Jezebel 
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New York, 6:11 AM
Fri Nov 27
2 posts in the last 24 hours
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08/11/09
Of course, the fact that the sales and marketing people would feel that a white girl would sell better than a black girl is disturbing. I would imagine that the feeling was that with a black girl on the cover, the book would get segregated into the "African American Literature" section of stores, instead of the much better selling general section. And since this book is by Scott Westerfeld's (of "Uglies" fame) wife, Bloomsbury is probably hoping to break this book out in a big way. So they wanted it to appeal to a mass audience. That says something about our society in general, but is not entirely Bloomsbury's fault.
08/11/09
Do what I have done. Reject the traditionally remote and cloistered model of the "arteeste" and become as well-schooled in business as your co-workers. It ain't that hard. On any given night, I can meet a slew of Wall Street types who aren't half as smart as we are. Talk the talk, back it up, make the decisions, convince the people in your work force (by speaking to them in their terminology) that you are the person to trust. It takes time, it takes energy, it takes proven results, but, in the end, it is so worth it, to have these established relationships in the workplace.
And then the improved artwork and cover designs will follow. Communication is the key. I'm only as good as the others in my workflow, that includes those in the approval process. If I have a shitty sales rep who has cover approval as part of my design process, then guess what I do? Make them a great creative director.
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08/11/09
Well, all of this is determined by a lot of factors - how much the house paid for the book, for instance, factors in to how much promotion is put behind it. Other factors, like promoteable authors (ie, Lauren Conrad), newsworthy subjects, etc. all contribute. Publishers know whether they are going to be throwing a lot of support behind something before they are designing the cover. So Larbalestier is not really correct. The fact that the house wanted to break out the book in a big way most likely contributed to the fact that they didn't want a black girl on the cover. The support determines the cover, not the other way around. This even contributes to whether or not a cover has effects on it like foil or embossing.
But I was not trying to take responsibility away from the publishing house in my previous comment. I was just trying to point out that publishing is a business, publishing houses need to make money, and African American literature is, unfortunately, still seen as a niche market. To make big money on this book, they wanted it to get front of store promotion, and be shelved alongside the other YA books.
(And just to be clear, I don't work at Bloomsbury, so this is of course all speculation on my part.)
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I'm sick of passive-aggressive comments along the lines of "well, I'm sorry you feel that way". Own up to being wrong instead of acting like a 16 year old girl whose parents are making her apologize.
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That said, I prefer book covers that don't tell me what the character looks like. I like to imagine them myself. Many a book has been ruined by an illustration that was completely different from my imagined ideal.
08/11/09
And what is it exactly that she's supposed to have over her face? Is this seriously the best they could do?
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And yes, she's unreliable, but is she 30?
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06/09/09
I just read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian last week and wished it had been around when I was a kid -- it was the perfect combination of dark and hilarious...
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06/09/09
But ends the book by having her give up cutting after she has sex with her dream guy.
That's quite a burden on real dream guy boyfriends of cutters and the cutters themselves. I gave the book a million thumbs down in my head.
06/08/09
I also remember reading a book about a girl whose father (?) was abusive. they had a pregnant hamster (?) which the girl finds in the bathtub dead with the babies all cut out. Not too pleasant.
And the one where homeless teenagers are put into a building full of stairs in an experiment to see who will do what for food, for safety, etc? That wasn't a recent book, either.
Dark themes appeal to teenagers. Always have, always will. Good literature exposes people to themes and concepts that will help them make sense out of the world.
Jessica and Elizabeth WAkefield and thier perfect size 6 bodies would be totally fat and made fun of now.
Christopher Pike was my favorite for a long, long time. Most of his stories still stay with me.
06/09/09
I agree that dark themes appeal, but I liked twist-of-the-knife dark, like the story you mentioned - it's not pure gore and darkness, but poignant, and made so by the possibility of light.
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