Much like parents and their children, writers aren’t
supposed to have favorites among the books they’ve written. I do have favorites, but I will, keep those
to myself for the time being. Instead I
will focus on the cover design of my books.
For the most part, mid-list mystery writers (and I flatter
myself) have very little choice in the covers I’ve always found that frustrating. I’ve spent most of my life as an editor of
publications where I had much more control over the visuals that accompanied
the words.
.
The world of book publishing is different. Of the eleven Shanahan novels, the mystery
series for which I am best known, I hadn’t even a warning of what the covers
would look like before they were selected. The manuscript went into the system and
eventually out popped a book with my name on it. However, the legendary editor Ruth Cavin at
St. Martin’s accepted my request to look at artist Janet Woolley for my out-of series
book, Eclipse of the Heart. Woolley and jacket designer Michael Accordino
created my favorite cover of any of my books. It’s quite clear that Woolley
read the manuscript before doing the illustration. The whole
book is in the illustration, enhanced by the elegant typeface chosen by
Accordino. I regret only that I had not contacted her to tell her how much I
appreciated her work. I was pretty new to the process. Unfortunately, the book
is out of print.
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German Cover Got It Wrong |
From a marketing perspective I suspect all book covers
should entice the potential reader to pick it up and look at it, or click the
icon, the first steps in the purchasing process.
However, as all fervent readers have
discovered on their own, the cover can be grossly misleading.
As an author I want the cover to honestly
reflect what’s inside — all of it, including the tone and the quality of the
story and the prose that tells the story. It’s a kind of “truth in labeling
proposition.
Eclipse of the Heart did
it for me. It was perfection. If you don’t like the cover, you probably won’t
like the novel.
|
Bless The Italians |
Looking at the cover that way, the book didn't fare so well
in the German translation, at least as it applies to cover art.
Die
Tequila-Falle, (
the Tequila Case)
as the title was translated, was interpreted by the publisher as a sexy gay
romp. I’d call that somewhat dishonest.
Readers wanting a sexy gay romp won’t find the romp.
And readers wanting a more significant story
are likely to skip it altogether. By changing the title and more importantly,
the cover art, the German publishers also trivialized Mexico, a rich setting
integral to the story. Tequila, I might add, had nothing to do with anything
except perhaps the publisher’s thirst.
Fortunately the Italians redeemed my appreciation of translations with
this totally appropriate cover of the Shanahan mystery,
The Concrete Pillow.
It also
brought me my first million (lire, that is — about $600 at the time). Bless
them for not calling the book
The
Spaghetti Caper.
When Severn House, publisher of the last seven Shanahan
books, picked up my new series featuring unlikely P.I. partners Noah Lang and
Carly Paladino, they allowed me to suggest a cover photograph that inspired the
first book, Death In Pacific Heights.
They worked it out with photographer, Adam Moore. With the second series book, Death In North Beach, I submitted a
night photograph I had taken that illustrated that historic neighborhood . Both
covers met the criteria of matching the stories told between the covers. Now,
whether it met the marketing criteria is something else. Neither zoomed to the top of The New York Times Bestseller list. Even so, the author is happy.
I was also involved in the reissue of the first four
Shanahan novels in e-book and paperback formats, working directly with San
Francisco-based as well as talented and experienced
Visual Strategies. For me,
participating in the bookmaking process adds considerably to the joy of
writing. The result, in this case, was a strong and clearly inter-related
series of books.
I have a new book, a novella, coming out in March. I look
forward to The Black Tortoise, the
cover of which will mirror its predecessor, The
Blue Dragon. I’m hoping for a third. Even in this late date in my career, there
is a temptation to take a new book from manuscript to published novel, with a
near complete hands-on approach. I say “near” because only a fool would proceed
without some sort of skilled copyediting and design help.