Thursday, July 15, 2010

Cover Rant

Please bear with me while I do a little rant...

I hate to say it but I do judge a book by it's cover. In fact, I did not read The Hate List by Jennifer Brown for the longest time because I did not like the cover. (Note to self - must do review on The Hate List). I love beautiful covers and I feel that if marketed correctly, they allow the reader to envision a part of the story as it unfolds. Emotions and feelings created by a cover can help conceptualize a time and place in a reader's mind.

I have an ARC of The Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon. While I absolutely LOVE the cover on this book, my TBR pile is sky high and sadly, I have still yet to read it. However, judging from the cover and the title, I can infer that the book has a little something to do with Asian culture in perhaps a historical timeline. The cover tells me it is a fantasy and it looks exotic.

Recently, the cover has undergone a major change. There has been much debate in the Blogosphere about publishers and the covers they choose (take a look at the controversy over Liar by Justine Larbalestier.  Justine comments on it on her blog).

To the left is the old cover of Silver Phoenix and to the right is the new cover. What is your opinion? Which do you like best and why? The publisher has commented that the new cover appeals to a wider audience but shouldn't the cover convey a more detailed message about the book? I feel the first cover says more. What do you think?




I visited Cindy's website to find out what her feelings were. She supports her publisher's decision 100%. I'm certain she doesn't have much say in these changes but I personally feel that the first cover conveys more. It is dynamic and displays the character's ethnicity.  What are your thoughts?

3 comments:

  1. Found you at the hop!

    I do like the first cover better. I guess "dark" is in these days. Maybe they think it'll sell more . . . but it doesn't say anything to me.

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  2. Thanks Janet,

    I just think that the first cover is so unique looking. The second one looks like a rip off from Kelley Armstrong or Alyson Noel....

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  3. I like the first cover more. It looks so much more dynamic than the second. There's an oversaturation of books that look like the second cover. I wouldn't even give the second book a glance.

    I think you might like the book if you like fantasy though. I felt like it was a breath of fresh air just through the setting alone.

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