(Disclaimer: I am not a book cover designer and I have never designed my own covers. This is an opinion/commentary but it is based on research, experience and extensive reading. Hence, I consider it an educated opinion but still my opinion. I urge you to do your own research. Also, I am not providing links to books or authors this time because I am not promoting or excluding any particular author or genre. I support all authors no matter their style. All of these can be researched).

Let’s get intimate with our clothes on. Book covers are a way to be intimate with our readers. We use our covers to entice, seduce, and tease the reader into purchasing our novels. But I have noticed that in the last several years, our book covers have gone way beyond trying to tease and into showing the reader exactly what they’ll receive. And for me, this both disturbing and sorrowful.

Sex has always been a tool, but those who wielded the tool the best were the ones who could draw you to them without giving away their secrets, their privates, their punch lines. Sex sells, always did, but the idea of sex was more compelling than the showing of it.

As an example, go back to the legendary 30s and 40s when Hollywood was its most glamourous. Clothes of the period epitomized the “tease, don’t show.” The social values of the times reflected this idea in fashion and in the book covers. Showing an ankle with a strappy shoe, a tight bodice fully covered, wrist gloves that hid delicate hands, stockings with a line down the back that emphasized a promise up high…all concepts that carried forward in movies and books. Sure, times were a bit more prudish when it came to what was allowed in public and on screen; but again, the suggestion of sex, the hint of passion, was enough to set imaginations (and tongues) off and running.

Take a page from the queen of the tease herself, Gypsy Rose Lee, who first gave you a falling dress strap – and nothing else! – and suddenly the IDEA of her naked was more compelling than being naked. That’s why her fan dance – removing clothes behind large ostrich plumes – was so erotic. You never see skin but you believe the skin is naked and you are seduced.

Thus, less is more. But book covers did, and didn’t, follow this idea. While real life was more about how to beautify and tantalize without truly showing anything, as with Marilyn Monroe, it was forgivable to show more if the subject wasn’t real (as with pulp fiction). Here are some examples through time.

While sultry actress Elaine Stewart teased us in the 1950s through lace and let us peek at a promise of skin, book covers were more intense.

For example, in 1955 while Ava Garner was seducing us with silk and a particular “look,” the popular erotica novel was as equally teasing with more showing than Ava (though we also get “the look”).

When the free-wheeling, free sex 1960s arrived, tantalizing and teasing took on a new meaning from fashion to erotic book covers (remember what they might not approve of in person, they could draw). Until some underground presses, and more open-minded ones, boldly “went for it” in 1965.

In the 70s, claiming intimacy was more about closer relationships and it showed in book covers, too. More covers with men and women holding and touching, teasing and tantalizing. Even mainstream covers now, openly seduced the reader.

The 1980s brought us the “bosom busters” and readers – particularly women – flocked to read the steamy romances whose covers promised sizzling ultimate sexual fulfillment. I’ve owned a few of these (Rosemary Rogers anyone?) but after a while, the covers all began to look alike. They became more about the sex and less about the story. Not only did the women’s clothes get scantier but the men started losing theirs! It seemed that suggesting and teasing were Gone With The Wind.

In the 1990s a funny thing began to happen to romance and erotica. In the 90s, more books showcased women only covers and in the new millennium, we found a shift in focus heading toward a new, solo showcase of men.

Maybe as we left the 20^th century we left behind our sense of good taste. In the newer, fast food society we wanted everything now, immediately, and without preamble. We had to know how movies ended, we wanted reviews of everything so there were no more surprises. We seemed to lose our understanding of the tease and any value of wonderment or the tantalizing joy of seduction. It was like we skipped foreplay. We lost our need for the hint, the tease.

And then, something odd happened. Instead of showing everything on our book covers, we pulled back. Publishers and authors drifted in new directions. Gone were the people. We pulled back on skin in fashion and we gave up on skin for covers. We went to symbols instead. Men’s ties (think Grey, shades of), cufflinks, key chains. Think feathers, swords, and flowers. Think snow globes, glass jars and amulets. And instead of bodies, think half faces, shadowed faces, and women’s backs.

