, written by Laini Taylor. (Just to clarify, I still am extremely, crazily, madly in love with it. But there was a time when I would not stop talking about it on this blog.) Laini is a fantastic writer (her next book, Daughter of Smoke and Bone
comes out soon!), and the book is just phenomenal--it was a National Book Award finalist, even. One of the things I loved the most about it was the fact that it''s also illustrated beautifully with artwork by Laini's husband, and it's all in the same style and color pallet as the cover:
Absolutely. Gorgeous.
I just love this cover, I love that it matches the artwork inside, and I think that it just stands out beautifully. The actual book is just a stunning package.
So, I was beyond disappointed when I found out that the cover for the paperback edition had been changed to this:
To be honest with you, this looks like every other supernatural romance book out there. It has just taken the life out of the book. Laini's work is unique and different and fascinating, and the original cover reflects that. This cover says, "Sparkly, kissing, yum." And that's it. Nothing of the sexy, dark, appealing drama of the book.
I know that decisions like these are usually made to help improve sales, and I can't find fault with wanting to improve sales--it means more money for the publisher and author to continue producing great books, and it means more people will (hopefully) read Lips Touch. I just am so disappointed that in order to achieve this, they have to take away something so beautiful and unique and conform to a cover that is so lackluster and blah.
Maybe I'm overreacting--what do you think about the covers?
13 comments:
I like the first one better. Its much more original and its got spunk ^^
Yeah, the original artwork is much more eye-catching. Like you said, those sparkly lips look way too much like a zillion other YA paranormals.
Mary @ Book Swarm
I totally agree and having read "Lips Touch: Three Times" it absolutely does not capture the dark, sexy feeling that the stories have...new cover fail. :(
I totally agree...the first cover was not only better but more sentimental. boo to the change, lol
Oh wow that is rather disappointing. I love the first cover, I had even featured it on my blog once upon a time since its gorgeous and I love illustrated covers. The new cover wouldn't catch my attention in the bookstore at all since, as you say, it looks like any other paranormal YA on the market.
I agree. I would have picked up the first book, but the second one. You summed it up with "Sparkly, kissing, yum". I wouldn't have grabbed it.
I agree, the paperback cover is definitely a disappointment. The first cover makes the new one seem so bland and unoriginal. :(
Although I like the second cover, the first one is unique and does a better job at conveying a "mood" for the book.
I've never understood why the cover has to be changed when a book goes from hardcover to paperback. Anyone know why?
LinWash: It doesn't HAVE to be, but sometimes the release is an opportunity for publishers to change a book cover so that it will reach a wider audience, or if they think that they can sell more copies because the old cover might not be working as well. I suppose there are a ton of reasons why, and I'm not exactly opposed to the idea, but it's just sad when a really cool cover gets the ax in favor of a more generic one.
I agree with you! The original cover is so much more kitschy-cool. They only changed it to the new one so all the teen girls in love with paranormal romance books would pick it up. Yuck. It seems like an attempt at selling out to me.
BTW...check out my blog (princessoflit.blogspot.com) sometime, if you have time! (It's fairly new, so...)
On one hand, I love the first cover, but I can see why the second might sell better. It's more mainstream. Still, the hardcover is original and gorgeous.
Hmm, as lovely as the first cover is, it does look a bit... amateurish. If I picked this up at a bookstore, I'd think it was self-published and as I've been burned the iffy quality of self-published works before, I wouldn't buy it.
Just an opinion, however unpopular it may be...
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