Friday, April 10, 2009

First Things First


What's the first thing you notice about the book? Yup, the cover. And there's a lot of new covers coming out soon.

First, we've got up for your viewing pleasure Carrie Ryan's sequel, The Dead Tossed Waves. The cover photo was shot by the same photographer who did the original cover, and the similarities are present here, but subtle--the hair blowing in the wind, the muted woven shirt, the background linked to the title.

What do you think? Personally, I love it and think it matches the sequel perfectly.

Oh, and ya know what? I know who the girl on the cover is!!!! :)

Now you didn't think I'd leave you with just one new cover, did ya? Nope, here's the latest from PJ Hoover: the cover to the sequel to The Emerald Tablet.

The Navel of the World cover is a little bit of a departure from The Emerald Tablet cover (art vs. photograph), but my favorite thing about this cover is the steps leading up. It draws your eyes right up to the title, sucking you into the book itself.

Edited to add:

When I woke up this morning, I saw that Justine Larbalestier is channeling my ideas! She released this week the US and Australian cover of her latest work, Liar. And they are very different. First, the Australian cover.

It's red--reminds me a bit of blood actually. It is also something along the lines of what Justine herself asked for: "
I asked for something spare, iconic, cool and dark. Possibly a typographical treatment. "

Before I comment on it, let's look at the American version of the cover.


Do you like this one better? I think it still captures the darkness Justine wanted, but it's a different sort of darkness. In the Aussie version, the darkness is bloody, physical, but in the US version, the darkness is creepy, psychological.

Personally, I like the US version better. And in comparing the two, I realized that, in general, I prefer books with photographs on the cover. And I do prefer those photographs to be artistic in some way, whether an interesting and different shot of a person (A Great and Terrible Beauty comes to mind as well) or a photograph of a scene from the book that invites the reader in. Although I can name a few covers that aren't photographs that I like, I do think that, in general, those are the covers I'm most attracted to.

So, how about you? What kinds of covers are you attracted to?

7 comments:

Keri Mikulski said...

I love talking covers.. I'm attracted to covers that make me think or wonder what's inside the book. I also like covers that capture the writing or the overall tone of the book. :)

Tabitha said...

I'm with you, Keri. :) I like covers that reflect the flavor of the book.

Nora said...

I tend to like covers with pictures on them as well, at least for YA. In this case, I definitely prefer the American version.

PJ Hoover said...

Hey! That's my cover! Funny enough, both are photographs. Weird, huh? The Emerald Tablet totally doesn't look like a photo to me but it is!

OK, you know who the girl on the cover of The Dead Tossed Waves is? How? I want to know!

And I like the American cover of Liar better. I'd pick it up before I'd pick up the other. Of course, it does kind of remind me of her hubby's Uglies books (not that that is a bad thing).

Thanks so much for posting my cover!!!!!

Rena Jones said...

I love the covers here. Do you happen to know what mountain range that is on Carrie's new book?

I write picture books, but I love covers of all different types, both photos and illustrations.

lotusgirl said...

I like striking covers with or without pictures. Like the one on Stargirl that I reviewed this week. When I saw that cover, I couldn't have passed up looking inside that book if I tried. It just compelled me to pick it up. Peaches was kind of the same way for me.

I really like both of the Larbelestier covers. If they were side by side on a shelf, though, I'd probably pick up the one with the picture first. Then again, I'm a photographer, so pictures speak to me. I wonder if Australians would have a different reaction and the picture thing is cultural. Her name would make me pick it up too. She's a compelling author.

Michelle D. Argyle said...

Awesome post, Beth! I loved looking at those covers. I am a photographer and hope that if I ever publish that they'll consider some of my own ideas and work for covers. I doubt it, but I can hope. :D

I can't wait to read PJ's sequel!!!