. I’ve listened to recommendations from friends. I know just what I’m after and there are always more items on the list than there is money in my purse. I don’t need any distractions. If I’m in a hurry, and I usually am, I will head straight to the things I want and then I will promptly check out. Ideally. The truth is, strapped for time or not, I can sometimes be inexplicably seduced.
How does this happen? Well, it’s not so surprising really. I’m a reader. I want to read every book on the shelf. Love of reading aside, facts are facts, and I’ve got dinner to shop for and a baby gift to buy and the post office closes in an hour. There is only one thing that has the power to make me pause with my stack of carefully selected picks and read the back of a book that I know nothing about:
Beauty.
Call me shallow but a good book jacket makes me go weak at the knees every time. Sure, I know from past experience that a mindless fling might reveal something ugly or dull hidden under that sexy surface, yet sometimes I can’t help it. IF I can summon the will power to do it, I will remind myself that, with so many books out there and so little time, I really shouldn’t jump into anything without thinking things through first. But you’ve gotten my attention now, haven’t you, you Jezebel of the Two for One Bargain Table, you! I won’t forget you easily.
Pictured above is the smokin’ hot vixen that taught me about the power of beauty at the bookstore. History is Dead has the best cover art of any book that I’ve ever been lucky enough to be involved with. It ALWAYS gets a strong reaction. Zombie lovers gasp when they see it, they’re so tickled pink. Zombie haters ogle it like an accident on the side of the road. Many people have said that they cannot leave the book sitting face up on a table. My poor mother takes one look at this book and feels more worried than ever about where she went wrong. It’s no shrinking violet, that’s for sure. Love it or cover your eyes when you see it, I bet you can’t miss it on a table in a bookstore.
History is Dead was released on December 1, 2007 and it’s still making zombie lists and getting reviewed. Sales are steady. It’s been up for a couple of awards. The editor, Dr. Paffenroth, calls it the little antho that could, but I’d be selling the book horrendously short if I implied that this is purely because of Christian Dovel’s fetching cover art. History is Dead is still making people look for the simple reason that the right mix of fine genes and good luck went into the creation of it. The artwork is simply the slinky brunette (with a decaying eyeball) that’s meant to rev up your engine.
Timing played a big role with this book, as it does with all books. It was born on the stroke of midnight at the dawn of a new era – the zombie era. And the concept is cool – zombies raising mayhem in chronological order through out history. It’s a good time. The publisher, Permuted Press, is a zombie-savvy press that is a dream to work with, and the book had the good fortune of being edited by Kim Paffenroth, who has a great eye for what works together. Finally, there is a solid set of stories at the heart of it all. You’ve got beauty on the outside and on the inside when it comes to this book, but then, I might be a little bit biased in that regard. In any case, I don’t think anyone would argue that it requires the complete package if you hope to get noticed in a truly meaningful way. Which brings me full circle.
Give History is Dead the same cover and take away all the rest and you’d hear nothing but pure resentment from disappointed readers. Likewise, you can still have all the rest and be over-looked by the spasmodic buyer if you slap a crummy cover on top of it all. The most important thing, of course, is to tend to what’s on the inside first. That’s your job. But when the time comes time to publish, don’t be afraid to show a little knee. Unbutton that top button, for pity sake. Make me lose my head and abandon the post office and the stack of Sure Things in my arms. After all, a thing of beauty is a joy forever.
If you’re starting to wonder just how many quotes about beauty I can squeeze into a little article, the answer is six. Plus one more…
I’m tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That’s deep enough. What do you want – an adorable pancreas?
~Jean Kerr, The Snake Has All the Lines
Beauty may launch 1000 ships, but hype keeps them afloat and apathy sinks them in the mouth of the harbor. Just sayin’. Was flat out laughing by the time I reached the end of your column. Your inimitable style always evokes. Matters not what it evokes. Apathy is the killer. And I think a bad book cover is like apathy. So, that’s been my observation (beauty is in the eye of the beholder, don’tchaknow): a gorgeous book cover may or may not help, but a bad one can kill you faster than a gnat’s orgasm. Thanks for starting my day off on a positive note. Beauty is as beauty does!
– Sully
True enough, but since even A-list authors have virtually no say in what goes on the cover, I’m left to wonder just what the point is.
Thanks for always giving me a read, Sully. Your support is appreciated more than I can say.
Thank you, Wolf, for taking the time to comment as well. I would really love to hear specifically what people’s experiences have been in this regard. There are so many accomplished writers here at Storytellers. I’m hoping some of them might chime in. Of course, not all writers are at that same place in their writing journey. A listers? What about those of us who are not B listers? Some of us are working with small presses. Some have self-published or are considering it. I’ve discovered many options out there. The opportunities are growing by the hour, or so it seems to me. Perhaps a little fish might find themselves with more room to wiggle around in than a big one. I’m just saying it can’t hurt to look your best when you’re wiggling.
Since you ask, Carole… Have to believe that Wolf Lahti’s take on author cover input is almost universally true, but in fairness to publishers, there are exceptions. I certainly hold no great leverage when it comes to contracts, but my last four covers with NAL brought me invitations from the editor to weigh in. Now I can’t say that it was tendered with an openness to veto, and maybe they felt certain I would be pleased, but I was surprised to be shown early C-prints in a tone of consultation. I think you have to consider each working relationship and whether there is confidence on each party’s part in the judgment and understanding of the other. True, publishers will jealously guard the rights they buy, and there may be a cynical attitude toward writers naïveté outside of their chosen venues, but sometimes that saves the publisher from poor outcomes as well. Whenever power is divided up in a big house between an art department/editors/sales etc. it takes some pretty good politicking to throw a writer in the mix, A-list, B-list or on trial. I’m guessing that a small press might yield some receptivity if an editor/publisher and a writer establish good rapport and can talk candidly about costs vs. package.
– Sully
Jezebel of the Two for One Bargain Table? Thanks, Carole. Thanks for planting a phrase that’s pretty much guaranteed to make me burst into laughter for no apparent reason the next time I’m lingering in the Boulder Bookstore.
Just one individual’s experience, but here goes:
I’ve published in the small press and NYC houses alike, and have had influence on covers in both arenas. More frequently in the small press, true. Both with original work and ltd ed reprints of mass market stuff, I’ve been able to toss ideas to an artist or designer, and let them run with it … and ended up on a sliding scale of happy to ecstatic with the results.
But even in NY, I’ve on occasion been asked, if not always listened to. Once, though, my agent and I were able to get a dust jacket killed for a do-over.
If I may be so bold as to supply the point of your essay…?
ASK! ASK FOR INPUT! True, you may not get it. But where will you be if they ignore you? Certainly no further behind than if you didn’t ask at all.
I enjoyed reading about what you’ve encountered out there, Sully and Brian. Good tip too about asking for input. There is no denying that the powers that be will, ideally, have vast experience with what sells and how best to represent your book. Being proactive, while still recognizing and respecting that experience, surely can’t hurt. It’s a tired old dirge, I know, but no one knows your book better than you do and no one has as much to gain from it’s success either. Do they? Anyway, just as there appears to be no agreeing on a standard submission format, or the number of pages someone might want be expected to produce in a synopsis, I’ve heard wildly different stories from people regarding book covers. This is just a guess on my part but I’m thinking that, if an author decides to self-publish, you may want to avoid choosing the ever popular Ultra Supreme Gold Package II, featuring the same feather-haired rake in pirates pants that did wonders for several authors last month…