Beyond the cover

Jinger Heaston







“You can’t judge a book by its cover”. This is true but you can decide if you want to purchase that book by its cover. In my line of work judging the cover is what it is all about. I am a Cover Artist. I currently work for several online Publishers: Siren Publishing, Damnation Books, Wings ePress, PawPrints POD as Art Director, Whiskey Creek Press, as well as several Independents that self publish.

When I first started doing cover art I really had no grasp of the importance of the cover art and how crucial it is that the cover remains true to the story. Like so many others out there I just assumed it was simply a way to display the title and the author’s name. That line of thinking fell away as I created my first few covers, and I am happy to say those first few Authors are ones that I still work with to this day, 6 almost 7 years later.

When creating a cover I am provided with an Author Information Form that has all the details such as character description, brief story detail, setting, key items, and things of this nature. If it is an Author I have never worked with I will visit their website or blog to get a feel of what sort of covers they have had in the past and for their writing. I contact them to introduce myself and let them know that they are in good hands, inviting them to share any thoughts or ideas. I do believe in making the Author a part of the process when I can. They know the story best and that after all is what we are going for, a visual reflection of the story. Of course the other goal to keep in mind is something that will sell your book.

Things to keep in mind when going over your cover art. Simple is better, if someone cannot make out the image they will simply move on to the next cover. A lot of covers spend most of their time on the internet in a thumbnail view. The title should be crisp, clean and clear, Authors name the same way. If it is too hard to read, they will move on. My goal is to create something that will stop someone in their internet tracks for a closer look. Sometimes a scene from the book is requested, which can work out well if done correctly but often turns out too cluttered or busy if too many elements are added. Time period is also very important to reflect on the cover. I have seen a few books that were Historical that had covers with current technology or clothes on the front; this is not what we want.

As a cover artist we have the impossible job of creating an image from the mind of someone we have never met, about a story we have never read. This is a challenge I face daily with great pride and honor, it is one thing I love about what I do. To receive and email that says, “Yes!! That is it exactly!!”, “How did you do that? It is perfect!”, that is what I am going for! I have met many wonderful people over the years and made some fantastic friends as a result of a cover I created that reached them on some personal level, or reflected something they were feeling at that moment. I have even had a bagel special delivered to me with strawberry cream cheese as a thank you, which still makes me smile! An email from a first time Author who has just gotten their first cover who writes that they are so thrilled they cannot stop looking at it, that is the biggest payoff of my job. When creating a cover I keep in mind that this is a story someone put a lot of time and energy into, something they are passionate about and I strive to reflect that in the cover. Every cover I have ever made is personal to me; I remember it, creating it and the Author who wrote it. I actually have a bookshelf that holds about 300 books that I have work the covers on, this is just a small drop in the bucket compared to all that I have done. Some are autographed, some are not but each and every one holds a special place in my heart.

In a day I receive information, go over it, and process it. Think about what I can create that will be not only eye catching but will reflect the story within, something the Author as well as the Publisher will approve of. For the Author it is personal, for the Publisher it is their business and this can be a thin line to walk sometimes.

So the next time you look at a cover, take an extra moment to appreciate it and all the work that someone may have put into it. With all of the information, the Publisher, the Author, the story content and key elements all rolled into one image that will either make you pick it up or walk away, that cover says a lot. Or the next time you finish a book, look back at the cover and ask yourself if you feel it did its job of giving you a sneak peek of the story. Was it mass produced with general images thrown together to make a buck, or is there passion and feeling in it? And Authors, please do not judge me too harshly on this bit of blog, I just make the pictures, I leave the words to you!

Of Liars and Cover Artists

Forgive me if somebody's already covered this particular subject this week, but I'm actually writing a week in advance, and as you're reading this, I'm in Chicago on a not-quite vacation.

A few weeks ago, I read an article on a book called Liar by Justine Larbalestier. The main character of the story is a young African American girl, but the cover prominently displayed a Caucasian girl. Though the book has not yet been released, previews of the cover raised the ire of many people online, and even drew criticism from the author. As a result of the hullabaloo, the publisher, Bloomsbury, is creating a new cover, both for the paper back versions and the hardback versions. The fact that new covers are being printed for the hardback book is particularly impressivve, since the original cover was already printed, and the printing of new covers will probably cost at least an extra $7000 for the publisher. (You can read an article on Liar and its new cover here.)

