Cover me. I'm going in.: seanan

Cover me. I'm going in.

I've been thinking a lot about book covers recently. It started when I saw the concept art for the fifth October Daye book, One Salt Sea, which is a big departure, color-wise, from the rest of the series. (One reader actually commented on this, saying they couldn't decide whether they liked it or not, because it was so different.) This, oddly, made me really look at the series covers as a whole. Then I started looking at the covers of other urban fantasies that I've very much enjoyed, and finally realized what it was that made my covers seem so unusual to me. Aside from the part where they're, you know, mine, and hence I emotionally regard them as practically perfect in every way.

The Toby Daye books are getting gender neutral/male covers.

Picture a generic urban fantasy cover. The odds are good, unless you were thinking of the Dresden Files or the Simon Canderous books, that you pictured a woman in tight pants and a skimpy top, probably looking exotic and dangerous at the same time. She may or may not be holding a knife. If she is, it doesn't really look like it would do all that much damage when used to stab someone, although it might use all of its extra flourishes and points to get stuck on their clothing. Despite being in mortal peril, her hair is perfect, and her makeup is expertly applied. She may or may not bear any resemblance to the woman on the other side of that cover, but by the Great Pumpkin, she is Urban Fantasy Babe, and she will cut you with her richly saturated color palette.

(To be clear, I don't think there's anything wrong with these covers, and I'm sort of hoping to get one for Discount Armageddon, since Verity does wear impractical shoes, skimpy clothes, and makeup. Although she wouldn't be caught dead with a knife that couldn't be used to gut a rhino, should the need arise. She is a deeply practical impractical girl.)

Now picture an urban fantasy cover for a book with a male lead. Again, the odds are good that what you're seeing is a man dressed in dark clothing, against a moody, atmospheric background. There is no random lightning; nothing is inexplicably on fire; he's probably not wearing any makeup, and his hair may very well look like he forgot to brush it last Tuesday and hasn't remembered to catch up since. If he has weapons, they're practical ones. Ditto his shoes.

Now take a look at the five currently available Toby covers. In all five, she's wearing dark clothes, including a leather jacket that, while comfortable, doesn't exactly make her look like a bad-ass leather biker babe; more like a girl raiding her boyfriend's closet because it's cold outside. On three of the five, she's wearing jeans. On one, she's wearing a dress that leaves absolutely everything to the imagination, since it's basically full medieval formal gown. On another, she has no jeans because she has no legs, but does have a black top and, again, a leather jacket. In three of the five, she's visibly, and accurately, armed. There are no poses; there are no seductive looks; there's definitely no makeup. If you ignore the fact that Toby is female, they're the kind of covers that usually go on urban fantasies with male leads.

This could not delight me more.

Toby's covers are an accurate portrayal of what you're going to find between them. If she was posed more like our friend, Urban Fantasy Babe, people would be justified in getting annoyed when Toby didn't act like her. Instead, she's posed the way the men of urban fantasy are normally posed, and she acts a lot like them, too. There may be some people who don't pick up the books because they want something sexier, but I think the people who do pick them up get what they're expecting, and I think that helps, in the long run. Truth in advertising is fun!

Thoughts?

jenk

April 20 2011, 19:26:27 UTC 6 years ago

New comment

I don't seek out "urban fantasy" per se. I was reading Kay Hooper's romances in the 80s that had some paranormal elements (reincarnation, pyschics, etc) but were still comedic romances, and I liked them. I also liked Kris Rusch's romances (published as Kristine Grayson). I was a fan of mysteries (Robert B Parker, Sue Grafton, Lawrence Block, JA Jance) and to me the early Anita Blake books are "sexless female Spenser in a different world". Meanwhile, the one time I read the blurbs of all the books in an "urban fantasy" display (all with the "typical" type of cover) I didn't find any that were interesting or intriguing. So for me, the typical "urban fantasy" cover means "eh". Covers with more mystery elements - the early Dresden covers, the first 3 Toby covers - are more likely to work for me.

themysteriousg

April 20 2011, 23:06:16 UTC 6 years ago

This. Though I also read urban fantasy but that's how I found LKH in the beginning.

seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

alamaris

April 20 2011, 21:22:16 UTC 6 years ago

Verily!

That's what initially impressed me when I picked up your books for the first time, before I ever read the back blurb -- I was ever so tired of finding book after book with the same tight-pants-woman-with-supermodel-hair-and-a-weapon, and seeing the cover of Rosemary and Rue was a breath of fresh air.

What kept me reading was that, unlike 90% of the other urban fantasy novels I picked up, Toby didn't go have random sex with someone in the first few pages. Or the first chapter. Or the first six. I SQUEE'D at finding a female protagonist who puts her job before her sex life. Who knows she's a professional with as much dignity as her life allows her. In short, she acts exactly like her portrayal on the covers. Which is a good! We need more like her.

