covers
For Writers: Cover Continuity
FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Richard Wood: I just noted a series in which the covers for the second and third books in the series both feature the main protaginists. They bear no resemblance to one another on the two books covers. In the second book the Earth Human character has tattoos, including facial ones, and red hair. The cover of the third one shows a no facial tattoos Blond. Should authors of a series try to have continuity of the cover characters too? In this case the only thing tying the covers together is the series … Read more
For Readers: Judging It By The Cover
We’re always told not to judge a book by its cover. But is that advice really meant to be taken literally? Many sci fi covers have a very specific look – a futuristic font. Space. A cool looking ship. A man in a space suit. These visual cues help us grasp immediately that this is a sci fi book. If a book just had a photo of a pickle on it, would that make you as a sci fi reader want to pick it up? Similarly, romance books have their own look. For MM, it’s often the shirtless male torso … Read more
For Writers: It’s All On the Cover
They say you can’t tell a book by its cover, but you actually can, at least if the publisher’s marketing department has done its job. Sci fi covers, in particular, often have a “look” that helps define them as part of the genre. So my questions today: As an author, what do you want in your own sci fi covers to pull readers in? Do they need to have a bare-skinned man (or woman) to indicate the LGBT nature of the title? What do you think will grab your readers? Join the chat
For Readers: Your Favorite Cover
While you may not be able to judge a book by its cover, you can still often tell a lot about it. And oftentimes, for me at least, the cover is what sells me on the book. I’m sharing one from the QSF archives that really spoke to me because it “reads” sci fi and gay – but it’s not the usual beefcake shot. OK, yeah, there’s some beefcake there, but it works for me in this context. So my questions today: What’s your favorite LGBTIQA speculatiove fiction cover, and why? Please share a copy of it. Writers: This is … Read more
Back to the Gay Future
When I was a kid, my stepfather amassed an amazing collection of science fiction magazines. He had so many that he had his room lined in bookcases to hold them all. The covers seemed to be sending me messages, hot gay messages. Most of these covers were in my stepfather’s collection. Might as well start with the ne plus ultra of crypto-homo covers. Could have been one of my father’s Physique Pictorials. But that’s another story… Full Story at The Advocate
For Writers: Evolving Covers
Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer SA Collins: For the self-pubbers: How do you deal with the evolution/creation of your book covers? Do you hire an external designer – if so, what drew you to them? If not, how do you find inspiration for the covers you create for your works? SA recently had to come up with a cover for a new book, and it went through a series of iterations (above). He shares his own recent cover struggle here: sacollins.com/blog/?p=1844 Join the chat
70’s Gay Pulp Covers
Ah, the gay ’70s. Post-Stonewall, pre-AIDS — it was a time of sexual liberation not to mention some seriously thick mustaches. What better way to let off a little of that hyper-sexual steam in a world without the internet that with a little paperback pulp? The titles alone of the below smattering of pulp pleasures are enough to get us smirking — Saddle Buddy, Holler Uncle,The Big Pipe, The Meat Eaters, Jump Squad… But it’s the covers we really love, showcasing the decade’s hottest trends, from turtle necks to fur-lined coats. Original Article at Towleroad
You Can’t Judge…Hey, Wait a Minute…
The old saw about judging a book by its cover isn’t meant in a literal sense, and yet it’s true. We often do judge books by their covers. A cheesy, sloppy, or visually uninformative cover has the potential for turning readers away. A visually uninteresting one can make a book invisible amid a crowd of more eye-catching offerings. Lesbian and gay pulp fiction share a checkered past with genre fiction in that the covers were at one time universally cheesy and sometimes laughable. We’ve come a long way, both in SFF/Paranormal covers and in LGBT covers both romance and not, … Read more