The Cover Art Gods Are Smiling (Maggie)

I think I have an interesting topic for you this week. A refreshing change, yes? It's all about cover art, and that is one important topic to those of us in the book biz, and often an area over which we have little control. But I've been very blessed with beautiful cover art time and time again, and almost always, with art departments who really take my suggestions to heart.

Pardon me, I just need to move this--URGH!--huge dog off of my lap. Ugh!

Okay, that's better. Now where was I? Oh, yes, cover art. I've had some beautiful covers, and I think I'm going to blow some up and frame them and hang them around my new and improved house when it gets done.

Meanwhile, the book in question is titled BLOODLINE. It's another vampire novel, and it's due for release in May of 2009. My editor sent me the initial concept for the cover, and I loved it, but I had a few suggestions.


I thought the heroine's jaw was a little too masculine. I thought it didn't really shout "Vampire" and maybe some fangs would help. I also thought there was a sad lack of cleavage where there was plenty of opportunity for cleavage, and Goddess knows, I'm all about cleavage. It's my best feature! (Insert evil grin here.) I wanted it to look a little more dangerous. And the background color looks like it would fit better with an Autumn release, rather than a late Spring one. It really is a beautiful cover, but there were these tiny things that I thought could come through a bit more strongly. So after reviewing this art with my editor and my agent, and looking it over and making notes, and trying to think of the reaction of a reader browsing through the stacks at a bookstore, I compiled my suggestions, sent them off to my editor, and waited to see what the final result would be.





Here is the revised version of the cover. I'm not sure how, but they definitely softened the jawline, even while giving the heroine a far more dangerous look. The background color is blood-red now, which I love, and even the moon, which I barely noticed in the first cover, has that blood-red tint, which, I think, makes it stand out more. The heroine has fangs, so it's obviously a vampire novel from the very first glance, and she has collarbones (which make a woman seem a little bit more vulnerable, I think) and cleavage, which just makes the book more sexy. In the first version, the heroine has the look of a princess, awaiting her prince's rescue. In the second, she looks like she's going to spring up and grab said prince by the front of his shirt (if he's wearing one) and have her way with him. This reflects the book a lot more closely. Though Lilith is vulnerable at first, being without her memory as the book opens, her true personality soon comes through. And her personality is modeled after the original Lilith-she who could not be tamed. So it fits. Although, the heroine is a bit prettier on the first one, isn't she?

What do you think? Which one do you like better? Which one would tend to make you pick up the book?

There's a lot that goes into the development of the covers. The tagline on the front, those two lines that give you a hint of the story's premise, is something we discuss at length. Ideas are batted back and forth until we all agree on one that we hope will grab you. It's HARD to put a gripping storyline into a handful of words! Then there's the back cover copy, that bit that gives you a more in depth idea of what the story is about. I usually get some version written by someone in NY, and it's often based on my original synopsis. The synopsis is the document I write before I start the book, telling the editor the story from beginning to end before I write a word of it. The problem is, I rarely stick to the synopsis. Characters tend to take off in their own directions on me, and I change my mind a lot as I'm writing. So that first blurb is usually way off, through no fault of its creator. So then my agent and I brainstorm and analyze and between us, we come up with a revised version, or sometimes a whole new one. And then my editor looks at both and adds her expertise. We go back and forth, we polish and tweak and revise. And finally, we all agree.

It's very involved, and it's definitely a team effort. And the same process often happens with choosing titles, except on those rare occasions where one of us comes up with a brilliant one right off the bat, and we all love it immediately.

What do you like to see in a cover? The hero? The heroine? The background? The color, title, author name? A piece of jewelry or nature scene on the front instead of a character? Do you pay any attention to those taglines on the front? (I think they're actually called "shoutlines" but I could be wrong. It's happened once or twice.) What draws your eye to a book on the bookstore shelf? Is there a cover that stands out in your memory? (And I mean BESIDES Christina Dodd's infamous three handed heroine on the first printing of CANDLE IN THE WINDOW. Which I'm proud to say I own.)

Let's talk cover art! I'm dying to hear points of view from people not necessarily immersed in the business. You're the ones these covers are designed to impress, after all!