Collage borrowed from ceciliatan.com from fall 2012

Books referenced: Broken, Megan Hart (September 11, 2012, Harlequin MIRA), The Angel, Tiffany Reisz, released September 25, 2012 in the US, October 1 in the UK, Eighty Days Yellow, Vina Jackson (September 25, 2012, Open Road Media), Destined to Play, Indigo Bloome (September 11, 2012, HarperCollins), Temptation’s Edge, Eden Bradley (October 24, 2012, Penguin USA), Anything He Wants: Dominated by the Billionaire, Sara Fawkes (November 27, 2012, St. Martin’s Press), Release Me, J. Kenner, January 1, 2013

That brings us to present day and my real reason for this post (and good for you if you’re still here).

A recent trend has emerged where covers are either one person nearly naked, or two people and the woman is nearly naked. And the posts are about as suggestive as they can be. Little is left to imaginations and hands poke into jeans about to fall from the tops of groins, where bottoms are bared and pearls or whips tickle skin, where women lay in the arms of a bare chested man and their clothes look pulled up but not off, pants jerked down but not off. I don’t want to get into female objectification but hey, there’s that too.

Maybe my imagination is off but there’s little left for my imagination to create. Like that fast food society I mentioned, it seems that book covers again are leaning to baring all and forgetting about the true art of the tease. I’m sorry but there is nothing teasing me when the body is all but bared and clothes are nearly ripped off.

Book Cover, book blurbs, and book videos are meant to entice, to tease, and suggest. When we lose our ability to trust that the reader will get the book and imagine what now is blatantly shoved on the cover seems insulting to me. We’ve lost the “less is more” standard. More is not better. More is just more and often, too much.

There is an old saying, why buy the cow if I can get the milk for free? If a book cover shows me everything about the book then what need have I to get the book? Even if I don’t know the ending, show me too much and I stop being enticed. Tease me. Tantalize me. Suggest and Seduce. Make me want it. Don’t shove it at me.

I realize there are genre expectations. They shift with time, tastes, and expectations. Maybe it is time to believe in the reader again. After all, fashion has taken an upswing and a return to Hollywood glamour. Why can’t book covers turn the tide too?

Let’s return to imagination and suggestion. Let’s be innovative and creative again. Look, even vampires don’t have to go on a black background with dripping blood and graveyards, or biting some hapless sap. See? He seduces and he’s popular!

He’s mine.

Let’s get intimate, emotionally, spiritually and then tease me with what else I might get. Let’s do our jobs and provide “the tease” with a promise of something more because we are artists and we can! Use the talent to entice instead of to bare. 

Let’s be intimate and leave our clothes on, at least until we get between the covers!

Go on, surprise me as a reader. And as an author, I will try to do the same for you.

Yours Between the Lines,
Sherry

So there I was late last night (early this morning), not ready for sleep and wanting to watch something on TV that made me feel good.  I didn’t want any blood and gore, no downers, nothing depressing. So I scrolled through the on-air guide…(just go with me here)…It (scary)…The Bad Son…Trainspotting…Shadow Dogs…The Wicker Tree…Rise of the Planet of the Apes…The American…U 571…Deer Hunter (uh, no)…The Crow…Reservoir Dogs….Pollock…Prometheus…

Okay, I sighed. Heavily. Disappointed, I was about to turn off the TV when there it was! Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Yes! I changed the channel, settled back in my recliner and let myself be magiked away.  How is it I could find this youthful movie so much more preferable to anything else?

The simple answer is that Harry Potter’s first movie has that “certain something.” The more complex answer for me is that the movie offers one delicious emotion we all crave, despite the target audience, something we always gravitate to — hope.

Harry Potter movies (including the later, darker ones) send a message — that even in the darkest hour, there is always hope. And so in the middle of the night, I raised weary eyes to an HD screen and felt myself entertained, uplifted, and filled with hope.  Each of the main characters were just starting on their journey and despite knowing how they would end up (yes, I read all the books and have seen all the movies), I wanted to start over with them again. I wanted to re-new the thrills, the discoveries, the silliness. I wanted their innocence. I needed to renew what they found in each other – hope. 

When I finally turned out the light and closed my eyes seeking dreams (I never made it to the end of the movie, but love and hope won out in the end), I had to smile. Besides being a kid at heart and knowing I could watch that first Harry Potter movie over and over, the reason I feel this way is how inspired I always am by these characters, their infectious joy and their capacity to hope. This is what makes the Harry Potter stores great – this certain something from these characters that remains with us, long after the tale has ended.

