Comments on THE GALAXY EXPRESS: The Science Fiction Romance That Harlequin Doesn’t...

Tanya, my pleasure!

2010-10-22T20:06:10.705-04:00

Tanya, my pleasure!

I actually walked past these books cause of the ma...

2010-10-22T06:03:14.687-04:00

I actually walked past these books cause of the man titty. Had no idea they were sic fi romance! I personally don't like romance but love sic fi romance. Thanks for heads up.

Heather: You wrote: "This raises an importan...

2009-12-24T13:22:37.100-05:00

Heather:

You wrote: "This raises an important question: what exactly are publishers trying to sell to readers? Is just all about the cover? When did the story become such an afterthought? When did it become such an invisible commodity?"

When? Me, you ask WHEN????

Well, when I was in 7th grade, I noticed the disconnect between the story content and descriptions in words and the accompanying illustration in SF magazines in general. One story ticked me off so bad, I blasted out a typewritten letter to the editor and sent it off without ever thinking a thought about it.

They published my letter (my very first published words!) along with my address (was a different world back then) and my mailbox exploded with Science Fiction fans writing to me and inviting me into the N3F and other clubs and by-snailmail activities.

More than 10 years later, I sold my first story to that same magazine, it was published, and the illustration was WORSE than the one I'd lambasted them for and been approved for lambasting them for! (Operation High Time; a Sime~Gen story with the illustration showing tentacles coming out of the woman's arm pits!)

See the Sime~Gen: The Unity Trilogy omnibus cover for the correct placement of tentacles. (the are very sexy when drawn right)

So how long as this cover or illustration problem been going on? I used to collect magazines from the 1930's -- and I tell you, it's been going on since the beginning of SF.

When will it stop?

When "marketing" is no longer an issue.

"SF" is seen as narrow, niche, or anti-marketable. The job of the illo is to broaden the sales base, regardless.

You might note that my SFR Romantic Times Award winner, Dushau has an SF/R cover. You can see the Dushau trilogy cover and read free chapters to compare (the cove scene is actually in the book) at http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com

Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://www.simegen.net (for Unity cover)

The two covers in the series are clearly tied to o...

2009-12-24T09:33:50.244-05:00

The two covers in the series are clearly tied to one another--hunky half-naked men--but not to the subject matter of the books. Those covers say "gay romance," an increasingly popular romance subgenre. The problem is, that is not what is inside!

These books were written for a primarily female audience. Women are perfectly happy to see hunky male characters on covers, but research going back thirty years indicates that they want to see the man's FACE, and they like an indication of a RELATIONSHIP. These covers fail on both counts, and so does Harlequin's Art Department.

I don't mind the cover. It's better than ...

2009-12-20T08:34:39.501-05:00

I don't mind the cover. It's better than some that she's had in the past. But yeah, I'd prefer one that captured the story more. I've been sold on this author since her very first book though so it wouldn't matter what cover she had, I'd get the book.

Okay, I'm going to be all alone on this one, b...

2009-12-19T23:09:35.466-05:00

Okay, I'm going to be all alone on this one, but I kinda like it. I think it is sexy.

Granted, I've got the naked dude thing going for me on my covers, so I might be a little biased, but I've seen all of Sue's covers, because I own a copy of all of Sue's covers, and this one is pretty darn nice comparatively.

I like that they've taken what they did with Warlord's Daughter with the naked guy plus strange lighting, and used the font to convey SF instead of vampy. I think the title Sureblood certainly doesn't say contemporary to me, and this doesn't look vampy to me, so my reaction is curiosity.

While this doesn't look like a pirate story, I'm willing to give this cover the benefit of the doubt. Moonstruck was so far off because A: the dude needed to be covered in tattoos and not look like cop, and B: the heroine was not the type to have a coyly limp wrist, ever.

Now this cover might be off the way that one was, and it probably is, since this guy doesn't look very piratical. However, I think there's something to it. I don't mind looking at it.

If I were to suggest improvements, I'd suggest they toy with the overall color because I've heard white covers don't sell as well, and I think the guy needs a cool tattoo to make it more exotic.

You know what makes me laugh? This cover would fit my current WIP perfectly. LOL

Maybe that's why I kinda like it.

thanks for the correction, Heather. It wouldn'...

2009-12-18T17:34:39.861-05:00

thanks for the correction, Heather. It wouldn't let me paste and clearly I'm a dork, LOL.

I mean, read the title/series name, then look a...

2009-12-18T16:43:51.027-05:00
I mean, read the title/series name, then look at the guy again. My first reaction was "rhuh?"

Yes, exactly. That's what I was trying to say earlier. I literally did a double take, too, from title to image, thinking "what is this?!?"

No visual clues. Or the wrong ones. Or whatever.

Spacefreighters Lounge joined in the discussion.

I don't like the cover either. I wouldn't ...

2009-12-18T14:35:16.978-05:00
I don't like the cover either. I wouldn't like it for a contemporary, let alone a SFR.