As someone who's both a writer and a cover artist, I found this to be particularly interesting, and not just because of the issues on race and publishing that have been raised. A lot of thought goes into the creation of books covers, or at least it should. I don't know how they do it in the big publishing houses, but in small press and e-press, authors are frequently asked for their input on the cover. They're handed a form to fill out, asking them to detail one to two ideas for the cover that will grace their work. A smart author will fill this form out with as much detail as possible, including things like eye and skin color for the characters. An even smarter author will realize that no matter how detailed they get, the cover they imagine is not likely going to be what ends up on the final book, as Justine Larbalestier found out with Liar.

As a cover artist, each job I get comes with a brief -- that is, a description of what the cover should look like. This brief comes from the publisher. Except in one instance, I've never had direct contact with the author. All information comes from the publisher, and all my questions go to the publisher. The one exception was when I designed a cover for the publisher's wife's book. She had something very particular in mind, and being married to the publisher does have it's advantages. In that case, working with the author turned out great, but for any other book cover I've worked on, I wouldn't want to have contact with the author. I only get a couple weeks at most to create a cover. I have to come up with the initial idea based on the brief, then do a rough draft, and if the publisher okay's that, a final. That's a lot of work to accomplish in a short amount of time, and a lot of e-mail going back and forth between me and the publisher. Adding a third person, the author, into the process would slow things down dramatically. This is, after all, the author's baby that I'm working on. As artist, I'm trying to bring to life his or her book in visual form. Since I don't get to read the book (there's no time with this schedule), chances are I'm not going to get things exactly right.

But I am going to get things right enough, and the publisher knows that. The publisher has a feel for the book, and a feel for my work. He knows what I'm capable of producing, and when he's not sure, he asks. The author doesn't know squat about me, usually. They don't know what programs I use, what resources I have. They don't know if I have a painterly art style, where I draw each detail from scratch in Photoshop, or if I prefer to create covers using stock photography (I prefer a 3D collage approach, actually). All they know is that they have this perfect image in their head of the hero and/or heroine on the cover, hair blowing in the wind, or brilliant blue eyes staring out the porthole of a space station. They know the back story, the reason why the characters smile just so, and how high a hand must be raised in hello or farewell. They know the plot, the setting, the theme of their master piece.

Authors are supposed to know that kind of detail... and put it into their books. Artists are supposed to create attractive, engaging, exciting book covers to lure people into buying the book and then discovering the magical details inside. Because while a picture might paint a thousand words, it's no substitute for the actual story itself. I'm good at what I do as an artist, but I can't recreate someone else's book on a cover, certainly not in two weeks time. What I can do is help sell it, and that's what I strive for every time I get a commission for a cover.

Bloomsbury put a Caucasian girl on the cover of a book about an African American girl. They were trying to "symbolically reflect the narrator's complex psychological makeup," they said. They wanted to get across the nuances and details inside the book. Bad idea, in my opinion. Their marketing department should have focused instead on selling the book, and let the author do her work. If Justine Larbalestier is any good at writing, she'll have a reader hooked within the first few paragraphs. All the cover has to do is get people to pick up that book and read those first few paragraphs. Oh, and it also has to not piss off a lot of people over issues of race and truth in advertising along the way.

Take it from someone working in the trenches of publishing. Keep it simple, Bloomsbury. Keep it simple.

*****

As an aside, I did not even try to completely capture my own writing in the cover art of my own book, Future Perfect, though elements of various short stories are in there.

Future Perfect by Helen E. H. Madden, available from Logical-Lust.com

Cover Story

by Ashley Lister

The first time I got a say in the covers for one of my books, I have to admit I was pretty surprised. Until that point I’d seen my involvement in the covers as somewhere between negligible and nonexistent. I wrote the books. Sometimes they were printed under a title I’d picked. And I’d labour to produce blurb and cover copy to go on the back page. But the front cover had always been what Douglas Adams referred to as an SEP (Someone Else’s Problem).