April 24 2011, 18:11:10 UTC 6 years ago

Toby wouldn't have done well having a sexual relationship in the first book. Or two. Or three. She wasn't, well, ready for that sort of thing after Cliff.

I don't understand why so many people rush their characters into things.

calico_reaction

April 20 2011, 21:25:09 UTC 6 years ago

What a great analysis! I hadn't though of your covers in this vein, but you're totally right on! And what timing, considering I was just griping on my Facebook fan page about this: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=114398421974750&id=10150130405310018

So yeah, now I'm going to totally pimp this post!

April 24 2011, 18:08:22 UTC 6 years ago

Awesome, thanks!

laughingfalcon

April 20 2011, 21:49:38 UTC 6 years ago

It wasn't just the pose, although Toby looked both vulnerable and yet ready to fight, it was also the hazy look to the cover and the messy looking typeface on Rosemary and Rue. I would almost say the text looked like it would do well on a horror novel, yet the words "Rosemary and Rue" call to mind both fairy herbs and "Murders at the Rue Morgue". Which almost approaches the flavor of your story, fae with a darker tone.

April 24 2011, 17:00:44 UTC 6 years ago

I can totally agree with this entire statement.

ext_209138

April 20 2011, 22:21:06 UTC 6 years ago

It's funny, I actually noticed this rather suddenly when first checking out the books. I think because it was nice to see that for a character that doesn't fit in with Urban Fantasy Babe -- and there are definitely books that have her on the cover that don't really gel with the idea. But it's not terribly infrequent that I come across a book that the cover really doesn't seem inline with the actual pages inside.

Then again, it's pretty much never that I read a book solely based on the cover. I'll chalk that up mostly to being blind, but I really do think it's an unfair assessment. Which is obviously why I work in the rehab field and not publicity and advertising.

April 24 2011, 17:00:04 UTC 6 years ago

I mostly won't read solely based on cover, but I'll pick up books based on an interesting or eye-catching cover. A good first cover is almost more important than anything else, for just that reason.

yellowblackhaze

April 20 2011, 22:53:21 UTC 6 years ago

I like the Toby covers and I like that they're not your standard UF/PR type cover. They're so not UF that a whole batch of Late Eclipses at my local Dymocks ended up in the Fantasy SF section and not the UF/PR section where they usually are.
Having said all that I dream of seeing the Pretty Dead Girl on a book cover one day.

April 24 2011, 16:52:12 UTC 6 years ago

So do I!

priscellie

April 20 2011, 23:06:01 UTC 6 years ago

Your musings make me want to take a look at my shelves and explore what marketing variables went into the cover art, and if I find myself to disproportionately drawn to any particular flavor. Of course, as I usually get recs by word-of-mouth, I rarely will choose a book on pure cover appeal. Though I suppose when choosing between two books my friends have recced, a more appealing cover is definitely a vote in that book's favor...

This needs SCIENCE!

April 24 2011, 16:50:53 UTC 6 years ago

EVERYTHING needs science, yo.

Deleted comment

April 24 2011, 16:45:38 UTC 6 years ago

I do think they're evolving as Chris figures out exactly what look he wants for the series. I find myself looking at, say, The Chimes at Midnight, and wondering what kind of amazing things he'll be able to do there.

nicachick007

April 21 2011, 00:35:54 UTC 6 years ago

This is probably why I love the covers so much. They are exactly who Toby is and what your stories are and they are perfect for that. Though it is interesting that the cover for One Salt Sea is so much brighter than the others, but I like it, because I believe it will be totally appropriate. So yay for covers... because I really do believe you actually CAN judgue a book by it's cover.

April 24 2011, 16:40:15 UTC 6 years ago

Whether we should judge a book by its cover or not, we DO, which is something that should really be taken into consideration during the cover design process.

lysystratae

April 21 2011, 04:36:17 UTC 6 years ago

That was one of the things I liked most about your covers - we didn't get generic one-less-inch-and-she'd-be-a-hooker girl.

April 23 2011, 18:11:32 UTC 6 years ago

hoppytoad79

April 21 2011, 07:08:37 UTC 6 years ago

Three cheers for having a woman on an urban fantasy cover who is dressed believably and the idea of her fighting in what she's wearing doesn't make you roll your eyes or burst out laughing. It annoys me that women dressed impractically and, usually, not having something they can defend themselves with is so incredibly common. Why can't there be more covers where the woman is dressed and armed like Toby? Where are the covers with men who are perfectly coifed and poorly armed? Bah! I'm looking forward to meeting Verity and her whole wonderfully odd family.

April 24 2011, 16:10:22 UTC 6 years ago

I'm looking forward to introducing them to everyone!

antinomic

April 21 2011, 12:24:13 UTC 6 years ago

The covers also reflect you. I chose a random page in R&R and read 10 pages, then the same numbered pages in LE. You are a much better author now, and as you evolve Toby evolves. So the covers reflect evolution.