I think there's a way to have both: the romance look to "hook" the romance reader, with a bit of slick SFR to go with the kick ass title and story. I mean, read the title/series name, then look at the guy again. My first reaction was "rhuh?"

Nat

Here is the corrected link to the post Lauren ment...

2009-12-18T09:54:53.831-05:00
Here is the corrected link to the post Lauren mentioned:

http://sleeplessinneworleans2.blogspot.com/2009/12/undercover-by-lauren-dane.html

The original had a wee li'l typo.

@BevBB Oh, sorry, I misunderstood your comment. ...

2009-12-18T09:51:04.825-05:00
@BevBB Oh, sorry, I misunderstood your comment.

Regarding the soft focus silhouette, maybe it's selling an imaginary relationship between the reader and the cover's fantasy figure. I don't mean that in a snide way, either. Marketing is very much about selling dreams and fantasies. Nothing wrong with it to an extent--I just wish it were more of the "scifi adventure romance" fantasy that Barbara E. described.

I feel really bad for Susan Grant. Her stories ar...

2009-12-18T01:56:43.822-05:00
I feel really bad for Susan Grant. Her stories are wonderful SFR's and Harlequin is not giving her enough credit by giving her these covers that have nothing to do with the story inside. Believe me, if I was just going by the cover, I would think it was a contemporary story, not a fabulous scifi adventure romance. Luckily, as long as Susan Grant's name is on it, I know what to expect and I'll buy the book what ever cover it has.

@BevBB I see some paranormal and UF elements (t...

2009-12-17T22:15:56.529-05:00
@BevBB I see some paranormal and UF elements (tattoo, obscured face in shadow which could signify the presence of a demon/ghost, plus that ties into the mystery connotation of the anthology title). Maybe what's being sold is the fantasy of a relationship/sex with a hawt demon?

On the other book, Mysteria, yeah. But I'm with Kimber An on the cover here for Suerblood. The closest impression I get for it is simply erotica because I don't even get a sense of time period on it. A title is not enough to give a sense of time or space. Pun intended.

And don't even get me started on realities. ;-)

@BevBB I see some paranormal and UF elements (tatt...

2009-12-17T20:24:29.744-05:00
@BevBB I see some paranormal and UF elements (tattoo, obscured face in shadow which could signify the presence of a demon/ghost, plus that ties into the mystery connotation of the anthology title). Maybe what's being sold is the fantasy of a relationship/sex with a hawt demon??

Lauren, I'm interested in checking out that discussion, but the link leads to a dead end...:(

Here's an interesting thing: gah! this won'...

2009-12-17T17:37:20.971-05:00
Here's an interesting thing: gah! this won't let me post links. - at a reader blog, there's a discussion about one of my books - Undercover - which does not have a futuristic looking cover though it is heroine centric. Anyway, several of the commenters brought up the fact that they usually avoided futuristics but picked the book up based on a sale or author name, etc and found they enjoyed it.

It sounds like I'm being douchey and pointing to my book, but I promise I'm not - it's just an example of what I was talking about in the stream above.

Gonna try to hand code here: http://sleeplessinnreworleans2.blogspot.com/2009/12/undercover-by-lauren-dane.html

It's selling contemporary erotica. A reader l...

2009-12-17T15:18:25.064-05:00
It's selling contemporary erotica.

A reader looking for contemporary erotica will pick it up and toss it back. If she buys it and then finds out what it is, she will be mad. And she will vent to all her friends and they will never buy a Susan Grant novel ever again either.

She will not be hooked.

The potential SFR reader, who is already searching for something out of this world, whether Vulcans or vampires, will pass it right by.

Because she's not looking for contemporary erotica.

This is why this blog is so doggone important to SFR readers and authors alike.

Heh, I just went to Grant's site and checked o...

2009-12-17T12:46:38.163-05:00
Heh, I just went to Grant's site and checked out her backlist covers because I'm not currently an active reader of hers. It's true that this new proposed cover isn't consistent with the previous book but check out the similarity in tone to the cover of an anthology she was featured in Mortal in Mysteria http://www.susangrant.com/books/mysteria.htm

Of course, the problem with the cover in question here is that there are very little visual cues to anything in it. Heck, I had to give it a serious second glance just to make sure it was a male featured. It's that blurred of an image. So, I'm not sure I'm completely buying that it's that strong a romance cover either. Particularly not when compared to the one I just linked to which is the most like it I could find in her backlist. At least that other one does have something identifiable in terms of genre.

Other than "maybe" sex.

I'm serious here, people. What exactly is on that cover except a soft focus silhouette that's almost asexual? What is it selling?

Kimber An - I don't think it's insulting a...

2009-12-17T12:30:44.628-05:00
Kimber An - I don't think it's insulting at all. I think the point is to promote the darned book and get people to pick it up who wouldn't normally go near the genre and then let the story speak for itself. How is that insulting? The fact is, there are preconceptions about SFR and Futuristics for a great many romance readers - that's what I hear all the time. It's not insulting to have a preference and it's certainly not insulting to hope they pick up something out of their comfort zone and hopefully hook them into a genre they never had considered reading before. That's kind of the point.

