Horror Reanimated… the home of Bloody Books

COVER STORY by BILL HUSSEY

October 27th, 2008

Okay, maybe I’m getting slightly ahead of myself here. Joseph and I are about to launch into a series of discussions on the business of writing a novel, from ‘the Idea’ straight through to the final edit. In the journey of the novel the decision about cover design is, if not the last consideration, pretty near the end. However, in the world of modern publishing a book’s cover is almost as important a factor in the finished product as the merit of the book itself. Many highfalutin’, so-called literary writers would balk at what I’ve just told you. They would stand by the age-old adage that one should never judge a book by its cover. They’re the very same folk who are dismissive about the importance of plot and pacing. My answer to that sort of thinking is quite simply: get real! You want to write? Well then you’ve got to write books that people want to buy. Publishing is not (and never should be, in my opinion) a charitable cause in which people with a few bob throw their money at scribblers who simply want to ‘express themselves’ on paper. Publishers are not modern day patrons of the arts: they are businessmen. Sure, the best of them are invested in the quality and integrity of the books they produce, but those books need to make a profit. With this in mind, the decision on a book’s cover is a vital one. Because, and let me make this very clear, 

VIRTUALLY EVERYONE JUDGES A BOOK BY ITS COVER!

That may not be fair - I’ve read many excellent books that have appalling artwork slapped on the front. It may not even be very wise on the part of the reading public. But it is the truth. In this helter-skelter, fast-food gobbling, coffee-on-the-run world most people just don’t have the time to hang around in bookshops for hours perusing the shelves. Incidentally, that’s why you see so many blurbs saying ‘the next Dan Brown’ or ‘in the style of John Le Carré’. People know what they like and need a pointer as to what else they might fancy. They just don’t have the time to investigate. The same principle applies when it comes to covers. Remember after The Da Vinci Code came out how many sinister, vaguely monastic covers you saw springing up all over the place? Again, I’m not saying this is right, but it is the commercial reality of publishing today.

Covers are immensely important. They have to grab the reader without being garish - they have to pull you in without assaulting your senses - in their own right, they have to tell at least part of a story. I didn’t realise the importance of covers myself until the artwork came in for Through A Glass, Darkly. Luckily, the design was perfect from the outset - just a little yellowing of the image was required. The email from Bloody Books that contained the artwork had been copied in to a dozen or so other people, asking for advice and opinions. This was a committee decision, as I believe most cover decisions are. Why? Well, without a good cover your book just ain’t gonna sell, baby. With that in mind a publisher will solicit as much advice as possible before he commits.

So what makes a perfect cover? Don’t ask me. It’s like my agent said during the early stages of publication of TAGD - ‘You don’t have any cover ideas? No problem, you’re a writer, not a bloody graphic designer.’ That said, I think I have gained a bit of insight into the art of the process over the past year. I would say that the cover of a modern novel - be it horror or any other genre - needs a simple, bold image. Covers that are too busy tend to confuse rather than engage. Obviously that image needs to have some relevance to the book and yet not be too obvious. For example, you’re writing a story about zombies taking over New York. You’ve called it Undead in the Big Apple (hey, I’m not here to give away cracking title ideas, okay?). If this was my novel, I wouldn’t go for an image of lumbering corpses surrounding the Statue of Liberty. Take another less obvious image from the book - a broken wristwatch with the hint of a reflection in the cracked face, for example (don’t like that? I refer you to my agent’s observation cited earlier!). A strong image that does not bear an obvious relation to the book’s title will engage the reader’s curiosity - start them asking questions about how it fits into the story. With TAGD the cover was deceptively simple - birds in panicked flight, soaring away from the dark fingers of a tree, a shaft of sunlight breaking down upon them. Only when you reach the end of the book do you come to a scene that… ah, well, no spoilers. I loved the idea that, once the reader had finished the book, he or she could flip back to the front and see the significance of the cover image.

Horror covers are becoming less obviously ‘of the genre’. Very rarely do you see fanged spectres and hairy lycanthropes cluttering up the fronts of new horror books. Take, for example, the cover for Joe Hill’s Heart-Shaped Box reproduced here. It is a simple, arty cover, sinister without being grotesque. There are images here from the book - images to intrigue. This kind of cover may have been used because the genre is trying to reinvent itself - to get readers who wouldn’t normally pick up a fright fest to dip their toe. The same thinking is used when publishers employ the term ‘dark fiction’ rather than ‘horror’ - it’s a ‘don’t scare off the punters’ mindset. Some may argue that this is a dishonest tactic but I would suggest that, if the novel has any subtlety to it, then why not employ a defter touch? While our core fanbase is strong, horror deserves (and needs) new readers. A good cover can draw them in. I know this from my own experience of talking to Waterstones book buyers and reading groups. Many people who would never have considered reading horror confessed that they were intrigued by TAGD’s less in-your-face artwork.

The main reason I’m blogging about the cover is because I’ve just received the design for my new book, The Absence. As with TAGD, it is gloriously beautiful: a bold, dark, creepy image, sepia-tinted and full of lurking menace. I think it should pull in the punters. I hope so anyway! This time it takes a central location from the book and conjures up just the right atmosphere.

Finally, if you don’t believe what I’m saying about the importance of the cover, then next time you’re in a bookshop just watch the people browsing. They will pick up the book and glance over the cover. If the artwork sparks their interest they’ll flip to the back cover blurb. Even if the blurb grabs them they will rarely, in my experience, then head straight to the check out. They’ll go back to the cover and take another look. The cover is the hook and a good cover sells.

Entry Filed under: Writing Chat