As a writer, I want my readers to know this feeling from me. Somewhere in the tale, there must be a golden thread, a feeling my characters will always promise to deliver no matter the obstacles or odds.  I want my readers to come back, craving that certain something from me, and knowing they will find it. Just as I knew Harry would give it to me.

JK Rowling had to find it in herself. Broke and practically homeless, she followed a dream (literally) and spent 10 years holding on to hope that her characters would be published. I think that’s why the theme is so very potent in her stories. She had faith and hope and so do Harry and his friends. They give it over to us, in every book, in every movie. And we come back to it simply because we like how it makes us feel.

I urge you, as writers, find your certain something and be generous. After all, “it” is what created the Patronus, saved Snape’s soul, and defeated Voldemort. Hope.  More than love, this little “something” is worth reaching for at any hour, repeatedly.  I think that’s the real magic.  Every time I open a book, watch a movie, listen to a bit of classical music, I am reminded of that which is behind the art that thrills me:  that certain something. You have to have it to be magic. You have to have it to be memorable. You have to have it to succeed. 

When I find it from an author, I stick with that author. I’m hooked, just like finding Harry Potter on late night TV. The magic never dies and it’s memorable. I’ll stay up all night for you if you give me a book that will stay with me.

Something special. It is the hook your readers want. JK gave us Harry and Harry gave us hope.

Go find yours. Readers are waiting.

Thanks for stopping by.

Yours Between the Lines,
Sherry

Hello writers and readers. I spent the first few days of June at the Space Coast Book Lovers Convention/Signing at Cocoa Beach Florida.  Huge Kudos to the organizer Teri Dees Edney and all the authors, writers, bloggers, industry professionals and volunteers who came together to pull off such a fun time for everyone. Sun, sand, purpose. 

Why do people go to conferences/book signings? There are several reasons and the most obvious first one is to sell books. But that really isn’t the main reason, especially when in four days you only have four hours to sell books. What most authors crave is meeting the “competition,” connecting with online friends, making new ones, mixing with bloggers and industry professionals like models and photographers, cover designers, podcasters, and marketers. Conferences and conventions are the best opportunity to network and mix and mingle. The contacts and social interactions at these events are what make them invaluable, for readers and writers. Here’s what the sponsorship banner looked like for this event (please note that my logo is there too)

In my case, I was delighted to meet so many folks that I interact with on Facebook, as well as to grab a hug from folks I’ve “known” online for years and craved sharing something more personal. Such moments are so precious. You’ll hear people all over, all day, every day saying, “HI! Oh so good to meet you!” Or “Whee, I missed you.” It will make you smile.

Yvonne Mason and me

Our lodgings were right on the beach at the International Palms Resort and Hotel. The view from my room was perfect. We were there in time to watch the latest launch of a Space X Rocket from Kennedy Space Center, too! (I’m such a space baby geek that this was extra special for me).

I couldn’t have done my job as an author without the wonderful, invaluable assistance of my PA Terri Wilson and my hubby (set-up roadie and part time manager), Ron. The two of them made it easy for me to concentrate on author stuff and not on the other minutia. They helped to make my author table look just right and both of them have a keen eye for marketing. I just love them.

My right arm, Terri Wilson PA

If you get an opportunity to go to a conference, to mix and mingle with authors and readers, I will be the first to tell you to go. The contacts you made and the friendships you begin will be a treasure. There is no way I can show you all the photos I took, but these photos are just some of the wonderful authors you can meet at events like this.

(From top down, Violet Howe, Julie Morgan, Elle Klass, HD Smith, and Tara Briggs)

And thank you to an online friend who came over especially to see some familiar faces and to meet me. I was so honored to meet my Facebook and Twitter friend Pam. She was even more beautiful in person and her arrival made my day!

A Fan!

There’s already been oodles of articles about the event and I only want to add what a well-done, event-packed weekend it was. I hated the Florida heat (I was uncomfortable all the time) but the company and the experience was tremendous. They are already planning next year’s event so if you get a chance to attend, I tell you this is one to put on your bucket list!

As we prepared to head home, Florida gifted us with a wonderful sunrise, one of the State’s special talents.

Of course there is always someone who is geeked out. I’ll just leave this here and thank you for stopping by. (Ron, really there’s no one in it!)

Come by TOMORROW for more new stuff!

Yours Between the Lines,
Sherry