Covers: The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes
Jun252007
-
Eileen Dreyer, Anne Stuart, and I have a collaborative novel coming out this week, and the cover journey for it was fraught with drama, probably the toughest cover process I’ve ever gone through. The design for this one was really demanding because
-
It was a mass market paper back which means the cover is small.
It had a long title plus three author names, and the subhead “A Novel” had to go so people wouldn’t think it was an anthology. And it’s a mass market so the cover is small.
It had to communicate the strange nature of the book, funny, sexy, poignant, paranormal romance about three sisters–did I mention the cover is small?
And that’s even before you take into consideration that a mm has a completely different audience and sales approach from a hardcover, and the fact that SMP was trying to sell it to the audiences of three different authors–romantic comedy, straight suspense, and romantic suspense. Nobody thought this was going to be an easy cover, but I don’t think anybody had any idea of how hard it was going to be.
The first one they showed us as a starting place was. . . well . . . it was a starting place.
-
It must catch the eye across a bookstore.
Harsh colors; hard to read type face; no strong image, so, no. I really didn’t like the font they used, and since there was so much type, that was crucial.
It must be pick-up-able when the reader gets close.
Generic cartoon details that did nothing to make the book distinctive. It looked like a YA book crossed with I Dream of Jeannie.
It must capture the mood and the content of the story.
We needed magic, funny, sexy, dangerous, sisterhood . . . Nope.
So we went back to the art department with some descriptive things about the book–the green/blue/violet of the book’s theme colors, magic, sexy, powerful women, fun–and our editor suggested some more concrete ideas, so the next batch came closer to capturing the idea of the book. These are roughs, the sketched ideas, not by any means what the finished covers would have looked like, and Mollie’s favorite is still the idea of the three sisters in front of the moon.
And then they did a more finished version of the Girls-In-The_Moon idea:
-
It must catch the eye across a bookstore.
The moon and the silhouettes would do that, and we could fix the colors so they weren’t so much like a bruise.
It must be pick-up-able when the reader gets close.
We never really knew what kind of texture and detail would be on these because these were just roughs, but I didn’t like the font; it just didn’t say “magic” to me.
It must capture the mood and the content of the story.
I loved the three women silhouetted on the moon, but they were anorexic cookies that looked like teens. Josey and the Pussycats girls. And the women sitting on the moon, through several different tries, just screamed, “Hey, Big Spender.”
Again, art departments can’t read all the books, so it’s up to authors and editors to get the ideas across. So we tried again with the green/blue/violet, magic, sexy, powerful women, fun, and got six different versions of a new concept, two of which are below:
Great for dark suspense, very sexy, but not the Fortune sisters. Plus that sexy leg on the dark street thing pretty much screams “vampire novel” at this point. So no. We tried again and the art dept sent us a house cover this time:
This one had potential although it looked too much like a horror novel. But it had the colors of the book and it was mysterious and spooky, so we asked them to supernatural it up some by making the house more of a painting than a photo and maybe get some kickier colors in there and. . . well, see for yourself:
Gorgeous, dangerous, spooky colors, communicates family with the house, and just really, really well done.
.
It must catch the eye across a bookstore.
The colors, the dramatic house, the sky, oh yes.
It must be pick-up-able when the reader gets close.
There’s beautiful detail on this house, and we asked them to tweak it so that colored smoke was coming out of the windows and chimney, which was a nice detail. Very magic. The font was still static, but overall, good detail.
It must capture the mood and the content of the story.
It missed on “strong women” and “sexy” at least overtly, but it did everything else, and the title was going to communicate “women” so I was good with it. Some people felt it still looked too much like a horror novel, but it was so beautiful, I didn’t think so. I was happy.
And then for some reason, the art department did another pass at it and made it pink which is the cover that was on Amazon and our website for quite awhile.
I still am dumbfounded by this. Pink? When it came back, our editor rejected it without sending it to us. By then, everybody–the art department, our poor editor, and the three of us–were staring into the abyss. We were never going to get this cover right.
But then Mara and Mollie sent us the comps for the website, and they were jaw-dropping gorgeous. We sent them to our editor to show her what the site would be like, and she scrapped the house completely–we’d have been happy to just go back to the original blue version–and we began to work with the website elements. They sent us two roughs:
Colors are great, font’s okay although still static, but the vines look like they’re attacking the moon, and the grass at the bottom is just ugly and the subhead is overwhelming the title.
