Lately, it seems, book covers have been jumping out at me. It's not uncommon for me to be drawn to (and buy) a book solely because of its cover (& I don't think I'm alone here). When publishers approach bookstores with their portfolios (or whatever they're called), they don't give them books to read in order to figure out which ones they'll stock, they show them book covers. Interesting covers get noticed.
(Click on any of the images for more information about the books listed).
I'm noticing a few design trends happening right now in the book cover world
- Print images that use screen printing, woodcut, or engraving techniques (The Last Apprentice, Company of Liars, Marrowbone Marble Company, Zeitoun)
- Hand drawn elements, including lettering or painting (Eddie Signwriter, The Absolutely True Story of a Part Time Indian)
- Silhouetting (Little Bee, Sharp Teeth, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, The Wild Things)
- Spot color or the use of black plus one color, usually red
- The use of flora such as vines or trees (In the Woods, Linger, The Space Between Trees).
- Combinations of the above
Some examples...
Company of Liars, Karen Maitland. (shown at top.) (Michael Joseph; Numbered Limited Edition, First Edition edition, January 1, 2008). 576 pages. This is an import edition, not the first U.S. edition (which had a less dramatic cover). Copies sell for $30ish (unsigned) to over $200 (signed).
In the Woods, Tana French (Viking Adult; First Edition edition. May 17, 2007). 429 pages. U.S. copies sell from $15-$80 (unsigned); up to $275 (signed). The U.K. firsts (with a different cover design) sell up to $500 (signed).
Sharp Teeth, Toby Barlow. (Harper, New York, 2008). 320 pages. Copies are selling for $16+ (unsigned) to $35+ (signed). U.K. First edition (2007) goes for about $45 unsigned.
Little Bee, Chris Cleave (Simon & Schuster, New York, 2009). 288 pages. Copies sell from $30ish (unsigned) to $95 (signed).
People of Paper, Salvador Plascencia (McSweeney's, June 1, 2005). 200 pages. Copies sell from $30 to $180 (unsigned). I *love* this book, by the way. How can you not love a book that starts out, "She was made after the time of ribs and mud. By papal decree there were to be no more people born of the ground or from the marrow of bones. All would be created from the propulsions and mounts performed underneath bedsheets -- rare exception granted for immaculate conceptions...." Go find a copy of this book, click on the cover image for more information, buy from Powell's, go to your library, whatever, but you MUST experience this book.
As for the covers, I guess maybe the results are still out, but it's certainly fun to look.
Also, fairly nifty, is the Book Cover Archive. You can peruse over 1,000 book covers on display. Some favorites:
Labels: book covers, collectibles, design
Coincidentally, quite a few books that I've written about recently have interesting covers: Dave Eggers, Faber & Faber's printmaker's poetry series, Coralie Bickford Smith's Penguin Classics redesigned.... It made me wonder if there was any correlation between a striking cover and a book's value. 
