Today we’re talking about that Special Relationship….
I’m in the amazing position of having The Night Rainbow being published in several countries, including the U.K. and the U.S.A., where the cover designs have now been developed (I had input into both). I’m delighted with both of them, but they are markedly different (U.K. on the left, U.S.A. on the right):
I’ve asked some very kind booksellers in both countries, and my editor from Bloomsbury U.S.A., to talk about the importance of a book cover, and to try and define what defines the differences in our tastes. Here are some of the first responses:
First, Robert Gray, who from 1992-2005 was a bookseller and buyer for the Northshire Bookstore, Manchester Center, Vermont.
He has also been a contributing editor and columnist at Shelf Awareness since 2006. As a writer, his work has appeared in numerous publications, ranging from Tin House to Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine toPublishers Weekly. He has an MFA in Writing and Literature from Bennington College. Rob tweets as @Fresheyesnow
Rob says:
The cover was always a factor for us when buying in stock, though not the deciding factor (excepting, of course those counter books that could be sold as gift items on strength of their covers or titles alone). If a book with a lousy cover was still something I loved and knew I could handsell, content always trumped art. But if a book wasn’t so great and the cover was irresistible, then the decision came down to a question: “Is this a book I know there are readers for, even if I’m not crazy about it?” Another factor I don’t see discussed often: When booksellers are building displays, a great cover always has a better chance of being showcased.
I do think customers instinctively reach for a book with a great cover if it’s on a display or face-out on the shelves. If it’s spine-out, then the game is over before it starts. Ideally, what a great cover does is get the potential reader to pick up the book, maybe scan blurbs on the back cover, open the book and flip through the first few pages.
Anything that inspires a customer to initiate that ceremony is critical.
Looking at your covers, I do think the U.S. cover will appeal more to American readers. I’m not sure I can be more specific than that. It’s an instinctive reaction for me, since I’m not a graphics or even a particularly visually-oriented person. I’ve just watched thousands of books being sold over the years.
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When a title is new, and selling well, then it is more likely to be displayed face-out. This is where good design comes to the fore.
Rachel Mannheimer is my editor at Bloomsbury in the USA
Rachel says:
It’s difficult to pinpoint how important is the cover design for a novel. With the closing of so many bookshops, and the rise of online shopping – for print books and especially for e-books – I think there are fewer face-to-face encounters, as it were, with the book cover. There are new ways to find books, which are great, but it’s rarer for readers to discover books based solely on an eye-catching image. Still, when I’m in a bookshop, it’s definitely still my eyes leading me. (Then I read the blurbs or reviews on the back). And a memorable image still makes an impression if you see it online, in an advertisement, wherever. The cover conveys something about the style of the book before you know anything else.
When you consider the difference between what readers in the U.S.A. like in a cover, compared to the U.K., I think it’s a matter of a slightly different visual language, and just what the customer is accustomed to seeing – what connotations different visual cues have. Successful British book covers look like other successful British book covers, and successful American covers tend to look like other American covers. And I would say, to be supremely reductive, that British covers can look a bit schmaltzy to American eyes, while American covers can look stiff and boring. But sometimes something works perfectly in both markets! It just depends.
I love the cover we came up with for The Night Rainbow; it’s evocative and stylish. There was discussion early on about how difficult it would be to match the title literally (though the UK cover does come close). But it’s also such an interesting phrase, “night rainbow.” The designer had to work with both its sweetness and its mystery. Also, you had been clear about not wanting a straight representation of Pea; you wanted the reader to have space to imagine. This image the designer found, I love that it shows a little girl, but it’s a bit disorienting; you’re not quite sure what you’re looking at. You want to read and learn more.
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Many thanks to Rachel, Anna and Robert for taking the time to comment.
For more discussion on UK versus US covers:
Here’s a link to a brilliant talk by Chip Kidd on Book Design on Seth Godin’s blog.
Some very interesting comparisons of the last year’s novels on The Millions.
Not just a wildly different cover, but a different title too, from Morag Joss
For more information/to see other work by the designers of my covers:
UK: Holly Macdonald
USA: Jennifer Heuer
Interesting post, Claire! I like the covers, though the British one more by some way. Interestingly my novel (out later this summer in the UK & US) also has that phrase “a novel” on the US cover only.
In my case (the novel is called “TALKING TO THE DEAD”) I can see the need for the explanation. My title, for example, might be consistent with some spiritualist text. But yours – NIGHT RAINBOW – what could that be except a novel? A book of meteorology?
I’d add to all the good comments in your post that simply grabbing the reader over competing texts matters too. I had a book out at Xmas once – non-fiction, not a novel – and it had a lovely cover, but a quiet one. It was simply drowned in the mass of louder, brighter, more sales-y Xmas titles. With hindsight something more brash &; less beautiful would have sold a lot better.
Hi Harry, it seems to me that the addition of ‘a novel’ in the U.S.A. is universal, although I don’t know why. Tradition?
Have you ended up with two different covers for TALKING TO THE DEAD, or have you managed the rare ‘works in both markets’ cover (like Howard Jacobson’s The Finkler Question)?
Interesting post. I’ve always wondered why covers vary from place to place. In your case, I much prefer the U.K. version… which makes me wonder if I’m being typically English! Of course, some books also change their titles, which intrigues me even more. Why, for example, is ‘The Golden Compass’ more likely to sell in the U.S. than ‘Northern Lights’? (I’m mostly being rhetorical… unless you happen to know the answer!)
