Got You Covered!

One surprising thing – to beginning writers – about being published is that the author doesn’t get to choose the cover. Once in a great while, after having several books published, an editor will ask an author if he or she has any suggestions for the cover. Once in an even greater while, the idea the author has will influence the cover.

The usual thing is that, as the book begins the publishing process the author will receive, in the mail or via e-mail, the “cover art,” a more-than-rough-sketch. The author’s reaction can range from “Arrrrggghhh!” to “Wow, that’s great!”

I had a good friend who wrote science fiction, and who was achieving considerable success, who was sent the cover art for her next book. She was startled when it featured a scantily-clad, well-endowed woman, because her book was about a world populated by beings who resembled bears. She remarked that very likely there was a sci-fi author out there somewhere who couldn’t understand why his well-endowed humanoid heroine was portrayed on his cover as ursine.

My first mystery series, written as Mary Monica Pulver, featured a police detective whose wife raised and bred Arabian horses. Of the five books, four featured a horse on the cover. Though the covers were attractive, in none of them was the horse an Arab.

The one cover that didn’t have a horse on it, did have another problem. The story is set at the Great Pennsic War, a Society for Creative Anachronism annual event. Rather than just describing what the event looks like, we sent the publisher some photographs. To our amazement, the cover art was taken from one of the photographs and the people on it were clearly recognizable. We had to make some hasty phone calls to warn the people involved and see if they objected. Fortunately, they didn’t.

I think all of the covers of my Betsy Devonshire mysteries are very attractive, even eye-catching – which, of course, is the idea. I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do with Threadbare.

Book Cover Art

My first book cover, for Murder at the War, was amazing and quite wonderful. The story takes place at The Great Pensic War, an annual event put on by the Society for Creative Anachronism, a group of slightly insane people who re-create the medieval period in costume, jousting, music, feasts, knighting, crowning, politics, dance, crafts, etc. To help explain the setting, we sent a set of photographs to my editor. To our amazement, when the cover came, it depicted a scene from one of the photographs in which the people were identifiable. We made a quick series of phone calls and, fortunately, none of them objected to being portrayed on the cover of a murder mystery.

The next four novels in that series each had a cover with a horse on it. The heroine of the series breeds, trains and shows Arabian horses, one of the most easily identifiable varieties of horse. I describe them in each book: delicate of bone, “dished” face, large eyes, arched neck, high-set tail. And not one of the horses on any of the covers was an Arab. Disappointing.

The covers of my next series, about a medieval nun, were okay at first (the stained glass window of one was definitely nineteenth century Protestant) but got better and better as the series went along. The last one looked like an illumination from a late-medieval manuscript. Gorgeous!

I’m very pleased with the current Betsy Devonshire series, and have also noticed that they are improving as the series continues. The cover for Buttons and Bones is smashing!

Many readers don’t realize that one of the several things an author does not get to choose about her book is the cover. I have been pleased, surprised, amazed, and disappointed in the covers of my two dozen novels -- and I never know in advance which it’s going to be.

Does a cover influence your purchase? Do you pick up a book, intrigued by the title, then decide to buy it if the cover pleases you? Or put it back if the cover puts you off? I confess that if I’m selecting an author unknown to me I will sometimes let the cover be a part of the selection process.

To my readers in Fargo, ND, Wolf Point and Cut Bank, MT, Spokane and Seattle, WA, Portland, OR, Sacramento, CA, and Salt Lake City, UT, look for me in your town in June. (We’re also stopping in East Glacier Park, MT, and Reno, NV, but I’m not making an appearance in either place, but will just be playing the tourist.) See my web site -- Monica-Ferris.com -- for a complete schedule.