April 23 2011, 18:09:42 UTC 6 years ago

I hope I'm getting better! I'd worry if I weren't...

fadedbluejeans

April 21 2011, 13:44:26 UTC 6 years ago

I love the Toby covers. I love that they're Practical Toby, and not the Urban Fantasy Babe, because oh god am I sick to death of her. The thing I love most about the Toby covers, look-wise, are the titles. The bright colours really pop on shelves filled to the brim with blacks and reds.

I'm lucky that, living in Australia, we see way less of Urban Fantasy Babe than the US does. My Kelley Armstrong Otherworld books, for example, have illustrated iconic covers, no people on them at all. They're beautiful, and I love them, and they don't scream 'trashy paranormal romance' from four train seats away.

The presence of UFB on a cover makes me less likely to pick it up, because the incidence of trash within is high. The one exception I can think of where I not only picked up a UFB book but also loved it was Rachel Vincent's 'Stray', and there are no weapons present and the cover model is really pretty accurate, aside from the tramp-stamp/cat-scratch on her lower back.

I could handle the Verity books getting UFB covers, as long as the weapons were less stupid than average, because I would be getting The Character As Described, not Some Chick In Leather (Don't Worry, You Don't Ever Meet Her).

April 23 2011, 18:07:12 UTC 6 years ago

I really like the iconic Armstrong covers.

I sort of hope for a UFB on the first InCryptid book, but with better weapons and more of a tango dress. Because I am an odd blonde.

kyburg

April 21 2011, 17:55:53 UTC 6 years ago

Is that the reason I can't find anything else to read? I - don't like perfectly groomed, gorgeous babes as covers. In a lot of cases, I found it insulting. That's odd - hadn't codified it as such until now.

April 23 2011, 17:56:42 UTC 6 years ago

Knowledge!

whitecrow0

April 21 2011, 19:15:48 UTC 6 years ago

Urban Fantasy is my favorite genre, but I loathe the Babe book covers. I tend NOT to read the Babe bookcover books.

April 21 2011, 19:25:50 UTC 6 years ago

Ohohohoh, I have a Comparison. You also recently posted about Bordertown. Phil Hale covers! (I have two of 'em.)

rhoda_rants

April 21 2011, 20:32:42 UTC 6 years ago

I have only thought, and it is: Yes. Very yes. Toby is a KNIGHT, a modern day one, and looks it. That is all.

April 23 2011, 17:41:05 UTC 6 years ago

Yay. :)

veela_valoom

April 21 2011, 22:13:17 UTC 6 years ago

Normally I don't like urban fantasy covers with girls on them. Mainly because they dress, excuse me for being a prude, waaaay too trashy. I carry my books to my job. My job at Girl Scouts. I don't watch sketchy-looking women in bras on the cover. Someone actually suggested an urban fantasy, and when I asked why the cover was...well...so scantily clad...she said that she didn't know, it didn't fit with the book and just to buy the e-book if it worried me.

I shouldn't have to worry about "what if they see the book cover" whenever I'm reading an urban fantasy with a female protagonist. And I don't know why tough somehow equals half naked. My mind does not compute the connection. Toby is one of my favorite female characters and I'm glad the cover reflects Toby, not the over-sexualized ideal of an urban fantasy heroine.

April 23 2011, 17:40:01 UTC 6 years ago

I don't think this is prudish; I think it's realistic. Kids ask questions, and those aren't questions you need to be asking when you're at work.

I'm glad you like Toby.

kat_merle

April 22 2011, 03:19:54 UTC 6 years ago

I don't really pay attention to book covers anymore to be honest it comes from reading young adult fiction and trying to match the picture on the cover to the characters in the book. I got really pissed off every time I couldn't match the characters on the cover to the characters in the book and finally just quit caring.

April 23 2011, 01:08:07 UTC 6 years ago

That's perfectly reasonable.

biteybatgirl

April 22 2011, 23:43:00 UTC 6 years ago

With the exception of Rosemary and Rue (I'm sorry! She looks so disgusted with life! And not in a good way!), I love your book covers. In fact, currently, my laptop wallpaper is the cover from An Artificial Night. I have to agree that it would be massively out of character for Toby to be dressed in skimpy leather and spiked-heels. I suppose, at the end of the day, there's nothing particularly *wrong* with that choice of cover. However, they do tend to all blur one into the other after too long. And as for Toby looking like she snatched a jacket from her boyfriend's closet... Let's ask Tybalt about that, shall we? :-D

April 23 2011, 00:37:15 UTC 6 years ago

I actually liked the original concept for the cover of Rosemary and Rue better, where Toby looked more "what am I even DOING here?", but I understand why we went with the cover we did.

I will eventually have a cover model dressed in skimpy leather. I just hope that when I do, it's because that's what she wears.

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