So, whilst I was busy writing the first of my two non-fiction titles on swinging, I was surprised to get a call from my editor, asking what I thought should go on the cover.

“Great value!” I suggested.

He wasn’t impressed. He had an idea for a goldfish bowl full of car keys.

“Why?” I asked. The book was about people having sex. It wasn’t about car keys pretending to be goldfish. That sounded like something from a surreal children’s film.

When the editor explained the relevance of the image I felt pretty foolish. Admittedly, I could have told him that such references implied possessions, indicative of a controlling patriarchal hegemony rather than a progressive attitude toward consensual promiscuity. But there are some phrases that just don’t slip too easy off the tongue.

“What about a near-naked woman?” I suggested. I like near-naked women. Pictures of them, on the covers of books, often make me put my hand in my pocket. Sometimes I’ll bring out my hand holding money so I can buy those books.

“A naked woman?”

“Yeah. Naked, but you can’t see her naughty bits.”

“Naughty bits? You’re not using that phrase in the book, are you?”

I ignored that question. “Her naughty bits are covered up by loads of different hands. Men’s hands. And some women’s hands. Hands that are different colours – to show ethnic diversity and multiculturalism. Hands that are different sizes – to show that it’s lots of different people. The image will give a suggestion of the audacity of sexual promiscuity being concealed by a conspiracy of consenting conservatism. It will be a visually dynamic blend of the sexual and the prudish, with the hands on the flesh concealing rather than caressing.”

“I’ve got a great image of a goldfish bowl with car keys in it. Should I email it over to you?”

“Yeah. Go on then.”

“Any other ideas?”

“Classified ads. I think classified ads have more pertinence to contemporary swingers than car keys and goldfish bowls. That was certainly the idea I got whilst researching the book. What about an image that looks like it’s been torn from a newspaper’s classified advert section, showing ads with couples looking for couples? We could even draw a red ring around one of the adverts, as though it’s been marked for explicit attention.”

“Can you send a copy of it through?”

“Excuse me?”

“Can you create some classified ads, make them look like they’ve been torn from a newspaper, and draw a red circle around them so I can get an idea about this?”

Ordinarily, I would have said I was busy. But this was an opportunity to create my own cover art. Even though it was just words and a red circle, I was going to be a creative artist.



The image didn’t get used. Or, at least, I don’t think it ever got used. The picture above is the one that was linked to the book on Amazon (Canada). Personally, I like its stark simplicity, but then, I do like simple things. I have often been described as a simple person.

Surprisingly, after all our conversations on the subject, the original cover of SWINGERS looked something like this:



I have to admit, I was perplexed at first. It’s one of those covers that requires some thought or consideration. It’s a book of real life stories, so the picture shows a book of stories (with the words REAL LIFE in the top right hand corner, just so there’s no confusion). There’s something lacy on the bottom right hand corner (knickers? panties? thong?) and, cleverly, in the top left hand corner, there’s a red-ended length of lipstick penetrating the ring-shaped bulge of a sealed condom.

Is it all a subliminal message? The cover could be suggesting: get your knickers off, read some real life stories, and then get ready to slide something (with a bright red end) into a condom.

I have no answers to these questions. I just know that I liked the artwork and was quite pleased they stuck with the same image when the book went into reprint. However, when SWINGERS: Female Confidential went to print, the cover they picked looked like this:



I wonder where that idea came from. Who would have thought they could use an image of a near-naked woman being covered by hands!

Honoring The Story

On the TV there’s this woman, see, and she’s floating around in a boat. She has the kind of face and hair you see on romance novel covers. She trails her hand in the water. She smiles wistfully, quietly bemused at some private thought or memory. Perhaps the anticipation of pleasure. She dips her hand and lifts an exotic red lily from the water and holds it to her face. She relaxes in a row boat, not an aluminum row boat with an old Sea Horse outboard engine like my Dad’s, no, a beautiful wooden boat of red varnished wood, a kind of life boat for a fantasy Viking ship. Now a virile young man is revealed in the boat. Giving him her lily and it’s Jungian suggestions of things to come, she leans against the man and they stretch out as in a bed and snuggle in the boat. Cut to the romantic music.

