In this case, I couldn’t read the book because I had to come up with some mock-ups for the next day. All I had was a little idea of what the novel is about and a title: HAPPINESS.

With that in mind, I did a few cover attempts, chose the better ones (these designs) and sent them to the publisher.

Later I showed that work to Mijal, a friend & designer, and when saw the blue one, she pointed out, “How clear that is your concept of happiness: winter & snow, while for many other people happiness would be a beach, warmth” … mmm, (yes, I do love winter).

Of course I was completely unconscious about it, and so much inside the design that couldn’t take any distance to be able to see it.

I always say that the work should never reflect the designer, but the author and the book. Yet, that’s difficult to do when the publisher insists that the mock-ups be done in less than one day.

Self-explanatory.

Since we’re based in Buenos Aires, we obviously have no problem with outsourcing book cover design to offshore companies. But we’ve stumbled across this example of one of the worse book covers we’ve ever seen.

Sure, for $100 you’re not going to get much but this is ridiculous. Of course, such low quality is not just common with some offshore book designers. There are plenty of bad online portfolios of so-called book designers based in the U.S. and Canada. The focus of these firms seem to be self-publishers and the rates for a cover usually range from $100 – $500, though we have seen some bad designers charging $1,000 for a cover. Now, at that price your really should get something good.

A book cover can be cheap but it doesn’t mean that it also has to be bad, bad, bad. For a low price, you’re not going to get great, great, great book covers but you might be able to get good, good, good book covers.

Judging Books By Their Covers is a good posting that examines litlove’s reactions to the new cover of Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus….”I find it a little uninspiring and plain”:

This cover is from the 2006 UK Vintage Classic edition. Actually, we don’t dislike it. But, as litlove’s says, “The baroque decoration that is Carter’s prose deserves something more vibrant and enticing.” When we checked Amazon US we found a cover from the other extreme:

Certainly vibrant and enticing but seemed totally out-of-place, even trashy, until we realized that this cover is for a theatrical adaptation of the novel by Tom Morris and Emma Rice. Ok, in that context, change trashy to artsy.

It seems that the image on the cover is a photo still of Natalia Tena performing in the main role of the play. The Guardian provides a review of the play and some insight into Angela Carter from her literary executor.

Something is quite odd with Amazon’s Search Inside the book feature with this title. When you click on the above image for the cover from the adaptation, then you get this illustrated cover from the original 1986 Penguin edition.

Buyers do notice the covers

In the second half of her posting litlove describes the impact that cover art can have on her choice selection:

There have been occasions when I’ve not bought a book because I’ve disliked its cover, and I’ve certainly chosen one book over another on the feeble grounds of aesthetic attractiveness. I’ve been drawn to try new authors because I’ve thought the book appealing.

The final paragraph of her posting talks about her own experience as an author and the cover art for academic books. Interesting stuff, be sure to read it (and be sure to check out the link in the first comment to that post, which will take you to a fascinating site).

Or, maybe it’s just in Argentina that most book covers are truly horrible?

The Cultura section of this past Sunday’s Perfil, a very good Buenos Aires newspaper on Sundays, ran a profile of novelist David Leavitt. As you can see in the snapshot of the article, Perfil – as does many papers – likes to highlight the book covers of an author for the readers.

Let’s look a little closer at those splatches of yellow and red that Anagrama calls book covers. (Actually, Anagrama is based in Spain, so the problem is more global than just South America).

At the very top is Baile en familia, known in English by its original title of Family Dancing: Stories .

Let’s compare that to it’s norteamericano cousin:

Hmmm, quite a contrast there….Let’s compare a few more….

Arkansas: Three Novellas

The Body of Jonah Boyd: A Novel

It’s not the price

One possible reasoning for the lesser quality book covers could be the price. But, wait, the price of books in Buenos Aires is no lower than the price of books in the U.S. So, that doesn’t explain it. In fact, the price of new paperback books in Buenos Aires is actually higher than the price of new paperback editions in the U.S.

I think that it’s simply because many foreign language publishers do not value the book cover. Well, actually, I think that it’s because many of the foreign language publishers are just too cheap to pay designers a decent rate for a nice cover. But, those publishers should realize that a good book cover actually helps in selling more books. For the publishers and bookstores, at the end of the day, it’s all about selling books.

I want to see better book covers on the shelves of the bookstores in Buenos Aires!