The Monstrosity
I need to rant. I’ve ranted in my head and at my publishers and to my best friends and to pretty much anyone I’ve had face time with in the last three days and I’m still not ranted-out. So, dear reader, I am now ranting to you.
So you spend a year writing 95,000 words, which you hope form some sort of cohesion. You spend another half a year editing it. And then editing it again. And a little more. And then a bit more. And you’re almost on the home strait. You have a week to finish your final touches before the first typescript is set.
Being the ultra-organised control freak you are, you already had a vision for the cover from day one and you get an image shot and put together a cover suggestion and send it to your publishers. It looks something like this, which I’m going to insist is a gorgeous image and a gorgeous cover. The publishers say they like the image but come back to you with an adjusted cover. You’re horrified and, as a way of compromising, say you’re willing to change the cover to this, which, though perhaps not as striking as your first choice, still kinda works.
Your publishers insist that their cover is better even though the image is off-centre, the font is ugly and there are pastels. PASTELS. You can’t help but moan about it so they feel compelled to call you up. They explain that every design decision has been thought out and has a specific reasoning; that the cover isn’t the 5-minute Microsoft Word knock-up you’ve accused them of. That the version you want is too stark and “cynical”, that their cover is kitsch and quirky and makes it obvious that the book is a thriller rather than a misery memoir.
I moan and bitch and whine and rant and beg, but to no avail. And I hate my publishers just a little bit. Don’t get me wrong, I love the company and the people and the ethos, but I HATE MY COVER. I HATE HATE HATE it. I think it looks like something that’s been created by a Year 7 student for a book project. I LOATHE it. And, yes, it’s unprofessional to talk about it but, hell, so was giving my book away in the early days.
And to prove my point, here is THE MONSTROSITY.
I know there’s the bullshit about not judging a book by its cover, but, please, who doesn’t? I feel really disheartened because after working on a book for so long, you really want something you can be proud of. I’ve always said that I don’t care about the commercial side as much as I should (and I don’t, despite vowing to start). What’s more important to me is a quality product that makes me proud. And this cover just makes me sag. I’ve tried to convince myself that it works in a kitsch, throwback-to-old-Hollywood-movie-posters-like-The-Thing kind of way but it’s not working its mojo.
So, yes, I hate it.
But I’ll get over it. I’ve decided that it’s going to take me roughly two years to get over it. But I will. Until then, please, please, PLEASE don’t judge a book by its cover.
Kia
PS. I mean, come on, look at this. HOW is the monstrosity better?
So you spend a year writing 95,000 words, which you hope form some sort of cohesion. You spend another half a year editing it. And then editing it again. And a little more. And then a bit more. And you’re almost on the home strait. You have a week to finish your final touches before the first typescript is set.
Being the ultra-organised control freak you are, you already had a vision for the cover from day one and you get an image shot and put together a cover suggestion and send it to your publishers. It looks something like this, which I’m going to insist is a gorgeous image and a gorgeous cover. The publishers say they like the image but come back to you with an adjusted cover. You’re horrified and, as a way of compromising, say you’re willing to change the cover to this, which, though perhaps not as striking as your first choice, still kinda works.
Your publishers insist that their cover is better even though the image is off-centre, the font is ugly and there are pastels. PASTELS. You can’t help but moan about it so they feel compelled to call you up. They explain that every design decision has been thought out and has a specific reasoning; that the cover isn’t the 5-minute Microsoft Word knock-up you’ve accused them of. That the version you want is too stark and “cynical”, that their cover is kitsch and quirky and makes it obvious that the book is a thriller rather than a misery memoir.
I moan and bitch and whine and rant and beg, but to no avail. And I hate my publishers just a little bit. Don’t get me wrong, I love the company and the people and the ethos, but I HATE MY COVER. I HATE HATE HATE it. I think it looks like something that’s been created by a Year 7 student for a book project. I LOATHE it. And, yes, it’s unprofessional to talk about it but, hell, so was giving my book away in the early days.
