Scary Monsters and Super Creeps

Author: Dom Joly
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

blurbxx-dom-jollyYou know those trailers in the cinema that reveal so much about the movie you end up feeling that you don’t need to bother going to see it?

Not only that…but they also leave you with the feeling that the movie  must be lousy if they have to show you so much in order to sell it.

That is what this blurb feels like.

It goes on and on and on and on.

Not only is it outfacing — but by the end you feel like you’ve garnered all the good bits.

Quite simply it is trying too hard and saying too much.

This blurb’s greatest value is in reminding us that you don’t seduce consumers by repeatedly clubbing them over the head.

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Posted by: Damian Horner
Friday, September 28th, 2012

A Moment in the Sun

Author: John Sayles
Publisher: McSweeney's Books

saylesThis hurts us.

The designers have gone to town on this one, as have the production team.

The result is a glorious, unique and quite beautiful piece of cover design.

OR…

This is a self-indulgent and completely illegible waste of time and money.

In fact, it is so hard to work out the title and the author name that the publisher has been forced to spend extra money on adding a sticker to explain who has written the thing.

You don’t even want to imagine what this looks like as a thumbnail.

Sure, the publishers will argue that John Sayles’ loyal audience will know what this is all about and will rejoice in having a book that oozes beauty and production values. Especially in an era when the hardback has to fight tooth and nail to add value

But can any author afford to turn their back on conquering new readers?

And does it have to be this extreme?

Does interesting design have to mean terrible communication?

We think not — so although we appreciate the intent behind this cover — ultimately this is design shooting itself in the foot by wilfully ignoring common sense and commercial reality.


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Posted by: Damian Horner
Tuesday, June 12th, 2012

Faces on Fiction Covers

Author: Various

cover-faces_0

Oh my God!! What has happened?

Suddenly Fiction covers have lurched en masse away from ‘Headless Women” and now there are faces on the front of books (!)

This is a significant moment in design history — We must take a moment to work out what is going on:

First off — let’s remember the context: Publishers everywhere are panicking about the Women’s Fiction market. Sales are crashing and everyone is desperate for a new formula.

So this must be it.  The big idea to reinvent the genre is to put a face on the cover.

Now that might sound like a simple thing to do — but clearly a lot of thought has gone into this.

And when the boundaries are being pushed so far, we must be sure that we all understand the new rules if we are to avoid to making hideous mistakes.

THE NEW RULES:

1) Find a very fresh faced girl in her early twenties

2) Make sure she has very full, red lips

3) Show all of her face but make sure you still crop the very top part of her head (This little nuance has caught out lots of designers who are new this new approach  - Beware!)

4) You can place the type over the hair and body but keep the face free

5) Most important of all retouch the eyes so that they are a uniform, piercing blue (Again, this detail has caught out lots of people so to avoid embarrassment, please use Pantone reference 293 c / CMYK (%) C 100 — M 60 — Y 0 — K 0)

Phew — that should keep everyone on track.

We look forward to the tsunami of copycats.

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Posted by: Damian Horner
Thursday, March 8th, 2012

J G Ballard

Author: J G Ballard
Publisher: Fourth Estate

ballard-spines_0There is something curiosly appealing about these spines.

In truth, they aren’t that extraordinary but the simple colour palates are very attractive. They give the spines a block presence on the shelf without getting in the way of either the titles or the author name.

It is a very elegant way to stand out on the shelf.

The only thing that annoys us is the way the imprint jumps between 4th Estate and Harper Perennial.

Of course there are sound internal reasons for doing this but from a consumer point of view it is messy and confusing — destroying all the beautiful consistency of the rest of the design.

Shame.


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Posted by: Damian Horner
Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

The Art of Fielding

Author: Chad Harbach
Publisher: Fourth Estate

art-of-fieldingSo here is the book that everyone is talking about…

And maybe that is the problem with this blurb: There is just too much talking.

There is one killer point that comes through in Jonathan Franzen’s quote — “First novels this complete and consuming come along very, very seldom”.

In other words — this is a special book…

Rare, desirable and precious…

A one-off that needs to be seized upon…

This is the point that the publishers should have rammed home — but instead they got caught up in the breathless eloquence of long quotes and witty baseball metaphors.

(Hardly motivational for readers in a country that knows sod all about baseball and shows absolutely no interest in learning more about it either)

This blurb would have been much tighter if the publishers had showed more restraint and edited the quotes so that they all reinforced Franzen’s central message. After all, in among the baseball references, each of the quotes pick up on the same theme:

For example James Patterson exclaims: “The Art of Fielding is one of those rare novels that seems to appear out of nowhere, and then dazzles and bewitches and inspires until you nearly lose your breath from the enjoyment and satisfaction”

Seldom…Rare…these are big motivational words that are getting lost amongst all the others

The bottom line here is this — When putting together a blurb it is nearly always better to focus on one powerful message than to get distracted by lots of other themes (no matter how positive and tempting they might be).



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Posted by: Damian Horner
Friday, January 20th, 2012

The Marriage Plot

Author: Jeffrey Eugenides
Publisher: Fourth Estate

the-marriage-plot-1Hardbacks are having a pretty rotten time at the moment, with rapidly diminishing sales and rising cover prices. Publishers have to work harder than ever to make their hardbacks covetable things of beauty that justify the price tag. They need to be stunning and tactile, with beautifully written, compelling text to draw the reader into their world.

How depressing, then, to see this lame excuse for a hardback — and particularly this utter waste of a back cover. Surely, SURELY, the days are gone when a couple of generic quotes were considered enough to make someone spend money on a premium book? Blurbs need to sell, to convince, to enchant. This text does none of those things… and it looks unbelievably boring as well.

