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Hey, Look: Book Covers

No, the books aren’t done yet.  I’m close to finishing my stuff on Anna and Bob is charging ahead on Nadine.  But we have book covers!

 

 

First Edit: Okay, for those of you who don’t like the Nate cover, does this help?  (Actually, I’m asking everybody, but I’m trying to fix the problem they brought up, making this look like museum art instead of referring to comic books.)

Second Edit: How about white?

Argh.

84 Responses

  6. I like the first two, am less sold on the third. It has to be enlarged a lot from thumbnail size before you notice the cracks in the wall, and while there are indeed schools of gallery art that look a lot like 1960s Barman TV, I don’t think the cover conveys “novel about art fraud” to the casual onlooker.

  7. Stealing Nadine is by far my favorite cover of the three. I love how the cracks in the wall progress as the series progresses. Arresting Anna makes me think that someone in the story has an alcohol problem and there’s going to be a murder. Yet, I can see that it is a still life, and can appreciate the bottle overlay. Tempting Nate, is one I would skip based on the cover alone, except for your name is attached to it, which makes it an auto-buy.

  8. I am no expert on book covers. Covers I’ve created myself are in this post on my blog. I have read blog posts and articles by authors (Crusie, Bujold, Weber, Flint, others) wherein they lament that they had little to no control over covers. At least I got to make mine, however poor they are.

    I always loved that Eric Flint, being a Baen Editor as well as author, could insist on at least seeing the covers of his Ring of Fire novels and collections. He would then edit same so that the covers resembled a scene in the book(s).

    Jenny, if you’re happy with these covers, so am I.

    3. I’ve wondered if the 1633 cover was done the opposite way, since it has a warship far beyond the capacity of alternate 1633 and a knight in armor that would be at least very old fashioned in that year. In the novel this is explained as being a painting, I think hanging on the wall of the shipyard office, and very aspirational about the alternate future. I suspect Flint or Drake wrote the painting in to justify the cover.

      https://ericflint.fandom.com/wiki/1633_(novel)

  10. Arresting Anna & Stealing Nadine both look intriguing. Tempting Nate looks like a comic book.

  11. I agree with the folks who love the first two and don’t really get the third one. I’m assuming it fits into the series theme somehow, but to me it is jarringly different and seems like it belongs to another genre altogether. Obviously, since you wrote it, I’ll buy it. But otherwise I’d find the cover a major turn-off and assume it was something written for adolescent guys, so I probably wouldn’t even look at the book description.

    And I don’t love the title font, but that’s just me.

  12. Wow. Fantastic covers. I love them all. I can’t wait to read the latest Crusie/Mayer creations.

  13. Love the covers! I laughed at Tempting Nate instead of Tempting Fate. Clever. Also I’ve always been a fan of Lichtenstein but maybe segue to use Fornasetti instead since he modernized classical things? Since the cover is jarring to commenters.

    1. I adore Fornasetti, but compared to Lictenstein, he’s obscure, and we already have people thinking it’s comic book art. I wonder if it’s the bright yellow background; the other two look like they may be hanging in a gallery but the bright yellow negates that on the last book. Must think.

      1. Maybe if it said Whaaam instead of Pop people might get the Lichtenstein reference. Or you could go all in and have it be drowning Nate…

      2. Maybe making the frame more ornate? The simple wood frame makes it seem less museum-y to me, especially with the comic book art. After researching, I see his pieces were often put in simple frames, but that’s also in the context of a museum/gallery, so you don’t need the ornate frame to say “art” or “museum.”

        I like the purple background more than the yellow or white. Would it be possible for the spikes of the POW to be breaking through the frame instead of just coming out over the frame? Maybe have the frame more in pieces and kind of fallen against the backdrop in big chunks. Or I guess it’s meant to be hanging on a wall, huh? But I’d like it more visibly broken up. I’d also make the vertical yellow spikes smaller and make random diagonal ones the really long ones if you’re going to do that.