And to prove my point, here is THE MONSTROSITY.
I know there’s the bullshit about not judging a book by its cover, but, please, who doesn’t? I feel really disheartened because after working on a book for so long, you really want something you can be proud of. I’ve always said that I don’t care about the commercial side as much as I should (and I don’t, despite vowing to start). What’s more important to me is a quality product that makes me proud. And this cover just makes me sag. I’ve tried to convince myself that it works in a kitsch, throwback-to-old-Hollywood-movie-posters-like-The-Thing kind of way but it’s not working its mojo.
So, yes, I hate it.
But I’ll get over it. I’ve decided that it’s going to take me roughly two years to get over it. But I will. Until then, please, please, PLEASE don’t judge a book by its cover.
Kia
PS. I mean, come on, look at this. HOW is the monstrosity better?
posted by Kia at
1:01 PM
17 Comments:
Would agree with you. The final cover is below par in many ways (the choice of font and colour of the font lets it down the most).
When I used to edit snoop magazine and bhangra flier graphic designers cropped up everywhere, this was the font they swore by. Try writing Dhol Daytimerz in that font and it works. Sorry doll, but the off-centre bit is bollocks. I really feel for you
> Shuhel
I know! I mean, PASTELS! ARRRRRrrGGGHHH!
> Shabbs
I tried to make them see sense. I *would* hold the final version as ransom but that'd be like cutting off my nose to spite my face. I guess I'll just have to take vicodin for two years to ease the pain.
You're right sweetie. Sorry to confirm it, but that is hideous. (And putting the publisher's name on the front?! What's that all about?)
I would buy the first one if I saw it in the shop. The second one, definitely less so. The third one, I'd stare at in horror....
Take some consolation from the fact that it's not your fault, and that everyone will know it isn't. You have my total sympathies.
Yes, your original is far, far better. How could they possibly think otherwise? Hope you manage to talk them round.
> Ariane
Hideous is exactly the right way to describe it. A friend is trying to convince me that it works from a commercial point of view because it catches attention since it's so jarring, but who wants to catch attention when the reaction is one of horror? It just looks so amateurish. I told the publishers I wouldn't feel comfortable promoting the book to the fullest of my ability with this cover but they insist that it works :(
> Andrew
Thank you. I'm glad you agree (and can now be declared clinically sane). I can give it a last-ditch attempt but the deal is pretty much sealed.
I don't like either covers because I thought they're a bit too risque but the one you wanted was better.
I remember Sarfraz Manzoor blogging about how he disliked the cover chosen by his publisher for his book too. If I remember correctly, he eventually got the cover he wanted.
What are the chances of your publishers changing the cover after the book is out?
By the way, what was it about your cover that made you think of the The Thing poster?
Many sympathies. Your publisher's design team should resign and start a new business knocking up posters for car boot sales.
WTF?! Publisher's name on the front?
I feel for you.
Well, I do think yours is better, and I like the second version a lot, too. And, yes, the title in the third version is sort of garish and doesn't fit completely with the image (I think I could even live with the cracked font thing if it weren't for the colours. White is so friendly...). But I wouldn't go so gar as to say "hideous". You still have your image, and it's a great image, very eye-catching. And you've been included in the process from the start, even if they're overruling you on the title depiction. But I've seen far, far, far worse stories out there. Writers that had no choice or no say until the book is done... and then get delivered something soul crushing and ludicrous and utterly unlike the story. With no way to change it. So, while I offer much sympathy on the title font and colouring... well, this is a glass is half full sort of scenario. Remember the other half. They could have dumped the whole drink out. And smashed the glass. And thrown you out to the curb. Where an oncoming bus... well, you get the idea.
Best,
Ink (Bryan)
> Rambling Man
Risque, maybe, but it's so purty. There's about 0 chance of them changing it after. About the posters, I was trying to convince myself that the cracked font was a throwback to old movie posters like The Thing because it too had strange font, but it kinda worked (mine doesn't!).
