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The Gabbers  Amanda"I read anything that holds my attention past the first 100 pages, primarily genre fiction of all types, ’serious’ literature, classics and travelogues." read more...
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Cover Story
« Calling Dr. Phil, or at least Dr. Ruth | Home | Reader Rewards »  I love make-over stories. I have to admit I am a total sucker for those before / after shows, whether it’s house porn over on HGTV or it’s Stacey and Clinton ranting about What Not To Wear. It’s encouraging when something old (as in a house) finds its new potential—when it’s updated, and yet, honors the original design or era of the house. I also love it when Stacey and Clinton help a woman focus not on what the media or public think is “good” or “skinny” or “beautiful,” but instead, help that person focus on what’s good about their body, where they are in life right then. That’s the earmark of a successful make-over: not only showing hidden potential, but doing it for the right reason. I tend to record a lot of these shows and watch them—they’re inspiring. I just never dreamed I’d be smack in the middle of one myself. Or, rather, that my book would be. This is the story of a make-over. Waaaay back in the Pleistocene era before there was an Internet and before I was published in fiction, I picked up books and looked at the covers and secretly wondered what crack the author had been smoking to pick that cover out. And sometimes, I’d assume that their bad taste in covers reflected their skills as a writer—because surely if they thought that cover was appropriate / interesting / not boring, then they probably didn’t have any real discernment about what was appropriate / interesting / not boring and I’d be turned off. Most times, I hate to say, I put the book down. I kinda sucked, didn’t I? What’s worse was that as I started to learn more and more about the business, I’d still have a hard time ignoring a bad cover, or a blah one. Even when I learned that the author rarely had cover approval and, honestly would be lucky if she even had input into what went onto the cover. Even when she was a New York Times bestselling author. And really, it’s difficult to get past the outer package sometimes, when we only have a few seconds to make a snap judgment. Anyone who’s tried on something and thought it looked decent, only to see a photo of the outfit later and that’s when they realized that it sort of rode up that way that it did or, instead of hiding that bulge, might as well have pointed neon arrows at it knows the feeling. We only have to look at the sheer volume of people who posted about Susan Boyle’s bushy eyebrows and choice of dresses to know that even being well-groomed isn’t always enough. The thing is, the outer package says something about what’s inside, whether we want it to or not. It’ll tell us if that person is stylish, up on the latest fashions, or if they’re stuck back in the eighties. We also get a glimpse about what they want to project to the world—whether that projection is intentional or not. Now, when it comes to book covers, that cover has to do a lot of work simultaneously. It has to draw your attention away from all of the other books around it (so it wants to be different), and it’s got to communicate what type of book it is (so it needs to have some element that’s familiar so the reader immediately understands the category of book). It needs to tantalize you (so it needs to raise some question in your mind, some element of tension that induces the reader to flip over to the back cover to learn more), and yet, it’s got to feel satisfying (some design element speaks to you, makes you want to pick up that book). That’s quite a lot for a book cover to do. Then, if the book crosses genres? The job is ten times harder for a book cover. I didn’t fully appreciate this until I’d sold the Bobbie Faye series. Titled “Bobbie Faye’s Very (very very very) Bad Day,” it was purchased with the intent on shelving it in general fiction as a trade paperback original. The series sold on proposal, three sample chapters and a synopsis, and in my mind, it was always a combination of romance and action/adventure. In fact, I pitched as a “southern fried Romancing the Stone.” It’s full-speed adrenaline and sexy bad guys and yet, Bobbie Faye is so take-no-prisoners herself, so tenacious and determined to save her brother or maim everyone trying, that we slammed up against a conundrum of how to convey this. It is especially hard to figure out how to communicate that to the art department. There is no way an art department could read every book that they have to create a cover for—there’s just not enough time in the day. They work off our attempts to give them enough word-clues that will help generate some sort of mental image about what direction to go in. I love the people at St. Martin’s – and the art department has been very very good to me, willing to listen and work with me and seriously? That’s pretty amazing. So it’s with their permission that I post some of these first attempts that just didn’t work. Here’s the very first cover that showed up in the catalog.
