ELIZABETH UNCOVERS COVERS

You can’t tell a book by it’s cover, right?

Um, wrong.

In today’s popular fiction market, a cover clearly states what kind of story is inside—science fiction or science fantasy, paranormal romance, historical romance, chick lit, contemporary romantic comedy, suspense, sisterhood/motherhood/family fiction, literary fiction, and on and on and on.

I’m not saying this is a good thing, simply that it’s real.

So what happens when you get a cover that screams one thing and the book is about something else entirely?

Nothing good, that’s what.

I became a NYT bestseller writing historical romance. This was back in the dark ages, when romance was just being considered “real” enough to bring out as hardcover, and nobody believed romance readers would buy contemporary romance in hardcover, period. Sandra Brown broke the barriers first, quickly followed by Barbara Delinsky, Iris Johansen, Nora Roberts, Amanda Quick/Jayne Ann Krentz, Catherine Coulter, Linda Howard, yours truly, and more other names than I can remember. We all hit “mainstream” bestsellerdom around the same time.

At that time, clinch covers were indelibly associated with category paperback romance, which left art departments with a problem: what to do with all these romance writers coming out in hardcover? I mean, MEN wouldn’t read them, right? Hate to mislead all those guys who would wilt in the presence of pink.

The solution was to put pastels and flowers on the covers—lots and lots of flowers. Then came the “real estate” covers—little cabin in the woods, on the beach, on a mountain, in a tree, whatever. And flowers. Couldn’t forget the little suckers, because they sent the message “woman’s read.” Colors were soft, almost wistful. This worked very well for romantic comedy, sisterhood, family, etc. romances.


When I decided I wanted to do romantic suspense, the art department came up with the following cover for AMBER BEACH.

The sales department was rhapsodic. The cover for AMBER BEACH was soooooo pretty!

When I said, yes, but the cover didn't match the content of the book, I was told it was okay, pretty covers sold books.

And it worked. Once.

People who didn’t know me as a contemporary writer, people who liked Barbara Delinsky, Danielle Steele, and others who wrote of women’s various relationships with their family and lover/s, picked up on the cover cues and bought AMBER BEACH.

Those poor souls must have felt like a debutante in a mosh pit.

People who would have been willing to try romantic suspense by an unknown (to them) author, never looked past AMBER BEACH’S gauzy cover.

JADE ISLAND was a repeat of the same mistake of cover vs. content.

But now, readers were wary. Folks who had bought AMBER BEACH thinking they were ordering tenderloin and got lobster instead didn’t bite a second time. Sell-through on JADE ISLAND slid.

My publisher wondered why. My cover concerns weren't part of their wondering.

PEARL COVE’s cover was even more gauzy, colors selected from the tampon aisle of the grocery store.

Same problem as JADE ISLAND, redoubled. No match between cover and content. None. Period. False advertising at its worst.

By the time RUBY BAYOU came around, I was begging the publisher on all fours to change the damned covers. I was told if I changed the title—but not too much, because it was part of a series—the art department would be inspired. So the book became MIDNIGHT IN RUBY BAYOU.

Well, at least the cover was red, not pink.

After MIDNIGHT IN RUBY BAYOU, my publisher became convinced that the problem was that I was writing a series, so I should do one-off books.

I didn’t argue. I would have done anything for better covers. (My favorite fantasy involved the tampon aisle and the art department. ‘Nuf said.)

MOVING TARGET was a much better match of cover and content.

So was RUNNING SCARED.

So were the titles that followed.

Until now.




I just got my cover art for INNOCENT AS SIN.

Anyone seeing this cover would expect to read a hot, neck-biter romance, especially since vampires are all the rage now.

Anyone expecting that of INNOCENT AS SIN would be real unhappy about what she got.

I talked with my agent, who talked with my publisher, who agreed to come up with an entirely different cover concept.

Stay tuned.

Have you ever bought an unknown author on the basis of cover and been mislead?