Running With Quills: Jayne Says Aloha from Hawaii

Welcome to Running With Quills, your online newsletter designed to keep you up to date with what your favorite authors (that would be us) are doing throughout the year. Here you will find the release dates of our new books and get information about our backlists. We'll preview our cover art here long before the books hit the stores and we'll keep you informed about works-in-progress and special projects. You'll also receive advance notice of signings and appearances. From time to time we'll give you a peek at our worlds, tell you what we're reading, and introduce you to some new authors.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Jayne Says Aloha from Hawaii

Jayne Autographing at Hawaii's Ala Moana B&N

Alison, Ala Moana B&N Event Coordinator with Jayne

Hawaii calls! Frank and I are in Hawaii (Oahu) one of our favorite places on

Leslee Ellenson, Shauna Jones, Jayne Ann Krentz
Lynn Raye Harris, Michael Little

Photo thanks to Lynn Raye Harris

the entire planet and today I had a fabulous signing at the beautiful new Barnes & Noble at the Ala Moana shopping center. I want to thank the members of the local chapter of Romance Writers of America who turned out for the event, the staff at B&N and everyone else who showed up. I had a wonderful time and Frank was there to snap some pictures for the blog.

Lots of questions, of course, as always. One of the more memorable concerned whether or not I had any input into cover art. Okay, here's the down-and-dirty truth about me and cover art. Back at the start of my career when I would have given anything to have some say about my covers I had no clout and, therefore, no say, about my cover art. I was obliged to accept whatever the publisher and the art department put on the books. Trust me, I got some really BAD covers in those early days.

Today I actually have some clout and some say over my cover art. Unfortunately, it turns out I have absolutely no visual creativity. Yes, much as I hate to admit it, now, when I do have some say over my covers, it turns out I am no artist.

Sure, I can react to a cover. I can say I hate it or I love it. But I could no more give the publisher's art department an idea for the cover than fly to the moon. So, I'm back where I started -- totally in the hands of the art department. And there you have it: the truth about me and cover art.

As I was saying, Hawaii calls. The sliding glass doors to the hotel lanai are open and the tropical breezes are warm and balmy. I do believe that Frank is pouring a couple of glasses of Grand Marnier...

But getting back to cover art, how do you feel about it? What do you look for in a cover and do you really judge a book by the cover?

Aloha,

Jayne

29 Comments:

KathyK said...: Sleazy bodice-ripper covers are more likely to keep me from buying a book than make me want to buy it. Unless it is a favorite author that I buy no matter what, a "clinch cover" is a turn-off. I don't mind the step-back covers as much but I really prefer an abstract cover and copy that gives an outline of the plot and characters. I sympathize with you about the lack of artistic design sense, but you have a large and loyal following of people that read your work and will buy it no matter what the covers looks like.
(smooch); 6:41 AM
Molly said...: (None of the pictures are showing up on the site -- just blank boxes with the red x for missing graphics.)

I hate clinch covers with a passion. I think they represent and perpetuate every horrible stereotype about romances.

After almost thirty years of romance reading, I recently bought a few because their authors came recommended, but I remain loathe, profoundly loathe, to buy any more.

I am unduly influenced by beautiful covers to pick up the book and read the back cover copy. They don't, however, make me more likely to buy the book. For this I rely almost exclusively on word-of-mouth, as RT and other reviews are typically too fawning to be useful.; 6:51 AM
Deoris said...: I enjoy covers that give a sense of time and place. The cut of a dress, the scenery or setting; just a few clues about what's inside to pique my curiosity. I think "plain brown wrapper" covers are boring. That all said, I still go by the synopsis on the back and the exerpt on the inside cover. It's the writing that gets me to open the book.; 8:06 AM
Anonymous said...: I have a very nice Vera Bradley book cover plus one I made from quilted material to cover the books that have embarrassing covers.

I prefer the covers like the one for Smoke and Mirrors. Very classy. I do not like the ones that show people who are presumabley the main characters in the book. Very seldom does the description match the picture. I would rather draw a mental picture of the characters than see a generic couple picture on the cover. Sometimes I think they just go to their archive of bodice rippers and randomly select one.

I will buy anything Jayne writes, (except for the Bentleys - they are too expensive!) even if the cover is embarressing (I'll just make another book cover).

