Cover Art Orgasm
If you've been hanging out here for long, you probably already know how I feel about the cover art on my last two books. So you will have a deeper insight into the nearly orgasmic reaction I have when the cover is good. I'm QUITE pleased with the art I just found on Amazon for my upcoming March book, ONCE UPON A SEDUCTION (yeah, weird, I know, that Amazon got my cover before I did):
This is the first non-people cover I've gotten, and the red bra is a major part of the story, so I'm thrilled it's on the cover. It's a funny element, not a sexy one, by the way. That's why she's stepping on it.
I'm surprised that the Blaze logo at the top has not changed. I saw an updated version of the logo that looks a little smaller and cuter that I thought was going to be used starting this year, but who knows now.
Also, note the "chick lit flash." That is a new sub-line for Blaze, which indicates books written in a younger, hipper voice....or something like that. It's the first time I've been fit into one of Harlequin's marketing niches, other than the broader category of sensual romance.
So what do you think of the cover? Harlequin's marketing niches? Do you have a preference as far as covers with people on them versus no people? I think the vast majority of people prefer non-people covers, but it's interesting, as the author, to see what the artist comes up with, regardless of whether there are people or not. As long as the cover looks good, I'm happy. But I'm LOVING the red bra and silver (or are they white?) heels.
posted by Jamie Sobrato @ 11:55 AM
27 Comments:
Ooooh!! Highly envious of the cover. Much prefer no people. Can you go into more detail about this new chick-lit stuff? I'm not really into the whole ditzy yet sophisticated fashion slave thing that ST chick lit heroines seem to have going on, but I can definitely do younger voice in Blaze. Post an excerpt or something. :-)
Oh, right I do need to update my website with info about the damn book. I totally spaced that. Hmm, more motivation to get that website redesign done ASAP.
Anyway, you've read my books, I think, so you know my voice, and that's all the "chick lit flash" really means. It's a certain vibe or whatever. I think this book has it more than others I've written. There's a lot of sarcastic humor, it's heroine-focused, and the tone is maybe a little hip and edgy (or not--I mean, I don't think it's necessarily so, but it's not a warm and cozy kind of romance either).
The herione is my favorite of any I've written. She's kind of neurotic and a bit of a mess, always making choices that she can only see after the fact are the wrong ones, etc.
The original concept for this story was actually that it be sold as a chick lit romance for Harlequin Flipside, but when that line closed my editor helped me re-work it for Blaze.
Great Cover Jamie, I prefer the abstract to the people covers. Sounds cool with the chick lit thing!
The cover is definitely a good one. I like the mood it sets, and it's not often a cover also reflects an important aspect of the story, so that's very cool.
On my screen the heels look white.
Maybe it's not people I have a problem with, but faces. Like the cover of What A Girl Wants with the bathtub scene on it, that was okay because you couldn't really see their faces. (And that is still my all-time favorite of yours. Not sure why, but I've read it like three times. LOL) I'm just afraid of having a book come out with people on it that look NOTHING like the characters I've grown to love. I don't mind body parts, though. Especially hot bare chests, as cliched as that may be. I wouldn't get tired of looking at them in real life, so why not on a book cover??
But you've got it made here. This is one of the coolest romance covers I've ever seen.
oooh, is this the one dedicated to me? Is the cool looking book dedicated to me? Hey thanks for responding to my insecure email! I know you have lots to do so I won't email you back for a few days (unanswered email starts to build up and pressure me, must write email, must write email). Finish that book!
Yes, Bethany, I am pretty sure this is the book that's dedicated to you.
I'm hoping there are no typos in the dedication this time! Two books ago, I think, the dedication had a glaring typo I'd requested to be fixed but it somehow never got fixed...
Melissa, I totally agree with you about faces on covers. I don't really like any of my covers that have faces on them, except Pleasure for Pleasure. Well, As Hot As It gets has part of the heroine's face, but I love that cover too.
And thank you for the compliments on What a Girl Wants. That's probaby my second favorite of my books.
And thanks everyone for kindly admiring my cover so graciously!
That just reminded me, I put the cover of Pleasure for Pleasure (has the heroine lying on top of the hero on the beach, kissing him) on my computer as the wall paper a few years ago, and my son kept asking, "Mommy, what are those people doing? Why is that lady on top of that man?" LOL. Ummm....they're wrestling.
"Mommy, what are those people doing? Why is that lady on top of that man?" LOL. Ummm....they're wrestling.
