  Romance/Love
This week: What Makes a Good Romance Cover? Edited by: StephBee  
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What makes a cover romantic? How inclined are you to check out a romance novel based on the cover? Do you think all romance covers have bare chested men on them? You might be surprised by the current trends in covers. |
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There are a ton of romance covers on the market (all in different degrees of undress) but what makes a good romance cover?
First off, what should a cover do? Ultimately, the cover has one goal – to draw a reader to a book like a bee to pollen. You want the cover to entice the reader to read the blurb, thumb through the contents, and ultimately, buy it.
"Bad" covers can make a reader run in the other direction. So what's a bad cover? (keep in mind, I'm talking about mainstream romance covers – not erotica covers which tend to have a lot of degrees of undress and very suggestive poses)
Bad covers don’t accurately reflect the novel or the theme of the story within. Say it's a "sweet" novel with hand holding and kissing only. It's not a good idea to put a bare chested man on the cover. A bad cover has crossed the line from tasteful to tasteless. A bad cover makes you shy away from the book, not pick it up.
Elements that make a cover successful:
It reflects the novel and theme.
It catches your eye and makes you want to read the blurb.
It's tasteful, intriguing, and it doesn't make you cringe.
A good cover artist usually solicits a cover art input sheet from the author, asking for the author's vision and concepts. From there they work on finding graphics and stock photography that will represent the story well.
Cover model Jimmy Thomas got into the business of producing romance covers because he noticed there was a lack of quality stock photos for artists to use. Thomas ensures the photo shoots meet his high standard – he uses his own props, selects the poses, and picks the women in the shoot. He's one of the most popular romance cover models today.
Jimmy Thomas, Cover Model
Artist Jon Paul paints romance covers, keeping the focus on the characters and less on the backgrounds. He prefers painting historical settings and it's usually the publishing house that reaches out to him to commission a painting.
Jon Paul, artist, painted cover art
Yes, you can have a bare chested man on a romance cover and have it be tasteful. It's all in the presentation. Perhaps he's partially clad or wearing an open shirt. There are tasteful poses that evoke romance.
Question for you: How important is the cover to you when you buy a book?
References: http://www.thcreviews.com/cgi-bin/vts/interview_jimmy_thomas.html
http://reganromancereview.blogspot.com/2013/07/an-interview-with-gifted-cover-ar...
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A neurotically depressed British Art professor finds himself falling for his new co-worker
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Feedback from my Romance/Love NL DTD: 2 APR 2014:
Crystal J. Dean
I have always loved "How Do I Love Thee?". I remember reading it in front of my Junior Psychology class in high school. We were to pick out a song, poem or whatever that described how we felt about love. Lots of people picked songs, but I knew what mine would be. The teacher and my fellow classmates seemed interested and impressed, but I barely made it through the reading. I was nervous and I had a very serious boyfriend that year whom I loved deeply. I could feel the tears making my voice shaky, as I thought of him with every word. I paused to take a breath and continued. I have always remembered that poem and that special memory. I also still have the small book that I read it from that day in 1996.
Thank you so much for sharing. It sounds like a very poignant memory for you. It's amazing how Barrett-Browning's words transend time.
~Minja~ 
Hi Steph. Great newsletter, thank you for it. I love "romaticism". That was inspiration for me to make "Victorian Writing Style Contest " in WdC. It is all about 18th and 19th century's authors. I'm thinking to make one more but just for poets. I'm bad with poetry but I do love to read it though. I think it would be great. Anyway, while I'm here now I would like to share with you my favorite "romanticism" poem. I so love William Wordsworth and his Ode:INTIMATIONS OF IMMORTALITY. I've heard of it first time in the movie Splendor in the Grass and I loved it. I've found reflection of the words later on in my life. Thanks again for this newsletter. All the best.
Thanks so much for sharing. Wordsworth is another classic poet.
BIG BAD WOLF is Howling 
Let me try- "Love is a red rose, as it is always thorny." 
Love it! 
len_gray
My favorite Romantic poet is Emily Dickinson.
I actually didn't care for her for a long time(I was a die-hard Shel Silverstein fan) until I read 'I Could Not Stop For Death' She's been my favorite ever since I decided to take the Romantic poetry challenge and so I wrote | | | Invalid Item
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This was a really fun exercise and I'm glad that I tried this! Thanks for challenging me to do something new!
Thanks for taking the challenge!
QueenOwl ~ A New Day Dawns 
I don't know if what I just posted went through or not. So, here it it:
jaya
I have several favorite romantic poets. As of now it is W.B. Yeats. His poem addressing Maud melts my heart.
Here's my poem for your challenge:
Regards
Jaya
Thanks for taking the challenge.
StephBee is a 911 dispatcher for LAPD. Her latest romance novella is "Dark Shadow" and it takes place in the distant future on the Borealis space station. Can Helios save the station and win Vivian's heart? |
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Romance/Love: April 30, 2014 Issue [#6290]
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