The Green Jell-O Book Club: A Goodreads Group about Fiction Written by LDS Authors discussion

I'm starting this topic as a place to talk about book covers. What trends do you see? What trends do you like, and what trends do you dislike? Which book covers do you love?

I'm sure we've all heard "Don't judge a book by its cover," but that's totally allowed on this thread!

Sometimes book covers make me want to go shopping. Red shoes, anyone?

I thoroughly dislike covers that show off a woman's body or clothes, but leave off her head. I don't care for cartoony covers either unless the story is a comedy.

Cartoon covers are kind of hit and miss with me. Sometimes I like them. Sometimes I don't. Depends a lot on the genre.

I don't mind the cropped off heads. Maybe that's easier than trying to find a model that matches a character's description?

Yeah I don't mind the cropped off heads either. It lets me imagine in my mind what I the think the hero or heroine looks like instead of some artist's interpretation, which sometimes I unfortunately can tell they haven't read the book or were not given a description. So I can go heads or no heads either way.

Kim wrote: ". . . instead of some artist's interpretation, which sometimes I unfortunately can tell they haven't read the book or were not given a description."

Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out who the girl is on the cover of my third book. . (Don't get me wrong, I like the cover. It just doesn't look like any of the main female characters.)

Kim wrote: "...instead of some artist's interpretation, which sometimes I unfortunately can tell they haven't read the book or were not given a description."

A.L wrote: Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out who the girl is on the cover of my third book. Deadly Alliance by A.L. Sowards. (Don't get me wrong, I like the cover. It just doesn't look like any of main female characters.)

A.L., I suspected that authors don't always pick their own covers. Now you have confirmed it.

Kim wrote: "A.L., I suspected that authors don't always pick their own covers. Now you have confirmed it."

I think it depends on the publisher. I've done five books with Covenant. Usually after edits are finished I get an email saying roughly "Here's the cover. The book goes to press this afternoon." But with the last book, they let me see five cover designs and pick my favorite three, then the marketing committee decided on which one to go with. I haven't disliked any of my covers, but I LOVE having more of a say!

And that is one of the reasons that I went indie. I wanted to be able to choose my own cover and not be stuck with a dud.

I paid a bit more for my cover than most author friends I know, but I love the way it turned out. It's a custom cover from different stock photos (except for the box and key; I took that photo myself) but the models match the characters pretty well, and I've received lots of positive feedback on it.

Jennie wrote: "I thoroughly dislike covers that show off a woman's body or clothes, but leave off her head. I don't care for cartoony covers either unless the story is a comedy."

Ha! And I love the cut off heads. :)

I've gotten more relaxed in realizing that covers are going for a feeling more than an accurate representation of what's in the book. With my second book, the cover was very striking, showing this creepy old stairway, but I was worried because there were no creepy old stairs in the book! A veteran author assured me it wasn't a problem, and sure enough, no one ever wrote me to say, "I liked your book, but what was up with that staircase?"

I also love that Covenant is giving us more input!

Anyone up for a brainstorming game? Let's call it Cover déjà vu.

Do you ever see books with the same image?

Like these:
The King's Paranormal Inquiries Division: Volume One: An Across the Ages Mystery and Lydia

Or these:
Abby's Crossing and A Thousand Shall Fall

Or maybe it's almost the same image, like these:
Defiance and The Complete Virtues and Valor Series

Maybe it's the same models, like these:
The Suspect's Daughter and Stealing the Duchess

Or these:
Deadly Alliance and War of Hearts

Or a very similar concept, like these:
Longing for Home and On the Wings of a Whisper

Can anyone find some additional pairs?

*Not all books listed are by LDS authors.
*Also, this is in no way meant to make fun of the books listed. If anything, I think highlighting them here will help prevent readers from glancing at the cover and thinking they've already read a book when they really just read one with a similar cover.

Check this out: my book--and Dean Koontz's:





Great, huh? I feel so special to share a stock photo image with Dean Koontz.

You're in good company, right? (Actually, I haven't read anything by Dean Koontz, but Methods of Madness was an outstanding book!)

Thank you so much, Amanda! And I confess, I haven't read Dean Koontz either :)

Here are a few more:

Dangerous Favor and The Princess and the Prom Queen

A Timeless Romance Anthology: Old West Collection and Historical Western Romance: Heart Of Gold

Sophia and The Thorn Keeper

Life and Madly, Deeply

With millions of books published each year, it's not surprising that a good photo is used more than once. But it might be nice if the companies selling images had information like "this picture has been used on three book covers and in eight magazine advertisements." I love that goodreads makes it easy to keep track of what you've already read!

I must confess, I'm put off by more than one figure on the cover (like a collage), or the artist representation of what the character looks like. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but I feel like it takes away from my imagination. As far as trends, I think I see more with emphasis on color and form design rather than an actual stock picture.

A simple, powerful image goes a long way, in my opinion.

But of course, genre has a lot of influence too.

I want to add that if you're given the choice, pick something that pops out, specially in a small size. In marketing, your cover will be judged, that's reality. So try to pick an image that would catch people's attention.

Melanie wrote: "I want to add that if you're given the choice, pick something that pops out, specially in a small size. In marketing, your cover will be judged, that's reality. So try to pick an image that would c..."