Funny, my mom used the wrestling story when my brother walked in on her and my dad many many years ago.
I guess they had our motor home rockin' one time when we were camping and my brother saw it and kept saying, "I didn't feel that earthquake last night, but it must have been a big one since it sure had the camper rocking!"
Theresa, is that something like that Seinfeld episode where George's parents were getting busy in the back of an old van..."If this van's a rockin', don't come a knockin.'" LOL, earthquake!
I remember that Seinfeld episode, but didn't put it together with my mom's story until now. It's kind of icky thinking of your parents....well, you know. But I can't help but laugh at the stories my mom tells me. My poor brother though, he never seemed to know what was going on.
Yeah, I KNOW, icky about the parent thing! Urgh, and my mom will be reading this too, I'm sure, LOL. (No, Mom, don't even address this post. Just leave it alone!)
Was your brother younger than you, Theresa?
I personally think it's fun to park at the beach at night and try to guess what the people in nearby cars (or vans) are doing... "What is that, a leg sticking up in the air? No, no, it's an arm..."
I LOVE this cover, Jamie. Congrats! And you have the perfect voice to include in their chicklit flash.
I prefer non-people covers. I have people on my book cover, but in a very non-traditional way, not in a clinch at all. You can see a bit of the hero's legs and the heroine's face is kind of a faded background for the cover.
It's not often you get non-people covers in category romance, though, so I think you really lucked out and I hope to see more like this from H/S in the future.
Cindy
My brother was actually older than me, so truthfully, I was probably even more clueless. But that brother in particular always seemed to be the one who stumbled onto my parents in an awkward situation.
About the cover, do author's ever really have a say in the cover? I was always under the impression that the author got to approve the cover, but maybe that's only in the case of an author with a really big name.
Since I'm interested in fantasy, I'll probably end up with people on the cover's since that seems to usually be the case. Some of the cover's with people on them I like, but in fantasy they can get really cheesy. Lots of half naked women holding a bow and arrow with lightening bolts shooting out of their hands, stuff like that.
Love the cover, Jamie! Congratulations! ;-)
Christina
Theresa, authors usually fill out an Art Fact Sheet and then cross their fingers. Category houses are notorious for *seeming* not to pay much attention to what's written on the AFS. I'm published with small press, and one of the nice things there is that the cover artists, the two I've had anyway, both worked super hard to capture the look I described on my Art Fact Sheets. Of course, that's one of the few benefits of small press. Lord knows distribution and monetary satisfaction don't number among them!
cindy
Hey Christina! It's good to see you! That isn't the photo from when you were sitting on my lap, is it? LOL. I recognize that hair do.
Theresa, the fun thing about covers, even if they have elements you don't think you'll like so much, is that having your name on them makes it all look more palatable. :-)
I've been lucky that most of the time, some scene I've describe or a variation of it has ended up on my cover. Harlequin allows authors to suggest three possible cover ideas, and then they may use one of those or come up with something else if they don't like any of them.
Yeah, only the really big authors get to choose their covers or have a say in the final look. And some publishing houses do allow some collaboration with the author along the way, a bit more so than Harlequin where the production process is fast and there's not a lot of time for that kind of thing.
Oh, but then again, sometimes I don't have very creative cover ideas, so there ARE times when I wish they'd come up with something fabulous without me. LOL.
This cover, for instance...I don't remember suggesting anything like it.
Thanks Rich. I'm glad you like it. I do think my editor was probably looking out for me and wanted to make sure I got a great cover. And yeah, my worlds are colliding! I'm not sure why my life is so much like George Costanza's...
You guys are making me feel all warm and mushy inside.
Melissa, that may be your pregnancy hormones going wacko. Heh.
I LOVE the cover! It definitely puts the spark in your mind that you have to pick up the book to see what the story is about.
Cool that Rich posted.
No, we won't venture into any of the other topics.... I think the wresting answer is a good excuse. It was years before I realized the cows on the farm were NOT playing leap-frog! What can you expect from the hills of Kentucky (;-) - LOL
I really like your cover, Jamie. The colors, the images, everything about it!
Thanks everyone for the compliments on the cover!
As far as the cover goes... it looks good to me. As far as book covers go, the only time I will turn a book down (romance or otherwise, and I actually HAVE done this MANY times -- and I DO read romance and not just Insp Romance!) is when there's too much sensuality and too much skin going on between the characters (real or implied)... that turns me off. Let me read it in the book itself... I've got an imaginative mind enough to do without it on the cover. :-D
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