Best,
Maggie

Messing Around in Boats (LynnK)

I’ve never wanted a boat. Too expensive, too much upkeep, and Lord knows I wouldn’t want to be out on the water with me at the helm.

Not even in a canoe, as I learned years ago on the Potomac. Three of us gals got the brilliant idea of hiring a canoe in Georgetown and paddling it down to where an outdoor concert would take place. We’d seen others relaxing on the river with picnic suppers while the music floated over the water. Why not us?

Here’s why. We couldn’t get the $&%*# canoe to move in a straight line. The concert site was a trip of about twenty minutes, we’d been told, even for amateurs. The river was summer-smooth and calm. We set out with great enthusiasm, paddling with all our healthy young strength. Only to wind up nearly running aground on the opposite side of the river. Actual progress in the direction of our goal—maybe ten yards.

And on we went, on being a relative term, zig-zagging along the Potomac from bank to bank. Canoes slipped by us, moving straight as arrows. The sun slid into the west. In the distance, still invisible to us, the National Symphony began to play. By now we were paddling from shoreline to shoreline out of sheer stubbornness. We would, by God, get to the concert or die like galley slaves in the attempt.

That didn’t last long. Pain spoke up. Not as loudly as it would the next day, to be sure. But even as we glimpsed the Lincoln Memorial glowing in the night lights, and when we could see canoes peacefully bobbing in the water not terribly far ahead, we were rowed out. Wrung out. Done.

In common, silent agreement, we wrestled the canoe around, brought in our paddles, unwrapped our sandwiches, and munched them as the gentle current took us back to where we began. Ever the English major, I couldn’t help but think of The Great Gatsby’s last line: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

I hadn’t meant to write about that. But my most recent flirtation with boats, two days ago, put me in mind of how brief these flirtations always are. And how much fun. I was invited to speak at a luncheon sponsored by the—well, I’ll get the name wrong, I expect—the Women’s (Ladies?) Auxiliary of the Coronado Cays Yacht Club. AKA the “C-Gulls.”


There was no part of the experience I didn’t enjoy. The lunch was fabulous, especially the lemon tart for dessert


The club itself, located on San Diego Bay, is lovely.
But above all things, the 65 or 70 women who attended were friendly, funny, and altogether splendid. They reminded me, yet again, why I so love living here at the southwest corner of California.

Yes, they are women of privilege. But I expect many of them did not begin that way. For the most part, there’s little “old money” in San Diego. Much of the wealth sprang from entrepreneurs, or from families who settled here when there were few trees, little water, and not much else but the harbor and a dream. Military families who chose to stay here after WWII prospered as land values soared.

What never developed here, not in a meaningful fashion, was snobbery. Oh, there are enclaves of uppity-ness, I suppose, and places in the county I wouldn’t want to live for one reason or another. But the C-Gulls—like those of us who live in Coronado Village—are quintessential laid-back SoCal folks. Some have boats, fancy homes, and money for lots of travel. They have nice jewelry, too, but it’s usually artisan-made and unique. They’re also curious, welcoming, casual, and friendly. I had a great time in their company.

Just a couple of stories. We were seated at beautifully decorated autumn-themed tables for eight, and because I was hoping to get a few pictures that included me, I asked a lady sitting directly across if she would take shots at the table and wherever I wandered. She kindly agreed. After my speech, when she was returning the camera, she confessed that she’d no idea, when I made the request, that I was the guest speaker. She’d kept wondering, “Who is this strange woman and why does she want all these pictures of herself?”

There was also the former Texan who greeted me in the time-honored way romance writers have learned to expect. There was something about bodice-ripping and her wanting to meet a sex novelist. She was funny and only teasing. But I froze in place. I’d thought she said “ex-novelist,” and wondered what she’d heard that I didn’t know about my career!


They were a terrific group, each and every one, especially Mary (who invited me) and Diane, a gorgeous newly retired cop(also married to a cop) who volunteered to answer questions from writers about cops working undercover. She also won the raffle and insisted on sending me home with the basket full of wine, candles, lotions, and other fine swag.

Thanks, C-Gulls! And if ever there’s a spare spot on a boat trip, keep me in mind. I still don’t want a boat, but I’m always on the lookout for a friend with a boat.