i.e., whenever LKH is referred to as a paranormal romance author, I cringe and not just because I think LKH's writing has totally gone in the shitter, but because that is not what romance is – group orgies and woman with unlimited power

Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you for this! I was outraged a while ago when the RWA’s members-magazine, Romance Writers’ Report, featured her as a romance novelist that I nearly left the RWA altogether. If that’s what people think of when they think romance, then I do not want to be affiliated with it.

I’ve been saying since the first day I joined the RWA that romance needed a makeover. If you just look at the RWA website, it’s elegant, yes, but hopelessly dated. You just expect Meryl Streep in a frilly pink dress (a la She-Devil) to pop up at any moment.

The covers of books have gone from bodice-rippers with disgustingly pretty men with flowing hair to cutesy chick-lit cartoon characters. Of course outsiders don’t take us seriously – we don’t take ourselves seriously.

Am I trading sales for my preference? Likely. But I cannot ignore what feels right to me and hold faith that one day, it will be my name that sells.

http://whenwillthehurtingstop.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html#734511218707641029

not as bad as 10 years ago.

Saw this on cover snark-
thought it related. when you see the covers at the end, they do look classier then, say, 10 years ago.

Regarding clinch versus respectable versions of a cover, didn’t Avon carry out an experiment by publishing one of Stephanie Lauren’s books – third or fourth Cynster book, I believe – with either a clinch or a floral cover? Likewise, I believe Dorchester did a similar experiment with one of Sandra Hill’s viking comedies by putting out cartoon cover versions as well as himbo meat on display ones. I don’t recall ever reading which cover outsold the other, but I can guess…

We can give you classy. We can give you subtle. But you may not be happy with the sales of your book.

Well, that’s a little depressing… lol.

Although I’ve been checking out some covers lately and thinking back, I do think there is a slow, subtle change in cover styles taking place.

I guess any major, noticeable change across the board is one that will have to take place over a period of time and not right away.

I work with 3 separate teams- and I trust the judgement of my Editor in each and every team. It’s many times their suggestions that a concept emerges from. They understand that at the end of the day, we are trying to create an audince for the story that the author has created. We ALL comprimise where we have to.

We all go through the “what were they thinking” vibe sometimes, but I think the key to the whole process is respect. I am, in many ways, an artist- and I want your cover to be true to your story. But then, I am also a commerical artist, and I want a reader to notice your book amidst 100s of other books. 100′s.

A few years back we changed the looks of a few series, making them less “sexy” and “corny”. And guess what? Your fans didn’t buy them. They TANKED. The marketplace doesn’t seem to want subtle.

So iconic went out, and clinches came back in. And the fans returned.
We can give you classy. We can give you subtle. But you may not be happy with the sales of your book.

Love and respect this Holiday season to you and yours! :)

A recognized name with fairly high sales can receive a different treatment from a new author because name recognition sells books. A new author is more likely to get a clinch cover simply because those do sell better.

But what is happening now is that romance sales have hit a peak, and publishers are desperately attempting to push sales higher with every trick in the book. Some are going back to the clinch cover in hopes of picking up new readers for old authors. I have no idea if this is successful.

In women’s fiction, it’s even harder because publishers have yet to find anything beyond adirondack chairs to appeal to that core audience. So romance authors need to be glad that clinches still sell in nice numbers.

I think what we need is talking book covers. :) If a reader picks up erotica, the cover can literally say “This is hot, hot, hot!” Short of that, I don’t know what else we can do to reach new readers in an ever changing marketplace.

Any movement towards acceptance and respect is going to take place gradually. Personally, I'd start by firing the people who come up with titles like Virgin Slave, Barbarian King that have very little to do with the plot of the novel.

I bought that book after seeing the title. *g* Instant win for me. And it did what it was supposed to – caught my eye, made me pick up the book, and I bought it.

And mantitty sells. Whether or not I like it or not, I’m hoping for a big, lurid man nipple on my cover to go with my lurid title.

I find that if the art is tasteful, I don’t care how naked or up-close the hero is. SPYMASTER’S LADY is pretty tasteful mantitty. I have seen others that are embarrassing as hell and I would rather pay shipping and order them on Amazon.com than walk up to a register with it.

I’d blocked that book out. Brain bleach. What a great start for the genre. This is why we love Mrs. Giggles.

But after your first paragraph, I couldn’t help but think how ironic that in cinema, it’s the musicals and comedies or the science fiction and fantasies that don’t get respect b/c of what they are. Yet in literature, these are just as respected as the historicals and such. At least, they seem to be.

And I’m all for some fluff covers, but I had no clue that Shana Abe was a romance author b/c I started with her drakon series. I assumed she was a fantasy writer with romantic elements in her books. Funny, huh?

