JUDGING A BOOK BY ITS COVER

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, shake what your momma gave you.

I enjoy cover art be it on books, albums, movies, whatever.  And the surest way for me to buy something I'm not familiar with is to judge it by its cover.  Of course this doesn't always work out, but who cares.  If the book/album/movie sucks at least I can display the artwork on a book/album/movie shelf.

I think the folks at Subterranean Press would defend my logic because they always have fantastic cover art on their products.

Let's look at the original dust jacket for Dan Simmons's Drood.

OK, we have a shadowy figure, some fancy font type, and the author's name.  Boring.  No way I'd buy this book based on cover alone. 

Subterranean released Drood with John Picacio's cover art.  If you'll remember from previous posts I was to pray to the God of Publishing that Picacio do my cover art when the time comes.  Here's why ... 

Or what about Muse of Fire also by Simmons with cover art by Picacio.

These books I would buy without having a clue what they're about. 

Here's an example of an author whose work I'm not familiar with.  Elizabeth Bear's Seven for a Secret has an awesome cover, and I will buy this even if only to display the cover on my bookshelf.

The cover art is by Patrick Arrasmith. 

So go ahead, try to write some literary masterpiece that is  grammatically sound, stylistically intense, and brilliantly researched.  But if you really want to succeed in selling your novel, hook up with an amazing artist.  You'll at least get an idiot like me to buy your book.

Later Fiends 

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Attention Whores & Cyber-Minions

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, TGIF (Thank God I'm Famous).

I mean really, I even have a school named after me Robert Gray Elementary School. And, ooh, look, today they're serving cheeseburgers, crinkle cut fries, lunch bunch grapes, and milk ... yummy.

And because I am famous (refer to the above mentioned school if you need proof) and because I blog, I must be a whiny attention whore like Tess Gerritson and Patricia Cornwell, because they are famous too. Of course that would make every blogging author a whiny attention whore, right? Even the writer who wishes for a fan base like Gerritson and Cornwell, and who--huh?--uses a blog to attack someone about blogging? Once upon a time Plato denounced the art of writing in his writings Phaedrus and Seventh Letter. It was stupid then too.

But obviously the problem goes much deeper than the famous attention whores, but into the whores' underground subculture of cyber-minions known as the fan base. Those willing to go to war for their author no matter what the charge, be it a mail-slide against Stephen King for his attack on Stephanie Meyer, or worse.

So what does this mean for fresh writers like us--er--you? I for one think the blog has become essential to a new writers success, especially in the realm of YA and genre fiction. Attention whore, you're God Damn right, because this is free, and if one person sees this and becomes interested in something I create then it was worth it. Fans today are gained one by one, word by word. Perhaps that is why fans are so loyal to their authors. These fans weren't tricked by some solicitor trying to sell them a ShamWow! The authors had to feed their fans, nourishing them with insight and opinion, and at times personal notes that reflect on politics, religion, life, whatever. Is it always necessary? of course not. I don't care that Neil Gaiman cant find his tea. But some fans do.

Bottom line, dear reader, there is no problem with supply for writers anymore. The problem is in the demand. So whatever works. Blog, Tweet, scream, make smoke signals ... whatever.

Rant over.

<<<<>>>>

John Picacio is a phenominal artist. Tonight I will pray to the Publishing God (Loki I believe is His proper name) that Picacio will do my cover art.

Happy F13.

Later Fiends

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