Ducolax Stool Softener. Really.

Most photographers make their money from stock agencies. When you see a TV commercial of a woman looking vaguely miserable and rubbing her head, that’s a stock video. When you see a young wistfully romantic couple snuggling in a fancy pants rowboat, that’s a stock video. When you see a middle aged man and a slightly younger, friskier woman, running down the beach hand in hand, looking youthfully, zestfully silly with love and the man stops and looks in the woman’s eyes. That’s a stock video. You can use that video to sell beach resorts, retirement communities, Ducolax Stool Softener I guess, men’s hair coloring or Viagra. If the Viagra logo comes up, it means some munchkin from Pfizer’s ad campaign department went into an office in LA or New York City and said “I need 30 seconds of a man who’s old enough to have an iffy stiffy and a hot looking woman, looking horny and ready to go for it but in a sort of non-threatening way. You know? If you have something that ends with it looking like he’s going to get a piece, that’s even better.” So the stock agency munchkin flips through a database of short clips of vaguely horny, zestfully romantic-in-a-childlike-way couples possibly arranged according to age, and pulls out a dozen which all end with the man looking like he's going to get some.

The point is generic art is all purpose, the way formula writing is all purpose. You crank it out and find out what to do with it later. This is what I noticed early on about romance novel and erotic romance novel covers, is that they’re largely generic. They don’t tell you what’s going on, they just tell you what kind of book it is.

The man/woman/man/man/woman/woman/hobbit/fairie/vampire/troll/ghost/werewolf/50 Foot Woman/space alien/barnyard animal embracing in any of the above combinations, is a stock cover suitable for whatever book comes along, irrespective of the content. They are designed for the most part to identify a genre formula, not a particular novel. The art director whips one out of the file and keeps the traffic moving along. These are designed for the bookstore stock manager, not for the reader.

As of this writing I've got one book out there, by Whisky Creek Press. The cover was by Jinger Heaston. What I really love about my book cover is, its evocative and honors the story. For writers in our genre, its all about the story, and a good cover honors the story.



The cover Jinger made for me is not generic. It has that pulp fiction quality of looking like its about something. Erotic science fiction about sex trafficking in artificial women and the man who tries to rescue one, or an erotic Kwaidan in feudal Japan may or may not be your cuppa tea. But what you see on the cover of my brave little book is really what you get inside and no bullshit. I love that. That is honoring the story, and the story is what we come here for.

The very best covers honor the story in a way that leads you in. Take this cover from the vampire novel “Twilight”:

The easy way out would have been to show teenagers in love, or vampire teenagers in love. But what you have in this image is a mystery. The title implies dark things that come out at night, fantasy lovers. But what you see are two pale, bloodless arms holding out an apple. So you wonder - what’s the deal with the apple? Temptation? A gift? It makes you want to read the book. That’s the sign of a good book cover. It is a visual poetry that draws you in.



Here’s another pair of covers I grew up loving as a kid:

There have been a lot of print books of Stoker’s novel “Dracula”, but this is the only book cover that scared the crap out of me when I was kid. That cover was worth a couple of weeks of bad dreams for me. What’s great about it is it honors the story. You’ll never see a movie Dracula that looks like this one, a kind of Mark Twain from Hell. But in the book, in Harker’s journal, that face is exactly how he describes Dracula, a big straight nose, a high forehead, swept back hair and a huge mustache. An old world Eastern European dictator. And what big teeth you have, grandpa.



The other cover is by the great Frank Frazetta. There are galleries on the web dedicated to his book covers for the old Robert E Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs stories. These were truly romance novels for young men, populated by wide hipped and big breasted women clad in little animal skin bikinis; women with fierce primitive desires who always needed rescuing every couple of minutes. They were the stuff of a young man’s midnight fantasies. If you zoom in on the image (click on it) those saber tooth's eyes are bugging out at you like junk yard dogs. A young man could lose himself between those wide, powerful thighs.



Compare these two covers of the Howard character “Conan”.