Yes exactly, it seems as though even if you can’t put your finger on it, we lean towards our cultural norms. Do have a look at Morag’s post for another example of title and cover change (link at the bottom of the post)!
Lovely covers both, Claire. Congratulations.
Thank you!
As a cross-cultural communicator, I was fascinated by your post, Claire.
For me, the UK cover is more adventurous, intriguing, possibly challenging. It throws out questions.
The US one seems “safer” in some way. I don’t know the story of your book (yet!), but the image of a small child on grass viewed from above conveys sentimentality and possibly predictability.
I’ll be buying the UK version…
It’s interesting, because the comment you make about small child on grass – when Rachel and I first spoke about the US cover I said it was something I wanted to steer clear of. We did have a number of iterations, but I’m really pleased with the result, because it’s in line with the American market whilst being oddly different because of the movement of the girl (which fits perfectly with the story).
Very interesting to hear those three different points of view, and also that nobody can quite define the difference in taste (though Rachel came closest with her pithy “schmaltzy vs. stiff & boring” idea). I wonder what would happen if synaesthetes designed covers? Fascinating stuff.
I read elsewhere that the British are happier with a more abstract image whereas Americans like to have a character with which to identify. It seems clear though that there is certainly a difference, even if it’s hard to put your finger on.
Despite being an American reader, I prefer abstracts/illustrations to photographs. I guess I prefer not to be told exactly what the character looks like. And I despise movie tie-in covers–I never buy them if there’s another edition available. Your US cover is quite lovely, but it’s the UK cover that would intrigue me more as a reader. I’m sad we won’t get it over here!
Thanks for your comment, Claire! I absolutely prefer not to have an image of the character, and movie tie-ins for the same reason – it already gives me visual repairs when I would prefer to imagine them myself. I also always like to read a book before seeing a film. But I suspect that’s a minority view at least for American readers – many others from the USA have told me via twitter that they definitely prefer the photographic version.
Hi Claire, I designed the US cover, and thoroughly enjoyed your novel! What a beautiful story! And the characters were all so wonderful as was the setting! I’m so glad you gathered the comments from sellers and the editor. I’m always curious myself as to why UK and US covers are so different, and when I saw the UK cover I kept thinking, how fun it would be to try something illustrative. However that pendulum hasn’t swung away from photography in the US, but hopefully sometime soon. In my opinion, we could use a zig to the usual zag on bookstore shelves these days. Anyway, thanks for such a wonderful novel, it was a pleasure to work on the cover.
Hello Jennifer, thank you so much for coming by to say hello, and for the gorgeous cover. I really love what we ended up with! As soon as I saw it I knew exactly where we were in the book! There were a lot of lovely comments on Twitter from readers in both the USA and the UK saying how much they liked your cover, so I’m sure it will fly off the shelves! I really appreciate all your efforts.
“It’s difficult to pinpoint how important is the cover design for a novel. With the closing of so many bookshops, and the rise of online shopping – for print books and especially for e-books – I think there are fewer face-to-face encounters, as it were, with the book cover. There are new ways to find books, which are great, but it’s rarer for readers to discover books based solely on an eye-catching image.”
I think this is really underestimating the importance of a cover image in online stores. If anything, I’d say an interesting cover is probably more important now; books are never shelved spine-out on the internet.
When I’m looking for something to read and browsing books, I usually search based on genre or keywords. Then I order the 30,000 or 60,000 results by rating so the stuff the unwashed internet masses (or author’s sock puppets) think is best shows up first. Then I scroll through, looking at covers and titles, until something catches my interest. (Then I read the blurb and the bad reviews. 🙂
Maybe I should be ashamed to admit it, but this is how I shop. And I’m probably missing lots of great books with so-so covers and so-so titles, but I just don’t have the time to carefully read each blurb. (Even on my Nook, my old first edition, after I search, I turn on the cover browser.)
It’s not just estores–a regional indie shop mails a print catalog quarterly, and of the five books I ordered, two were books I’d been waiting for by authors I like, and 3 caught my eye with their covers first and I went on to read the description. Just because it isn’t in a brick and mortar shop doesn’t mean the cover isn’t the first thing people notice about a book.
This is purely personal anecdote, of course, but I wouldn’t be surprised if other people shop in a similar fashion.
Thanks Frankie, that’s a really interesting point of view, and yes of course books are never shelved spine-out on the internet!
Also, the covers that look great on the internet are not necessarily the ones that look good in stores. But that’s a whole other topic!
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Wow, your covers are incredibly different! Both beautiful, although I definitely prefer the UK one. So much magic. Plus it really stands out on a screen.
I think mine is quite unusual in that it will have the same cover in the US and the UK, after some debate on both sides. David Mann originally designed one for the UK that I really liked, but then it went to the US and underwent a full colour change, which looks much better. The cover is very abstract – definitely no identifiable character on the front – so it’ll be interesting to see what the US market makes of it.
On a general note, Bloomsbury is amazing with covers.
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Oh how exciting for you. It’s great to se how iterations can improve something you already really liked.
I can’t wait to see your cover, let us know when you do your reveal!
Bloomsbury is known, I think, for producing particularly beautiful book covers. Lucky us 🙂
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