It seems that every time I meet with other authors, editors or literary agents we end up discussing book covers. Authors, who have the most intimate connection with their books, usually have an idea of what they want the cover to convey to that finicky, browsing book shopper, while their editors have returned from the marketing division with something completely different. The agents, trapped in the middle by an obligation to the authors to both advise and represent, then have to chime in with an opinion that may not matter much since the publisher has the final say. The authors argue that no one in the marketing department has actually read their book, and the editors complain that the authors have no training in marketing. All very true, and at the end of the day, it seems there is very little agreement over what visual image will sell the most books. Who knew such controversy was going on behind the scenes?

My first novel, Four Wives, is a perfect case study on book covers. When I set out to write this book, I wanted to delve into real life issues that I saw around me and that I knew would resonate deeply with my target audience – women. At the same time, I am completely addicted to fast paced suspense novels, so I wrote the stories of my four characters with short, plot-driven chapters and a healthy dose of suspense. The result is a hybrid of sorts – a cross between traditional, issue-driven fiction, “chic-lit” and suspense – which is exactly what I had in mind, but which also created a marketing dilemma. Each of these genres has its own “feel” when it comes to cover design, and each is trying to call out to its loyal readership. How do you market a hybrid?

So there I was, a new author awaiting the arrival of my first book cover. The novel I had written was a realistic look at the lives of women in a wealthy suburb who had given up their careers to raise children, and now faced a whole host of issues knocking at their door – marital malaise, infidelity, ghosts from the past that had finally caught up to the present, abuse and self-doubt. There is some sex and scandal, but Four Wives is definitely NOT an east coast version of Desperate Housewives. OK, so that’s the book. Now here is the first design which appeared on the hard cover addition:

Red bra, swimming pool…. It’s eye catching for sure, but I wasn’t at all certain what it had to do with the book itself. Still, I know zip about marketing. I was fortunate to receive a good number of positive reviews, and to be invited to guest speak at numerous book group meetings. I was on countless radio shows, a couple of TV spots and had feature articles in the NYT and WSJ. Across the board, the resounding response to the book cover was I don’t get it. Turns out the women who enjoyed the book the most almost passed it by, and the women who bought it because of the cover were surprised by what they found inside.

We all agreed to change the cover for the paperback, which came out this spring. Here is that cover:

Pink, lipsticks, eye catching. I still wasn’t sure that it captured the essence of the book, but again – marketing is not my job. Four Wives was also published in The Netherlands and UK, with different covers in both countries. The UK cover is all legs and high heels. The Dutch cover is a mother surrounded by toys in her closet. Totally different approaches to the same book. This is very common, and I think it underscores the uncertainty that underlies the book cover debate. I studied media stereotyping in college and wrote a term paper on the objectification of women in advertising, and for better or worse, my research is still floating around in my brain twenty years later. My younger sister says I’m completely “aggro” about this topic. My older sister agrees. But needless to say, I preferred the Dutch cover!

As my next novel, Social Lives, is being packaged for its September 1st release, I am curious what my readers think of the cover/content debate. Did we get it right with this second cover for Four Wives? Does it matter? What makes you stop and look at a book? Does a spot on the front table at the bookstore close the deal, or do you wait for a review in the Times? And will e-books, which are essentially cover-less, make all of this irrelevant?

It’s a prickly issue for sure, and one that will likely endure given the economy and the changing face of the publishing industry. And I know that I will continue to struggle with my vision for my work, and my aversion to selling books with anything too sexy – clearly I have no future in the marketing industry But for me, the ambition will be the same – and that is to write books that people buy, read and can’t put down, regardless of what they see before turning the first page.

Wendy