> Graham
Thanks. Tell me about it. I just saw this on Amazon this morning, making me realise that I have well and truly lost my battle.
> Chris
I know! It's madness. (And thanks.)
> Ink/Bryan
THANK YOU for making me laugh out loud. No, seriously, I've been sitting in front of my PC in my pyjamas all day, staring at the screen forlorny, so the laugh was much needed. There's obviously truth in what you're saying, but I'm struggling to think of a worse cover. Maybe I should run an experiment - anyone who finds an existing book cover that's worse than mine, gets a free signed copy of the monstrosity. I reckon that'd make me feel better... misery likes company and all that.
Kia,
If only I had a scanner I could totally trump your cover in seconds flat. I own a bookstore. The number of hideous covers that pass through my fingers... I have to wash my hands sometimes. Lots of soap.
Some of them I just stare at and wonder "How did anyone ever find anything beautiful about any of this ever?" Which, I'm sure, was not part of the marketing scheme. There's even one called The Cover Artist... with, you know, a bad cover.
The world's a dippy place.
Oh, Kia. I have to say that your vision was far superior and much more sophisticated than what they came up with.
We are artists. And while very few artists are unable to cross over to different mediums successfully, writers are quite flexible in doing so, IMHO.
It would be so easy for a publisher to create a document containing questions and blank spaces for suggestions, include it with the contract papers and perhaps even have the author connect with their assigned cover artist. Doing so seems so elementary to me - I don't understand why this isn't already in practice.
Situation: Before you is an artist who invented a world and effectively communicated his ideas in writing.
Next to him is a guy who has a degree in English Literature who knows all about punctuation and grammar.
Which is more suited to create a captivating cover that reflects the feel of the book?
One cannot learn creativity at University. One either has it or they don't.
Sorry if that sounds snarky peeps, but it's the truth.
Wow, I kind of like the third cover the most.
Those letters at the very top kind of grabbed my attention.
If I had been wandering through a bookstore, with, let's face it, thousands of books stacked everywhere, the cover with those big fat letters at the top might've caught my eye, since the letters look kind of silly.
Your own cover looks a bit too arty for me. I just don't think I would've picked that book up.
Kia, I held my laptop up in front of my friend's face, and showed him your .jpg image, the one with the three book covers on it, and I said to him, quick, which of these three book covers would make you want to pick up the book, and he said, the third one.
I asked him why and he said because the title was so clearly written on the third one, and because the author's name was printed right above the title.
The other two, he said, were slightly confusing.
Hope that helps.
Hey, I have to say I prefer the second one, the first one kinda reminds me of an arty coffee table type book cover. The final cover is awful, sorry! The off-centre picture looks like a design mistake rather than deliberate and the mismatched font for your name & title just don't gel. I definitely prefer the previous font. I can't believe they won't see your point of view! Maybe you should show them all our comments. After all we are the consumers!
> Ink
Well, I'm glad there are other bad covers out there. Like I said above, misery likes company!
> Genella
Thank you. I don't think you sound snarky at all. There's a lot of truth in what you say. The thing is, I would have been happy for them to change my cover or even ignore my ideas as long as they produced a tasteful result. Alas, that's clearly not the case.
> Anon @ 9.07PM
Wow, really? I get your point that it's attention grabbing (a comment a friend also made) but do I really want to catch attention when the reaction will be one of horror? Either way, thank you for the glimmer of hope. Let's hope there are *some* people out there who feel the same.
> Anon @ 8.28AM
Ok, that is slightly comforting. I'm banking on people have different taste to mine. My publishers keep assuring me that the third one will work best. I just hope they're right.
> Shopna
I have tried everything to get them to change their mind. I begged and begged, and even offered to give up my advance (drastic, I know, but that's how strongly I feel about it), but it was all to no avail. The book is now available to pre-order on Amazon (with the monstrous cover) so I'm afraid I have well and truly lost the battle :(
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