Sybil, thanks so much for having me on The Good, the Bad and the Unread. Since I just received my cover flats for Scandal’s Daughter, complete with glittery gold foil, I know exactly what I want to blog about!
When I was dreaming about a possible cover art for my book, as writers tend to do, I knew one thing: I wanted the cover to feature my hero. Sebastian is tall, dark and delicious and I love, love, love him. And I thought he’d sell books *g*.
Instead, I got a horse. My heroine, Gemma, and a horse—and please don’t make the obvious jokes, my husband has already been there.
Before the cover conference with the art department, my editor said the image that leapt to her mind was Gemma riding around her grandfather’s estate. I said, Yes, well, maybe Sebastian can lift her down from the horse—cue image of rather nice back view in tight buckskin breeches with shoulder muscles straining against his coat, mmm…
Where was I? Oh, yes. The cover. Ooh…or maybe Sebastian could hold Gemma in a tasteful clinch and the horse could be, you know, tethered to a tree in the background, or…
So about this cover with the horse… I love it. When I first opened the jpeg of the cover art for Scandal’s Daughter, the vividness of the colors and the beauty of my heroine in her dreamy pose with the rolling English hills behind her literally took my breath away. The Berkley art department captured the spirit of Scandal’s Daughter perfectly in a painting I’d be glad to hang on my wall. And I’m so pleased, because being a new author I didn’t expect that kind of attention to detail for my book.
< So now, will I worry about what the next cover is going to be like? Of course I will! I already have a few suggestions…
What about you? What sort of cover makes you pick up a romance novel in a bookstore? Do you like to see the hero in all his glory or would you rather he be left to your imagination? And most importantly, do you like horses?
Sorry, Christine, but the idea of your heroine’s significant other being the horse made me whinny with laughter. So much so that I ended up feeling a little horse… Oh, no, that’s Gemma, isn’t it? Sorry. I’ll stop now. Whoa, Bessie!
I had a similar experience with my cover – although no animals were harmed in my artwork, I’m pleased to say. I was absolutely positive they’d go for the really sexy, half undressed woman cover. And then I got my lovely gothic blue monster which is a much better depiction of the story.
I love your cover. I think it’s really classy. Congratulations.
And you know something else? I like clinch covers! I know a lot of people don’t and think they’re tacky but to me clinches say, “This is a big luscious romance that you want to read. Buy me.”
Hi Anna! Yes, I’ve had to repeatedly tell my husband Gemma’s horse is a MARE!
Weren’t we both lucky? I think the cover fairy touched us both with her wand. I love your cover, both the moody blue and the gorgeous colour version with Verity and Kylemore in that intense embrace. *shivers*
Thanks for galloping by!
You know, I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to covers. I pretty much know exactly what I want to buy when I hit the stores (or hopefully the internet for ebooks).
I do know Christine, that your book is absolutely on my “to buy” list as I loved your excerpt. I think your heroine may be my very favorite kind and I’m really looking forward to reading the book. But yes, your cover is beautiful. 🙂
And Anna, I won your ebook on Dear Author. Yippee! Can’t wait to read more of your stuff, either.
Christine, neigh trouble! Mind you, the horse being a mare is really starting to get kinky….
Jane, Christine always gets very sweet and self-deprecatory when I say stuff like this, but her book is a treat. In fact, I think a debut author who will not be named (moi! moi!) may have even gone public in a quote saying that it sparkles like vintage champagne.
Hope you like CTC!
“Hope you like CTC!”
Anna,
Well, I was a little vague. I read CTC and really enjoyed it! Hence, I’m looking forward to your next one….
Oh, Jane! Sorry. Thought it was still on your TBR pile (but then I’m not a little vague, I’m a LOT vague!). Thank you for that!
Hi, Jane A. Thank you so much for saying you like the excerpt. You’ve made my day! I hope you like Scandal’s Daughter when it comes out.
As for buying habits, I’m hopeless. I’ll make a list, then I forget it when I go to the bookstore. Then I’m like a kid in a candy shop. I come away with all these purchases that I didn’t intend and then I have to ring up and order the ones I forgot. But I find a lot of gems that way, so it’s not so bad. I think I usually buy according to what I’ve heard about the author, rather than the cover, though.
Annaaaa! You’re such a sweetheart. Thank you for saying that about Scandal’s Daughter. I love that quote you gave me!
So if SD is champagne, I’d say that CTC is like vintage shiraz–deep, dark, full-bodied and luscious with lots of spice!
Oh, no. I really invited that comment when I said the horse was a mare, didn’t I? Let’s not go there, please!
Congrats on that gorgeous cover, Christine! As a kid, I was horse crazy before I became boy crazy.
I’m actually one of those horrible, superficial people who judges a book by its cover. I love embossed lettering, vivid blues, art work in which you see something new every time you look at it… Hey, that sounds just like your book cover!
Great blog! I’m looking forward to reading Scandal’s Daughter.
