What does the cover image signify?

It's funny to see this discussion here as in my podcast (BOOKHOBBY on iTunes or from the feed address below) I do a segment called "Let's Judge A Book By Its Cover" every so often. I have found that covers on books (and magazines) are so open to interpretation that any one image can mean any number of things especially in the Rorshach manner that people use to judge a cover on the rack or newsstand. I did one segment on the cover of the book TOM BEDLAM and, as always, I talked about the cover BEFORE I had read the book and spoke on why I chose the book based on the cover, and what I expected to find in the book when I read it. I actually hit the nail pretty close on the head although the novel was not quite as Dickensian as I had imagined it would be. I'll be doing a feature review on the book soon because, as it happens, judging that book and buying the cover was a great find!

What other covers of magazines or books have we seen that made us buy -- or not?

Neil Shapiro
neil@bookhobby.com
www.bookhobby.com
http://feeds.feedburner.com/bookhobbycom
"Books Are More Precious Than Gold."

... always a source of consternation, especially among the staff!

In honor of Nov/Dec, we were looking for something "wintery," though the signs on the cover are perhaps a bit too subtle. She's sitting inside a coffeehouse with city lights in the background and a bit snow falling outside. So that's the literal "translation."

We're always grateful for feedback! The covers to the magazine have presented a bit of a challenge for us. When we started the magazine, I was determined that we wouldn't have an illustrated cover and that we wouldn't feature contemporary authors looking pensive and writerly. Both would be copying so many others out there ... and the latter particularly didn't fit in with our philosophy of focusing on the art rather than the artist.

So we've vacillated between multi-part covers that try to represent the content inside the magazine to semi-glamour shots of readers. We've been tending toward the latter lately, but trying to keep them looking somewhat natural. Perhaps Nov/Dec is too unnatural? I never got "misty-eyed" before, but I can see a bit of that.

On the other hand, our current cover got your attention! That's all we can ask of it on the newsstand.

Jon