Comments for Fixabook

Comment on The Big Picture by Richard Ogle

Richard Ogle — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:20:16 +0000

Actually this isn’t an Arrow title. This one is a copycat cover of the hugely successful The Pursuit of Happiness (which Arrow did publish) from Abacus trying to ride he coattails. Maybe his fiction at Abacus was more male friendly but his books at Arrow have been smack in the middle of contemporary fiction. I think his sales in this field speak for themselves.

Comment on The Marriage Plot by Julia

Julia — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:18:48 +0000

Unfortunately, most punters don’t see it that way in the average 11 seconds it takes to choose a book. Good blurb doesn’t need to be cluttered or spoil a design. Something pithy and enticing will do so much more to sell the book than the sort of lame, generic quotes displayed here — particularly now that hardbacks are so ludicrously expensive.

Writing good, short blurbs takes time and effort — sticking an essay on the inside flap is the easy option.

Comment on The Marriage Plot by LS

LS — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 22:37:50 +0000

Did you try looking on the front inside flap? This is where the blurb usually appears on a hardback, so we publishers don’t need to spoil the look of the design by cramming all the copy onto the back cover.
Seems an odd thing to weep over.

Comment on The Devotion of Suspect X by mecob

mecob — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 12:44:25 +0000

I agree it’s a fantastic cover, well done Little, Brown. But the red circle is positioned neither as a mouth or a gag — consider the iconic Silence of the Lambs movie poster. Surely a slightly more considered crop could have made this cover even better?

Comment on Finding Mr Flood by Robbins

Robbins — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 23:50:57 +0000

Canongate did it with their tv tie in of Crimson Petal earlier in the year also.

Comment on Steve Jobs by Joseph Humfrey

Joseph Humfrey — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 11:00:37 +0000

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think it’s a perfect style of cover. It’s in the style of Apple’s Think Different campaign:

http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2005/apple-think-different/

And that’s how Steve Jobs would love to be remembered — as one of the people who changed the world.

However, what’s not so good is that I don’t think that’s a particularly good photo of him! Yes, it’s been used everywhere, but it just looks so fake/processed that it doesn’t really look like him.

Comment on Steve Jobs by Julian

Julian — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:36:48 +0000

This book previously had a different title (iSteve, The Book of Jobs (yuk)) and cover: http://michaelpriceless.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/isteve-cover-.png .

I’m not sure about the title, but Steve didn’t like the cover and actually gave direction on the final design.

Thankfully the book was updated in time to cover his passing.

Comment on Steve Jobs by rolfsf

rolfsf — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 19:05:49 +0000

“We are surprised that the cover isn’t more…interesting.”

Seriously? It is so quintessentially Steve Jobs — I’m surprised anyone would expect different. I further expect the back jacket to be relatively blank, as Steve Jobs was known to have complained about book covers being ruined by quotes plastered all over.

As you say yourself, “The rest of the layout is clean and uncluttered, but that’s a no-brainer given this is a book about Steve Jobs.”

Comment on Mafia State by Julia

Julia — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 16:10:00 +0000

Last two paras:

And then I see it. It is a strange detail. The window of my son’s bedroom is wide open. The dark symbolism of the open window is not hard to decipher: take care, or your kids might just fall out.

I find myself in a new world. It is a place of unknown rules, of thuggish adversaries. But who are these ghosts? And who sent them?

Comment on Mafia State by James Spackman

James Spackman — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:53:28 +0000

Love this. Possible to reproduce the text somewhere? (even just as a comment). Can’t read the last para.