Comments on: Romance Needs a Makeover

By: Corrine E. Lagacy

Corrine E. Lagacy — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:28:56 +0000

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.

By: MCHalliday

MCHalliday — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 17:52:49 +0000

I write romance and several other genres with elements of romance, and have to say, I prefer my titles non-sexual with covers the same. (Although what lies between the covers always contains some sexl.) The first book in my historical trilogy about a woman who rises from the gutter to become a successful dancer in a Victorian music hall is titled, I CAME UP STAIRS. Taken from William Congreve’s play, Love for Love, “I came up stairs, for I was born in a cellar,” it seemed most fitting and suited the voice of the heroine. My first noir mystery with romantic elements, A BRIBE AGAINST THE INNOCENT, is borrowed from a line in Psalms, chosen for near the same reasons. My release with Samhain in February, THE KING’S DAUGHTER, is about witches and wizards in medieval Eire but the title simply reveals the heroine, and the style of this book.

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.

By: Denise

Denise — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 15:34:45 +0000

Obviously we aren’t the only ones bemoaning the sometimes hideous cover art put on romance novels. I got this google alert to this blog. The blogger has an entertaining post about crap covers on science fiction/fantasy novels, with multiple examples of a Phillip Jose Farmer book.

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

By: rhonda

rhonda — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:01:28 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pNDxna9l4I

not as bad as 10 years ago.

By: rhonda

rhonda — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 16:58:30 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pNDxna9l4I

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.

By: Mrs Giggles

Mrs Giggles — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 04:24:12 +0000

Yup, I know what art director is trying to say. I remember years ago when Bantam was publishing the Loveswept line. They opted to do away with the clinch covers and instead put floral borders around the title and author’s name on the cover along with an occasional photograph of a hunk looking broodily at the reader. Big mistake especially for a line that is already showing signs of faltering sales – readers complained that the covers were boring, they couldn’t tell the books apart, et cetera.

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…

By: art director

art director — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 03:52:07 +0000

Ha ha- you’re right… I was a bit over the top!
All in all, we are listening, and we’re doing what we can to find a balance- if a cover has a clinch, then we’ll find a new way to light it. Or if it is a man on his own on the cover, perhaps it has more of a movie poster feel.
Don’t worry! Trends come and go- but with teams working together (my initial point I was making) we are making changes…

By: Shiloh Walker

Shiloh Walker — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 03:42:07 +0000

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.

By: art director

art director — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 03:16:15 +0000

I just want to add another opinion to the mix in regards to how things work at Harlequin. At Harlequin there are over 12 Art directors working with dozens of editors and marketers. Depending on how each team works, there is actually a lot of communication between the editor and the art and marketing. I am lucky to work within teams who respect and understand each others roll to play in the process of capturing a reader for an author.

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! :)

By: Patricia Rice

Patricia Rice — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:58:39 +0000

I have this blog forwarded to my mailbox so I’m coming in late to a discussion near and dear to my heart. I’ve worked with editors in publishing houses that truly do try hard to reflect the spirit of our books while still giving mass market buyers the marketing clues necessary to sell as many books as possible. For publishers, that’s always going to be bottom line–selling as many books as they can. We’ve gone from clinch covers to jewel covers to lady’s back covers and now to floating faces. (Sarah, your description of the marketing clues is pure genius–my historical paranormals have the fog and the floating faces) So we can’t say publishers haven’t tried to legitimize the genre and put it into the hands of bookstore readers as well as walmart readers. They have bookloads of numbers to judge how different covers sell, but the cover isn’t the only marketing tool involved.

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.