How to speak publisher - C is for Cover

The cover is the bit on the outside of the book. That doesn't take much explanation. It can be a flimsy bit of card if you've written a mass-market paperback or a cloth binding covered by a glossy dust wrapper if you've written a high-end hardback - or anything in between.

Then there's what goes on the cover. Crucially, it should have the title and your name. And it should have a nice and appropriate design. That's where things generally go wrong (though sometimes your name doesn't appear on the cover - with licensed character work, for instance). It comes as a surprise to most people who aren't involved in the process that the author has virtually no control over the cover of their book. The cover is designed by a designer. That's good, generally, as design is what designers are good at and writing is what writers are good at. It would be pretty rubbish if writers designed the cover and designers wrote the text, wouldn't it? Keep that in mind when you grumble about your next cover. But even though this sounds like a pretty obvious division of labour, there are often problems.

The first problem is that the designer rarely reads the book. This can lead to some ridiculous situations, when a black character is depicted as white, for instance, or a horse is the wrong size/type/colour. Then there's historical and scientific accuracy. An illustrator *should* check everything carefully before coming up with a cover picture, but they don't always do so. You may have a medieval knight in armour from the wrong period, or penguins outside an igloo (yep, had that one - poles apart, illustrator!) As author, you should see a rough of the cover in good time so that you can pick up on these details and have them changed. But that doesn't always happen. You may not see the cover until it has been passed by everyone else, and then your objections may fall on deaf ears. 'It's too late to change it,' the editor cries. 'No one will notice.' The last may be true, at least in some cases - but you've noticed and so it will niggle every time you see the book. (Or worse than niggle if it is (a) a really bad error or (b) you've not published many books yet.)

Leaving aside the covers that are just plain wrong, some covers are horrid, ugly, boring, or formulaic (they look like every other paranormal romance/Mr Gum-style silly book/sci-fi fantasy). This is where it gets tricky. The design of a cover is not just an aesthetic matter.The marketing droids have some input, as they know how the cover will resonate with booksellers and purchasers. There is a language of cover art and cover design which you may not speak but you hope the designer and marketing team do speak. The cover is shorthand for 'this book is about XXX; it might appeal to you if you liked YYY.' A lot of the distress authors feel at their book covers is that they feel the cover places their book in the wrong pigeonhole. You might think your novel is a staggering work of original genius that is really a one-off literary novel, but - even if it is - the publisher may think they will sell more if it has a pink glittery cover and picks up on the fluffy romance bits. The publisher is probably right. Cry if you must, but at least you will be able to afford a box of tissues. You don't want your book to look like every other book of that type, but you will sell more if its cover speaks the right dialect. Your paranormal romance won't sell as many copies if the cover is pale blue and yellow rather than black and red.

 Some cover designs are just lazy. They use stock photos that have been used on a hundred other covers and they use unimaginative design and uninspiring fonts. You can grumble about this, but what it says really is 'yours is a routine book - it's not a list leader and we can't afford a better cover'. The publisher will struggle not to say this to you, so I will. They can't afford to set up a photo shoot with models who look like your characters; they can't afford to commission original artwork from Quentin Blake; they can't afford that better picture from Getty. No amount of author-whinging is going to get the budget increased. If you can find a better picture from a cheap picture agency, you could pitch that. But I don't give much for your chances if the rest of the design has been done.

The truth is, some publishers are really good at covers and some either are not or are lazy. I love my covers from Evans (Off the Rails is the best) and from Arcturus's adult list (Story of Physics comes out 31st July). There are others I don't like as much, but I'm not going to say which as they are publishers I might want to work with again. Arcturus are great and I have a lot of input. Evans give me the chance to say whether I like it, and I always do so I've never found out what would happen if I tried to argue. But there was one case in which I hated the cover, and the illustrations inside and so did the editor, but our objections fell on deaf ears. I was really pleased when a national newspaper refused to review it because of the horrid illustrations. (How petty am I? I'd rather be right than reviewed!)

If you really hate the cover, you need to be able to say exactly what you hate about it and you need to listen to the reasons the publisher gives for choosing it. You might just be wrong. Or they might be wrong. Unfortunately, they have the final say, wrong or not. As always, a strong argument is more likely to get a result than tears and tantrums. Stroppy does not always mean having a strop. And if you're going to be stroppy, you also have to be right.

How to read a publishing contract (7)

This is a short and easy clause. You just have to make sure it's there, really.

7. Author's Name and Copyright Notice

The Publishers undertake that the name of the Author shall appear on the title-page and on the cover or binding and jacket of every copy produced and that the following copyright notice shall be printed in every copy of the Work:

Copyright in the text Stroppy Author 20**

**indicates the first year of publication

You should make sure the publishers include this: it's vitally important to keep your copyright if you possibly can. It should always be possible with fiction, though if you are writing for a series sold into schools you might have to argue.

In the case of children's non-fiction, particularly that commissioned as part of a series intended for sale into schools and libraries, you may not have this clause. This type of work is often considered 'work for hire'. You can, if you wish, try arguing that you want to keep copyright and license the text to them, but I don't give much for your chances. Full sale of copyright is standard in many areas of children's non-fiction. I don't argue about this one, nor do most children's n-f writers. If you don't have the copyright clause, the work will usually pay a flat fee and no royalty. The publishers can re-use the work, re-issue it without telling you (though that is not polite) and produce it in different formats without paying you more or telling you. As long as you retain moral rights (we'll come to that) they can't just ransack it and use gobbets, or rewrite chunks of it.

This clause might say that the publisher will 'endeavour' to show the author's name on the cover, etc. This is not acceptable. They have the power actually to do it, and to make it a condition of any co-edition agreement. Make sure it does say it will be on the cover and title page - occasionally a publisher will miss your name off the cover, and some will even miss it off the title page. It is vitally important that you get your name on the title page as you need that in order to claim PLR in the book. If it is not mentioned in the contract, make sure you get it added. If you don't remember what PLR is, there is an earlier post on it and an article in the Bookseller about the importance of registering.

It is standard with licensed character work that your name will NOT be shown on the cover or title page, and you won't get this changed. The argument is that the book is usually presented as 'belonging' to the character (eg Angelina Ballerina's book of ballet shoes) and so it can't 'belong' to you. In addition, the character belongs to the original creator (which is a fair point) and they probably don't want your name on it. It is work for hire. There is nothing very imaginative in doing licensed character work - it follows a formula and adheres to a strict style and content guide. Accept that you won't get copyright or a cover/title page credit - if you don't like that, don't take the work. However, you may be able to get your name included on the imprint/acknowledgement page and as long as NO ONE has their name on the title page, you can still claim PLR on the book. It's worth arguing to have your name somewhere if it is a book that is likely to go into libraries (eg not a sticker book, or an activity book that is destroyed or defaced in use).

20**: the copyright date is always the date of first publication. If the book is reprinted in a later year, the copyright date stays the same. If the book comes out in a new edition, the copyright date changes when the text changes, but usually first copyright date is also shown.

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