        I think the blue and red version best telegraphs Lichtenstein, but this is from someone who doesn’t really know much about art. Personally, I quite like the third cover in addition to all the others. It’s arresting and eye-catching, and I’d wonder what that book is about if I saw it in a bookstore or library.

      4. I’m not familiar with either of them, and had no idea that third cover was supposed to be in the style of someone. I suspect I’m not alone. (I’m not a modern art person.)

  15. It’s really good getting this commentary.

    I thought Nadine was the weakest, so that’s a relief. My fave is still the first one, but I thought Nadine was fun, too, so I’m happy about that. Now I’m concerned about the third one; it’s a fake Lictenstein but it’s coming across as generic comic book art which is not good. So I must rethink.

  16. I wish I could see these more clearly. They are definitely colorful and attention-getting.

    1. Jan, you should be able to greatly enlarge any image on your computer. I’m not sure what program you’re using to read this, but on a Mac, you can just spread your fingers out on the track pad and the page should incread in size.

      OTOH, these need to read small because of digital marketing, that’s the only way some people will see them, and still have to look good large in print. Cover design: It is not easy.

  17. Okay, so I added an image with a quieter background after the break in the above post, but I’m not sure that helps make it look like it’s in a gallery. A bigger frame? This is a good image for the kind of book it is, the books grow more violent as the series progresses (and who here is surprised?) but it needs to come across as Pop Art because that’s what they’re talking about in the third book. The first book is about a Cubist fake, the second book (and possibly a novella) is about a Botticelli fake, and the third is about a Pop Art fake, probably a Lichtenstein. (Another question: is the Nadine art recognizable as a Botticelli, the Birth of Venus? I’ve got another great Botticelli for the novella if we write that.)

    BTW, Kevin Stone did these covers for us. I just nitpicked and micromanaged. And as matter of fact, I was the one that asked that the wine in the first one look like blood. Over twenty year writing with Bob has an effect. Plus there are some murders in there, it seemed like the right thing to do.

    1. I tried Zoom on the window prompt on my Mac. I have a really old Mac, so fingers don’t work on it. My new iPad is not very intuitive for me.

      1. I right-clicked on the picture and selected “Open picture in new tab” then used “ctrl-+” to enbiggen it. Windows 11.

    5. Nadine ist TOTALLY recognizable as Botticelli’s Venus.
      I guess the one picture anyone with at least a mild knowledge of art connects with Botticellis is this one.

    6. Yes, quite clear it was a Botticelli. If the first cover references a particular painting like the other two (I eventually found the Lichtenstein as I comment below), I didn’t catch it, but the general art period was clear to even ignorant me. I’m now off to research the painting.

      1. The first picture doesn’t reference any Cubist. They have to be dead 70 years before we can start using their stuff, and they were remarkably healthy people.

        1. My husband was allowed to use a Kandinsky for a book cover because it was out of copyright.

          1. Love Kandinsky, but I don’t think he is generally considered to be a cubist? More abstract expressionism? He was one who flew against the trend of his own time, I think.

          2. I think that’s right. But he was active in the same general time so since I don’t know the plot I thought maybe any artist from that period would work?

    7. Botticelli, the Birth of Venus is instantly recognisable. I saw the original painting at the Uffizi Palace in Florence a few months ago.

    8. Got the Botticelli. It’s my favorite. The lavender background on the third I like the best. So happy to see covers. Makes the books real.

    9. I have no art background and none of those artists names are familiar to me, so nope, I didn’t connect them to the covers. 🤷‍♀️ Anyway, don’t go by me and what I know.

  18. The white background may be the way to go, although it doesn’t work well on bookstore websites.

    Covers. They are difficult.

    1. Covers are definitely difficult. I still don’t love the 3rd one, although I see what you’re trying to do there. I’d say the white background is best, somehow less comic book-y. (That’s a word, right?) It has the added benefit of showing the cracks in the wall behind it much better.

