tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post475370707743196719..comments2024-03-18T08:33:25.907-04:00Comments on Inkwell Inspirations: Can't Judge a Book by its CoverLisa Karon Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02175430876079208723noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-67892857193418574352010-11-18T06:48:03.591-05:002010-11-18T06:48:03.591-05:00Ooh, that's an interesting tidbit. Thanks, Lau...Ooh, that's an interesting tidbit. Thanks, Lauire AliceLisa Karon Richardsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02175430876079208723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-6841369730149531972010-11-18T06:12:12.095-05:002010-11-18T06:12:12.095-05:00Debra, one reason why you don't usually have h...Debra, one reason why you don't usually have h/h on a cover, the Baker people tell me, is that it's too hard to get the models in for the photo shoot together, and pasting them in later from separate shoots turns out kind of weird covers, where they're not looking at one another, etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-49589079779409894042010-11-17T21:52:17.663-05:002010-11-17T21:52:17.663-05:00I bet your cover will be lovely, Jilly. The title ...I bet your cover will be lovely, Jilly. The title is already a winner as far as I'm concerned.Lisa Karon Richardsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02175430876079208723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-11833210570392244732010-11-17T21:26:49.380-05:002010-11-17T21:26:49.380-05:00Jill, I'm so glad you mentioned Julie's ne...Jill, I'm so glad you mentioned Julie's new book. Lovely cover. I'm sooooo looking forward to reading it.<br /><br />And now I need to go update my book reveiw from this past weekend because i'd forgotten I'd read The Silent Governess this past year. Loved it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18306070937646453722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-13021543210426363472010-11-17T21:07:05.380-05:002010-11-17T21:07:05.380-05:00Hi Lisa and Inkies!
I'm coming in late on this...Hi Lisa and Inkies!<br />I'm coming in late on this but wanted you to know I love this topic. I hadn't seen Julie Klassen's cover yet for The Girl In The Gatehouse but it's stunning. I have to admit that I'm a sucker for a beautiful cover, but I wouldn't buy a book if I didn't like the blurb. I always read the first sentence too. :)<br /><br />I recently read Nora Jillian Kenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12565274151603868808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-53000898495171910192010-11-17T20:38:33.818-05:002010-11-17T20:38:33.818-05:00I see what you mean. There has been a trend where ...I see what you mean. There has been a trend where they are going closer and focusing in on the heroine's face. I'm thinking specifically of the change Thomas Nelson did to the cover of In the Shadow of the Sun King. I loved the original cover, even if it did feature a headless woman. But the redo with the annoying grinning woman was much less appealing to me. Luckily I'd already read Lisa Karon Richardsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02175430876079208723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-13862837004378211152010-11-17T20:36:13.969-05:002010-11-17T20:36:13.969-05:00True, Anita. No one wears their hair up 24 hours a...True, Anita. No one wears their hair up 24 hours a day, but the cover should be representative of the story and the heroine, and the period setting. If she wears her hair down, that's all well and good, but if not, or if it isn't specified, then it's as annoying to me as getting the color wrong is to you.Lisa Karon Richardsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02175430876079208723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-70826029789061104552010-11-17T20:19:56.469-05:002010-11-17T20:19:56.469-05:00you're right Lisa. I didn't phrase that we...you're right Lisa. I didn't phrase that well. Maybe I'm imagining it but it seems to me there's more focus on showing the heroine's full face rather than both h/h.<br /><br />One thing for sure, I'm going to pay more attention to what's out there.Debra E. Marvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17853387871623424853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-33228564284436041012010-11-17T20:18:49.028-05:002010-11-17T20:18:49.028-05:00I agree with Laurie Alice about the hair on the co...I agree with Laurie Alice about the hair on the cover. A woman can't wear her hair up 24 hrs a day. Not only that, but regardless of the current fashion of the day, there's always a small minority who don't follow the trend. (Like me.) :D<br /><br />Anita Mae.Anita Mae Draperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16618699900826731377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-36024221612598701512010-11-17T18:12:01.719-05:002010-11-17T18:12:01.719-05:00Word of mouth takes the guess work out of book buy...Word of mouth takes the guess work out of book buying, doesn't it, Patti!Lisa Karon Richardsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02175430876079208723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-18943657952162142032010-11-17T17:01:39.491-05:002010-11-17T17:01:39.491-05:00Lately I'm going by friends' recommendatio...Lately I'm going by friends' recommendations, then BCC, then cover. Or kinda a combo.<br /><br />Great post.<br />And I've added "A Stray Drop of Blood" to a BIG pile of TBRs.<br /><br />Blessings, dear Lisa and Inkies!<br />Pattipattihttp://www.pattilacy.com/blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-56460786962414694672010-11-17T16:37:12.457-05:002010-11-17T16:37:12.457-05:00Now if there is a reason for the heroine's hai...Now if there is a reason for the heroine's hair to be down, for example it's based on a scene in the book that's one thing, but I've found that typically that's not the case. Besides it makes it hard to disguise the model's modern haircut, which in turn makes it hard for me as the reader to suspend disbelief and buy into the story world. The characters are now just Lisa Karon Richardsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02175430876079208723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-43148468381098669232010-11-17T16:31:17.320-05:002010-11-17T16:31:17.320-05:00I'm with Anita. If the characters don't ma...I'm with Anita. If the characters don't match the way they're described in the story it's really distracting.Lisa Karon Richardsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02175430876079208723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-53763965157691248022010-11-17T16:11:18.962-05:002010-11-17T16:11:18.962-05:00Forgot to say that headless or partial-faced heroi...Forgot to say that headless or partial-faced heroines are just weird. I think it was a brief trend that wasn't terribly successful. And, to me, not having anything on the cover to disguise that the characters are of a race other than white seems pretty deceitful to me. To me, it's sad that a publisher thinks they ahve to play a tricklike this on readers. But then, I've never not Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-74657460903000182952010-11-17T16:06:22.502-05:002010-11-17T16:06:22.502-05:00Titles grab me first. If it's artsy sounding a...Titles grab me first. If it's artsy sounding and the blurb says romance, I feel like the author is being pretentious and probably won't read it. Title theory is a whole topic on its own. So glad I don't have to worry about it othr than giving my publisher ideas.<br /><br />Same with cover. Some of you ahve heard me groan about covers. I get annoyed when people think a historical is Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-52056361301628153752010-11-17T14:17:38.251-05:002010-11-17T14:17:38.251-05:00I don't like books that don't show the per...I don't like books that <i>don't</i> show the person's face. I'm a very visual person and I like to see what the H/h looks like. To me, only showing the torso seems to be de-personalizing the story. (Is that a word?) Like - pick a face because any face will do. <br /><br />I think that's why I write so much about my characters looking and gazing. And talking about their eye Anita Mae Draperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16618699900826731377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-56728570062580612902010-11-17T13:14:57.584-05:002010-11-17T13:14:57.584-05:00Yep, books and authors we don't care for are u...Yep, books and authors we don't care for are usually forgettable!Lisa Karon Richardsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02175430876079208723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-79643939849371868482010-11-17T13:14:07.671-05:002010-11-17T13:14:07.671-05:00i'm so with you Susie. That's totally one ...i'm so with you Susie. That's totally one of my pet peeves. I can think of a recent book that was published recently with the heroine in a black and red striped gown--totally Victorian, but it was a story set during WWI. A lot of people think history is all the same so they don't know or care. But it irks me. <br /><br />If I'd known what the story was really about, I'd have Lisa Karon Richardsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02175430876079208723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-2857134237887348202010-11-17T13:12:51.718-05:002010-11-17T13:12:51.718-05:00Had to think about that one, Lisa, and the answer ...Had to think about that one, Lisa, and the answer is yes. I bought a set of Christian novellas set in France with a nice artsy cover, but they were preachy and boring and I never got through the first one. Don't remember the author thank goodness.Dina Sleimanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05214446103057806111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-81935017962359265092010-11-17T13:10:02.746-05:002010-11-17T13:10:02.746-05:00I don't know, Deb. I don't think it's ...I don't know, Deb. I don't think it's a new trend to have the heroine on the cover. They've been doing that for ages. All the way back to janette Oke. One of the new trends over the last five years or so is having partial portraits of the woman. Usually her head is cut off. Maybe that's the attempt to retain the reader's ability to visualize her as they please.<br /><br />Lisa Karon Richardsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02175430876079208723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-33062328336387925602010-11-17T13:09:22.631-05:002010-11-17T13:09:22.631-05:00When it comes to walking into a bookstore and brow...When it comes to walking into a bookstore and browsing for a book by an author I'm not familiar with, I am hands-down guilty of judging a book by its cover... not just the artwork, but the costumes on the models. I just picked up a book solely because of the Regency-looking gowns on the cover. And when I see an empire waist gown on a book cover, I think lords and scandal broth and Susanne Dietzehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09710634601407161821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-34247430642579195612010-11-17T13:06:43.677-05:002010-11-17T13:06:43.677-05:00Dina, Did you ever pick one up based on the cover ...Dina, Did you ever pick one up based on the cover only to be disappointed?Lisa Karon Richardsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02175430876079208723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-60324743416640910312010-11-17T13:06:10.336-05:002010-11-17T13:06:10.336-05:00Gina, I'm the same way as you in the library. ...Gina, I'm the same way as you in the library. Title first (and even the font can make me pick something up!) Sad I know.Lisa Karon Richardsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02175430876079208723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-995026524860758652010-11-17T13:05:09.754-05:002010-11-17T13:05:09.754-05:00Niki, I saw a site that was dedicated to showing d...Niki, I saw a site that was dedicated to showing different book covers that had been created with the same basic stock images. These were on books that had been published. It was really interesting to see the creativity and array of different techniques that were used to personalize the images.Lisa Karon Richardsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02175430876079208723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7502152359497137754.post-13012712735276606152010-11-17T13:03:11.651-05:002010-11-17T13:03:11.651-05:00Anita, that sounds like an interesting exercise. I...Anita, that sounds like an interesting exercise. It would be fun to do that in a book club to see what to read next.<br /><br />Don't stress too much about your potential cover for Emma's Outlaw. While they ask for ideas based on teh story, they don't give the author a whole lot of input from what I've heard! Still it's fun to dreamLisa Karon Richardsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02175430876079208723noreply@blogger.com