{"id":1774,"date":"2011-03-22T12:58:06","date_gmt":"2011-03-22T16:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/janetgover.com\/?p=1774"},"modified":"2011-03-22T12:58:06","modified_gmt":"2011-03-22T16:58:06","slug":"a-cover-story-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/?p=1774","title":{"rendered":"A cover story"},"content":{"rendered":"

After seeing my Russian cover last week, I started thinking about book covers, and how they vary from place to place. This was all the excuse I needed to spend a lovely couple of hours yesterday browsing in a bookshop (I didn\u2019t spend too much money \u2013 honestly).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Currently reading this - lovely gown and the book is great too<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These are my thoughts after\u00a0 a comparison of the covers of some best sellers and some of my favourite romance authors each side of the pond.<\/p>\n

First – a confession. Although\u00a0I write contemporary\u00a0romance – I love the covers of historical novels.<\/p>\n

Such gorgeous gowns. I almost wish I could walk around looking like that \u2013\u00a0but it would be pretty impractical on the New York Subway.<\/p>\n

There is also the not insignificant matter of the corsets!<\/p>\n

I digress.<\/p>\n

A vast number of book covers for historical novels seem to follow a similar pattern in both countries. Women in glorious gowns of the appropriate period.<\/p>\n

Each country has it’s own sub-genres \u2013 in the UK there are sagas and in the US there are westerns \u2013 but the covers are similar in the way they hint to the contents of the books. The main difference seems to be that the US publishers are far more likely to put the hero on the cover as well. Particularly in the sexier novels.<\/p>\n

line<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A favourite UK saga writer - and I love this dress!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
This cover works in both the UK and the US<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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This US cover brings in the hero<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
This US historical (western) cover is all about the hero<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

aververylongwordinwhite<\/span><\/p>\n

For contemporary novels, however, the cover stories are vastly different.<\/p>\n

UK contemporary romance covers, particularly for the more light-hearted books, tend to be a sketch or drawing or graphic representation \u2013 usually of the heroine.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A lovely cover and a favourite author<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
A most English cover for a delightfully English book<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The cover was so pretty, I just had to have the book<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The cover says it all - a fun girlie book<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Averlongwordinwhite<\/span><\/p>\n

In the US, photographs are used more. Even if the book is romantic comedy \u2013 in the US you’re still far more likely to get a photo on the cover. And it might just be of the hero \u2013 particularly in a romantic suspense.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The dress and the colour caught my eye - lovely<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
A wedding dress is always a winner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Rachel Gibson's UK covers were sketches - but in the US - a comedic photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
And once again - we have the hero<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

averuveryverylongworkinwhite<\/span><\/p>\n

The biggest difference I see is the number of cover illustrations which are a setting, rather than a character. A house by the beach. A table set for dinner for two. Perhaps a view of the countryside.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
One of my new US favourite authors<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The cover features the book's setting<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The setting in this book is vital to the story<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Snowy Christmas scenes are popular<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

averyveryverylongworkinwhite<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00a0think part of the reason for this is that many US contemporary romance authors write serials \u2013 three four or more books set around the same community. Although each book of the series will feature a different romance, the same characters appear in all the books. It makes the readers feel almost like part of the community. \u00a0The covers of these books tend to reflect the community, rather than the individual characters.<\/p>\n

The other stand-out cover story is the paranormals. These tales of vampires and angels and shape shifters fill a lot of shelf space in the bookshops. Almost all of them originate in the US \u2013 they are exciting, packed with suspense and unashamedly steamy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
I just love this cover<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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I haven't read this - but the cover did grab my attention<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
A bestselling author - her covers are popular too<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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I saw a customer at the bookshop look at this for quite some time!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

averyveryverylongwordinwhite<\/span><\/p>\n

The covers say it all \u2013 and do add a certain spiciness to a wet afternoon’s bookshop browsing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After seeing my Russian cover last week, I started thinking about book covers, and how they vary from place to place. This was all the excuse I needed to spend a lovely…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7g6jm-sC","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1774\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}