      1. I agree that the cracked walls show the best on the white. I’m curious if the change in the colors behind the “POW” make a difference on how comic-y they feel. They are primary (red/blue) in the first, changed to a mix (red/purple) on the lavender, and then secondary colors (purple, orange) on the white background.

  19. I should have said before that I’m delighted to hear that Anna, at least, is nearing completion. Of course that probably went without saying.

  20. Can you try making Nate’s frame wider ? And I might also try making the frame white and the background colored. Basically I think it needs to jump out at us that it’s hanging on a wall not a magazine on a shelf.
    It’s very clear to me that it’s a Botticelli.

  21. I’ve been only vaguely aware of Lichentstein, but on looking him up I see a lot more panels with images than ones overwhelmed by sound effects. Maybe delete the POW! and replace it with a fist thrown toward the viewer? And a bigger frame and heavier lines denoting the wall cracks?

    2. I just came back to say the same thing! Having another word on the cover fights with the title.

      I love the Nadine cover and immediately recognized the reference.

    4. Lichtenstein died in 1997. We can’t use one of his paintings; he has to be dead seventy years. Botticelli, however, we could borrow from.

    2. I hadn’t seen it before you shared. Thanks! It is the obvious reference, now that I know of it.

  24. I love the colors; Stealing Nadine is my favorite. I think Tempting Nate steers too far toward comics books because that “Pow” has become shorthand for comics. My thought is leaning farther into Lichtenstein’s faces, esp. because it would tie in with the title (not to mention that aspects of Pop Art style are trending on romance novel covers now). I think that might be why I don’t love Arresting Anna more; it doesn’t have the same connection to the title.

  25. I like the lavender. Removing the “pow” would make it look less like a comic book.

  26. Nate: I like the lavender background best. But I’m the person who painted her house purple, so take that into consideration. 😉

  27. Squeee! New covers. The third one did feel a bit out of place, but that style is in galleries, so it fits. Comparing all three, the lavender cover works the best. The red and purple colors made it seem more like stained glass to me. They all make me happy and can’t wait to buy them.

  28. I love the first two. Not sure about the third one – the image inside the frame doesn’t feel like art. More like childish comics.
    Why does the background have the watermarks “K STONE”?

  29. I don’t see a way to link the page, but if you Google “Lichtenstein painting with fist” and select Images, you get: a finger pointing at the viewer that could be referenced in the form of a fist; a rather complicated panel of somebody slugging somebody, probably not useful; a picture of a fist holding a revolver pointed at the viewer that could be referenced as is, or simplified to a plain fist; and a picture of a guy pointing fingers as pretend guns at the viewer, where you could reference one of the pretend guns, perhaps with smoke or a flame to show it’s representing a gun and discard the rest of the painting. Obviously any would have to be altered enough not to violate copyright.

  30. If the nate cover is on its own (not next to the other two), it doesn’t look like art on a wall. I don’t really think the background color changes that. I would suggest a thicker frame and have a more noticeable break in the frame. Instead of just cracks all around (which read more like a bamboo frame in the smaller size), maybe a crack big enough for the frame to be misaligned (maybe even a tear in the painting?). Also, I know museums aren’t hanging art from a nail, but if you were willing to forego realism, you could possibly have a nail just above with a wire just barely visible — it might make it more obvious that it was art on display. (just for the third one — the first two paintings aren’t askew enough that the hanging method would be visible)

  31. In addition to a thicker frame, maybe more damage to the wall. I didn’t even notice the damage until I enlarged it.

  33. Maybe make the Nate cover a Liechtenstein-style artwork with REALLY obvious newspaper print dots. Then box the artwork totally within the frame to make it less comic book and more “Art.”

    1. I mean there are some dots there but they’re not obvious unless you blow up the thumbnail. So, go with larger dots? Also, I think you could use more dots elsewhere in the painting? Hmm. Hmm. The more I think about it, the less helpful my comments feel. Lol! Sorry! Please disregard.

