Not trying to rehash the debate on the effectiveness of covers. I’d just like to make a statement about them. Obviously, covers are what attracts the reader’s eye. More or less, the cover is what makes a first impression to the consumer. Covers give you some sense of what the story is about without having read one word. In all honesty, I couldn’t tell you when was the last time I bought book solely on a cover but it has happened.
All I ask, as a consumer, is that the content of the book match the cover. There is controversy going on right now where a YA novel had the face of white girl on the cover but the character is actually black. It is as someone else pointed out, not an isolated incident.
How many times have we voiced our objections to characters whose features don’t match the cover model? Red hair when it’s actually brunette? In this case with Liar, the character is a different race altogether. It’s been stated that resultant cover was a marketing decision. Heh. Says a lot if it that is the case here but I am not going to delve into that on this blog.
That title seems ironic, doesn’t it? Anyway, to share my opinion on this situation, I find that the publisher was in the wrong doing what they did in deceiving the consumer. For me, it’s straight up false advertising. However, after saying all of that, looks like the publisher is really pushing her book as I see Vine reviews are already up with an average four star rating.
pic via takomabibelot
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I thought the same, that the publisher was running more with the title versus the cover because the cover is obviously a lie.
@Sarah — interesting discussion with someone about this who doesn’t see this as false advertising at all. More or less, this person said that essentially, “a cover is a cover” and that covers are created to help push a product in this case a book, content is not as important. There was more to the discussion but it did make me think and I love hearing other perspectives.
It irritates me when book covers are misleading. If the lead character is black, then put a black girl on the cover. If they feel a black character on the cover is bad for sales, then don’t use a person on the cover at all. I don’t think this strategy is right, by the way, but it’s better than using a white model who is supposed to represent a black heroine. I’m amazed there’s no law against this sort of thing as it’s clearly discrimination, not to mention false advertising.
I’m with you on this. I learned long ago not to expect covers of ‘romance’ novels to be all that is truth and honesty. I remember years ago flipping back and forth between a scene describing the hero and the cover. I don’t like mustaches and there was no mustache on the cover model so why is there one of the hero? I was young.
It’s funny that I expect other genres to have covers that don’t false advertise. I guess because it’s a girl’s face you expect the cover to relate specifically to the heroine of the story.
Not having read the book though maybe the cover is meant to be a part of the story. The title is ‘Liar’ so maybe everything about the book is a lie. I’m thinking the publisher should run with that.
CindyS
I think of the cover as the bait. The hook is inside and waiting to grab the reader. If no hook, then the bait can be spit out. I like the cover of the first in my Stacy McCray Series. I hope the hook inside will be a good match.
Thanks for this post, I enjoyed it.
Beth Gray
http://www.bethgray.us