Evie; 8:18 AM
DFender said...: Nah, I don't judge a book by its cover. I'll appreciate a great artistic cover if it's present but I'm not any more likely to buy a book based on the cover than otherwise. Now the inside book jacket is a different story! That makes ALL the difference to me, especially with a previously unread (by me) author.

I can see the pictures just fine, Jayne and you look like you're having a blast! I hope you and Frank enjoy yourselves silly... a lanai in Hawaii... I'm disgustingly jealous... lol.

Deb; 8:23 AM
angela said...: If a book has nice cover art, I'm ten times more likely to pick it up and check it out.

But, as the others have said, if it's a favorite author I'll probably read the book even if the cover is embarrassing or strange. In that case, I'll just check it out at the library (we have self-checkout now, so no one can see what I have) and read it at home.; 8:27 AM
Cbell said...: The book cover will be something that will catch my eye... but the synopsis on the cover will be the intriguing factor that will cause me to purchase!

I will say that I love the fact that most authors will allow you to read an excerpt from a book on their websites. Having said that... does Stella have a date for her newest book to hit the shelves?; 8:59 AM
nellsquirrel said...: Hawai'i... I really am sick with envy right now. I'm so homesick and I'm stuck in 18 inches of the white, cold stuff. My sis says there's snow on the Big Island... not quite the same. *sigh*

Book covers - hmmm... I don't really think about them if I like an author though I have to say that some are really horrible. I have no artistic talent but I know a BAD cover when I see it! LOL!; 9:57 AM
Joyce said...: I agree with deoris, if I don't know the author, the cover helps give a sense of the book. Where, why, etc. Do tend to buy books based on authors rather than covers. You're lucky you are not in the NY, NJ area. We have 25" of snow.; 10:35 AM
Barbara said...: I'm with the others - if I don't know an author and it's a really cheesy bodice ripper cover, I'll tend to not buy it. If it's a "must buy" author (you, Ann, Stella for starters!) then the cover wouldn't matter.

I just finished All Night Long and loved it - good cover too!; 11:50 AM
Ranurgis said...: My answer to the question of whether I judge a book by its cover would be no and yes. I go by the author. If the name of one of certain authors is on the cover, that's it: I read it because from experience I know it will be a good if not great book.

BTW, I'm always hesitant about saying, "I love" such or such a thing. It must come from the use of my mother tongue, German. The verb "lieben" is almost exclusively used for people. This is reflected in the fact that I almost never say "I loved that book." It would really have to be something extraordinary.

But I digress. If I'm searching a shelf for something to read in a book store or library, I'll first look at the name of the author and then make sure that it's not a reprint of an earlier title. The cover art makes no difference to me. If I'm just browsing for something that I might want to read, I will take in the cover art, though I'll decide by the blurb or information inside a hardcover. There are certain books that I choose not to read: horror, vampire and the like (I hate the thought of blood and can't ever watch a bloody scene on TV). Otherwise, it's solely up to the content of the book.

Fortunately, most covers are no longer as "lurid" as they used to be (and I'm not only talking about the "bodice-rippers"). One case in point was a paperback that came out a long, long time ago. I had read it in hardcover from the library and it was one of my favorite books. I tried to reconcile my memory of the book with what was pictured on the cover: A vicious-looking, tall blond woman shooting a soldier. Huh!? That didn't seem to have been in the book I read. I knew the main characters were a tiny little woman who could pass for a "lad" and a tall beanpole of a schoolmaster. The period was sort of right: the Revolutionary War. I reread the book and, sure enough, there was no such scene in the entire book of any woman, blond or otherwise, shooting a soldier. Had I not known the book, at that time when I was about 15, I would not have bought it because of the picture. At least later the pictures better matched the content in character depiction--but we all know how waaay off they could still be.

Of course there seem to be phases through which covers go. The earlier the book the less picture you see. I know my brother-in-law always liked the Harlequin covers because of the detailed and aesthetically pleasing drawings of different locales. It's the style he himself prefers as an artist.

Concerning the showing of the covers: I sold Avon products for quite a while and I have 3 different cloth covers that I use for paperbacks: a) to cover the more sexy book covers, b) keep my favorite books from becoming dilapidated and dog-eared, c) covering dirty (in the physical sense) (grin) covers of older, much-read books from the library. For hardcovers I'll just make a cover out of a paper bag or something.

Molly, I don't know if you do the same thing I do sometimes so that the pictures aren't visible because they take my old computer too long to load. I turn of the picture or image options on the computer.