My editor immediately rejected that one—she didn’t like the tone or the girl hanging out of the truck (though there is a truck that figures into the action). And she wasn’t really fond of the next two attempts (for which I will forever be thankful):
I’m not really sure where the winking theme came from. Bobbie Faye doesn’t wink. She’s pretty damned sarcastic and self-deprecating, and she doesn’t wear hardly any make-up. I could not get past the purple eyes (and neither could my editor). I understand what the art department was going for: fun and yet, dangerous. The TNT there being the “dangerous” part, although that eye shadow gave me a heart attack, so that was pretty dangerous, too. The second example was from the same attempt—how do we communicate sexy, fun and dangerous? Well, we WINK at people… while a truck explodes. However, one of the reasons I love St. Martin’s is because they weren’t happy with it either, and they tossed all of that out and started from scratch again. That’s a lot of work for an art department to do. This next design was a result of hiring a model and styling her. The photos actually included a gun in her left hand, but that was cropped for reasons I’m not entirely sure about. I thought the cover was beautiful. This is one of those times where you’ll wear something out that is your absolutely favorite dress, ever, and only a very dear friend who loves you will take you aside and say, “Honey? That thing makes you look fat. Quit wearing it.”
I still like this cover. However, Barnes & Noble (or maybe it was Borders? My memory is failing me here) was essentially that good friend. They looked at the cover copy for the book, looked at the cover and said, “No. This cover does not fit the genre. This looks like a Young Adult novel.” Well, holy cats, they had a point. None of us saw that aspect of it, but when you hear that comment and then look at the cover again, it does lend itself to a sort of young adult feel, especially with the gun cropped out. Now, if the best friend was with you while you were getting dressed and they didn’t say anything about your dress, but waited ‘til the party and then commented, then that would be very bad and heartbreaking, because there’s not a damned thing you can do about it then. But if they tell you while you’re getting dressed (or even better, when you were first going to buy the dress), then you really appreciate the honesty. It might hurt a little, but you appreciate it. So we went back to the drawing board, and we all (me included) tried to figure out the direction to go. We all started thinking that maybe some sort of “icon” could work—something that would be on every book and identify it as a “Bobbie Faye” novel. That sounds good, doesn’t it?
That is how the crawfish came to be on the cover. (Yes, it is a crawfish. Not a lobster. Or, as one of my friends put it, a “crawster” – because yes, it is too fat to be a crawfish. But when it was drawn skinnier, it looked like a spider from a distance, and spiders on books are not supposed to be good for sales. I don’t know if that’s myth or not, but I wasn’t going to argue.) Now, I love crawfish. I love the danger sign. I love the quote from Harley Jane Kozak, who is an awesome writer. Mostly, I loved that I got to keep the original title. Loved loved loved that part. I fought for that title. I fought for those verys in the parentheses to be lower case. (My publisher loved the title. Even when he was agreeing that we were going to have to change it for the mass market release, he still lamented that fact, because he thought it conveyed an essence of the story: dangerous and fun.) That book was released as a trade paperback original, and then the second one came out last year. It did well, and I’ve been mostly lucky in the reviews I’ve gotten, one thing we all realized was that the books had a lot of romance in them—but the covers did not “say” romance. They really weren’t saying “action” or “adventure” either. And because St. Martin’s Press is so cool, they said, “Let’s take the mass market release as an opportunity to address that.” How cool is that? We realized there was no way to shrink that original cover down to mass market size and the words still be readable, really. By the time you put that long title plus my name on a smaller format, it was going to start looking jumbled. Most people don’t really like to parse out something jumbled when they have a hundred other simpler things to look at, so I was completely on board with this change. Plus, my biggest desire? For people who looked at this to get, immediately, that there was romance in here. There is a lot of heat—and that heat grows through the series. While there is a lot of danger and action and high-wire, high-octane adventure, there is a deepening romance, a threat to that romance, and there is sex. Hot. Fun. Sex. That crawfish just did not say “sexy,” did it? So when I got the new covers (and new titles) for the series, I was in love. Love love love. All of a sudden, I could see what the other covers lacked, because this one finally had it. I never even really realized what was missing, ‘til now:
book one is out June 2nd
book two is out June 30th
book three is out August 4th I love the taglines (courtesy of my editor), love the couple’s playfulness and Bobbie Faye’s humor, but the gun and the titles imply the danger and action inside. I think the colors will pop in a lineup of books, and the titles are fun. (I will always love my first title, but I can see how the shorter titles work so much better.) Right now, I feel like the “after” in a Stacey and Clinton make-over. I want to keep twirling in front of a mirror, because I’m so thrilled with the outcome. There are a tremendous amount of amazing books out this summer—and the authors on this site have several coming out that I am champing at the bit to buy. I hope, though, that if you’ve bought all of theirs and you have one more book to purchase, that you’ll consider trying out the Bobbie Faye series. Check here for the back cover copy and the first chapter of the book. There’s also going to be a free (hot and sexy) new short story up on that same page in a day or so. (I am hoping it’ll be live by Tuesday.) Meanwhile, comment on which cover you like best (or feel free to mock any one of them), and all commenters (regardless of your opinions!) will be eligible for a prize: I’m giving away a $25 gift certificate to your choice of Barnes & Noble, Borders or Amazon, plus a Louisiana goody bag of Community coffee as well as a signed cover flat of the mass market editions above. (Plus, if you check out my site, there’s another contest that will be listed on the contest page starting Tuesday, June 2nd.) All the summery and make-over best to you all, -toni Tags: contest, covers, toni mcgee causey This entry was posted by Guest Gabber on Monday, June 1st, 2009 at 5:00 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. 55 Responses to “Cover Story”Leave a Comment |
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June 1st, 2009 at 7:35 am
Hi Toni,
I LOVE the new covers. I hate to say it but I probably would have passed “Very Very Bad Day” over because none of the previous covers were that eye catching or interesting. I know you are not supposed to judge a book by it’s cover, but as you said in your commentary, when most book sellers book them in a row with hundreds of other titles it is easy to miss a book that you don’t know anything about when the cover isn’t eye catching.
