Linda Goodnight here.
I just couldn’t resist showing you this photo of my son and his family. Now, look below at the cover of THE NANNY’S HOMECOMING, my July release and the first in the Rocky Mountain Heirs continuity Elnora mentioned on Friday. Usually Love Inspired’s art department pays no mind to my suggestions, but I think my photo may have inspired a cover. Do you agree?
I just couldn’t resist showing you this photo of my son and his family. Now, look below at the cover of THE NANNY’S HOMECOMING, my July release and the first in the Rocky Mountain Heirs continuity Elnora mentioned on Friday. Usually Love Inspired’s art department pays no mind to my suggestions, but I think my photo may have inspired a cover. Do you agree?
And while we're on the topic of covers: What kind of cover art attracts you? A cover with kids? dogs? people? a beautiful scene? Art that evokes a feeling? Certain colors? A combination of things?
Writers know covers sell books, but the question of what makes good cover art evades me. I'd really love to have your input.
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Love the cover. I am not sure what attracts me to a cover. the farm ones with kids and animals do attract me. I really dont like pink so pink covers dont attract me as much but then it depends on the blurb etc.
ReplyDeleteLove the cover but I have to say that covers rarely play any part in whether I pick up a book and buy it, so I can't really help you. But then I've always been a little strange.
ReplyDeleteI agree the blurb is HUGE but I generally pick up a book based on an eye-catching cover. I just don't know what it is. :-)
ReplyDeleteEllen, now I'm really curious. What is it about a book that gets your attention if it's not the cover? Are you looked for a type or an author or what? This inquiring mind really wants to know!
ReplyDeleteHow unusual that the art dept actually paid attention to your suggestion, Linda. WOW!
ReplyDeleteSuper cool! :)) I loved that picture and your right, they took your suggestion! :)) Smart people!
ReplyDeleteCover grabs me first.... then, I read synopsis on back. Of course if I'm following an author I go straight to that person's book-- so after reading the GREAT LInda Goodnight, I always go straight for her books on the shelf!
ReplyDeleteLove your cover, Linda, and yes, I'd say your photo had a lot to do with it. :) I do like covers with people on them most of the time but I don't only look for those kind. I do like reading the blurb--and the first page. And I love seeing my favorite authors books on the shelves. Sometimes that's all it takes for me to grab it and take it to check out. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat comparison. I'm a cover buyer, then I look at author, and then at back blurb.
ReplyDeleteNever really thought about pink, but looking at my stacks of book I do see a few.
Ellen, you're not strange.
Hi Sundy, thanks for stopping by.
And, Janet Lee Barton, about time you got here. What's up?
This is really an interesting discussion to me. We are all so diverse, I don't know how publishers ever figure out what works best.
ReplyDeleteJanet, I'm one of those who prefers NOT to have people on the cover--yet, my books almost always do!
ReplyDeleteWhat about the rest of you? People or not?
Toni Keel said:
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I'm always looking for an interesting in today's world, inspirational book, next I see where the story took place (has to be USA), I read the back cover first...but of course since I love Linda Goodnight's books, I grab and buy... it! 2nd - I love books that have children in it, they are always so cute to read about. 3rd - if the story is in Montana (ok, so I'm bias lol), another reason to buy. Yes I love seeing a good cover, but even if it isn't, it's not the cover I'm interested in, like people, it's not the outside that matters it's the inside that truly counts. I have to admit I love good-looking cowboys. ♥See More
Linda,
ReplyDeleteThat cover is so awesome...exactly like the picture. I guess if we really give them our vision for it, they can make that happen. And how special that it's your family. Ask Maureen for one of the posters and put it in a frame next to the picture of your family! Makes me want to read it!
Love some of the answers I got over on Facebook:
ReplyDeleteKeith McGavern "title first, then basic jacket info, then first few pages, if the first few pages don't draw me in further, I'm gone ..."
Brandy Morrison I'm with Sundy! I do the same exact thing...Cover, synopisis on the back, then favorite authors.
Vicky Whitton Rudder I always look for my fav authors, then if I don't know them, I like to read the back and a portion of the book thats on the inside front. Covers not as important.
Linda,
ReplyDeleteLike you, I have a hard time pinpointing exactly what it is that draws me about the covers...
I guess it is maybe a "mood". For your cover, I loved the family feeling, that they were drawn together by the child...
For my August release, I love the pensiveness on the heroine's face as she looks off in the distance... you just know there is something going on inside her mind.
I like covers with people but not all of them. And I confess, I buy more buy author name than by book cover...
I like covers with or without people. But if there are people, I like the people to be big. I don't mean taking up the whole cover, but big enough to see facial expressions. I have two cover with teeny tiny people--not my favorite. I think my favorite cover is the one for Four Little Blessings that has 4 kids on the front. The art department got the kids perfect. They look just like what I had imagined they would look like. I'm still waiting to see what they did for my upcoming Jan. 2012 book, Montana Match--snowy landscape or two twin girls???
ReplyDeleteOh, Linda, I meant to say that your cover is awesome. And how extra special that it is based on a family photo.
ReplyDeleteLinda,
ReplyDeleteI'm with the mood idea. For me, the cover needs to have a spark that evokes a feeling or perks my interest. I'm far more likely to pick up that book out of the many on the shelf. I also want a good title that tells me the flavor of the book and coaxes me into a further look.
Oh, dear. I have to admit I'm partial to handsome hero covers--like my Phoebe's Groom. I do like people on the cover, close-up. I'm one of those people that pick up and read the back cover copy of all the books in a series line I like.
ReplyDeleteFor me when I go to the City and the big christian bookshop the books are like a library spine showing. So we see the title and author so its either author or the title that grabs me first. (and of course If I have seen it online) then the blurb. The cover helps and has sold a few LI for me but more than anything its often the interviews here or on Goodreads that have sold me on a title.
ReplyDeleteLinda, that is so nice that your cover is going to hold such a special memory for you!
ReplyDeleteLove the cover, linda! So cool about the photo!
ReplyDeleteI've been thrilled with how the art department has gotten my covers so close to the photos and ideas I've sent. I just got a peek at my upcoming book, and I'm thrilled to death!
Covers attract me when I'm shopping at a physical bookstore. If I'm shopping online, it's usually for a particular author or from a recommendation.