On Thu, May 15, 2003 at 02:27:52PM -0400, BLACKSTOCK, ROB wrote: > This brings up a good point: how does the process of developing cover > art for a new book come about? It depends on the publisher, the artist, and the author. My first three novels are being reprinted this fall, and the amount of input I got into the cover art was phenomenal compared to the amount I got when they were originally published (that latter amount being, none at all). I got to quibble about the period of the sword on the first cover, to ask that they put a cardinal (bird, not cleric) somewhere on each cover, and to suggest landscapes they might use. They changed their minds about the overall plan about four times, and the cover of the third book, which there wasn't time to show me, or maybe they wouldn't because I quibbled so much, is not accurate, though it's very beautiful and recognizable from the book. > Does the artist actually read the book? Is the artist only given a 2 > paragraph summary of the story and characters? Depends. Tom Canty read all of my novel TAM LIN before doing the cover, and I think he read all the Fairy Tale Line novels before doing the covers. But I don't know if he reads every book he illustrates. > For years I've wondered why book covers have so little to do with the > stories they illustrate... Especially in fantasy fiction. > > Does anyone know? The book cover is not an illustration. It's a marketing device. It's not even being marketed primarily to readers; it has to get past other buyers to even land on a bookstore shelf. There are a lot more considerations than whether it's accurate. So, at least, distraught authors are told by their editors. I see no reason to disbelieve them. -- Pamela Dean Dyer-Bennet (pddb at demesne.com) "I will open my heart to a blank page and interview the witnesses." John M. Ford, "Shared World"