Opinions wanted on my YA fantasy book cover!

KTC · Jan 29, 2015

NaeimGiladisLegacy said:
How can investing energy in the creation of ANY part of the book, ever be considered a waste? I like to have full control; as an artist, writing the text isn't enough. I want a say in the cover. The thing people see first. It's MY work.

Too many books are published with irrelevant stock photo covers - Bred Easton Ellis' "Less than zero" back then, sported a Bullterrier, and I bought it expecting a story about dogs. Waste of money. Yeah, yeah, dog's a metaphor, blah blah, I'm sorry but first impressions should be honest and free from "yay interpretation I'm so edgy".
Or that ever-same bare midsection in sexy/explicit romance. Sometimes it's gay, sometimes it's hetero, but there's always the perfect modelesque bare midsection. This could happen to my WIP despite the dystopian backdrop. Shudder-dee-dudder!
Childhood trauma books? Some random stock kid with a reasonably sad face, photoshopped to look different from the other book it graces.

Now, OP here, has a piece of art that is absolutely capable of competing with Harry Potter and whatever other big book has stunning cover ART (as opposed to "5 minutes on Shutterstuck, another 10 in Photoshop").

I'm no fan of how the dude in the back turned out, but all in all, I don't think anything was wasted here. If any publisher, agent, whatever, decides to go for something else - then they are wasting this gem.
And anyway, I don't get publishers'/agents' hatred for author-submitted cover designs. If it's decent? Why the arrogance of "We have our own designers, hence the author, who only knows how to write what with being the author, can't possibly know better than us what fits the author's story"?
They should at least have a serious, open, honest look before saying "Nope, our designers know better, in all cases without exception".

I'm a hell good artist. I get to have a say in what is put on the front of MY work. If not, I better like the proposal by the designer.

And even if the cover doesn't get picked - any part of creation that adds to the character of the story, including illustrations, is a contribution, not a waste. Ever.

No offense, but if I were an acquisitions editor your attitude would send up so many red flags I'd scurry away. The best artist in the world, btw, doesn't make a good book cover designer. Books are designed to appeal to the marketplace, not the author. I'm a great artist. I wouldn't even pretend to know anything about the cover of a book. FWIW, Tread lightly with megalomania when it comes to dealing with editors. They tend to separate the wheat from the chaff prior to signing.

Ravioli · Jan 29, 2015

KTC said:
No offense, but if I were an acquisitions editor your attitude would send up so many red flags I'd scurry away. The best artist in the world, btw, doesn't make a good book cover designer. Books are designed to appeal to the marketplace, not the author. I'm a great artist. I wouldn't even pretend to know anything about the cover of a book. FWIW, Tread lightly with megalomania when it comes to dealing with editors. They tend to separate the wheat from the chaff prior to signing.

And an editor rejecting author-submitted covers up front without taking a good look because he assumes that the author "can't possibly", is not a red flag?

Sure, if the cover sucks, it should be rejected. But the author should have the possibility to have a say and at least present options to be seriously lookd at.
It's nothing to do with megalomania to want to have a degree of control over crucial aspects of YOUR hard work, not theirs. And authors can be just as knowledgeable and up to date on the market as editors. You think just because I'm no fashion agency, I don't know what insecure chicks are wearing for male attention these days and can design something appropriate?

Old Hack · Jan 29, 2015

NaeimGiladisLegacy said:
And an editor rejecting author-submitted covers up front without taking a good look because he assumes that the author "can't possibly", is not a red flag?

No, not at all.

Editors barely have time to keep up with the submissions they receive. If, as part of their slush-reading duties they also have to review potential jacket designs they wouldn't have time to edit the books under their care. And they're not experts in what constitutes a good jacket design: the design teams and the sales and marketing teams have that responsibility.

Sure, if the cover sucks, it should be rejected. But the author should have the possibility to have a say and at least present options to be seriously lookd at.

It's possible to get this written into your contract if you can put forward good enough reasons for it. And it's possible, if you're landed with a jacket design you don't like, to get your publisher to change it to something you think is better, or more appropriate. But it's just not possible to consult with the author on every stage of a jacket's design: there's not the time, it would be too expensive, and editors just don't have the resources to be able to do it. And if you did manage to squeeze this into the schedules, what would also have to be given to the author for approval? What about the book's interior design? Its typesetting? The marketing materials, like posters and ads?

If a writer requires this degree of control over his or her publication then perhaps self publishing would be more appropriate.

It's nothing to do with megalomania to want to have a degree of control over crucial aspects of YOUR hard work, not theirs. And authors can be just as knowledgeable and up to date on the market as editors. You think just because I'm no fashion agency, I don't know what insecure chicks are wearing for male attention these days and can design something appropriate?

Writers DO have a degree of control. They get to write their book; and they get to decide whether or not to sign the contracts they are offered. But there's little point in signing with a good publisher if you're then going to insist you know better than they do how to effectively publish a book. It's a path to disaster, I'm afraid.

Marian Perera · Jan 30, 2015

Old Hack said:
And it's possible, if you're landed with a jacket design you don't like, to get your publisher to change it to something you think is better, or more appropriate.

That happened to me with a book that's coming out in May (it's the one beside my profile). After seeing the first version of the cover, my editor and I brainstormed ideas with the artist. I wanted the sheer size of the iceberg to be evident on the cover, so I was pleased when we got that in the second version, and I was also given a choice of six models for the heroine. Once we put my selection on the cover, I suggested the alteration to her eyes.

So publishers do take author input into consideration, when required.

Oh, and my book is a hot romance. Yet no nekkid torso.

KTC · Jan 30, 2015

Old Hack said:
It's possible to get this written into your contract if you can put forward good enough reasons for it. And it's possible, if you're landed with a jacket design you don't like, to get your publisher to change it to something you think is better, or more appropriate.

I THINK this happened to me too. With Burn Baby Burn Baby I was okay with the original cover, but I didn't love it. Not by a long-shot. I said my piece and it looked like the cover was going to stay how it was. Everybody agreed that they liked it.

Then, about two weeks before its release, someone from the publisher sent me an email. "We've been working on a new cover and we're thinking this one would work better. What do you think?" I freaking love it! It is PERFECT, in my opinion. I think they change came about from my misgivings with the first cover. Everybody else involved in the conversation liked the first cover. So...they do listen to the author.

Opinions wanted on my YA fantasy book cover!

KTC

Stand in the Place Where You Live

Ravioli

Crazy Cat Lady

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

Marian Perera

starting over

KTC

Stand in the Place Where You Live