My fav of the new covers is “When a Man Loves A Weapon” I love the play on words with the new titles, but what I love the most is that the woman is smiling as she is being carried off (who wouldn’t with a man like him), but I also think it conveys in small part the humor, sexiness, and the title hints at the suspence that will be contained within the story.
I think these new ones are fabulous, and will hopefully reflect that in sales for you. I know I will be looking for them!
June 1st, 2009 at 11:00 am
Hi Toni,
I really love all three book jackets and the primary reason is their bold colors. I think they would all stand out to me on in a bookstore shelf. I especially like CHARMED AND DANGEROUS because the purple isn’t as common a color. I hate the idea that “crime fiction” books need to be black or red.
Hope these jackets jump out at a lot of readers. Best wishes!
Jen
June 1st, 2009 at 11:07 am
My favorite cover is When a Man Loves a Weapon. I also think they all have great colors!
June 1st, 2009 at 11:13 am
I love the bold colors of the newer covers. All three really stand out. I am a cover person. On book shelves, I look at the covers before checking out the authors names.
June 1st, 2009 at 11:21 am
Well, take this with a grain of salt, since I don’t really read romance. My wife reads and writes it so I see covers all the time. Personally, I’d have liked to see some combo between the action on the winking woman cover and the purple one you have now. I’m also more fond of the ‘Very, very’ title. There’s just so many titles out there with hunk and woman on front cover and that’s about it. Holding a gun doesn’t really indicate much to me, not as much as a truck blowing up does. If they could have gotten the explosion stuff in the background behind the two characters, I’d be more inclined to pick it up and see what it was. The new title is catchy, but there a lot of titles out there these days that play off of old titles. The first title was more original, but I realize being ‘catchy’ likely generates more sales.
Best of luck with your series, Toni.
June 1st, 2009 at 11:33 am
Hi Toni! I have and have read your first 2 Bobbie Faye books and absolutely loved them! The next three are on my list already, can’t wait! My fav. book cover is Girls Just Wanna have Guns. We all wanna have a little of that Bad Ass in us. Good luck with these covers, the bold covers are definitely eye catching.
June 1st, 2009 at 11:36 am
Thanks for the explanation of why the titles are changing. I was curious after checking amazon for the new book and it’s nice to find out why. Love the new titles/covers. I think the original one would have pulled me in over the new ones as I had never read romance/action books before reading yours. If I thought these were “romance” novels I probably would not have picked them up at all, much to my disappointment and that of all the people I have since passed the books on to. The original title absolutely doesn’t clue you in that there is romance, but that would have been okay with me originally. Though I don’t know that I would ever have found them if it weren’t for TWOP and the GG forum over there. I tended to stick with the darker murder mystery books but loved your GG writing so much that I had to get the first book when it came out. So thanks for turning me on to a whole new genre of books and I can’t wait to read the new book and buy and re-read the old ones.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:11 pm
[...] 2) Win a book store gift certificate from Toni McGee Causey [...]
June 1st, 2009 at 12:17 pm
WOO HOO !!!! I LOVE the new covers !
June 1st, 2009 at 12:21 pm
You know, I kind of like the first “Bad Day” cover- but only if the colors could be changed. As is, it’s pretty washed out. (Haha, am I allowed to make changes to the pictured covers?) Otherwise, I love Girls Just Wanna Have Guns. I love the cover, and the title especially. The couple pictured looks like they’re having a lot of fun, so it really drew my attention.
Definitely good covers on the last three!