  34. I like the bright yellow on the Nate cover, the white and lavender not so much. I think, as long as it’s POW, go big, go yellow. It does look like comic book art, though. Does it have to be POW, or could it be a different Pop Art image? Tomato soup cans, I suppose are not 70 years out from Warhol. Could the artist use something that references soup cans without using actual soup cans? Tea cups? Paprika jars? Maple syrup bottles? And thus contain the image in the frame.

    1. For an alternative artist, Jackson Pollock, but with blood drops instead of paint drops, lol.

  35. I love Litchenstein’s art, so I got the reference. My preference is the original yellow background. To me, moving the colours in the painting away from primary colours, makes it less like a Litchenstein. Could there be a bit more texture? Maybe in some of the blue slashes? Or maybe POW needs to be slightly smaller so the dots show up a bit more?

  36. Love the first two covers! I also think that Nadine’s is the most fun.

    For Nate’s cover, I like the lavender best, but basically I think it needs to be a pastel in a different color than the other two. White is too different and hard to see, and yellow was used already for the first book. So pastel green, orange, pink, or purple, probably. That way the colors would look like they go together as a series.

    Agree with the printer dots or multiples idea for Pop Art, and as others have said, ideally not a word. And probably not Pow! if it’s not a comic book. As someone who only has a vague idea about pop art, I had to look up Lichtenstein. He seems to have a lot of close up faces of dramatically worried women. What about a dramatically worried man who looks like Nate? There’s got to be a comic book action hero face that’s out of copyright to use.

    I also like the ideas for a more obvious frame or hanging method, like a nail or an easel. And maybe more frame damage.
    The increasing cracks idea is interesting. The way it is done in the current Nate covers makes it look like the painting was pushed into the wall hard enough to cause an indent, or is on the floor and fell from a height and dented it. But most paintings aren’t strong enough to dent the wall and remain intact, so I’d put the cracks in the wall more generally. Expose some lath?

    Really looking forward to these!

  37. Late to the party hear, but since you are having so much trouble with Lichtenstein maybe you could knock off Warhol? I am envisioning a Marilyn Monroe style line up of colorful screen printed portraits but with Johnny as the model. Not sure what process you are using for these, but blowing out the resolution of a photo of Johnny, making it black and white and then changing the colors wouldn’t be too may steps in photo shop?

    2. Also, if I remember correctly, Lichtenstein made his work by cutting out and layering tissue paper. Maybe you could age the image a bit to look older and a little worn? Maybe change some of the rays behind the words to grayscale instead of color? He had a fair amount of neutral space in his pieces, I feel.

  39. This might be too literal a take, but I think the issue I have with the third cover is that what is escaping the frame is comic-style. In the first one, it’s blood escaping the frame, and what’s in the frame looks like art, so art and crime. In the second one, the metaphor isn’t quite escaping the frame, it’s that there’s someone who’s … being framed, or at least that’s my impression. The picture of the woman in the frame and the hair escaping the frame at least suggests art and a person who is not a work of art, but is interacting with or caught up in art. In the third one, it looks like POW! is coming out of the frame, and nothing else. There’s just not much to suggest more realistic crime elements. Not knowing the book, I have no idea what to suggest, but … maybe there could be a further design element that’s coming out of (or going into?) the frame, that can be more realistic to contrast with the POW! or whatever art you go with that is contained within the frame.

  40. Late to the party, but I think these are some the of best cover reveals (sort of reveals) I’ve ever seen. I love them.

About the Author

Jennifer Crusie is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author and co-author of twenty-three novels, one book of literary criticism, miscellaneous articles, essays, novellas, and short stories, and the editor of three essay anthologies. She lives in a cottage in Pennsylvania, where she often stares at the ceiling and counts her blessings.

Find out more about Jenny’s published works by visiting JennyCrusie.com

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