STACKED

books

From the same photo session

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This isn’t a double take, but it is the same couple and outfits, outside. When I saw the first cover, I immediately thought of the second and realized they were from the same photo session and photo set:

The Secret Life of Prince Charming by Deb Caletti, paperback edition, March 2010.

Followed with getting a little more up close and personal with this one:

For Keeps by Natalie Friend, to be published April 6, 2010.

I quite like both of them, as the green really does make them stand out. I like the way the images portray something different on both but give the readers enough sense to know what the book is about (as much as people scoff the idea, I think covers can be one of the best tools for determining content, genre, and tone of a book).

I pulled out my ARC, though, and guess what the cover for For Keeps was? I guess they caught the double take before and chose a different cover for the final book.


Do you prefer one to the other? I think the paperback makeover for Caletti’s title is an improvement from the hard cover, which also was a double take feature.

Aren’t you a fan?

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Here’s a trend I don’t mind seeing more than once. It’s the perfect mix of setting the genre of historical fiction with intrigue.

The Queen’s Lady by Shannon Drake (Large Print edition)


Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle


The Bad Queen by Carolyn Meyer

There’s just something about hiding the mouth but giving enough facial expression through the eyes that draws me into the covers. I know there are more out there with the same set up — any leads? Share in the comments.

Bodies on covers, yet again

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Apparently, Entertainment Weekly decided to run a piece on the fact that plus-sized women don’t make covers of books. Remind you of something from earlier?

It’s both interesting and irritating when a big name publication picks up on trends like this. Interesting since it’s out there. Irritating because, well, is it a call to action or merely a story idea culled from the blogosphere (I’m not taking credit for this, but this is an issue that comes up again and again in book blogs, both in regards to size and in racial representation on covers). Guess who got covers changed before? I don’t think it was EW.

Double Take, Part XXIII

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Not only is this a double take in the stock image, but both of these covers block multiple images together for the cover. Check this out:

Funny How Things Change by Melissa Wyatt was published April 27, 2009 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.


The Sorcerer and Sainte Felice by Ann Finnin will be published June 1, 2010 by Flux.

Poor guy. I think he’s gotten the raw end of a deal in both covers. I really don’t like the first cover, and having read the book, I think the cover further makes this a tough sell title. The girl on the cover just doesn’t even make sense to me – she’s an afterthought on the design, and the green totally fades her out.

As for the second cover, it’s marginally better, but it still suffers from color saturation issues.

Do you prefer one to another? What are your thoughts on the blocked image covers? I don’t think either succeeds, and I think the colors on both are not the best choices.

Double Take, Part XXII

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Here’s an exact copy, but with a little flipping and cropping. First:


Best Bet by Laura Pedersen was published November 23, 2009 by iUniverse. I like the cover a lot. I think it sets the tone perfectly as a cozy/gentle read.


Sophomore Switch by Abby McDonald was published in paperback (the hardcover featured a different cover) February 9, 2010 by Candlewick. I think the cover on this one doesn’t fit as much. I’ve read the book, and I think it might be a little too washed out and mellow. One of the characters is a wild child, and I don’t think the top image quite captures that in her style. The bottom image perfectly captures the second girl, I think.

This one took a lot of examining to see if it was an exact match, but I think it is. The clothes are the same color and designs, and they’re located in the same spots. The model’s been flipped and cropped for the first one. I like both covers a lot, and I think that the one for Sophomore Switch is just different enough to stand out.

What do you think?