June 1st, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Community Coffee? Did you say Community Coffee? You know I could not stay away when that was up for grabs and since you are the reason I am hooked on it, you owe me right? LOL. I have to say I like the new covers but nothing will ever take the place that the original title has in my heart. To me, it just said this book is going to be laugh out loud funny and it was. Whatever the title or cover though, all anyone has to see on the book is your name Toni and that will sell it to them. You rock!
June 1st, 2009 at 1:02 pm
I really like the newer covers. They catch your eye easily. I like the colors and the fun, flirty quality of the poses.
June 1st, 2009 at 1:05 pm
I love the book covers.They look amazing. The colors are probably the most eye catching. Will go buy them for sure will look good on my bookshelf. And yes I will read them also.
June 1st, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Hi Toni,
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new covers and can’t hardly wait to read the new Bobbie Faye books!
June 1st, 2009 at 1:19 pm
I like Charmed and Dangerous because the woman has the gun and purple is my favorite color.
I also like the font on the new covers. Congrats on the new covers and re-releases.
June 1st, 2009 at 1:27 pm
I still love the old titles better but I can definitely see the issue with spacing. And I love the colors on the new books. So I’ll have to pick these up again so I’ll have a matching set. You know I’m OCD like that. Congrats again Toni!!
June 1st, 2009 at 1:32 pm
I definitely like the new covers! The colors are so bright and the couple are so cute together!
June 1st, 2009 at 1:39 pm
I still love the first wink (the one on the left) best–with the dynamite better placed and not between her eyes. The colors were a lot brighter than they are showing up here.
That said, I love your new covers!
June 1st, 2009 at 2:19 pm
I know they say ‘never judge a book by the cover’ but when a romance reader has something in mind,I mean, the cover of a book really has to grab their attention, enough to pick it up and read the first chapter.
I love the new covers because, yes, it says there is romance and some heat going on.
June 1st, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I love the visual journey this post takes you on, and it’s such an incredible lesson in the importance of cover art, because when you get to the end, the new covers take your breath away with the difference from the others in their sheer impact. Thanks for sharing this.
June 1st, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Hi, this was a great blog. I loved learning all about how your books came to their new covers (which are absolutely the best of the bunch)!
Thanks so much for sharing.
June 1st, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Hi Toni,
The new covers are great and I would definitely be drawn to them. I love paranormal romance but I also love intrigue. One of my favorite series is Lora Leigh’s Navy SEAL’s and Elite Ops for that reason.
I am adding you to my new release list so I can check out these books.
BTW - the other covers are “cute” and I can see where they would have reservations. The new covers are just HOT!!! and the colors rock.
June 1st, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Hi Toni,
I gotta say I love the 3rd book cover the best. It looks so fun, can’t wait to read the book. Love the colors of all of them and you’re right they will pop on the shelves. Can’t wait!!!
The way you took us through the journey from the first covers to the new ones was great, I learned so much, that I otherwise would never have.
Thanks so much!
June 1st, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Haven’t read any of your books yet, but I love all three of the new book covers, my favorite is When A Man Loves A Weapon.
June 1st, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Hey Toni! You said the magic words “giving away coffee” so I had to show up. While I love the old titles and will miss them, the new ones ARE easier to remember. I always had the clerks run the search by your name, because I could never remember the whole title, LOL. I love the new covers, I hope they bring a whole new group of readers into the wonderful world of Bobbie Faye!
June 1st, 2009 at 6:20 pm
First of all, I read both of the Bobbie Faye books and really, really enjoyed them. I laughed out loud much to the chagrin of those around me. Anyway, they had the very first covers on them. I picked up the one with the crawfish on it because it was so unusual. If it would have been the newer cover, I probably would have by-passed it since it seems similar to most romance covers. I don’t care whether the cover appears “sexy” or not. I go by the blurbs and reviews for my information about the insides.
Anyway, I would read one of Toni’s books if it came in a “plain, brown wrapper”
June 1st, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Tough to say which one I like the best! Perhaps When a Man Loves a Weapon (also cuz I like the catchy title)???
June 1st, 2009 at 7:00 pm
I actually sort of love the first one, even if I see how the new batch ties together better.
June 1st, 2009 at 7:41 pm
I loved the old titles, and mourn their passing. However, although I already own the first two in their original versions, I can’t wait to get all three of the Mass Market size. LOVE Bobbie Faye, and my daughter and I have been counting the days for her return.
