Book Covers The Entrance
Knock. Knock. Who’s there?
Book covers will always be the front desk when we browse at land-based bookstores or online. Photographs as covers, are taking a back seat because computer generated images - even stolen photos mutilated by photoshop - are as abundant as sand on a Miramar beach in Argentina.
The cover compliments the title of the book obviously and we cannot scientifically say, which comes first, or is more important. Remember the unsolved dilemma? What came first, the chicken or the egg?
I’m partial to book covers with photographs because I’m a photographer. Partial because some computer-generated images attract me as well. Here are two examples from my latest excursion to the local bookstore.
I picked up Huang’s book because of the cup which looks like the millions of paper cups office workers clutch every morning, on their way to work. The title is also coffee related. Is it double espresso or latte? Double Cup Love is a memoir and the author put his identity on the cover: ‘I’m Taiwanese Chinese American.’
I picked up Boy Shopping by Nia Stephens because of the cover photo that fits snugly in the title. Nice twins. The heroine Kiki, is a high school student, plays drums, hangs out with friends and shops for boys online.
The cover photo is not everybody’s cup of tea because of what it suggests. Parents for example. They might seize it and bury it in a cupboard box in the basement. It is how the photo is taken that makes the cover unique.
How are book covers chosen? I wish I was a speck of dust in editorial meetings and hear how publishers and authors decide on the right cover.
Is there a right cover?
Book covers will always be the front desk when we browse at land-based bookstores or online. Photographs as covers, are taking a back seat because computer generated images - even stolen photos mutilated by photoshop - are as abundant as sand on a Miramar beach in Argentina.
The cover compliments the title of the book obviously and we cannot scientifically say, which comes first, or is more important. Remember the unsolved dilemma? What came first, the chicken or the egg?
1. Double Cup Love by Eddie Huang
2. Boy Shopping by Nia Stephens
I picked up Huang’s book because of the cup which looks like the millions of paper cups office workers clutch every morning, on their way to work. The title is also coffee related. Is it double espresso or latte? Double Cup Love is a memoir and the author put his identity on the cover: ‘I’m Taiwanese Chinese American.’
I picked up Boy Shopping by Nia Stephens because of the cover photo that fits snugly in the title. Nice twins. The heroine Kiki, is a high school student, plays drums, hangs out with friends and shops for boys online.
The cover photo is not everybody’s cup of tea because of what it suggests. Parents for example. They might seize it and bury it in a cupboard box in the basement. It is how the photo is taken that makes the cover unique.
How are book covers chosen? I wish I was a speck of dust in editorial meetings and hear how publishers and authors decide on the right cover.
Is there a right cover?
| By: Nonqaba waka Msimang. | Author: Sweetness the novel. |
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