Cover Loveliness

Did you guys watch Downton Abbey? I can't tell you how unfulfilled my life has been without it. We shall discuss later.

First of all the winner (one single winner, as I did not get snow) of Circle Maker by Mark Batterson is Emily K. Emily, email me your addy, girl. For those of you who listen to podcasts, Batterson just started a Circle Maker series at his home church. (Search itunes for National Community Church.)

Second, let's talk book covers. Like many of you, I always have my eye out for some good book coverings. I so appreciate blogs dedicated to the art like ThatCoverGirl.com. Here are some faves of late. Note: A few of them are kinda old. Years old. A few I stole from Natalie Lloyd. Two from Sew Technicolor. Thank you for supporting my pirating.

I'm a horrible collage maker. It took me exactly 4 million hours to create that. And I cut off poor Steve Earle's book. I did not do it justice, so look it up and view it all by itself. It deserves that. Some of these are old, like the Lucado book. But I still like it. It still catches my eye after a few years. Love the font on Gettysburg. Love the folky chaos of Earle's.  Ebert's is so simple, but it fits him. Fits his passion for all things cinema. Classy. Understated, yet the font makes it. Redefining Beautiful cashed in on a trendy color that has yet to detrend. Plus the accent of black is always cool. I like how simple it is. I assume it's for teen girls, yet it doesn't say, “Hey, we think you're really ten.” Great job on that.

Next up, some fiction.

None of these fit together. Further evidence of my collage-creating-suckiness.
I love the cover by David C. Cook publishing of Don Reid's O Little Town. That would be the Don Reid from the Statler Brothers. Love the colors on that, again the pop of trendy blue, and the vintage station wagon. Very homey and vintage and cozy.

I stole the Little Women from Sew Technicolor, but I love that one! Great pink on pink. Jo March would hate it, but she can stuff it.

I'm usually not drawn to Debbie Macomber's covers because they're a little too blah for me. But I'm hoping the cover for Out of the Rain means they're moving in a new direction, like publishers have recently (finally) done for Nora Roberts. This one reminds me of something you'd see from Marisa de Los Santos, who usually wins the cover jackpot.

I'm a sucker for dress covers. I especially like it when they don't busy it up and let the dress be the focus. The cover for What Alice Forgot is interesting because that's the UK version, and it's so much prettier than the US version, which seems to be reaching out to a different audience. That version would've made me cry. And move to Britain.

Finally, a few more. A better collage, if I do say so myself.

Love the dress in The Selection (thanks to Natalie Lloyd for pointing that out.) Love the Lisa Dale book. For Passing Love, I like the dark dress with the contrast of the pink belt, though I don't love the tulip. Maybe that's significant, like her Eiffel Tower bracelet? I like the top half of the Art of Saying Goodbye, which reminds me of a Sarah Addison Allen, someone who has to be the luckiest of the lucky when it comes to cover creation.  Joshilyn Jackson also has some nice ones. Love the green gingham on A Grown-up Kind of Pretty.

I like this cover of To Kill a Mockingbird.

I liked it even more when I saw what Kristin from Sew Technicolor had done. Check this out.
Can you believe that talent? So cool.

For album covers, my favorite this year was this one.

Probably the snow and the pop of red. I'm not a Buble fanatic, and I don't really care for Christmas music, but I liked this cover.

I thought this article from Publisher's Weekly was interesting. It's about how they gave Gaiman's The Graveyard Book (YA, juvie lit) a new cover and sold it to adults. Have to admit, I like the adult cover better.

Some interesting thoughts on dead girls on YA book covers. I've never had that. Farm animals? Yes. Dead chicks? Nah.

Another good article by PW about the cover-sales connection, and how you're sunk if your book is wrapped in unnecessary ugly or if it doesn't stand out because it looks like all the rest. So good.

Any favorite covers out there? Dish!