🙂 Vanessa
Thank you, Vanessa. A good cover will certainly make me pick up a book to see if I might like it, so I suppose I do that to some extent. I hope Scandal’s Daughter lives up to the artwork on the cover!
I think this cover is beautiful. I love to see the historicals and how they dress so with this in the outside, is just beautiful! When will this be out Christine? I love seeing both hero and heroine or one on the cover, but really love when its an outside scenery thats why when I saw it, I already said I want to read this one! I don’t like when it has just the hero’s chest. I want to see the face in some ways. I mean yeah its nice to see the chest but then you wonder on the face 🙂
Oh Chistine, you too have a site?
Cathie, thanks for your comments, I’m glad you like the cover and I hope you enjoy Scandal’s Daughter! I, too, like the man’s face to be shown, but only if he’s my idea of handsome! I think everyone’s ideal differs, so they often cut off the head and let the reader fill in the details. One nice hero cover is Loretta Chase’s Mr. Impossible. The story inside isn’t too shabby either!
Yes, I have a website, please drop by!
http://www.christine-wells.com/
Christine,
What a disappointment for you not to have your gorgeous hero on the front of your book. I can visualise the nice back view you mentioned. What, me drool over nice broad shoulders and ….? No, I can’t be that shallow! But I have to say I love the look of this cover. Even if I didn’t have your debut book earmarked as a must buy, I’d be attracted by this one, and I’m not a cover sort of girl – I’m more a backcover blurb reader – so that’s saying something!
I’m wondering now what your next book will be about and what juicy ideas you might give the art department as a result!
I’m fascinated by covers now that I get to see my own.(G) Only this week I received a box of hardcovers where my hero and heroine are in an exotic Arabian setting, complete with red sheets! I don’t remember them being red in the book, but what’s a little licence in such a good cause?
I love the sound of the gold foil on your coverflats – very elegant. Can’t wait to see it ‘in the flesh’!
Annie
Annie, thanks for dropping in! You’re so lucky getting foreign translations and hardcovers, too! And you’re right not to worry about the red sheets. I think red is always an eye-catching colour and that’s what you want in a cover. Especially for books like yours, filled with red-hot passion and desire!
Well, I’m not sure how much I can say about book 2 at the moment. (A title! My kingdom for a title!) But it’s going to be fast-paced and sophisticated, with a bit of suspense thrown in. I love witty banter between hero and heroine in Regency historicals and I think that’s coming up a treat in this book. Hmm, better stop talking about it and get down to write!
Thanks again for commenting, Annie!
Hi Christine! You know, I’m all for the beautiful covers, but sometimes I think the art depts forget who the market is in romance. Women. And we like men, so put them on the freaking cover! lol. But seriously, you have a fabulous cover that will catch the eye, and that’s important. Also, you’ve written a fabulous book, and that’s THE most important thing!
Christine!!! *waving madly* As I said before: lovely, lovely cover! And very romantic, imo.
Did you know that if you fold one of your coverflats (or flaps?) and wrapt it around another paperback novel (and secure coverflat with a few ringlets of scotch tape), it looks exactly as if you were holding the real book in your hand? I call it the DIY-book. And I usually put one together immediately after I’ve got my coverflats. *g*
Kathryn, lovely to see you here! Yes, we do like our beautiful men, don’t we? Thank you for saying that about Scandal’s Daughter, your opinion really means a lot. Hey, I could get used to this blogging thing!
And Sandra!!! *waving madly back*! OMG, you’re right! I tried your DIY book and it worked! We writers are a sad bunch, aren’t we? But the feeling of having that book in your hand after so much struggle…it must be the best! So the DIY book comes very close. Thanks for sharing that tip.
I love your Christine! As for what I don’t like in a cover, I don’t like anything too cheesy. Clinches are okay so long as they don’t go over the edge and make me embarrassed to read the book in public. But I prefer not to see the hero’s face. Side view or hints of it are okay, but not face on. I want to develop my own idea of what he looks like and have it shaped by what appeals to me. If the picture on the cover doesn’t appeal to me, then they’ve just ruined my attraction to the hero. Which is deadly.
Hahaha…okay I need more coffee this morning. I mean “I love your cover, Christine.” Going to get more java now.
Hey, thanks for commenting, Kelly! I think you and I agree on the hero thing. I’d rather no face than a terrible one.
Christine, that is so true on trying to figure out what the character looks like without the head on the cover! Those can be great picturing them with the authors story which I enjoy doing cuz I end up picturing them throughout the book!
But there’s just something about the clothing of historicals that I really love to see! No matter what time period it is…really so much beauty in the cultures.
Thanks for the site address!
Hi Cathie, you’re welcome! I have a couple of short stories on my website you might enjoy.
Yes, I agree, it is lovely to see period dress and the covers so seldom get the details right! I love the attention to detail in the gown Gemma is wearing. The clothes are a big part of the fun of historicals, aren’t they?