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Comment by Nissi Mutale on May 16, 2012 at 8:47am

I love the cheesy and the abstract. I can see the merit in both. Thanks for posting!

Comment by Erin Hosier on July 10, 2009 at 9:22pm

I hear you. There is nothing worse than getting that first pdf via email with all the enthusiasm of the publishing house only to see an image of your book that you don't recognize or relate to. Even as a reader, if I buy a hardcover but I think the jacket sucks, I'll just take it off and throw it away (I mean recycle it, natch). And if the paperback cover is an assault on my senses, I just won't buy it. (Maybe that's where the Kindle comes in...) More soon.

Comment by Amy Ferris on July 10, 2009 at 12:39pm

love this. really, truly. and what great book covers. thongs & grannie pants - big bravo, pamela, to your son. a genius.

Comment by Paula Chase Hyman on July 10, 2009 at 11:34am

Oops forgot to mention that the change to the covers came with the third book. The first two books in the series remains graphic covers.

Comment by Paula Chase Hyman on July 10, 2009 at 11:33am

I remember how excited I was to talk cover with my editor. I had a million ideas in my head and she was sweet enough to let me share them. And my first cover conveyed all that random spittle I spewed. I adored my first two covers, above all they convyed the focus on "teen friendly" vs. race of me or my characters. I wasn't one wit surprised when my then new editor told me they wanted to change to photo covers because most of the successful YA series used them. The unspoken - it would be a lot easier to sell them if they looked like all the other teen lit books.

The moral of the story? As an avid reader I like covers that are abstract and interesting. But I guess the industry prefers more direct, obvious images so it appeals beyond us art-y types.

Hey, what do I know? I just write the words. LOL

Comment by Michelle O'Neil on July 9, 2009 at 3:53pm

I totally agree with you on the Benjamin Button covers above. Love the man in the carriage!

I have not slept with nearly enough artsy people to have an official opinion (rats!) but I like the cover for Therese Walsh's debut novel The Last Will of Moira Leahy. It has a very dreamy and romantic look without being all Fabio "Harlequin."

I also like the cover to Courtney Sheinmel's YA novel Positively, about a HIV positive teen who has lost her mother to AIDS. The look of the girl with the balloon has a hopeful, letting go quality.

(Both of these come out in October).

Comment by Keryl Kris Reinke on July 9, 2009 at 12:25pm

I was in a discussion group at Seton Hill, and many of the members commented on how effective they thought this cover for In The Woods was.

Comment by Pamela Redmond Satran on July 9, 2009 at 11:13am

Yes, great topic. It definitely got heated at times but I give them a lot of credit for putting up with me. Just know I have many more regrets about the times I decided to play nice and accept a cover I didn't really like -- always the wrong decision.

Comment by Erin Hosier on July 9, 2009 at 9:06am

Your kid is a genius. And thanks for the tips. Also, great work getting your publisher to accept your input about your cover. It's great when that happens and there's an art to the negotiation for sure. Will definitely post in the future about the politics of cover choices.

Comment by Pamela Redmond Satran on July 9, 2009 at 5:56am

Hi Erin -- Great post. Love love love Jen Wang -- Benjamin Button and In The Woods were two of the best covers of last year. Before I go on to my story and this gets lost, on positioning the jpegs, if you're writing in wordpress, after you insert the photo, in the visual view click on its top left corner and you should get one option that shows a picture in a frame. Click on that and it should let you position the photo left, right, center, and also resize it. Then click update.

For my new book How Not To Act Old, after a protracted search for a cover everyone loved, my 15 year old son came up with the final image. We were playing with the concept of granny panties vs. thongs. I wanted a woman wearing a thong OVER granny panties, which the publisher thought was too weird. The publisher wanted granny panties and a thong hanging side by side on a clothesline, which i thought read mother-daughter.

And then my son said, What about granny panties and a MEN's thong? Here's the result:

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