The one on the left is the one I grew up with by Frazetta, the other is the movie poster. The Frazetta Conan tells a story, it’s a snapshot with a sense of something happening before and after. It crackles with drama and energy. It honors the story. If you walk by it on a paperback rack you can't ignore it, and that's the name of the game. Not everybody is going to like that cover, but it gets your attention. The one on the right is generic, safe and romantic. A nice guy. I would say that the one on the left is for guys and the one on the right is for the ladies. The other distinguishing element of the Frazetta Conan is that this is a true portrait in the classic sense. His face depicts a sense of his personality, his barbarian savagery and a cruel joy in battle. Hell, even his horse has an attitude. His arms and shield are spread wide, defying death, daring any poor sonovabitch there to even think he's badder than Conan. Everything about him projects a go-to-hell carelessness about life and death. The other guy looks like he takes good care of his hair.

When I peruse the covers on other books on my publishers site I always find that the one Jinger Heaston did for me catches my eye. Red is a color that draws the eye, but also the images tell a story. The Chinese characters in the background. The machinery in the woman’s face, it all tells a story. The sword in the woman's hand. All these things honor the story.

Covers, Covers, oh those sexy, naughty COVERS!

by Jude Mason

Having been around for a little while, I've had an amazing assortment of covers. Some work, some...not so much. I realize that not all artists are gifted equally, the same as authors, teachers, painters,welders, anyone. But, there are some covers that really would be better off left... anywhere but on the cover of a book.

My first novel, Who Races-Who Wins, was published a good number of years ago, and as I was never consulted about the cover art, I truly was aghast when I got this first one. The publisher, who I won't name, chose this cover for me herself. Now, this was a fetish book, but the cover didn't convey the fetish properly, and to be really honest, I couldn't figure out what it even was for the longest time. I also cried when I saw it. This was my first venture into the real world of publishing and I had such high hopes for this book. The genre was femdom, the fetish: pony boys. Okay, so the woman had a bit in her mouth, but for crying out loud, it wasn't supposed to be her, it was supposed to be the guy. I was told hunky men on covers didn't sell. "Say what?" I was flabbergasted.

I did a little ranting, a little crying, some begging and was finally give the cover you see to the left. It was closer, sort of. Okay, so it wasn't really. Still had the woman in the rigging, no man in sight and it just didn't fit the content.

I got email about it. Nasty email saying the cover was misleading. Hell, I agreed. I'd asked if I could find some artwork for it, or have someone design a cover for me... anything for the right cover! Nope, this was it. So, I was literally stuck with the wrong cover. The contract was binding and I lived with this for several years.

It was a learning experience and one I haven't repeated.

I do realize many authors don't get to chose their covers. I completely understand that cover artists are busy and there's only so much they have time to do. But, I also realize it's up to me to do all I can to get my books out there looking the very best they can be. These are MY BOOKS.

Since then, I've had some amazing covers, created by some of the finest cover artists there are. In my opinion, anyway. There is a gift to designing a cover. The picture has to tell its own story. It has to draw the reader to it. After all, it's the first thing a buyer sees. If they dislike the cover, they're likely going to find something more attractive, more along the lines of what they're looking for. Yes? Well, sure they are.

Now, check out this next cover. What would you think the content of the book is about? Spanking, definitely. Spanking a man... well Hell yeah! He's gorgeous... and again, those are my hand prints, got it? He likely doesn't look like all the men in the book, but he doesn't have to. He's fit, he's facing the right way and there are hand prints where they need to be.

The rest, well you'll have to open the book to find out. Oh yeah, there are authors names to check out. If you recognize any of them, that's awesome. The editors name is there too, strategically place right under his bum... cheeky Keta. But, it's the man you're looking at that's interesting. And it's what the book is all about, so this is an awesome book put out by Nobel Romance. Other covers! Oh yeah, lots of them.

Let's check out the series Jenna mentioned yesterday. She and I put together a quartet of books based on Bon Jovi's 'Slippery When Wet' Album. (You gotta love that as a title for an erotic series!) She wrote two books and I wrote two. The covers were designed by Phaze's, Michelle Lee and I think she did an amazing job.

