Have I Angered the Cover Gods?
I just got my July Blaze cover, and, um, well. I'm not sure what to say, except what the hell is that glowing horse and cowboy doing on a book that's supposed to look sexy? And does my heroine know it's illegal to have sex with a minor?
Brace yourself:
posted by Jamie Sobrato @ 1:17 PM
25 Comments:
Okay, maybe my initial reaction to this cover was a bit harsh. I had high hopes for it.
I mean, it IS a good problem to have, after all, and really the hero and heroine look reasonably normal and human--the heroine looks great--which isn't always a given with covers.
Though, the fact that the chair is white makes it look a little like the hero is holding his arm behind his head, but then you see the arm down below and visually it's a little confusing.
What the hell is a quotient? Isn't that some kind of a math thing?
The cover to me looks fine... except for one thing: That HORSE! YUK! :-$ Destroys the whole pic... but i'll still read the book underneath it. ;-) :-D
Yeah, I don't really go for the horse or the title, but it's no big deal. Like you said, a good problem to have! Besides, you were bound to be disappointed after the last book's kick-ass cover...
Okay, the bright neon horse is a real distraction and it's nowhere near the Bellagio hotel, but hell- it's Vegas, right??
I hope that horse is a gelding...
Cindy
I think the couple looks normal, but with all that flash and color in the background, I imagine a lot of noise, and that's very distracting. Maybe that's the point - this couple is so into each other that everything else fades away.....
Bethany, My thoughts exactly about "quotient." What the hell DOES it mean? I am not quite sure, but I think it has to do with a measurement of some sort or something. This is the first time I have a word in my title that I don't know the definition of.
I didn't think of this title (it's also the first title on one of my books, aside from Too Wild which was actually a shorterned version of my original title, that I didn't think of).
Anyway, the orginal title was The Wilder They Are, but the senior editor wanted the title to reflect the fact that the story premise involves a study that proves orgasms temporarily reduce IQ. So "sex quotient" is a play on intelligence quotient. I'd never really stopped to think what IQ even stood for. But those damn Canadians (Harlequin is in Canada) are more educated than us, so they probably all know what IQ stands for.
I'm glad everyone agrees with me about the stupid horse and cowboy.
The other funny thing is that they are supposed to be at a luxury (fictional) hotel with an art deco facade, and yet there is that cheesy white bar for the balcony and the hero is sitting on a plastic chair? It looks like they're getting it on at Circus Circus.
LOL, Jamie, I agree with you about the title. There's nothing wrong with the word "quotient" per se (I use it all the time!), but it looks funny next to "sex." As if the x and the q shouldn't sit so close together or something.
And of course we Canucks all know what I.Q. stands for! Thanks for bowing to our brilliance.
Cindy
Sorry, Jamie, but that hero looks like Kevin Federline, and he disgusts me...
LOL! He does look like Kevin Federline...
I believe a quotient is the result of dividing two numbers. I could be wrong since I haven't taken a math class since my first year of college, but there's my dork moment for the day.
Okay, now I hate you all for making me think of Britney's skanky male 'ho whenever I see this cover. He DOES like like KF. Barf.
So does sex really lower your I.Q, or did you just get the idea from the Seinfeld episode where George becomes really smart when he stops having sex?
Maybe that explains why Britney's Spears seems to be getting dumber and dumber. KF... ((shudder))
Weird Jamie. My comment came up as anonymous.
I guess I was too impatient to post and didn't give the page time to load properly.
Ah, IQ, not mathematical at all, not I know I can comprehend your book. I was trying to think if we ever had a math class together, but I don't think so. I was always skipping math classes. And, Jamie, don't even start on the sob story about me always skipping and leaving you alone at lunch. You were never truly alone, you had Jan. (I have a picture somewhere of you standing by Jan- maybe you could use that as your next book cover.)
And yeah, everybody is right. I thought your hero looked really unappealing, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Well, Diana did.
But Melissa is right, too, your last cover was so cool that you had this one coming. But it could have been worse. In fact we could have a great discussion about what could be more unnappealing than- a weird horse dangling inexplicably above a Keven Federline look-a-like's head or . . .
Hey, I'm new to your blog and haven't read your books (yet; they sound great) but I just wanted to be a lone voice saying, "I kinda like the ridiculous neon horse."
But...
I can see why its presence would annoy you, if your story is set in a ritzy Art Deco luxury hotel. This cover would make me assume the setting and the story are sort of goofy and exuberant in a pop-art 1950's kind of way.
Which is all well and good but it sounds like that's not what you wrote, so yeah--their bad! But your heroine looks lovely and sexy but not trampy, and that's a Good (and rare) Thing.
I'm sorry, Jamie! I'm sure the book will be great! Some people are really into that look, btw.
Also, I tend to overlook cateogry covers in favor of names. Like, I bought the Leslie Kelly Temptation where the heroine looked like she'd been hit in the face with a frying pan.
Oh, God, Diana, you had to point that out! I thought the hero was sexy until you mentioned Kevin Federline. Now that's all I see, LOL.
Oh please. When I was in college I became as loose as a swinging door in an old west saloon and my GPA jumped up a half point. I could more easily concentrate on my studies if my basic drives were taken care of. Sex, food, in that order. :-D
Can you bribe them to photoshop out the horse when it gets its overseas release? Not sure if there is anything to be done about K Fed. I hope he doesn't see it and think he should become a romance cover model. Though...skewering him on Mr. Romance could be fun.
The title threw me until you explained...now I like it. It fits the story :) Intelligence Quotient, Sex Quotient. Oh, I so hope they find it raises IQ. And helps you lose weight. And cures the common cold.
Okay, Jamie- tired of looking at this. Come June we'll be looking inside of it, but until then lets get some insightful sex related discussion going.
BTW does anybody know where you can get one of those book cover thingies? You know the ones you fold over to hide the cover of a book. ha ha ha.
Speaking of book covers- did anybody else ever switch dust jackets between Les Miserables and The Joy of Sex when they were 8 so they could read it in public? My family thought I was a literary prodigy. hmmm
I love you Jamie!! Your books are AWESOME!!! I don't care what your cover looks like, I will read one of your books any day sight unseen!
Keep doing what you do, and what you do is EXCELLENT!! I will be waiting for this book to be released and I will be the first one in line at the bookstore telling everyone around me, HEY so what the cover may not attract you, just take my advise (I will probably get a~ this lady must be nuts look but oh well) :)
Lorrie
Hey there, Jamie.
Just a quick note- I love reading your blog, and I think your writing is hot- keep up the good work! I'm also in the creative department at Harlequin, and I know the team that worked on this cover. In fact, I know the Art Director, and I suspect that they worked really hard to give you the best cover they could.
Sometimes writers of our books forget that a team of people do everything they can to create a winning cover. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't.
But in the future when you publically dismiss a cover, keep in mind that the people who worked tirelessly to create it also surf the net- and some of the casual comments mentioned here can be really discouraging and morale-killing. People do their best, and no one bats 100 all the time.
Thanks.
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