Judging Books by their covers and Other Thoughts
Over Thanksgiving Weekend I was at Chessiecon, virtually. It was a very small con, but it had a number of great panels. I was on three and did a Reading from my book Lesser’s Not Losers. This was my first experience reading to an audience via Zoom.
One of my favorite sessions that I was on was about the CBS All Access’s series, Picard. The series takes place 19 years after the Supernova that Spock tried to stop referenced in J.J. Abrams reboot Star Trek film. This is universe that Spock left behind, making this the Star Trek canon side of the original series, STNG (Star Trek Next Generation), Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and the Enterprise prequel series (and all the Trek films before the J.J. Abrams reboot). (Oh, have no fear, no spoilers as to what we discussed, I just loved being on that panel.)
The panel I'd like to share some thoughts on is what makes a good or bad book cover. I shared examples of covers including ones like David Feintuch’s Midshipman’s Hope, which I'd found quite striking. I’ve read that book perhaps ten times. That cover on a bookstore shelf caught my attention. It was clearly military space opera, featuring a a saluting midshipman and a starship, the title embossed (which is not something you see often) in red ink on a reflective silver background and, though, the author at the time was relatively unknown, it was prominent. It also didn’t hurt that C.J. Cherryh had a quote praising David as a new author, too. (Of note, the current edition has a very different cover, branded to the new look of the series and likely less expensive to print these many years later.)
The lesson that book’s cover exemplified is like those the other panelists pointed out as among the best. It was clear what the genre was and it offered a glimpse into the story. What all the worst covers did was leave in question what genre the book was, or offered no connection to what the book was about. Don Sakers, the moderator of the panel and a retired librarian, offered a cover that had a gladiator facing a 707, which, I suppose made it clear we had a time travel science fiction book, but the artwork of the photo of the plane superimposed on a drawing made the cover unappealing. He also offered a psychedelic cover with the title and author name swallowed up in those colors, which I found difficult to even look at. The panelist agreed it was among one of the worst examples of what not to do.
When a book is traditionally published, authors do not have a say in choice their book's covers, which I’ve often found true of small and university presses, too. But Indy authors, of which all my books now are, have a lot of input into their covers--as Indy authors generally hire the graphic artists, though some authors are skilled enough to create their own covers. I also shared that years ago, I met an Indy author who commissioned cover art for several books in a series at once, spending thousands of dollars. They proudly showed me the symbols that had been designed for each cover. I’ve still no idea what genre their series was, or what those stories were about. Perhaps it was fantasy, but I couldn’t tell anything about the setting that might have intrigued me enough to read the book’s description.
Since I mentioned Midshipman’s Hope, which came out in the mid-1990s, I’d like to share a bit more at its author. He worked on selling that story for years. He wrote and rewrote until his main character, a Horatio Hornblower-type, though, set in space, became a compelling character, whose struggles were gripping as he finds himself thrust into leadership. I don’t know about you, but I’m a fan of military space opera and David’s view of the future still rings true and possible to me.
A few years after completing the series, David Feintuch died. He’d had a major heart attack right before the book was accepted by a major publisher. His career as a science fiction author was only about ten years, but that cover captured my imagination—and that story continues to. I only hope someone feels that way about one of my covers one day.
The Dragon’s Curse (novella), which is a lead-in to my Highmage’s Plight series and Hands of the Highmage series, and my recently released novella, Last Knight, prequel to Knight of the Broken Table, are available in a group promo, A Taste of Magic: Free Fantasy and Sci Fi Books.
My novels Dare 2 Believe, Highmage’s Plight, and Lesser’s Not Losers are featured this month in A Dash of Winter Magic - Kindle Unlimited Fantasy in All Its Forms. If you are a member of Kindle Unlimited, these books and a lot of other great fantasy novels are free, so check them out.
Happy Holidays!
D.H.