This was the second rough sent at the same time, so still with the ugly grass and the type that’s not quite right and the graphic just wasn’t integrated somehow. So the art department, with the patience of a thousand saints, went back and picked up the graphics and the type from the website and came back with this:
They also made the subhead smaller and in a stroke of genius, put blue shadows of the white vines on the moon, and Xan’s butterfly under the now smaller subhead. They type dances, the graphics are integrated, and this cover sings. We looked at it and said, “That’s it.”
-
It must catch the eye across a bookstore.
Beautiful strong color and great contrast with that moon will bring people over to look at it. And amazingly, the type doesn’t overwhelm it even though the cover is packed with words.
It must be pick-up-able when the reader gets close.
The detail on this is so exquisite, and the letters are foiled, but so delicately that they don’t scream at you. The details are like jewelry.
It must capture the mood and the content of the story.
It’s dark, it’s moody blue, it’s sexy, it’s female, and it’s magic. It doesn’t get the humor although that little bat of a butterfly is nice and quirky, and frankly, I’m not sure it’s possible to get everything that The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes is on a book cover. This does a damn fine job of coming close, right down to Xan in the garden of the girls’ lives, and besides it’s so, so beautiful.
And I have now seen the actual books, and they’re really, truly gorgeous.
Covers are not easy, and this one was the hardest one I’ve ever been through, but I think we got a great one.
Filed in X (Everything Else)
Loading ...
44 Comments to 'Covers: The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes'
On June 25, 2007 at 2:08 am Shoshana said...
I still don’t understand why art departments can’t read the books first, though. If I was artistic enough to get hired by a publishing house, you can be sure I’d insist!
On June 25, 2007 at 2:09 am Shoshana said...
(Can you tell how impatiently I’m waiting for this book to arrive at my bookstore? These glimpses are SO tantalizing! It’s simply beautiful, and I want it.)
On June 25, 2007 at 5:22 am Jennifer Talty said...
Wow. I’ve heard you talk about how hard the cover process has been for this book, and I get the importance of cover, but wow.
I liked the concept of the moon covers, but the first girls reminded me of Charlie’s Angles, the second cover the girls looked like teenagers and by the third cover I think I realized that no matter how much I liked that concept, it wasn’t working.
Again, wow. What a process and i’m so glad you got the cover you got. I think it’s beautiful and I look forward to reading the book.
On June 25, 2007 at 6:15 am downundergal said...
The cover is soooooo gorgeous – rich and eerie, mystical and magical. But oh so feminine. If I ever land me an agent I’m gona make sure she/they get me a say in cover and title. It’s so important.
On June 25, 2007 at 6:48 am Kira said...
… and because of contrast and placement, the crucial words “a novel” are immediately visible. Best of luck, Jenny, I hope all these books exceed your publishers’ expectations! And your readers’. But then, we’re happy when you write about what you had for lunch…
On June 25, 2007 at 8:38 am Laura Vivanco said...
The differences between the UK and the US covers are also interesting. The UK cover, from Little Black Dress is here. I’m assuming Jenny, Eileen and Anne don’t have a lot of name recognition in the UK, because the names are tiny on the front cover. And the moon isn’t really a moon anymore, because it’s turned into an oval to fill the space. The fonts have changed too, possibly to be a closer match for the LBD logo?
On June 25, 2007 at 9:49 am Laura Vivanco said...
And I’m now feeling very suspicious because I’ve been comparing the two editions and the UK edition has only 352 pages, whereas the St. Martin’s press edition has 416, and the UK edition is only 5mm bigger length and breadth wise. I’m hoping that means there’s a big difference in the size of the fonts and the page margins, and maybe SMP put blank pages between chapters? Also, I checked the excerpt on the LBD website and the first line reads ‘Mare Fortune bounded down the stairs of the family home in her ragged blue running shorts just as the wind caught the front door and blew it open, sending coppery dust swirling in.’ and the excerpt on the Miss Fortunes site has extra words at the end of the sentence: ‘Mare Fortune bounded down the stairs of the family home in her ragged blue running shorts just as the wind caught the front door and blew it open, sending coppery dust swirling in that sparked in the sunlight.’
Another difference is that Mare thinks ‘He left you, he’s gone, it’s been five years, you’re over it.’ in the LBD version and ‘He left you, he’s gone, it’s been years, you’re over it’ on the UMF website.
And yet another is this: ‘Lizzie!’ Mare shrieked, betrayed.’ in the LBD version and ‘“Lizzie!” Mare said.’ on the UMF site. There are other differences too.
