Go Ahead and Judge

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Yes, this is another cover post.

We're told you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, yet that's exactly what readers do. It's not the sole component of choosing what to read/ pick-up / buy, but it's a big one. The cover is what usually catches a reader's attention, which is why "facing out" is such a good thing in a book store. No one notices spines; they notice cover design.

So, I was wondering exactly how much you can tell about a book by its cover. To that end, I propose a challenge. I'm going to post a set of covers that I've made for existing, trunked, or contemplated projects. See if you can figure anything about the plot out from those covers. Can you tell YA from MG from anything else by just the image and tagline?

I'll even make it easy and post a couple you've seen before.

Don't worry about hurting my feelings if you think these are terrible (I'm well aware that one looks like it belongs on a poster from a 90's Scanners movie), this is just for fun and information.

This one should be easy:

** covers removed since I have a real one **

4 Chiming In:

Stephsco said...

Haha on the The Cube. I swear I've seen Untouchable in the stores, it looks like legit YA. I actually really like #2 as "edgy" YA. I would totally pick that up and read the back cover description.

Marsha Sigman said...

Ok, I'll play.

1) YA story of two teens who plan to murder their parents so they can be together. What Romeo and Juliet should have done.

2) MG story about a boy who steals a magic carpet. First book: How to fly it.

3) YA: Little Red Riding Hood is bent on revenge since the trauma of seeing her grandmother eaten by the big bad wolf. Now she trolls the woods determined to hunt all wolves into extinction...until she's captured and falls in love with one.

4) YA story based on old sci-fi movie. Or true story of how three teens invented the rubix cube?

5) YA Frankenstein story about a girl who realizes she is more than just the sum of her parts.

6) YA story about an all girls religous school which is really just a cover for an assassin training program.

7) Adult paranormal about a woman who realizes echos are the screams of your counterparts in other dimensions. And they want in.


That's my take on it.

Josin L. McQuein said...

Not bad, Marsha. You nailed every age group.

1 - does involve the planned demise of a character, though not a parent (however, THAT version of R&J I'd like to see)

2- does involve a boy who can fly - no magic carpets required ;-)

3 - Close, but no falling in love with other species required. This Lil' Red hunts actual wolves.

4 - More high fantasy than sci-fi, involving a teen boy's escape from the coup that killed his father, and how it goes horribly wrong.

5 - More Dr. Moreau than Dr. Frankenstein, but pretty close.

6 - I'd like to read that story, too!. This one's another sci-fi, involving gov't projects and an ancient Roman "secret weapon" that actually existed.

7 - This one's a genre straddler, between sci-fi and paranormal; I call it my reverse ghost story

Marsha Sigman said...

LOL. I love your ideas! I think I actually know the story behind the first one and it's awesome.

Since I was wrong on #6...I have dibs on the church/assassin school story.ha

Post a Comment