The Rap Sheet: Plenteous Peepers

 The Rap Sheet: Plenteous Peepers

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Guest Post: Judging a Book by Its Cover by James R. Benn

Please welcome author James R. Benn to the blog today…

 

Judging a Book by Its Cover 

Traditionally published authors usually have little say about cover design, and there’s a good reason for that. The purpose of cover art is to sell the book. A good cover design will attract and sustain attention, drawing the reader’s attention to it so they pick up the book off the shelf, leading to a purchase. Writers are good with words but not always as adept with images, which is why cover art is best left to the professionals. Publishers can be reluctant to include authors in that decision-making process since disagreement over a design costs time and money.

            Luckily for me, I am an exception when it comes to my publisher, and I owe it all to a mistake.

            In 2006, Soho Press was preparing for the release of my first novel, Billy Boyle. My editor, Soho Press cofounder Laura Hruska, had promised me a special cover to kick off this series. At the time, all covers in the Soho Press crime line had a distinctive and readily identifiable look, but she had something different in mind, and the project was under wraps.

            Finally, when the hardcover was about to go to print, Laura called to say she’d emailed me a PDF of the cover art, and I should take a look. The artwork was magnificent, done in a striking art deco movie poster style. But when I looked closer, I nearly dropped the telephone.

 

 

            There was Billy, standing tall, staring out into the night sky. But in that original version, the sportscar burning in the corner, a pivotal plot point, was—I kid you not—a 1960 Chevy Corvette. I wish I’d kept that original image, but at the time I just wanted to be rid of it.

 

            No one had noticed that the very talented illustrator who’d developed the cover had used a 1960 vehicle in a story set in 1942. Whoops. The Corvette was replaced, properly, by a 1934 Riley Imp, and the series was launched without anachronism. Whew. 

            From then on, I was asked for ideas and to provide feedback for each cover. My suggestions were always taken seriously, and on one occasion I even managed to stand in for Billy. While on a research trip to Northern Ireland, a photo of me climbing Slieve Donard formed the basis for the cover of Evil for Evil.           

            Billy was obviously in better shape than I was. It was a tough slog to the top. 

            The seventeenth Billy Boyle novel, From the Shadows (release date 9/6/22), presented a challenge when it came to forwarding a suggestion to the folks at Soho Press. The tale begins with a secret mission on the coast of occupied Crete, and I wanted to capture the tension inherent in such a dangerous landing. I did not know how to form that idea into a rational description until Netflix came to my rescue.

            I watched the series This Is a Robbery: The World's Biggest Art Heist, a 2021 documentary about the 1990 robbery of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Thieves disguised as police officers stole thirteen paintings valued at over $500 million. None have been recovered. It’s a fascinating series and one helluva historic heist. But what really caught my attention was Rembrandt’s Storm on the Sea of Galilee, his only seascape, and one of the pilfered paintings.

 

            This powerful work of art depicts Christ and his disciples on a fishing boat being tossed about in a storm. Rembrandt inserted a clever self-portrait of himself; he’s the fellow in green, holding onto a line and staring straight at the viewer. It’s a magnificent piece and given that the design of the traditional fishing skiff, or caïque, has changed little over the centuries, it was easy to use this painting as the basis for Billy’s seaborne landing on Crete.

            Daniel Cosgrove, the illustrator for all the Billy Boyle covers, came up with the perfect interpretation of this classic work. First, he started with a sketch which included an early version of the title.

 

            Next was the creation of the final illustration. For my money, this is frameable art. 

 

            Finally, the Soho Press crew added the text and color scheme, and a book cover was born!

 

 

            As I started by saying, the purpose of the cover is to sell the book. Here’s hoping this one does its job. 

In a matter of weeks, I’ll be sending Soho Press the manuscript for the 2023 title, Proud Sorrows. This book tells the story of a mysterious murder in an English village where Billy Boyle and friends are enjoying a well-deserved leave.

            This book presents its own unique challenge for a cover concept since it takes place far from the battlefields of Europe and requires a much different approach. Maybe I’ll watch an Agatha Christie on Brit BritBox . . .