Heather - Certainly in any romance novel, readers expect the romance storyline to be central so that's going be the same erotic and non. I can't speak for other authors, but I don't write more sex in my non erotics than in my erotics, I just write the scenes differently.

I don't disagree though, that there SHOULD be elements of the genre in a cover. I want that too, very much. I want it because it's only fair to readers to at least have SOME part of the story telegraphed via that cover. I'm hoping that day comes sooner rather than later.

My first response in a bookstore, if I didn't ...

2009-12-17T08:20:47.024-05:00
My first response in a bookstore, if I didn't know about Susan Grant already, would also be "jock in a shower" and I'd pass it by. My reading time's so limited until my tot goes to school that I'm pretty choosy about genre for the time being.

My first response after reading about the cover was that the publisher was being cheap since one guy and a light isn't as costly as hiring an artist to design a space ship, etc. LOL.

Oops, gotta run. Tot's up now.

I had to comment also. I've been reading SF a...

2009-12-17T01:06:30.456-05:00
I had to comment also. I've been reading SF and Romance for decades now and I have to say that my first response was, "Oh, it's a robot book." He's naked and coming out of a small space with a very bright white light streaming behind him, made my think of a futuristic lab. I also have to add that even though Historical Romance has codes built in, the covers can be very messy and inacurate as to what time period they convey as opposed to what time period the book is set in. Most Historicals now are Regencies and so covers show people in Regency dress even if the book is Victorian or Georgian.

So that's why I like the cover for Linnea'...

2009-12-16T21:46:57.006-05:00
So that's why I like the cover for Linnea's Rebels and Lovers so much:

Bantam did something recently they're not done before: they asked for my specific input on the cover for my next book.

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2009/09/rebels-and-lovers-making-of-cover.html

Seriously, I think this cover gets it. I'm anxious to see how it sells.

I still asked for it for my first SF-ER release...

2009-12-16T21:42:00.802-05:00
I still asked for it for my first SF-ER release, so it's out there, being cheese)

See, that's my problem--I love cheese! And starry backgrounds. The code might also depend on the sub-sub genre--steampunk vs. apocalyptic vs. superhuman. Maybe couple + relevant science fictional element?

so won't pick up a book that hints at futuristic/SFR/fantasy.

Which is fine, but what I truly am having difficulty understanding is why they'd read on once the first science fictional element is presented, especially if they are spooked by the same type of elements on the cover. What would change their mind once they started the book?

SFR has a learning curve--not nearly as much as SF but it's still there. I have mixed feelings about the issue. On the one hand, there are definite business considerations. But on the other hand, I'd hate to spring SFR on anyone that isn't even just a little bit interested in the first place. I'd like to see transparency of some kind in the covers, for that reason. Plus, it keeps the hardcore fans happy. :)

I think these discussions often proceed forward as if deciding on marketing for a book, or cover for a book, is made easily or on a whim, and that is most definitely not the case!

Oh, I think the marketing is taken very, very seriously. So seriously that they are banking on such a campaign generating sales with readers who otherwise would have nothing to do with certain sub-genres. They are banking on either the books being good enough to change the minds of these readers and/or the readers adjusting their expectations simply because they had paid for the book. My guess (and I mean this non-sarcastically) is that romance-centric covers are publishers’ way of saying, “Trust us. You’ll like this.”

marketing comes up with covers that are more focused on the characters instead of the genre

Lauren, I think character-driven covers for SFR are terrific—it’s one way to differentiate it from SF. And I love, love romantic SF films that have a clinch image in the poster. Would love to see a similar trend in books, too. My main concern is as stated above, with covers that have zero transparency. I think erotic SFR is a different story and they can go either way. Wouldn’t most readers expect the erotic romance aspect most of all? In other words, they won’t necessarily miss a science fictional element on the cover. I would, but that’s just me.

sales where the cover doesn't even figure into the purchase.

To me, that sounds like a license to put space pirates on every cover, lol! At least those delivered through the subscription service. Kidding!

And I’m heading on over to your post now….

"The idea for a cover is to catch the ROMANCE...

2009-12-16T21:38:16.284-05:00
"The idea for a cover is to catch the ROMANCE reader and then hook them into buying SFR."

Pardon me, but that can be taken as a little insulting. It hearkens back and plays into the old stereotype that girls can't and won't do science or science fiction. Even a reader who is not already into SFR will be attracted to a starry background because

*she's looking for something out of this world.*

Vulcans or vampires, whatever, but the

*need is already there.*

The key is finding the right art which says, "Hey, Baby, I got what you want right here."

Huh. To me, it looks more like LitFic than anythin...

2009-12-16T21:13:19.388-05:00
Huh. To me, it looks more like LitFic than anything else. Very boring. Would totally ignore it if it was an unknown author.