Now, I'm prejudice, I know it, but aren't these covers cool. The handcuffs mean something and by the look of who he's being cuffed, it's not for play. This is 'your arrested and going to jail' handcuffing. The shower scenes, well when you read the books you'll get the full meaning of them, but even before you do, you understand that something is going to happen to four men in the shower, in prison. At least that's what I got from them, and that's what Jenna and I planned.

Each cover gives a peek into what the book is about. That's what they're meant to do. When they hit the mark, as the one to the left does, it's an amazing thing. You know this is going to be about animals and a sexy man or two. You know it's going to be hot, just looking at the guy and you know there are going to be cougars, at least, in the book. All of that is correct.

Also, from looking at the background, you can guess the stories are going to take place outside, in the wilderness. Yup, they do and all that comes from a quick look at the cover. Pretty damn cool, don'tcha think? Jenna and I were gobsmacked when we got this one... in a very good way.

Thank you, Total E-Bound cover artist April Martinez. She's an amazing artist and has done several of my covers.

Now, if the cover misses the mark, readers feel cheated, at least that's what I've been told by several. The covers entice them to pick the book up. If the cover is a lie, as the first book of mine was, it's cheating the reader into buying something they're not looking for.

I've been incredibly lucky with my publishers now and the cover artists I've worked with. I try to give them credit when I receive a new cover and I'd love for you to check mine out. Here's
a link to my cover art gallery.

GALLERY

Sigh, just saying that is huge. I am one very lucky woman. What's your take on covers? Do you think they're important or not? Would you pick up a book with a cover you find distasteful?

Hugs

Fangirl Squee

By Jenna Byrnes

I have to admit, getting new cover art is still one of the biggest thrills in this business for me. I can usually be found on various Yahoo Loops showing off the new cover while the book is still sometimes months away from release. There's something about seeing a beautiful book with my name on it that just makes me want to squee like a fangirl at Monkees concert.


Um, did I say Monkees? I meant Blink-182. Yeah, that's it.

As Lisabet mentioned yesterday, some publishers give the author more leeway than others. Most allow the author to fill out a form with their vision spelled out in a paragraph or two. Some even allow the author to send links to stock photos they'd like to see used. I've done it both ways, and I gotta tell you, looking through stock photos is tons of work. I've spent hours searching for the perfect thing and sometimes never finding it. But when I do--man, oh man, is that a great feeling.

Jude Mason and I chose the various photos for our Slippery When Wet series and Michelle Lee at Phaze put them together for us in a manner we were both extremely pleased with.

(See all four covers here)

Alessia Brio at Phaze did a super job on my Streets of Fire series with some minimal input from me- I loved the New York skyline, the heart shaped cuffs, and I chose three different men in various white shirts for each of the three covers. I think these came out great, even if they suffer from the chopped head syndrome. (Which actually doesn't bother me. Sometimes when the physical description of the character doesn't match the picture, it's better to chop off the head and go with a sexy torso.) I love these covers, and the one below is my favorite. I chose it for the cover of the print version, coming this month from Phaze. (You can see it in the sidebar to the right on this blog.)

(See all three covers here.)

Jax Cassidy at Phaze caught the feel of my novella, Play it Again, Sam, with the sepia tinted cover she created. This story is about two men who spend their afternoons hiding away in a run down movie theater, one working and one simply watching Casablanca, over and over again. Jax got what I was going for, and I was very happy with the cover.

I didn't have any say in the Noble Romance anthology Spank Me Once cover, but I have no complaints. What's to complain about? LOL This one generated quite a bit of buzz online. I guess you can see why. Artist Fiona Jayde definitely 'got' the concept of this book!


Total E-Bound has never done me wrong on a cover. I'm continually impressed with the quality of their work. April Martinez did my Cattle Valley covers and I think they captured the spirit of my little Cattle Valley lesbian tales quite nicely. I'm very happy with them, as I am with all my TEB covers. Quality stuff.



I'm pretty easy going when it comes to covers, but of course I like some of mine more than others. If you think I'm going to tell you which ones I don't care for, think again. I know who butters my bread. *G*

In other people's books, a cover might influence me when I know nothing about the author. But if the book is by an author I enjoy, the cover doesn't matter. Jude Mason could release a blank white page with black text that read, "Book by Jude Mason" and I'd snatch it up. *grin* I know a good thing when I see it.

Judging a Book...

By Lisabet Sarai

Here at the Grip, we're all storytellers. As Ashley pointed out last week, we weave pictures with our words. We lead our readers into new worlds. We make them feel joyous or sorrowful, frightened or aroused. Using the meticulously chosen adjective, the vigorous verb, the shocking metaphor, we construct the edifice of our art. The cover that the publisher slaps on our books has nothing to do with our authorial mission.

Not.

If you don't care whether anyone buys your books, you can afford to ignore your covers. However, readers have told me again and again that the cover of a book has a huge influence on whether they'll consider reading it. This is particularly true in the ebook world where readers are faced with an impossibly large number of choices and where they can't physically pick up a book and browse through it.

Unfortunately as an author you have little control over your covers. It's a crap shoot. Some publishers give you more opportunities to make suggestions than others but ultimately you have to take what they give you. Sometimes the results are magnificent. Other times, you just want to cry.

I considered posting the few covers of mine that I really disliked, but then I realized that would be shooting myself in the foot. So I'll concentrate on my best experiences.

My two favorite covers, for the current editions of Raw Silk and Incognito, were both designed by Anne Cain. I find them extremely sensual. They exactly capture the mood of the books. In addition, the women on the covers match the descriptions of the characters. Kate in Raw Silk is a red-head. Miranda, the heroine of Incognito, has long dark hair. After seeing what Anne did with these covers, I practically begged her to take on my recent website redesign. (I was thrilled with the results!)

I do appreciate a publisher who listens to my suggestions. The original cover for Exposure, which was supposed to be published by Orion Books as part of the Neon series, featured a buxom blonde, even though Stella, the heroine, is repeatedly described as an olive-skinned Mediterranean brunette. Grr!

In contrast, the released cover for the Phaze Books edition is perfect. Not only does it capture Stella's physical attributes, it also has a gritty urban feel and projects a sense of danger and chaos. It's just what I wanted for my Pittsburgh-set erotic thriller. Stella Price is responsible for this cover. She and I spent several days sharing stock photos and discussing possibilities, even though Phaze has a policy that authors are not supposed to bother their cover artists. Hey, Stella contacted me! And I'm delighted that she did--the result of our collaboration is, in Stella's words, "awesome".

I will admit to having a pet peeve in cover art, namely headless male torsos. Especially headless hairless male torsos. (Try saying that three times fast.) I'm really not sure why this motif is so popular in romance circles. Personally, I'd much rather see a man's face than his chest. And I like a bit of body hair. If titillation is the objective, why not show me a nice rear view of the guy's butt and thighs? Much sexier, in my opinion. Nevertheless, the fashion persists. I do like the cover for Truce of Trust quite a bit, even though it features naked chests--I just focus on the woman's figure and try to ignore the men!

One of my favorite cover artists is Alessia Brio. The images that she has concocted for her Coming Together series are uniformly wonderful. I particularly like the covers of Coming Together: Al Fresco (on the theme of outdoor sex) and Coming Together: At Last (interracial erotica). I just got a glimpse of her cover for Coming Together: For Her, a single-author collection of erotica by Lawrence Doyen which I co-edited. A cover like that stands out. I'm sure that it helps sales.

So what do I look for in a cover, when I'm browsing for reading matter? Images that are different, surprising, unexpected. The cover for Cream: The Best of the Erotica Readers & Writers Association has that quality. Images that are sensual, suggestive without being crude, if the genre is erotica or erotic romance. Covers that utilize historical images tend to get my attention, like the cover of Kevin Baker's fascinating epic Dreamland which I read recently.

I think that I'm probably less influenced by a book's cover than many readers. However, I admit that a horrible cover (and there are oh, so many of those) will put me off. I won't embarrass anyone by posting examples, but you know the ones I mean: where the perspective is all wrong, the arms don't fit quite right on the body, there's some weird shadow in the corner that distracts you from the cover's main focus. Ah, the evils that have perpetrated with Photoshop! Fortunately, I haven't had many of those monstrosities attached to my books. And even if I had--well, I wouldn't want to show you, would I?