Sharon Maria Bidwell

Granted, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but let’s face it, there are some pretty awful book covers out there and for some peculiar reason, a high proportion of poor art has perpetually appeared on romance books. I’m glad to report this trend is changing and, as with the content, the covers are starting to reflect the discerning audience, which is good news for writers and readers.

If you’ve not read a romance in a while, trust me, they have changed drastically. Perhaps I should blush to admit this, but aside from classic literature from authors such as Bronte or Austen — I think my first literary introduction to a romantic heroine was Jane Eyre — most young girls first have a taste of romance writing in the form of a Mills and Boon’s novel. At age fourteen or fifteen, this gave me a perverse view of romance and of what men expected of women. For those that love such books, I’m not knocking them. There are many good examples. I’m referring more to a sign of the times and of how things have changed from when I was a teenager. As a friend exclaimed recently there was never an erection in a Mills and Boon’s when she was young. While I am certain that despite our feminist backbones, many women would like a handsome man to sweep them off their feet, they are now just as likely to pick up a baseball bat, or gun, or sword, or high-power laser particle whangamado gadget, in defence of their man should the need arise. Heroines and their heroes now stand together (or hero with hero, and heroine with heroine or whatever combination you wish), as in an ideal world, love truly should conquer ‘all’. In love, both parties fall at the feet of the other. Equality is the key and even in surrender, both can remain equal.

This new era of romance crosses age, class-distinctions, social taboos, even universes, for it also crosses genres. If you like the animal in your man or woman, you are sure to find them in the form of vamps and shape-shifters, indeed ‘weres’ of every description. Whether you read sci-fi, fantasy, horror, or westerns, if you can think of it, there is likely to be a romance to suit your tastes. These stories now contain adventure, danger, excitement, and a soupcon of erotica.

What has this to do with the cover? From the writer’s point of view, it is largely one of promotion. People often ‘do’ judge a book by its cover. What caught my attention was during a recent author chat someone raised the question how do authors ‘choose’ their covers. The simple answer is that they don’t. In some cases, an author may even face having their beloved title changed. Sometimes this is understandable. There was a case of a publisher having two books with the same title and not wishing to confuse their readers, they asked the second writer to change it, but I have heard cases of publishers doing so without consulting their authors at all. The same applies to book covers. Some publishers will do their utmost to create something pleasing to both the author and the expected readership. Others… well, even with the best of intentions mistakes happen, and depending on the company’s policy the author may have no say, no comeback, not even see a preview of the work prior to publication.

Thankfully, many reputable publishers do consider their authors’ feelings and I am so far blessed. A poor cover is bad news for everyone. After all, the publisher wants a book to sell as much as the author does. For the most part, yes, a good cover can be a good indicator. However, if you do see a book with what you consider a bad cover, don’t make your decision solely on what your eye sees. I’ve discovered some treasures hiding under awful wrapping paper. I can only advise, quite literally, not to judge a book by its cover.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 9:34 am and is filed under Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.