Yep, a cover nowadays has to look good full-sized, when readers are actually holding it, and look good on a tiny phone screen. (Cover designers have a big job.)

A really wanted an illustrated cover, rather than a stock phone for my Teen/YA fantasy books. I think for fantasy, at least, an illustration is able to give more feeling than a phone.

for my teen/YA fantasy books I really wanted an illustration rather than a stock photo. I think especially in Fantasy the illustrated covers give more feeling of the time frame than a photo does. so I found an awesome illustrator for a very reasonable price.

I love it when covers for a series work well together. I think yours do that, Mike!

Here are a few series that (in my opinion) have a group of covers that are individually distinct but have elements that unite them:








What about everyone else? What series have covers that you like?

I've just changed my covers, so thought I would show them off here.

Jeffrey wrote: "I've just changed my covers, so thought I would show them off here.



"

Nice update, Jeffrey! I think the new covers are much more clearly fantasy. (And the smoke dragons are really cool.)

Thanks. I'm hoping they're more eye-catching too!

Nominations are now open for New LDS Fiction's annual best cover contest. Here are the details:

Eligibility: Cover of a novel written by an LDS author & published in 2016.

To Nominate: Send email to ldsbookgeek@gmail.com. Put BOOK COVER NOMINATION in the Subject line. Nominate as many books as you like.

*also posted in events

What covers have you seen recently that you thought were really well done?

Here are a few that have caught my eye, all for different reasons:

I don't know if anyone is still following along on this thread. But I have had polar opposite reactions to my cover. I loved it because of the energy and emotion. But wow, some people love it, like they send me pics of their baby hugging it, no lie, and some people hate it, like give me scathing reviews because of the cover. Thoughts? They are giving us opportunities to choose more with covers at covenant so I'd love to know.

Jen wrote: "I don't know if anyone is still following along on this thread. But I have had polar opposite reactions to my cover. I loved it because of the energy and emotion. But wow, some people love it, like..."

I guess my first thought when I look at it and read the blurb is that it doesn't seem to fit that genre. The ladies back then were so prim and proper with their hair done up fancy, not blowing in the wind (although that is pretty--it just seems unrealistic to the time period). The bottom buildings and people seem too busy as well and your name gets lost in it. Maybe if it was faded a little more. Not that I'm a graphic artist or anything. But that's my initial impression. The cover is pretty, but it seems to clash with the genre. It'd be great on an early American western book like those mail-order bride stories, but not an English lady.

I agree with Charissa. It doesn't fit the genre too well. Historical romance readers don't forgive deviations from the norm. They expect certain things and if they don't find them, they'll let you know, as you found out.

I'd suggest you look on Amazon at the top 20 best-selling ebooks in your genre and see what those covers have. It'll be a good starting point.

I'll be honest, I don't love the cover, but I don't hate it either. (It's the hair flying across her forehead on the left side that I don't like. The rest works well for me.)

I think from a marketing perspective, it's a good choice. It hints at romance and something more, which seems to match the blurb. Most importantly, it looks professional rather than slapped together, and that's the biggest thing. Some covers just look home made, and that's a huge turnoff for me. If someone hasn't spent the money for a professional cover, they might not have spent the money for a professional edit either. Why would I waste my time on a book that someone didn't love enough to give a good edit?

Keep in mind that you can't please everyone, especially with book covers. I didn't like my first cover all that much (or the title, lol), but a bookstore employee said she thought it was great because it was out of the ordinary. And I loved this cover , but I read a few reviews by people who didn't like it. Fiction is very subjective. Cover art is even more so.

Thanks for your comments. Interesting. I appreciate the feedback. I've just never encountered so much emotion about a cover, both good and bad. It is selling well, from what I can tell. I hate to misrepresent myself. lol. I'm just puzzling covers and I appreciate your comments. We'll see what happens with book two. Its cover is different as far as the girl. So that will probably help me? No wispy flying hair? Though I always focus on the complaints. I'm happy others can help me make this choice. There's a whole team of them who vote on it.

A.L. wrote: "I'll be honest, I don't love the cover, but I don't hate it either. (It's the hair flying across her forehead on the left side that I don't like. The rest works well for me.)

I think from a marke..."

See, I LOVE the airplane cover. It is so cool.

Charissa wrote: "Jen wrote: "I don't know if anyone is still following along on this thread. But I have had polar opposite reactions to my cover. I loved it because of the energy and emotion. But wow, some people l..."

Thank you for your response. This helps.

Lucinda wrote: "I agree with Charissa. It doesn't fit the genre too well. Historical romance readers don't forgive deviations from the norm. They expect certain things and if they don't find them, they'll let you ..."

That part I did on purpose because I wanted readers to know not to expect drawing room chatter and sipping tea, lol. That's the whole premise so in that respect, I'm happy the cover shows HOW it deviates so readers know going in this won't be typical. But I'm thinking I'll be more careful when picking the actual model. Funny fact, a girl wrote me an email and she is convinced it is her. That's fun, like a doppleganger on a book cover. love it.

In honor of Friday the thirteenth, here are some book covers with spooky hands:


What are your favorite spooky covers?