I know these could just be things that changed prior to publication but will be the same in the final editions, but I’m a bit worried now.
On June 25, 2007 at 9:53 am Diane (TT) said...
Definitely the best choice – this is a LOVELY cover! Yes, the art department people were good to keep trying, but you were very helpful in explaining WHY the other covers didn’t work.
I’m glad you didn’t go with the legs. It might’ve been fun if there had been one (or both) from each sister, but (not having read the book yet), I don’t get “3 sisters with distinct personalities” from the 3 pairs of shoes on that cover. And I think it’s too vamp-y and not magical enough.
The cover certainly caught my eye at my local Barnes & Noble – I wasn’t looking because it’s not supposed to be out ’til Tuesday. I told them so (the young woman made a note to talk to someone about it), while I was buying it. Should I have waited? I’m not quite sure what the deal is on the issue dates but did not have the moral fortitude to pass on buying it.
I haven’t read it yet because I didn’t find it ’til yesterday evening and I had to a) talk to my parents (109 minutes) and b) get up and go to work this morning before it got too hot. It’s my treat for tonight.
On June 25, 2007 at 9:57 am inkgrrl said...
Ook – beautiful! Can’t want to read. I liked the girls on the moon too, but the final cover is fabulous.
On June 25, 2007 at 10:01 am Jenny said...
Laura, I rewrite my stuff over and over so the UK and the US version are probably the same, I keep rewriting right through the galleys and there are tweaks I’d make now if I could. So it’s probably the same book. The cover, I don’t know about yet. Maybe they just stretched it?
The laydown is important–all the books going on out on the same day–but really difficult to enforce. Basically, if you see it, go ahead and buy it without guilt and thank you VERY much for doing that, too.
On June 25, 2007 at 10:42 am Cary said...
Did you remember to send the art department flowers or cookies for their patience (and job well done)? ‘Cuz I would probably have strangled all of you and your agent(s) sometime around the first house cover.
But, wow, perseverance pays off, ‘cuz this is a BEAUTIFUL cover and I can’t wait to spot my copy in a crowded bookstore.
On June 25, 2007 at 10:51 am Jenny said...
I talk to my editor and my editor talks to the art department. There’s a hierarchy there. But I told Mara she was genius for the graphics on the website definitely.
And just to clarify, most publishers won’t do this. The house that has my reprints sent us the cover for the next one about a woman who throws her husband out. The cover is okay, but among other things, it has a stack of luggage with a guy’s tie hanging out of the corner of the top suitcase. Very clever idea. Except the luggage is bright red and the tie’s hanging out of a make-up case, so evidently she throws him out with her luggage instead of his. We pointed that out along with a couple of other problems and didn’t hear from them for weeks. Then my agent said, “What happened with that cover?” and they told us it was too late to change it.
St. Martin’s Press is fabulous and so is my editor. They kill themselves to get it right every time.
On June 25, 2007 at 11:34 am Julie said...
Okay, I’m not usually big on paranormals, but I can’t wait to read this!
I’ll be at the bookstore tomorrow morning with my nose pressed up against the glass, waiting for them to open…
Gorgeous cover!
On June 25, 2007 at 11:50 am gay said...
Thanks for sharing… what an education for me. I would have stopped with the last version of the house, but then I saw the final, and OMG… it is SO perfect.
Can’t wait for this one. Until now, it’s a toss up between Bet Me and Tell Me Lies as my favorites (though I have high hopes for Agnes, too).
On June 25, 2007 at 12:11 pm J. said...
It looks gorgeous!!!
I can’t wait to read it!
On June 25, 2007 at 12:37 pm Pam W. said...
“The details are like jewelry.”
OMG, when I read that and looked again at the cover I felt a little thrill up my spine. Brava! Tomorrow cannot come fast enough!
On June 25, 2007 at 12:51 pm AMC said...
Why is the laydown important?
On June 25, 2007 at 1:20 pm Brandy said...
I know I should have waited until the official release date to purchase mine, but I was there in the store and it looked so pretty sitting on the shelf. I am sorry, but my willpower was overcome by the urgent need to grab it and yell “mine, mine!” *G* If it’s any consolation I will wait until 12:01am to start it.
On June 25, 2007 at 1:30 pm Diane (TT) said...
So, I belatedly figured this out (or, at least, it’s a hypothesis). Is the laydown important because it affects the reporting numbers for books sold and, therefore, rankings? I guess that means I messed up. I wonder who needs a book this summer? I have to go to the bookstore tomorrow to get the new Lois McMaster Bujold anyway…
I figure the damage is done, though, so I’m not waiting, except until I’m home from work, the car is unloaded and I’ve got dinner ready (I think it’ll be a VERY simple dinner today – as in veggie wrap).