Can you think of any other product category in which this sort of thing would be acceptable? This makes us want to weep.

Come ON, publishers — put some proper selling copy on the back of your hardbacks. Build the design around that copy to make it sing. Get us excited by what we see there. Show us that you believe in your book and we might believe in it enough to shell out £20.

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Posted by: Katie Roden
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

It’s a Man’s World

Author: Polly Courtney
Publisher: Avon

its-a-mans-worldSo the author of this book has commented in the press that she doesn’t like the cover. To be specific she said that it is “ultimately degrading to women”.

Wow — there are lots of authors out there who don’t like their covers, but very few go public about it. It is part of the unspoken deal between publishers and writers. No one really knows which covers will work and which won’t, so they all shut up about it until the sales have gone way or another (Then they can say whatever they like, fully backed-up by the weight of hindsight).

Of course the press have had a field day with these criticisms. The combination of an unhappy author and accusations of sexism make for great copy. In fact, rarely has The Bookseller website had so many comments about an article on its website (21 and counting)

What is funny is that most people can’t see what the author is complaining about (How refreshingly un-PC).

That is because, ‘degrading to women’ are the words that the media have leapt upon. But it seems that this is not the point that the author was trying to make.

Her real issue seems to be that that she believes this is quite a serious and insightful book about life in the City but the cover has made it feel ‘fluffy’ and ‘frivolous’. In other words, the book is pitched completely wrong. The tone of voice does not represent the content.

Wrong tone of voice…attracts wrong readers…who get frustrated or let down by the content…and don’t recommend it to their friends…and so sales never grow.

All very logical, but the real problem with this cover is that it is just very, very dull.

There is nothing here to engage the reader, arouse interest or grab attention.

Unless of course the publishers knew that their greatest weapon was the author herself. After all, she is a self-published success story — If anyone knows how to generate attention and awareness it will be her.

Do you think they deliberately created a crap cover? (It does appear that way…)

Was this all part of a grand plan to generate a storm in a media tea cup and get us all to notice a book that otherwise would have slipped under the radar?

If so, Avon and Polly, we salute you..



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Posted by: Damian Horner
Friday, September 16th, 2011

The Night Circus

Author: Erin Morgenstern
Publisher: Harvill Secker

night-circusThe Night Circus looks like it will be a lovely book — striking, clean and something you want to pick up and feel.

It’s great to see that this principle of simplicity has been applied to the blurb, too. Rather than trying to explain a complex story, Random have gone for three short yet intriguing statements that convey magic, uncertainty and a certain amount of threat.

It’s a shame, though, that this compelling blurb gets lost in a sea of reviews.

There’s already a great quote from Audrey Niffenegger on the front cover — “This is a marvellous book”. We don’t need to hear from her again. This quote is also intensely self-referencing and, as a result, gives the customer very little insight, particularly if he/she hasn’t actually read The Time Traveler’s Wife.

The Tea Obrecht quote offers far more to potential readers by giving them a real sense of how the book will make them feel, yet this is tucked away at the bottom of the cover.

The blurb also suffers by being in a font and colour that are more recessive than the review above it. It becomes the second thing the reader looks at and has less impact as a result. This copy should be what draws you to the book; the review should be the confirmation that you have made the right choice.

We would recommend losing the Niffenegger quote and replacing it with the Obrecht. The blurb could then be beefed up in size and given more weight, so it talks directly and immediately to its audience.

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Posted by: Katie Roden
Thursday, September 8th, 2011

The Big Picture

Author: Douglas Kennedy
Publisher: Arrow

big-pictureThis post is at the request of a male Twitter follower who has contacted Fixabook and asked us to cxplain why on earth these covers are so downmarket and female in tone?

Readers of Douglas Kennedy will know that he is more than capable of exploring human relationships and emotional dynamics but these covers do him a diservice.

They limit expectations of his writing to girly, cliched, American schlock. (Try saying that quickly)

In reality, Kennedy is adept at delivering meaty, fast paced plots that feel more like thrillers. They have garnered a substantial male following, yet most men are embarrassed to be seen with covers like this one.

Just a little bit of reader research would demonstrate how much this author would benefit from a less ‘in-your-face’ female positioning.

At Fixabook, we are all for focusing on a single audience, but when it limits perceptions of a writer and actively alienates a core audience there is something wrong.

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Posted by: Damian Horner
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

Flipbacks

Author: Various
Publisher: Hodder

flipback-booksUnusually, we’re not entirely sure what to make of these.

They feel fantastic — light and portable with a very tactile finish and a nice touch of spot varnish on the back. The paper is lovely and they are absolutely perfect for slipping in a pocket or bag.

They’re a high-risk strategy in the current market, however. The Kindle is now the perfect format for carrying books around or taking them on holiday when space is tight. Kindle editions are also significantly cheaper than these. Three years ago, flipbacks would have had a much greater chance of taking a chunk of the market.

Of course, they are very cool, lovely things, and are much more desirable than a Kindle from a design perspective. But Hodder have chosen to launch the format with resized versions of existing books, even using the same cover designs and blurbs as the original paperbacks. We feel this is a missed opportunity to really make waves and to show the limitations of the Kindle.

It would have been far better to launch with a special collectors’ list of desirable titles, specially created or re-edited for the format, to appeal to consumers with their creativity of design or as a stylish gift. That would have shown the possibilities of the flipback as opposed to the Kindle, and would have really made it something that people talked about and shared.

Once that buzz had reached its peak, and the flipback had become a coveted object in itself, that would have been the time to launch the reformatted backlist — books that people buy for themselves to read rather than to collect or give away.

So a really neat idea, but we’re aching to see a bit more imagination applied to it. Come on, Hodder, show us what the flipback can really do.


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Posted by: Katie Roden
Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
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