Cover Trends: Part-of-My-Face-is-Missing Replaces Headless Bodies
When I go to a bookstore, I stop at the endcaps and pick up the first cover that interests me. THEN I read the back cover synopsis. I know you all do it too!
Book cover design totally fascinates me, and I do at least one post each year on the trends I see. Here’s what I’ve got so far:
Part-of-My-Face-is-Missing is replacing the Headless Bodies trend. I think the mindset is the same: the reader could still think of themselves as the main character, but now the designers are giving them a hint of what the character might really look like.
There-Is-Stuff-On-My-Face is a close second to Part-of-My-Face-is-Missing. We saw this developing a bit last year (think Incarnate, by Jodi Meadows).
Small People on Big Backgrounds is also on the upswing. This trend began developing (I think) with the original cover of Shatter Me. Apparently it’s working.
This-Book-Is-Full-of-Words is something new to my list this year. I think the designers are replacing flowy dresses with flowy fonts.
I’ve also seen an influx of Big-Symbols-and-No-People. Hmmm… partial heads, small people , no people. I’m sort of seeing a progression here.
Did You Really Think Flowy Dresses Were Gone? Cause they aren’t. And I don’t think they ever will be. As long as the YA reading population swings toward the X-chromosome, flowy dresses will be popular. The dresses scream romance, and what teenage girl (for real or at heart) doesn’t love romance?
I don’t think we’ll ever get away from Cloud Covers either. There’s something about those cumulus stratus formations that makes you want to escape into story.
There were a couple of covers that I couldn’t Pigeon Hole, and for that I think they are super cool. The two I linked below actually have something to do with the story and, to me at least, that makes them appealing.
All the books are linked to their Goodreads pages. Which cover sucked you in? Which one did you click on to learn more?
Also, HAVE YOU ENTERED MY GIVEAWAY? You should, because who doesn’t like free books?
22 Comments
Carrie Butler
I love the covers for Dualed and Taken!
Becky Wallace
@Carrie: They totally have that shadowy-creepy thing going on!
Crystal Collier
I wanted to add pretty much all of them! Alas, time… *sigh* So many good books, so few hours in the day. How’s a girl to choose just one, or two, or fifteen in any give week/month?
Becky Wallace
@Crystal: I read the first five chapters of Mind Games today. It was awesome. Read Pivot Point. Awesome. Read City of a Thousand Dolls. Awesome if you like Fantasy with an Asian flare (which I do). Lots and lots of AWESOME. Decisions are so hard.
Carrie-Anne
I hate the whole trend of lopping off the head or part of the face. If you’re going to have a person on the cover, let’s see the whole person, not just part! That looks so creepy, which isn’t the image you want unless you’re writing horror.
Apparently none of these books are historical (the genre I live and breathe), but I liked the covers for 45 Pounds and The Chaos of Stars most. Golden Boy also looks very interesting.
Becky Wallace
@Carrie-Anne: Historical is tough to find. Madman’s Daughter is set in 1860 (maybe?), but I wouldn’t call it historical.
Red Boot Pearl
I much prefer to see part of the face then the headless wonders. Thanks for posting the trends, I love book covers.
Becky Wallace
@Red Boot: Hey!! Great to see you! And I’m totally with you on this one: partial headshots are way better than the boob, butt, and lower back shots of the past couple of years.
Lexa Cain
I think the last two are definitely in the There’s-stuff-on-my-face category. I like odd and artistic covers, like: In A Glass Grimmly, The Night Circus, Miss Peregrine’s Home…, and The Monstrumologist.
Redleg
DUALED. But that was because of the logline, so I’m not sure that counts…but maybe I wouldn’t have looked at the logline if not for the cover. I’m also glad you said I could click through at the end because I was about to open up a new tab and google it. (Or should I say “amazon it” in regards to books?) So +2 points to Gryffindor for convenience on this post!
William Kendall
Days of Blood and Starlight grabbed my attention the most out of these.
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