And yes, those pictures make me wish I were there. I've never been to Hawaii and I'd love to go. Luckily the storm missed us. But who knows when the next one will hit Southwestern Ontario. I always find that such a misnomer. Western Ontario, when seen from Manitoba where I grew up, is the part that borders that province and is at least a full day's drive from here. In this area, that is part of Northern Ontario. I think we do have the most southerly part of Canada very close to us but I'd have to check to make sure: Point Pelee which juts out into Lake Erie.

Oops, another comment which is longer than the original blog entry. Just don't get to chat much otherwise. Sorry.; 12:01 PM
Ranurgis said...: The more closely I look at the actual store (I was concentrating on the author before *g*) the more it resembles our local Chapters bookstore: the pavillion-like part and the rest of the setup. I wonder if all bookstores are generic like this. And no, I don't think B&N and Chapters have anything to do with each other. But I wonder who first thought of this setup.; 12:17 PM
talpianna said...: When I see a bodice-ripper-type cover, I think "Cheesy cover; cheap publisher; author probably couldn't sell to a better class of publisher; therefore lousy book." I like the kind of covers on recent JAK/AQ/JC and EL books. I especially like the AQ ones with elegant objets d'art on the cover, like the little carriage on MISTRESS.

If you really want a hoot and a half, look up the German editions of Jayne's and Elizabeth's books on amazon.de--wildly inappropriate and usually out of period. If you know any German, a second source of innocent merriment is trying to guess from the German version of the title exactly which book it is!; 2:58 PM
Jay said...: As someone who doesn't have huge amounts of time to read, I tend to get a little clique-y with my reading. If it's not an author I already buy, it wants to have a very good cover or I'm not even going to pick it off the shelf. The only time I'll pick up unknowns is if someone has recommended them, or the cover catches my eye.

Jayne - your cover of All Night Long here is very cool. It caught my attention before I even read the title. We got a sunset over water cover, rather than the red one.; 5:59 PM
EAJ said...: Ohh . . . gotta go by the cover sometimes. I tend to carry a book with me at all times. I freely admit my romance addiction, but the cover has to have class . . . or at least be discreet. Besides, the bodice rippers have such awful art! Proportion, people, proportion! But, like most people, I'll typically buy any book by my favorite authors, and stealthily check out (fom the library) books by authors I'm just getting to know.; 2:12 AM
justine said...: Unfortunately, sometimes the covers are so bad, that I feel embarrassed to read the book. Jayne, if you do have any say in your book covers....don't put any people on it, just the title. Much classier that way. You can tell that the people designing the book cover don't even read it. Remeber 'Wicked Widow'...the woman on the cover had a tattoo...not that I'm against tattoos, I have one myself, but the woman in the book did not, and that just bugged me for some reason.; 2:37 AM
Anonymous said...: I tend to buy the book for the author and try to ignore the cover when they have characters on the front. More than any cheesiness (which I feel tends to diminish the story), I dislike being 'asigned' a face for a character when I would rather use my own imagination. I don't even care for an author suggesting a character's likeness to an actor as it creates another unreal person. Actors are, after all, creating the roles in a film or play and their personality often doesn't measure up to their attractive appearance. Give me a well designed cover without people and my imagination will take over the rest!; 9:07 AM
Cynthia E. Bagley said...: JAK... I am a friend of Lynn Raye Harris. We met in Germany, when her husband was stationed there.

Anyway, I am so jealous that she had the chance to meet you... and live in Hawai'i. (clearning throat)

That said... I really enjoy your Jayne Castle novels. I would like to see more of them.

OH... I am embarrassed about "bodice ripper" covers. Anything else and I don't worry about. Although, I am particular about my authors.; 12:10 PM
Stella said...: For CBell--Thank you for asking about the release of my next book. BODY OF EVIDENCE goes on sale March 1.; 12:24 PM
Anonymous said...: Stella -- Barnes and Nobles here in Tampa will have your BODY OF EVIDENCE on sale Febr 28. Will be there when store is open that day.; 1:25 PM
Lynn Raye Harris said...: Hi, Jayne! I'm glad to see that Cynthia made it over here. :) She's a big romance fan, and a darn good poet too.

I like your All Night Long cover. Very classy. And I remember buying Mistress years ago and just loving that tiny carriage, as someone else said. So classy and lovely. I dislike clinch covers, usually because they are so silly, but if I like the author it doesn't stop me from reading the book, even in public. I get a perverse pleasure out of being seen with a clinch cover, knowing people may be judging my intelligence and taste based on what they see. They have no idea I'm writing a master's thesis on Virginia Woolf or that my chair has a PhD from Harvard. :) Never judge a book by its cover.