Now that I'm into romance, and I have to be honest and say that I read mostly erotic romance, I'm faced with the dilemma of the cover situation while reading in public, or buying such things. The first romance genre book that I bought was Dangerous Lover and when I saw the cover I thought, oh gawd, I can't buy this and not feel stupid, and I don't really blush that easily and I'm certainly no prude, or I wouldn't be reading this stuff. So, I went and got a bunch of other, more “respectable” books so that I didn't look like a pathetic “middle aged housewife that sits around eating bon-bons.” Yeah, it's a cliché, but people think that. One thing I have to say is that compared to romances with clinch covers, many erotic romances have covers that are not embarrassing to read in public and I will site Shiloh's as an example. So that has worked out for me.

I proudly tell friends and family what I'm reading, even that I'm reading erotica, and I now have no problem buying these books. However, I do work in peoples homes, some homes in which the client or their family have moral values that wouldn't include erotic romance, so I find that I do have to cover up what I'm reading, or I always place the book face down.

I've also managed to turn some friends on to romance through paranormals, but I always have to say, oh, don't worry about the title; it's cheesy I know, and the book does have romance in it, but this book, or these books are very intelligently written and it's not only about romance. So I do make excuses. And then I've told several acquaintances that I'm reading romance and they confess to me that they do too, but then they almost always add, well, you know, during vacation. As if reading a romance other than on vacation time is shameful. Personally though, I don't really care if people think it not respectable to read romance. I like it and tough patooty to those who would judge me for it.

As far as what covers attract me, I will most likely never buy a book with a clinch cover. I'm still prejudiced in that way as I think books with clinch covers are mostly silly fluff, still. If I'm over at Ellora's Cave, or Samhain, then I'm attracted to covers with real people on them, or man titty, if it's NOT Fabio and covers that don't show any nudity, but pics of the genre, like if I'm looking for romantic suspense, then a guy and a girl dressed, with a gun, or something like that will grab me first. I will click on those books first to see the synopsis before I click on any others.

I don't see why a makeover to more beautiful covers with different cues to genre-recognition is beyond the genre.

Do you think that it’s already taking place? There has been a shift in covers (whether because of the popularity of JR Ward or some other factor) and many aren’t as garish as they were. The up-close, color-washed faces are great; you know those people are naked and getting their sexy on, but it’s not even close to a couple spread out on a bed with only a satin sheet covering their party bits. The full-on clinch isn’t as common as it used to be (although the man-titty is there) except in historicals. Sub-genres like romantic suspense have pretty much done away with any cheesiness, and with the rising popularity of urban fantasy, I can see paranormal romances with guys wearing clothes following. Deborah Cooke’s KISS OF FIRE is one that springs to mind — the model is wearing a shirt, and it’s still a great, sexy cover. If covers like that sell well, I can see that shift happening — so that maybe the cue is no longer the naked torso but the faded/color-washed kiss in the background.

Any movement towards acceptance and respect is going to take place gradually. Personally, I’d start by firing the people who come up with titles like Virgin Slave, Barbarian King that have very little to do with the plot of the novel.

Who writes these titles? Are they former headline writers from the tabloids?

I can completely understand that authors will want covers that sell. I can completely understand that many romance consumers want to be able to identify the books they want at a glance without browsing. But I think for most readers (ok, not all) the lure of these covers is about genre-recognition rather than an active fondness for garish covers. I don't see why a makeover to more beautiful covers with different cues to genre-recognition is beyond the genre.

Word!

I can see how such a change would take a while to happen, but it’s a very elegant solution.

It is about the marketing effectively limiting the influx of new readers,

Several years ago I was a new-to-romance reader. I was in the Atlanta airport and allowed myself to be bumped to a later flight. I had a Mary Balogh book in my purse and several more of her books in my suitcase. Which went on to Seattle on the earlier flight. I finished the book in my purse and trotted off to a bookstore to find another romance novel.

Now remember–I was new to romance. Did you ever notice that airport bookstores don’t have romance sections? They must think that all travelers are men, but that’s another blog topic altogether. Anyhow, there I was trying to find myself a romance, but with no separate romance section and no books with clinch covers I was clueless. See, I didn’t know enough to buy a Nora Roberts, which would have made the next 10 hours of my life much happier. Instead I “settled” for a Dean Koontz novel, which was OK, but SO not what I was looking for.

I’m not ashamed to say I read romance, but I’m not prepared to go around carrying a book with a cover that screams chick porn, either. There’s gotta be a middle ground between nearly nekkid covers and something that belongs on a collection of Emily Dickinson poems, right?