On June 25, 2007 at 1:32 pm Sally J. said...
This particular book is going to be a hard choice for me.
I hate paperbacks, hate to try to keep them open, hate that the ink often smears, and that the pages turn to dead tree chips about the time you get them home.
So I usually run them through the scanner, to get them into the computer where I can read them with Adobe, make the type as big as I need, because that varies from day to day, and not have to fool with carrying 50 books around, just one little laptop.
But, this is really pretty. Maybe I’ll get two, one to run through the scanner and read, and one to frame or something. Very, very pretty. Really looking forward to it.
On June 25, 2007 at 1:42 pm Jenny said...
Never feel any guilt about buying my books. Never.
Laydowns:
Publishers do laydowns to try to hit bestseller lists. Bestseller lists are about velocity of sales, not number of sales; you have to sell a lot of books quickly to hit them. So publishers give a deeper discount to bookstores if they promise not to put the books on the shelves until a certain date with the hope that everybody will rush out and buy the book during that week, thus showing a lot of sales quickly. Books without laydowns end up being shelved any time during two or three week period, sometimes longer, and have little chance of hitting a list. But they can actually sell more books in the long run than “bestsellers.”
All of which is to say, it’s PR.
On June 25, 2007 at 2:27 pm Naked Under my Clothes said...
From the early covers, I got more “Bewitched” than “I Dream of Jeannie,” but whatever. (Now if I could just get the music out of my head.) Perseverance really paid off in this situation.
You’re incredibly market-savvy to have had the UMF blog out there all this time kicking up word-of-mouth. Then Mollie goes into high gear to have the website elements, which y’all worked with and DID capture the book, in the works so that the cover could match the site–smart, smart, smart.
Jenny, there’s a reason why your agent, editor, and publisher all work hard for you: you work hard, too, toward the same goal.
On June 25, 2007 at 2:36 pm Louis said...
WOW!
That’s quite a procession to perfection!
On June 25, 2007 at 2:44 pm JulieB said...
Ditto about the “Bewitched” comment, although I loved “Bewitched” and it would definately have caught my eye because of that. I like the moon in the first one, but the top two sillohuettes look too much like the trucker mud-flap girls.
On June 25, 2007 at 5:41 pm Lily said...
Help! I think I may have done something bad – I bought my copy on Amazon UK about 10 days ago (it was fantastic and I’ve read it twice already) but I had no idea I should have waited. I’ve just gone back to the site and there are two versions of the book, one of which hasn’t been published yet so I’m confused – did I buy the wrong book? To get back to the point, the cover is drop dead gorgeous, especially the delicacy of the vine patterns and the colours – simply lovely.
On June 25, 2007 at 5:53 pm Laura Vivanco said...
Lily, if your version says ‘Little Black Dress’ on it, it’s the UK edition. The Little Black Dress edition was published earlier than the American, St. Martin’s Press edition.
You haven’t got the wrong book. Jenny said further up the thread that the text’s the same, it’s just the covers which are slightly different. And if you’re in the UK then it wouldn’t make much difference when/where you bought the book, because UK sales don’t count towards the US Bestseller lists.
On June 25, 2007 at 5:58 pm Jenny said...
What Laura said.
Also–and I cannot emphasize this enough–NEVER FEEL GUILTY FOR BUYING MY BOOKS.
The whole bestseller thing is perception not reality. Don’t get caught up in the insanity that is publishing. It’s all I can do to ignore it.
I’m grateful to everyone of you who buys a copy and I don’t care where or when you bought it: THANK YOU! (And I’m sure I speak for Krissie and Eileen on that one, too.)
On June 25, 2007 at 6:23 pm patmc said...
well, i cheated, got a copy on ebay of an arc and since it went home with my daughter amanda, i know i have to buy a regular copy tomorrow. jon has such an to do list for tomorrow. it is a wonderful book i have a review on both my blogs, one on the wire crochet and one on the newer about views and happenings after you have been married 30 years…
and, i’m trying to make butterflies that match each one in the book, did you all have to pick the hardest ones around? wire crochet only goes so far…. and i am just kidding you might end up with just the outlines. i love playing.
On June 25, 2007 at 6:30 pm Susan D said...
7:30 pm on June 25, and a quick check at Chapters/Indigo online says there are ZERO copies at my local branches. I hope they’re just being very good about the release date thing.