June 1st, 2009 at 7:55 pm
those first covers just wow i probably would of walked away and not thought twice about buying the book even if it was an awesome read now the new titles and covers those r just awesome ty for explaining the process was awesome to hear have a wonderful week
Bev,
Mortalsinn @ yahoo
June 1st, 2009 at 8:06 pm
I love the new covers. I think my favorite cover is for book 3, “When a Man Loves a Weapon.”
June 1st, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Love the covers! Hard to choose which but I like the last cover!
June 1st, 2009 at 8:48 pm
I like the new covers! But especially the last one. Verra nice!
June 1st, 2009 at 9:36 pm
I love Girls Just Wanna Have Guns. It really stands out for me. I think they are have something to say though.
Debby
cleo@hbeark.com
June 1st, 2009 at 10:01 pm
I think the new cover art is great. I like the titles for #2 and 3–but I have to say “Charmed and Dangerous” sounds like a YA paranormal romance. Not that I’ll love it any less! My fav title is “Girls Just Wanna Have Guns” and the art for #3 is the best
June 1st, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Thank you, thank you, thank you for clearing up the change in covers and titles. When I first saw the new covers with titles earlier this year I was curious why everything was changed, but am glad to know there was a good reason and that you as the author were okay with it. As for which of the new covers I like the best. It’s hard. I really like the Girls Just Wanna Have Guns and the third, When a Man Loves a Weapon. It’s hard to choose…… *G*
June 1st, 2009 at 10:36 pm
I loved Charmed and Dangerous!
Super cute!
Gotta say though, “When a man loves a weapon” the guy’s face is a little too close to the girl’s tush for me!
June 1st, 2009 at 11:02 pm
the new ones are cute i like the playful ones
congrats
please count me in teh givaway thanks
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:12 am
I like all of the new covers a lot. The colors are terrific and will look very nice on my shelf! I saw the first one at the bookstore yesterday.
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:40 am
Hey Toni! I won the first two books from you and, ahem, I liked those covers, lol! Anyway, I loved both books, but want to make sure….I only need to purchase the third one coming out, When A Man Loves A Weapon, right?
Can’t wait for more!
Lisa R
June 2nd, 2009 at 8:01 am
My favorite (along with the majority) is the last one: When a Man Loves a Weapon!! It’s catchy yet sexy! I like how he’s hauling her out of a bad situation. The other two are great too. I like the bright colors and the suggetive scenes.
My least favorite is the one with a crawfish . Sorry! It reminds me of a children’s book cover. I didn’t mind the one that B&N thought was YA. I didn’t get that impression. I didn’t like the two with the wink. I didn’t see a connection.
The books sound great!
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:07 am
I love the Charmed and Dangerous cover the best love the background colors.
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:08 am
Wow!! I love the new covers. My favorite is When a Man Loves a Woman with Go Ahead Take Your Best Shot. Everything about the new covers really stand out.
June 2nd, 2009 at 11:43 am
A cover might catch my eye but mostly I’m looking for a story that I want to read so if I don’t like the blurb I’m not buying even if I love the cover. I like the cover with the brunette blinking and the little ball of flames.
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Hi Toni,
I really liked the cute crawfish, but I do like the playful cover of When a Man Loves a Weapon.
Hugs, Danette
June 2nd, 2009 at 1:56 pm
That process worked! Those covers rock. Even after all everyone went through! I think they so stand out! I hope that pulls more readers to you to read these goodies! I’d love to be in the contest! Thanks!
June 2nd, 2009 at 2:16 pm
I didn’t realize so much went into covers for books wow. I really like the when a man loves a weapon cover.
June 2nd, 2009 at 3:07 pm
When a Man Loves a Weapon is my fav. The title is so catchy. What a procedure to go through for the cover; never imagined.
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Nice covers. I’m digging the one for Girls Just Wanna Have Guns.
June 2nd, 2009 at 11:39 pm
I liked the crawfish cover but the new ones are the best. I love the sense of fun they portray as well as the lovely clear colours and fonts. As someone who needs to change her glasses to read smaller print the large title font is a godsend in a bookstore
June 3rd, 2009 at 8:43 pm
The new covers look awesome. Great colors, and definitively sexier and more eye catching - in a good way. When a Man Loves a Weapon is my favorite.
June 4th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Love the new covers. Fabulous colors and graphics. My favorite is When a Man Love A Weapon.
June 5th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
That’s a neat story! I had crawfish only once, and I couldn’t get past those eyes staring at me. I was kind of disgusted and it turned my stomach. lol So for that reason and others, I like your knew covers. Oh, and the titles, too. When a Man Loves a Weapon comes in first.
June 6th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
The winner is comment #7, Ann. Toni will be in touch!
June 6th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
wtg ann