 

James R. Benn ©2022 

Mr. James R. Benn is the author of the Billy Boyle World War II Mystery Series as well as the stand-alone novels, Souvenir and Desperate Ground. He divides his time between the Gulf Coast of Florida and Connecticut. Married to Deborah Mandel, they have two sons and seven grandchildren. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of America as well as the Author's Guild. You can learn more about the author and his books at https://www.jamesrbenn.com/index.htm

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Guest Post: Jeanne and Treadmill Books: Cats on Book Covers

Jeanne is back this week with some thoughts on the phenomenon of putting cats on book covers…..

 

Treadmill Books: Cats on Book Covers

Anyone who has browsed the mystery paperback racks knows there are lots (and lots and lots) of books with either cats or dogs on the cover.  Being partial to cats, I immediately gravitate to those.  First I look to see how prominently the cat is featured:  is it a small, unobtrusive cat or is it front and center?  Front and center gets my attention first, but I’ll also take a look at any with feline present.

However, a cat on the cover doesn’t mean there’s a cat in the book.  Often authors feel obligated to insert a passing cat to justify the image, such as, “I raced to my car to follow the serial killer, and the neighborhood stray cat ran under the bushes to get out of my way.” Authors, you don’t have to do that for me.  I understand that these days a cat on a cover is meant to convey that this is a cozy mystery, just as a plate of fried chicken on a checkered tablecloth means Southern cozy.  Actual fried chicken may or may not appear in this book.

Books with cats added under protest feel like books with cats added under protest. Authors obligated to create a reoccurring cat character tend to forget said feline for large portions of time.  One book had a cat run off, giving the heroine an excuse to go snooping in the bushes and uncover evidence.  What she never uncovered was the cat, who vanished for the rest of the story, though he did obligingly show up next book to be fed and forgotten again.

Actually, I don’t demand or even expect a cat be part of a book.  A well written book with complex, likable  characters or a clever plot that keeps me engaged is a winner every time. In fact, some of my favorite mysteries do not feature cats. Give me a sleuth, amateur or professional, with flaws but who doesn’t wallow in self-pity, who doesn’t find a new lust object every book or else who doesn’t think their Significant Other is cheating/leaving five times a book, who follows up on clues without being foolhardy, and who is a decent human being without being a saint or a doormat, and I’m in. Or else give me a fiendishly clever solvable puzzle, one that will keep me guessing until the end, and I’ll be happy.

So why do I look for covers with cats on them?  When it comes to new authors and series, I expect a certain percentage to be, well, average at best. In some cases it takes time for characters to grow on me, and if there’s a cute cat around I can be more patient.  There have been books I would have given up on long before the end if I hadn’t been hoping that terrific tabby or adorable angora might show up again. They’re my backup plan. Some of these series have become fairly decent series, despite lackluster beginnnings; I hung in there only because of Muffy the Maine Coon or Simone the Siamese, and now I’m glad I did. If there’s a cat on the cover, but no cat in the book , it’s okay providing the book meets the above criteria, i.e., is well written with complex characters and a decent plot.

Also, there are books in which the cats are the ONLY redeeming quality.  I’ve read more than a couple of tales in which the amateur sleuth needs  to be hit in the head with a common sense stick or else needs to develop a backbone or learn to follow up on clues before she or he ends up the next victim—the acronym TSTL exists for a reason.  I may swear I’ll never read another book by the Honorable Mrs. Mewington, but when a new book comes out with Charming Billy the grey tabby or Crazy Fred the ring-tailed wonder or amiable Melon the overweight ginger and white on the cover, I tell myself that surely it couldn’t have been as bad as I remembered and find myself buying a copy.

I will add one caveat, though:  if there is a cat on the cover but the only time a cat is mentioned is when the heroine complains about stray cats being a nuisance, then that’s an immediate deal breaker.  I don’t ask that the author and/or heroine LIKE cats, but I draw the line at active dislike. And yes, there was such a book.  The heroine was so-so, a supporting character was really annoying, the rest of the characters were bland, and I don’t remember any of the plot, though I assume there was one.  The cat was my only hope, and when that was dashed, the book became a rare DNF.

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