On June 25, 2007 at 8:34 pm Mary Stella said...
I was in two bookstores over the weekend and neither had this book. Now I’ll have to drive allllll the way out of the Keys to get it, unless Anderson/Levy whomever has the Publix Supermarkets account hustles their butts down the highway and stocks the book in their stores. I’ll get it one way or another, but will totally miss the laydown day. Sorry. Love the final cover! Some of the earlier versions made me think of Bond girls from movies.
On June 26, 2007 at 9:07 am Susan D said...
And lo, this morning, there they are. I’m outta here. Gotta go catch their eye acros a crowded room.
On June 26, 2007 at 10:26 am Diane (TT) said...
I read the book last night (and again this morning) and had the BEST time! It was so much fun, with many wonderful characters (but not too many, what was that PW reviewer thinking?) and lots of great stuff. Which I will not repeat at the risk of spoiling it for someone else.
Thanks!
On June 26, 2007 at 12:30 pm Jenny said...
Starting July 16th, we’re doing a reader’s group for two weeks over on the Cherry Forums.
The discussion questions are there now (scroll down to find The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes and then click on “Preview the UMF Discussion Questions”) so we’ll be there to talk about it with no fear of spoilers in about three weeks.
I plan on having a very good time.
On June 26, 2007 at 2:22 pm Betsy said...
Can I just say that I am ABSOLUTELY LOVING this book?
On June 26, 2007 at 4:04 pm Jenny said...
Oh,yes. As many times as you want.
Thank you!
You know, you never really know if a book works until people read it and tell you.
On June 26, 2007 at 7:32 pm Mary Stella said...
I take back every evil thought I had about the people who stock the books at the Publix supermarkets in the Florida Keys. They totally rock. Tonight, as I pushed my cart through the store, a certain book caught my eye from across the frozen pizza/beer aisle.
At first, I feared it was nothing more than a fake-out — a Mary Balogh release masquerading as the book I really wanted, but no. There in the #15 space, was the most pick-up-able book. The colors, the design, the font — immediately elevated my mood and I know that tonight I will read and enjoy the content of the Miss Fortunes’ story!
On June 27, 2007 at 6:29 am Allie said...
Loved the book!
Actual phrases spoken while reading the book:
“Dreyer, GET OFF THE INTERNET!” SOMEONE who wrote the book obviously loves them some Sars.
“I can’t believe you’re trying to talk to me on the day a new Jenny Crusie book comes out.” I mean, I had like ten minutes left to finish, and he was all “Let me tell you about my day.” PLEASE.
On June 27, 2007 at 6:35 am Jenifer said...
Also loving this so far. Thank you for writing it!
I love Mare. I think I’ll love the others, too, once I read more of their parts, but I’ve just gotten through where she meets Jude, and I love, love, love her.
On June 27, 2007 at 2:08 pm Jane e said...
There’s a UK version out earlier? And amazon has been torturing me with sorry about the delay notes for weeks?
agghh.
Thanks for the books, I’ve been reading them for years. Write more!
On July 4, 2007 at 7:01 pm misspiggydon'twannabe said...
My prescription wasn’t ready at Walgreens on Monday so I meandered over to the book aisle. I’m not sure how they displayed it because I couldn’t appreciate the cover until I got it home. The names of 3 of my favorite authors drew me.
I think it was the only book sale rung up at the Px counter that day.
On July 6, 2007 at 1:45 pm miriam said...
I love the cover. I have it as my wallpaper. Going to buy it and read it on the beach at Wilmington, NC this weekend! Thanks.
On July 6, 2007 at 7:12 pm misspiggydon'twannabe said...
Update to my July 4 posting. I went to Walgreens yesterday and they had SOLD out this book.
I don’t usually do my book shopping there but I’m glad that people who are just exposed to books rather than to sections like romance, fiction etc are having the insight to buy this book.
On July 6, 2007 at 8:14 pm Jenny said...
And thank you very much to everybody who went out and bought that cover. The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes is #30 on the USAToday bestseller list and #27 on the NYT, plus #9 on the Walden’s romance list. To all who bought it in the first week, we’re REALLY grateful!
On July 8, 2007 at 10:57 pm Hannah said...
The purple and blue one with the moon and the three women standing in front of it wouldn’t be so bad if the women didn’t look like anorexic models with bad hairdos.
I DO love the cover you picked out and I can’t wait for Agnes and THIS one. That I JUST found out you were writing.
Yeah, I’m behind.