Can You Judge a Book by Its Cover? (Feat. Lindsay Ellis) | It's Lit!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 พ.ย. 2018
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Despite the adage of not judging a book by its cover, there’s a lot of time, intent, and money spent creating memorable book covers. Get to know the story behind some of literature’s most iconic book covers.
Interested in using this video as a teaching resource? Check it out on PBS LearningMedia: to.pbs.org/3rvUCYe
Written by Elisa Hansen, Antonella Inserra, and Angelina Meehan
Directed by Andrew Matthews
Animation by Dano Johnson
Produced by Amanda Fox
Executive in Charge (PBS): Adam Dylewski
Music and Sound Design: Eric Friend
Hand Model: Katie Graham
Imaged by Shutterstock
Looking for more It's Lit? You can find the latest season on Storied, PBS's home for arts and humanities content here on TH-cam. Subscribe to Storied for the latest episodes of It's Lit and get your folklore fix with Monstrum while you're there! th-cam.com/channels/O6nDCimkF79NZRRb8YiDcA.html
The idea of trying to make a cover to Lolita "sexy" is so utterly gross and totally goes against the theme of the book.
There are some really good essays out there about the Lolita thing, I think it's become something of a poster child for "publishers making covers that go against the text bc society is fucked up."
I thought it actually went well with the theme of the books, since Humbert lusts after a little girl, yet tries to convince the reader that it is Lo that is making him feel this way, and not he himself who is a disgusting pervert. There's this gap between what this book is about superficially, and what it's really about when you read past Humbert's gloss of deception.
"The idea of trying to make a cover to Lolita "sexy" is so utterly gross and totally goes against the theme of the book"
"Against" the theme of the book? It's central to the theme of the book. Ephebophiles do, by definition, find adolescents sexy, as Humbert did Lolita.
@@andrewjenkinson8948 Humbert has sexual desire for girls of all ages, even 5 years olds. At the beggining of the book, there's a part where he explains that he used to go to parks with a big newspaper watching for girls he found atractive to touch themselve.
@@andrewjenkinson8948 But portraying a "sexy" child is not only morally objectionable, it portrays our subject Dolores as if the vision Humbert has of her is somewhat objective. What we read in text is entirely subjective, like someone telling us a horrifically one-sided story. After all, how much of a seductive vixen can a 12-year-old girl really be? Showing us a ""sexy"" picture of a little girl's legs or lips, however (yikes), leaves little of the impression of the narrator's subjectivity, unless you want to go as far as to say we are wearing "Humbert" glasses when looking at the cover.
Many of the covers also feature sexually charged images of clearly older girls and women (16 and up) in cute, girlish attire. There's a video where Nabokov remarks "She looks older than him" on one of the covers. It reduces Lolita to a love story between a stuffy old man and a frivolous young girl rather than a character study of a paedophile.
A moment of silence for all the books with their film adaption poster as their cover
F
I hate that. So. Much. And it's like... I wouldn't care so much if that wasn't made the DEFAULT for the SERIES. What a way to date your novel and make it really unappealing.
God yes look what they did to the help it didn't even need a fucking movie THEY CHANGED SO MUCH IMPORTANT SHIT
Me:
~those are the worst~
"Now a major motion picture!"
There is an unwritten rule that the cover every single Scandinavian (especially Icelandic) thriller needs to be a photo of a lonely farmhouse in front of a fjord with some mountains and northern lights in the background. Otherwise, people wouldn't be able to tell it's set in Scandinavia or something.
Way to remind me of Sjálfstætt Fólk
iceland isnt in scandinavia, so thats some very flawed marketing! (scandinavia refers exclusively to sweden norway and denmark!)
I think that's fair enough
But Iceland isn't part of Scandinavia and Sweden barely has any fjords...?
how can i retweet a youtube comment
As an illustrator I always judge a book by it's cover
The quality of the cover is often reflective of the care the editor puts in the text.
A good editor will make the book look the best it can, by approaching a talented artist or designer.
The same can be said for the overall design of the book collection.
Even if I know the author was passionate (getting published is difficult), if the book has a mediocre cover, I feel like I have no guarantee that the book is actually worth my time, unless I know the author has a good track record.
I think you mean you judge a book’s cover by its cover...
As a big fan of art, so do I. The well-thought out/effective covers deserve respect.
+LiquoriceLover *slow, building clap*
same here! Also as an artist i also judge a book by its cover as i am looking out for things to symbolise what the book could be about and creativeness etc, if the cover lacks the creativeness or the way to draw me in with the art, i will assume the book is boring like its cover as the art should represent whats inside.
I once recognized a drawing I knew from deviant art on the cover of a German fantasy novel. I told the artist (a Canadian student at the time) about it and congratulated him to the deal (I liked the book). He said he never made a deal, they stole it. And he doesn't have the resources to sue. I emailed the publisher asking WTF. They never replied, but the next edition of the book had a different cover.
bloody_albatross you did a good thing mate
That's sad. :( ... Which cover and which novel was it?
It seems like exposure is in order. What is the name of the book?
unfortunately deviantArt has a really rubbish content policy, they have a right to distribute all the work you upload without your consent. I don't know if that's what happened here or not, but it's a distinct possibility. lots of artists have had their work stolen by big companies like Hot Topic and Homesense.
Next time you see something like that, maybe write to a newspaper? Though I guess they'd only expose it if the publisher is noteworthy enough ...
My favourite story about book covers... On the covers of the long running "The Dresden Files" series, the titular character Harry Dresden is always depicted wearing a hat. He never wears a hat in any of the books. Eventually the author Jim Butcher made a point to write inner monologues into the books how much Harry Dresden hates show offs who wear hats. He still wears a hat on the covers.
Lindsay is a national treasure.
*International
@@andrewwebb7584 I came here to write that.
Honestly, she is soooooo underrated. I honestly think a good chunk of her video essays should be used in a multitude of High School classes as a jumping off point.
@@andrewwebb7584 That is true.
Much love to Lindsay from India. 💜
@@oof-rr5nf And Central Europe!
Not gonna lie -- The Twilight book covers are quite gorgeous. In their simple design, they're very symbolic as mentioned. 1.) The apple as the forbidden fruit (symbolizing the forbidden and dangerous relationship Bella has with Edward) but held by delicate hands, assuring a more romance feel. 2.) New Moon : A wilting flower symbolizing the depression Bella is going through after her breakup. 3.) Eclipse: A silk ribbon being torn a part with conflict. 4.) Breaking Dawn: A chess board signifying a war or confrontation. I think especially for debut authors, a good book cover is essential. No one knows them, their name has no weight. But put on Stephen King, Nicholas Sparks or John Grisham on an ugly book cover, people will still buy it cause they already have an audience.
Agreed. I think the simplicity and high contrast of white and red objects against the black backgrounds were key in getting attention. Now of course, we've seen other series try to ride the coat-tails of that effect with what I'm guessing is mixed success. Same thing with authors / cover designers trying to copy the "50 Shades'" methods.
Jonathan M Look up the art for the Regulators and Desperation. SK has had some beautiful book covers
@@MortMe0430 The Fifty Shades covers themselves are highly reminiscent of the Twilight ones, in my opinion.
They left no stone unturned in lowkey copying everything twilight lmao
OP, your comment is beautiful. What a great break-down.
@@oof-rr5nf Aw, shucks. Thanks 😆
I REALLY dislike covers with photographs of people's faces on them. I feel like they are kinda tacky and look ok I guess when the book is new but age very poorly. Plus I'd rather imagine the main character myself rather than have some random model's face thrust onto me
Newt in a Jar That’s the same problem I have with movie posters. It never captures the film it just looks more like fashion shows.
@@AkakiaDemon That's fair, though I think that a majority of the time they don't really add anything. And I don't read romance but I can totally see how having something a little more low key would be nice
I have no Idea of the process of photo based covers in the US, but given how hard it is for artists to get a decent pay, I imagine the faces are often stock photos, or photoshoot of random people. The cover artist might not have the time to cast the face that is just right, with just he right lighting etc...
In that case it's better to have an illustrator : a good illustrator can create the actor for the role.
Even then, a cover that is just a face is often tacky, same as tattoos in fact. A good portrait is not about a face, it's about a character.
I agree with this statement, and in return have donated a like to this insightful commentary in the hopes of it to rise up in the hierarchy of comments on this TH-cam video. If you need of this information I was the seventeenth person to concur with this observation. Goodbye and good day to you sir.
@@honey6158 lmao
i worked in a book store for a long time in my teens/early twenties and i got to interact with a lot of interesting people and overhear a lot of interesting conversations. One of my favourite snippets of dialogue i ever heard was someone telling their friend "you can't judge a book by it's cover, you have to read the back first".
I'll carry that with me for the rest of my life XD
Unfortunately those back blurbs are nowadays supplanted by completely meaningless "critique" snippets from other authors or newspapers.
I don't f*ing care what that other author has to say about this book! I want to read a good summary!
Ah, yes, back-book summaries. Back in the good ol' days before the backs were taken up by "celebrity endorsement." I don't give a rat's behind if Suzanne Collins likes your book, I WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT'S _ABOUT,_ THANKS.
I usually finding myself reading the blurb of a book which i picked out because the cover was interesting or drew me in
I really dislike blurbs/critiques on the back of a book. Sure, it helps a reader unacquainted with the work judge if they want to read the book, but but once you've taken it home and read it, all you see now at the back of the book is an advert. I don't want an advertisement printed on the back of my book!
The point about the Twilight covers is extremely accurate - I vividly remember being a wee 11- or 12-year-old buying them precisely because the cover art was intriguing. (Didn't like the actual text much, though, even at that age.)
Ah, some people actually escaped the vampire ya fiction craze while they were kids? Highly unrelatable.
oof I mean read after 2 years of hype when I was 12 and I was thoroughly disappointed.
that oliver twist cover made my day
I love this new style where we actually get to SEE our heroine, Lindsey! Don't hide your star quality and million dollar smile behind a voice over!
Also, great video!
Purple Blob
The worst book cover offender I can recall was a new edition Anne of Green Gables novel...with a modern looking blonde haired girl wearing a crop top and jean shorts. Not only is that incorrect for the time period, but...a huge part of her story arc is that the heroine had fiery red hair and freckles!
I was curious to look it up. Oh god I didn't expect it to be that bad like you said...
I am truly sick of seeing stick thin models on covers of every novel targeted to women EVER. When will this trend die the painful death it deserves?
Little House on the Prairie, but the Ingalls girls are all glued to their phones and texting on the cover. I imagine the reader opening the book and thinking, “They each got a penny for Christmas and they’re blown away by that? Is a penny a name for like an old iPhone?”
Probably the worst for me is The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. A family epic about the changing times, generations, and familial bonds of a brown skinned South American family was given a white woman on the cover looking longingly into the distance with a pink font, as if it were simply a romance.
Wait... Such a thing exists??? What? How?!
I got so worried Lindsay and PBS had parted ways after the end of the Great American Read contest, so glad thats not the case.
I love the 1st edition covers of Ayn Rand’s books... I just hate everything contained within those covers.
Mr Shambleface used to love the content, then I got pass my teenage years. still have the books solely for the covers.
I’m just a sucker for graphic design from the 30s-50s. I don’t really see how anyone more mature than a teenager could buy into Rand’s “you matter more than anyone else” ethos.
Ahahahahaahaha
@@danstiver9135 Try several adult American republican politicians I have seen on the news. They like her work too.
I am not trying to stir shit here. It is just that unfortunately "I matter more than anyone else" is a rather popular attitude. Especially with capitalism everywhere. 😔
Her book covers do have an Art Deco design reminiscent of Bruce Timm's Gotham or 40's noir or Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Might be one of the reasons why superhero comics and films reference her work, either favorably like Steve Ditko's later work, questionably as in The Incredibles, or in satire or for great supervillain speeches. Think the Green Goblin in Sam Raimi's Spider - Man and his idea of exceptionalism. Art can inspire or introduce new readers to ideas they might be influenced by.
“It’s Lit” Need’s a Channel
Good News! It's Lit now has a channel! (sort of!)
th-cam.com/channels/O6nDCimkF79NZRRb8YiDcA.html
This channel was formerly called Monstrum (about monsters from folklore) but is now hosting It's Lit as well, so they changed the channel name to Storied.
I've picked up a few books based on their covers, and I've been happy with the purchase more often than not.
To be fair, as far as Fantasy stuff goes, what you see is often what you get. Book covered with dragons and such? Probably relevant to my interests.
Lot of parallels with youtube thumbnails.
I got roasted by everyone in my undergrad Publishing class a few years ago for saying this. Apparently, these (maybe) future authors did not believe the cover art said anything about the book inside. I'm guessing if they ever publish something they won't give a hump about the cover, then.
exactly, you probably sunk a year of your life in your book, try and make a stink to get it in a cover you can be proud of at least!
Alternatively, they recognised that, as the author, they'd have no control over the cover art - and that there's a long history of cover art bearing only a tangential relation to the content of the book.
At one point, having a damsel and a dragon on the front of the book told you that it was fantasy - it didn't guarantee having female characters, and certainly didn't promise an actual dragon.
Maybe things are better these days - I've long since been trained to largely ignore the details of the cover art as totally irrelevant to the content.
@@rmsgrey Sure, but I'd feel better if authors thew a tantrum everytime the cover art misrepresents their work and militated for more input an the choice of the artist. Giving up is not really the way froward.
For the only novel cover I did, the editor sent me the manuscript, And I read the full novel before getting started, and this should be standard practice as well.
I hate what Terry goodkind represents, and the time he publicly shamed his illustrator for a perfectly well executed cover was dumb, but if he wants low effort, black shadow over a monochrome background covers, let him have it. For one author like him with access to a good illustrator but dreadful tastes in art, there are many with legitimate criticisms that would be alleviated if they got to chose and work directly with the artists tasked with presenting their novel to the world.
@@maximeteppe7627
Oh, definitely, it would be brilliant if covers routinely illustrated the books in a meaningful way - traditionally, the problem is that most authors needed publishers a lot more than the publishers needed any individual authors, so relatively few authors could get away with insisting on better treatment.
I do get the sense that things have improved over the last 20-30 years, though there are still plenty of examples of bad blurb to go with bad cover art out there...
Speaking of books and their corresponding images. Not to sound positively primeval but am I the only one who wishes more novels came with black and white illustrations every few chapters or so?
I want gilded initials on every chapter beginning!
jk
Sure, it would be neat to have some illustrations in books, even in those for adults. But it would cost more because somebody has to draw them.
No! I'm much more likely to buy a book if it has nice illustrations in it.
Try manga. It's full of black and white drawings!
Oh yeah thats one of the many reasons i adore the stormlight archive! The hardcover editions especially are unbelievably gorgeous .
That's what I loved about Cornelia Funke's books.
I've always been surprised that there's no online database to easily browse books by edition and cover design.
I always love Twilight's cover, which is why the whole series will always be on my bookshelf (I rotate my book between plastic boxes n shelf). The design is simple yet striking.
Well done. Thus partnership is gold!
Firstly, I judge a book by it's name, then by the author (if I know the author, this goes first. Actually, I usually don't need judgement anymore), then by cover and finally by the text on the back of a cover. If that's not enough, I go on the internet to check reviews.
I got Goodreads to make sure I'm not spending a lit of money on a book I won't enjoy
If a cover has realistic looking people on it, I will not buy the book. I will either never read that book or I will find another copy with a less offensive cover.
I've done this. I usually like hard covers, but I have bought paperbacks when their covers are more attractive and certainly don't have photographs.
Film poster covers go in the same fire pit for me. I will take artsy, and I will take plain, but I steer clear of live-action people/photography.
Another great episode! I'm having a wonderful time with this series and I hope it continues.
More of my Queen (wait... I feel like Lindsay wouldn't support being a monarch....)
More of my "Female Ruler Elected by Popularity Among a Group of People Who Enjoy TH-cam Analysis" is always always a good thing! I am very thankful for it!
Where can I cast my vote? *Ellis 2018*
I always find Sci Fi books from the 60’s to 70’s are some of the most visual and unique you can ever come across.
Speaking as an illustrator who has done some book covers, sometimes it’s a good thing the writer doesn’t get much say in the cover design. Just look at the self published books on amazon to see why.
A lot of bad self-publishing cover art is not because the author doesn't want a better cover, but because they don't know how to create one.
That doesn't mean that an author can't recognise when a suggested cover is a bad fit for their story.
I was quite fortunate with my publishing. I was asked for the mood of the cover, and to provide some examples of other books I wanted to emulate. Then I gave them a drawing of my heroine, and a few months later I was given a beautiful cover that really suited my story so well.
@@rmsgrey "they don't know how to create one." AKA can't afford one.
Well, that doesn't explain why professionally published books still have appaling covers (as shown in the video). Maybe we'll have to assume that designers can also be hugely misguided in their efforts...
I am thankful for Lindsay Ellis.
Me 24/7.
So you are thankful for pretentiousness
@@asher8754 No.
The child's series, Freddy the Pig by Walter Brooks, is one of my cherished possesions because of the beautiful covers made with watercolor paper. They consistently fascinate me with the simplicity and art that captures the America of the 1930s
As a longtime fan, Lindsay, it makes me quite happy that you and Nella are still collaborating. (Yes, some of us do actually read and parse the credits.)
I LOVE this stuff, this kind of stuff is my subject, OH MY GOSH, this is one of my favourite videos you've done!
I am always surprised by the unexpected things that I find interesting. Even if I can not fully articulate why. Thank you for the video.
Pro of self-publishing, you have a lot of control over your cover! Even though you have to work really hard to market it...
QueenCloveroftheice You think that’s bad? You should have seen the cover they wanted to use. It wasn’t a glove, believe me!
I was published by a smaller company and also got a lot of say in my cover. As a matter of fact, I gave them a drawing of my heroine, and they used her clothing for the art down to the letter. It was amazing, and a million times better than my own work.
I just had to hire artists to do my covers because I can't draw worth a sack of magic beans. lol
Btw, that's another con for self-publishing: expenses add up fast.
There was this really great TedTalk on how book covers are the visual first impressions from a book to a potential reader, and that first impression remains important
Went back and thumbs-ed-up-ed all the videos in this series. Yay Lindsay!!! Yay this series!!
I always learn from Lindsay, whether it's her own channel or this one ❤
I know it's just a kids series, but I think the original covers for the Animorphs series were amazing. They really caught your eye, especially in a time where photorealistic morphing wasn't a common home software plugin, and told you everything you needed to know to be interested in the world of the series, but none of the things that would hook you once you got started.
TBH YA book covers look so much better than regular "adult" books do
i love all music on the inside Hmm, either the YA scene has more illustrator talent or that's just advertising shenanigans treating younger demographics with the idea that they respond more visually.
It is also one of the most lucrative genres. So I am not surprised. But am glad the covers have gotten better! I haven't read any YA (or anything else for the matter *sob*) in a while.
"The next topic of fighting at your family dinner" - shows an Ayn Rand book. Too funny. Serious question, how often will videos featuring Lindsay be uploaded
you go lindsay!!! so happy to see you on PBS, have been following you since the Nostalgia Chick competition and its been great to see you get the visibility ur work deserves!
Those Le Guin covers are hilarious bad. That poor woman could not get a break when it came to other people representing her art. Great books, terrible book covers, shitty TV shows, disappointing movies.
It's pretty common with any kind of fantasy or sci-fi, the old covers of the Wheel of Time series were somewhat legendary in that regard.
The new omnibus version is an improvement at least. The characters actually have brown skin!
You were right, I was not ready for how ugly some are
@yltraviole: If you mean the Charles Vess one it's one of those rare cases where the author not only picked the artist, but actually worked with him throughout the drawing process, even going as far as drawing maps of buildings and such for him to work off. It was the last project she worked on before she died.
@@det.bullock4461 but the old wheel of time covers are amazing...love the old fantasy art
She's so attractive and not only in her looks but also in the way she talks and just the whole energy is on point, amazing. Also she's talking about books so that's another plus
Lol, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is anything BUT action packed. Dangit Lindsay! You know better!
In my teens, when I was heavily into the SciFi stories, I always judged a book by its cover. A good story got a great cover (most of my favourite books had a Chris Foss painting). I can't recall an instance where this didn't work…
I honestly adore pulp book covers. it reminds something of those old tales from the crypt comics
I remember browsing my local bookstore a few years back, and the cover of Adrian Tchaikovsky's The Tiger and the Wolf really caught my eye. Picked it up, and discovered one of current favorite authors.
I grew up reading a lot of the Magic: the Gathering novels and loved that cover art to death! Spent many a minute staring at the characters depicted, trying to suss out what part of the story was being depicted. Good times. Good times.
As lame as this sounds, the mythology didn't align with my own headcannon as a kid so I blocked it out. I remember being very crabby about it.
Man, growing up thirsty for anything within that very narrow bandwidth of Magi-Tech that Magic the Gathering emphasized so much.
I put up with so much hack writing for the love of a card game.
I’m introducing my daughter to Anne McCaffrey and her Pern novels. I was entranced by the cover art when I found them in the early 80’s, and I later chased down those editions for my library. I found many wonderful fantasy and sci-fi books by their intriguing cover art.
Glad to see you're still doing these! :D
I love Lindsay and I love PBS, how did this collab not happen sooner!
Lindsey’ new book “Axiom’s End” has a great cover that would really pop on a display at the local bookseller’s...if one could go to a bookstore to see it! At least we can still get the book online. 📖
I have so much respect for Lindsay! Great series!!
There's nothing worse then when the only copy of a book left is one with a photo from the movie as the cover...
There is a book in my bookcase called Cinnamon and gunpowder. The background is a flat vibrant turquoise with on the front a flamboyant red haired female pirate captain with her arm around a nervous white clad cook, and I was sold. Those colors and the hilarity of the setup was enough to sell me on the book
I think it's interesting that you point out Twilight's cover art because I remember seeing it before I knew what Twilight was! I was just walking past a bookstore, saw it on a shelf, and thought to myself, "That's a hell of a cover." Still remember that moment years later. Iconic indeed!
not sure if plays count but the almost stick figurey cover of A Streetcar Named Desire with the black red and white color scheme is one of my favorite covers of all time
I really enjoy this series
I think the title of the book is the thing that got my attention as a kid in my local public library. Before you take the book out of the shelf, all you see is the book's spine. The font and the color surely had an impact, of course, but going through the shelves reading the titles was what I spent most of my time doing. I would often pull the book out of the shelf and go straight to the back of the book to read the blurb, so I actually didn't see a lot of covers until I thought the book was interesting and turned to the cover so I could open the book. I'd see the cover quickly if the blurb was on the inside of the book on the dust jacket.
Heeey I dig the new style w/ Lindsey atop her literary throne!
I found Naomi Novik's amazing "Uprooted" because I had to choose quickly in an airport and could only judge by the cover (intriguing, effective and well designed). Glad I chose right!
It's nice to see Lindsay on screen too. Yay for more of these.
The original cover for Scott Westerfeld's Uglies is one that was particularly influential to me. The vibrant colors and partially obscured face on the cover seemed more enticing than the description on the back
I'm actually applying for jobs in the marketing departments of a couple of big book publishers...so this is all alarmingly useful
I actually read Liar bc I’d heard of it through the controversy and was one of the many who urged the US publisher to make the cover more accurate to the main character. I do remember the author saying she preferred one of the European covers that had a lot of red circles arranged in rows on it. Made abstract sense, given one of the twists in Liar. ^_~
fascinating
This is excellent
My single all-time favorite cover was that of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. *genius*
I got into Terry Pratchett way back in middle school when everyone else was reading the first Harry Potter, haha. I needed to do a book report and I grabbed "The Last Continent" off the shelf, said, "Hm, I like the cover of this book," and checked it out. Best decision I ever made. Thanks book covers!
Also, yayyyy, Lindsay's back!
I miss Lindsey's videos but so glad that she's doing well at PBS! Judge the cover for the art and appreciate it, otherwise we'd all have boring book covers.
She's still making great content on her own channel!
@@jackcoleman1222 Then I am not getting the notifications for some reason. Thanks for reminding me to go and check.
The cover of Twilight is what sold me back in the day when it was still a new release and not popular yet.
LINDSAY LONG TIME FAN CONGRATS ON WORKING FOR PBS!! YOU DO ALL OF US NERDS PROUD!!
Great choice of topic, Lindsay. ^_^
This has become true of superhero-themed graphic novels and comic books as well.
It used to be that the comic book cover was indicative of its contents. There'd be a scene from the issue, or a stylized summary of the main plot...it was kind of like an old-time movie poster in that regard, you knew what you were in for.
Then somewhere around the 2000s, things changed. Covers started featuring generic glamour shots or pinups of the titular characters started superceding the "sneak preview" idea, most notably in team books like X-Men. Sometimes the character on the cover would be a fan favorite who had maybe a few panels of page time within the issue itself. In some particularly underhanded cases, an obscure character would get a cover that whipped up excitement from that character's fans...only for them to open up the book and dicover that this issue contained the death of that fan favorite.
It got particularly bad in the early 2010s, when heroes would appear on the covers of issues of comics that had nothing to do with them. Again, using the X-Men as an example, there was a time when members of the team would appear on covers of books like the Avengers, or Thor, when they had nothing to do with the story. Fortunately this seems to have fallen out of fashion.
These days, it's somewhere between the two. Covers are still typically in a pin-up style, but they're typically more thematically appropriate to the issue. The non-sequitur pin-ups are now relegated to variant covers, and usually have to be hunted down. The official cover art is still fairly generic, but at least they aren't totally plot-irrelevant anymore, for the most part.
As I’m working on my second novel I have the cover already in my head even though it will never be. I just hope it won’t end up looking like a textbook.
Lindsay is working with PBS?! YES! I'm so down with this. You go, Lindsay!
I
Can u please do one on horror writing? I would really love that. You're awesome!!! :)
The Amulet of Samarkand, which is the first in the Bartimaeus sequence, was a book that I bought just coz I was looking for something to read and I liked the cover. And boy, was that a great decision. It turned into one of my most favourite series of all time.
That Twilight-styled Oliver Twist cover is just so perfect
Yay a new video from Lindsay! Yipppeeeeee
While I love the tactility of a paper book, one positive of my Calibre ebook library is the ability to set the cover to whichever version I want. No crappy "film adaptation" covers there. I especially enjoy using scans of priceless first edition covers.
The "celebrity author" trend is where the term "big name author" comes from. Most people think it means an author who is successful and famous, but it really comes from the marketing decision to make the author's name larger than the title, b/c they think they'll sell more books this way.
Terrific video.
The original British Harry Potter covers are still the best!
Nu-uh, the new Scholastic covers by Kibuishi are the best!
I prefer the German cover art, but that might be my nostalgia. :D
@@KleineralsDrei, to be honest I think most of the preference for particular covers stem from nostalgia... Although the "adult" covers are just drab as fuck!
Nah-ah. Original Dutch cover art is where it's at. The covers are much better at showing the mysterious darker themes of the story, while not losing their sense of magic. They all also have beautifully detailed, themed illustrations on the spines (like snake scales for book two, and a Phoenix feather for book 5) . They're really cool alright, and I don't just say that because I'm biased as a Dutch person!
@@andrewwebb7584 You're right. It is probably nostalgia. But my heart is suddenly full from imagining the painting of Hogwarts Express and the red background, with Dumbledore in beautiful purple robes and a very long and wispy white beard reaching almost the end of his robes at the back cover. And the robes are covered in a golden stars and moons pattern.
I hope I got that right, I am not referencing anything lol.
it's neat how the penguin books designs are still going today. the obvious example is of course penguin classics, but as a john le carre fan the unified design of his books is one of the things that initially drew me to his work beyond 'tinker, tailor', to the point of re-purchasing a book or two to make it all look better on my shelf
also, lol at linking 'the spy who came in from the cold' with 'heart-pounding action'
I judge a book by it's cover. It's the main reason I have so many bad books at home, the cover literally got me to buy it. And for older/republished books, I always look at the different covers to pick the publishing house I want the series/book from (e.g a song of ice and fire or harry potter). And a good cover will also remind me of the story within (not always, but usually).
The only time I've ever bought a book because of the cover was three years ago. The book as Go Spy the Land by George Alexander Hill, and the cover art was a British flag with a hammer and sickle. It was pretty good.
My favorite book cover is definitely all the various War of the Worlds covers with different interpretations of the tripods. :D
This is super interesting! I love trying to guess what books are about based on the cover art and fonts used. (Also, I need to know what that Pride and Prejudice cover with the robot hand at 6:30 is??? If it's a retelling of P&P where Darcy is a robot, SIGN ME THE HECK UP.)
You forgot to mention that the Twilight effect darkened the YA section. Like, literally, so many books do that now that on the whole it's kind of like looking at muted shadows underwater with the odd pops of color because that is such a popular style. It used to look a lot more like the regular fiction section with a random variety of bright and dark colors.
having done my master's thesis project redesigning whitewashed or ambiguous book covers (including LeGuin's Left Hand of Darkness) to be more representative, i was hoping there'd be a mention here, and am glad you highlighted the issue. another awesome video in this series - thanks!
"How did we even get here?"
I'm here because I'm one of Lindsay's biggest fans.
I don't know if it's just here or in the US as well, but there's been a recent boom of classic books with really fancy covers published in Spanish, and they make me wanna buy them just because the fabulous covers.
Also there's this local publisher here in Costa Rica, and I've bought tons of their books because I love the covers, but I haven't read any of the books
Whoa whoa. Live action instead of scrapbook animation? A good change. Keep it up.
The Penguin book covers took a great inspiration from the Reclam Universalbibliothek, which has its 150th anniversary
I love your videos! I teach American Literature, and these are so engaging.
Sometimes. And by sometimes I mean I do it all the time. If I'm interested I read the first page/chapter to get a feel for the book, before deciding to check it out or whatever.
It showed up on my Honors English exam thank you very much