OTOH, I can be a hypocrite too. I wouldn't want to be seen with some of the erotica covers, for instance....; 2:23 PM
Stella said...: What a group! Anonymous, thank you for the date information for B&N Tampa--and thank you in advance for buying the book.

On covers: ALL NIGHT LONG has a beautiful cover, good enough to eat (where did that comment come from--the diet I'm on, maybe?) We see so many really good covers now, but the ones that lock my back teeth are still around. I used to hide "purple" covers but life has brought me to a point where I get an almost evil pleasure out of any negative reaction from another.; 3:21 PM
KMF said...: Yes. I admit it, I judge a book by its cover. Luckily, Jayne, this hasn't come into play when reading your books. In fact, it was because of the cover of Cerulean Sinsthat I got started on Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series. I do prefer not to have the characters on the cover..takes away from my own imagery I guess. Oh well. Loved All Night Long by the way, Jayne. Keep up the good work.; 6:29 PM
Shoshana said...: Honestly, there are times I will by a book solely for its cover, knowing I will dislike the book inside and never ever read it. Of course, some of my books are sorted by cover illustrator instead of by author, and they're all sorted by height, which may have something to do with it.
But generally speaking that kind of purchase is only done at used book stores. I have a rule that the only books I buy new are the ones I've already read three times and plan to read again. (Yes, I bought most of your stuff new. Some I picked up from used bookstores but mostly those ones were out-of-print titles. Out of print when I bought them, anyway...); 9:45 PM
erin k. said...: If it's an author I love, I'm more apt to be forgiving of bad covers. That said, I hate when covers have people on it. The potential embarassment factor is there, but also (more importantly) I don't like when there's people pictured on the book because I always end up thinking, "THAT's what the character's supposed to look like??" and it ruins part of my reading experience because then I think I'm not picturing the characters correctly.
I avoid this problem with authors I like by simply steadfastly ignoring any people pictures. When I'm discovering new authors though, you can't help but take everything into account (cover, title, back cover, reccomendations, first few pages).; 10:22 PM
shamash said...: The cover matters.

Paper matters.

Font, especially, matters.

So much of our media comes to us through the television and computer screen. To hold something tangible, to experience the tactile, is a treat.

This is why I don't believe that books will ever "go out of style" any more than newspapers did with the advent of the internet.

I do buy books by their covers. A few friends of mine have published books with poor covers, and I feel sad, because a good book without a good cover is like a good egg without a shell.

Bad metaphor, but you get my drift. ;-); 4:13 AM
Cbell said...: Stella - Thanks for the release date! I will find myself at my local Borders bookstore tapping my toes impatiently on March 1! Ha!; 4:17 AM
AgTigress said...: I think of cover 'art' in exactly the same light as the wrapping paper around a present - which, however pretty, is only destined for the recycling bin. It is pleasing if it looks good, but it does not matter in the least if it doesn't, because it is ephemeral, and it does not affect the essential purpose of the object that it encloses.
You are not buying the book to put it in a frame and hang it on the wall, but to read it. And if the book is good, it will probably be reprinted one day, when it will acquire a different, and often better, cover. Covers matter primarily to marketing people: I shall say no more.; 2:31 PM
Anonymous said...: A bodice ripper cover just does not do it for me when I go through the checkout line at our local box store. Reading romances are personal for me - it is amazing how many snobs are still out there — and I don't feel the need to defend my reading choices - I would rather just enjoy the book. I do like the inside covers with bodice ripper pictures, although I find that I fill in what the characters look like on my own.

However, that said I did pick up books by Brenda Joyce and Amana Quick (kick me if I'm wrong on this one - I have several bags full of romances in my garage just waiting to be recycled with a friend) because of the covers - although the titles helped too. The first Joyce book I picked up had an beautiful cover on it - her mystery/romance series.

That said, however, I don't care about the cover when it comes to my favorite authors because they hooked me with their ability to tell delightful stories. The only thing the cover does at that point is help me determine whether or not I have read the book before. I sometimes read a book again, but because there are so many good romances on the market, I would rather read something new.; 3:07 PM

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Sunday, February 12, 2006

Jayne Says Aloha from Hawaii

29 Comments: