Paranormal young adult novels are hot stuff right now, and it’s not unusual for me to receive a handful of review copies a week. Every time I open a package containing one of these, however, I’m met with a strange sense of deja vu. It seems that when designing a book cover for this audience, the design brief includes several mandatory elements:
- A young girl (preferably pale-skinned and with long hair)
- A formal gown (preferably worn in a context where gowns are entirely inappropriate)
- Lens filtering and photoshop brushes galore (the desired effect is one that blends emo with sweet curlicues)
Not only do these covers eventually become utterly interchangeable, but the fact that the heroine is invariably placed in a submissive or tragic pose concerns me, particularly given that this subgenre has at times come under fire for portraying romantic relationships with the power dynamic is often far from even.
I can say that personally I’m put off whenever I come across yet another cover featuring a young girl lying supine in the woods or leaping into oblivion in the name of teenage love.
Of course, if you think I’m exaggerating the issue, maybe checking out the below may help show you how widespread this design approach is.
What are your thoughts on these designs? Are they entirely innocent, or is there something slightly off-kilter going on here?
(See also Maggie’s Bookshelf for the discussion that inspired this post)
Update: see a follow up to this post on the Spinifex Press website
What an awesome topic to kick off the new year! I must admit, I am a bit of a sucker for a beautiful cover and a pretty girl in a pretty dress is rather an attractive prospect for me. Some are better than others though, I believe the one for Mara Dyer is absolutely stunning and a work of art, although some of the the more frou-frou ones leave me unmoved.
Ultimately though, do the submissive covers often indicate a submissive heroine inside the pages?
If the answer is yes then I believe the covers are doing their job
I’m not sure the problem is confined to YA. The marketing peeps are always trying to draw in people by making a book look similar to a bestseller. In adult contemporary fiction, headless women are so common! So many thrillers have covers that look like Dan Brown’s.
I love a unique cover design though and have bought many books just for their covers.
Ellie recently posted..The Year That Was 2011
Gone are the days when you could tell the difference between two novels on the shelf…
You’re right- I couldn’t help noticing the covers all feature girls in long formal gowns and corsets, even if the story has nothing to do with such things.
Its getting rather tiresome to me, to go to the stores and see all the covers looking the same. Don’t get it wrong, I loved them at first, you know, like Fallen with its pseudo -goth aesthetics.
Some of them did make me stop and stare with its arresting imagery but I got dismayed when I soon realised that the pretty pretty cover art was found on nearly half a dozen other books.
Another trend I noticed is the urban fantasy books at one point had a girl with her back to the viewer, always with tight clothes and tattoos.Sometimes accompanied by tacky photoshopped backdrops.
I really couldn’t agree with you more. At first the covers were striking and different (I was definitely a sucker for them!), but as you say, when a certain type of girl appeared over and over again it became rather disconcerting.
Certainly, there is a submissive nature in some of the images but not all – for me what is more prevalent is that apparently there is only one kind of beauty. The girls who read these novels range in looks, no doubt each just as pretty as those on the covers but simply don’t adhere to a particular look. Changing the hair colour of each of these cover girls does not equate to diversity. So yes, I do think the impact will go beyond the visual. Of course this isn’t purposeful it’s an inadvertent result of successful marketing, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved or fixed.
Then there’s the simple fact that surely it’s not fair on the author, because as you say these books just become interchangeable and therefore so do the novels…
Fantastic post – I’m glad you raised it!
Sigh. No wonder I’m so out of the loop. No submissive, perfectly beautiful heroine in a fluffy dress on my cover. Lydia’s in jeans and a t-shirt and she’s staring a challenge to Oberon and Titania.
LJCohen recently posted..The Year End Writing Round-up, 2011 Edition
What a great topic, and one that I completely agree with. While I don’t read much YA, I read enough that I’ve noticed and am quite annoyed with the covers on a lot of them. In general, I dislike any covers with photos of real people on them. They usually don’t even look the way the main characters are described in the books. And I really hate how the people on the covers are always super good looking. I worry that it might mess with the self esteem of some of the readers.
Happy New Year
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Wow, this one garnered more responses than I expected!
Shirley: There’s definitely great variation in the quality of the covers and, as you mention, some of them are truly beautiful. It’s not so much the beauty issue that concerns me as the wider theme of submissive/sexually permissive young girl in a powerless position. While you’re right in that it’s good if a cover reflects the material within the book, it’s the fact that so many (not all of course) YA paranormal books feature unhealthy relationships–to the point that it’s almost as though an uneven relationship is the norm. My concern is that these sorts of relationships will become normalised, with readers seeing little in the way of positive or healthy relationships.
Ellie: Thanks so much for picking up on the headless cover model issue. It’s one that’s bothered me in the past, and I can’t believe I didn’t think to mention it in this post! I think that approach is taken from fashion pics, and is designed to encourage readers to see themselves as the cover model. But for me (and as with you, it seems!) the approach simply dehumanises the cover model and makes them seem interchangeable and without any role as an individual.
Roz: You’re spot on about the tattooed-and-dressed-in-leather urban fantasy trend. Those have always confused me. They seem to be highlighting that women can be strong and powerful, but the high degree of sexualisation of those covers seems at odds with the strong theme. I also wonder whether those covers conflate “strong” with “tough”, which to me are two very different things. One can be a strong person without being tough, or without being a female version of the masculine archetype, which I think many of those characters are.
Davinia: It’s very, very true that there’s only one type of beauty exemplified in these books. Although hair colour is given a little bit of leeway, the very pale and slender look is across the board. Regarding ethnicity, it does make me wonder whether all of these characters are white (which raises issues in itself), or whether they’ve been whitewashed for the covers (as happened, for example, with Justine Larbalestier’s Liar cover, and perhaps also with the Parasol Protectorate covers–the heroine is frequently described as part Italian, but certainly doesn’t look it on the cover).
Lisa: can I say “hear, hear”? What a refreshing cover approach–I’ll definitely keep an eye out for it.
Kelly: great points, and some that touch on what Ellie and Rozz mentioned. I’m not a fan of photographic covers either (although UK covers tend not to have them as often as US covers, so maybe opt for those instead
), in part because I like to be able to imagine the characters myself, and also because it irks me to see so many perfect, pale, headless girls on the front covers of books. You’re utterly right in that these covers aren’t representative. I did read once that books featuring non-white protagonists were less likely to have a photographic cover–I’m not sure of whether this is accurate, but if so it’s definitely food for thought.
What great discussion!
I think it sort of looks like an artsy prom dress catalogue all laid out like that there.
I hadn’t considered the poses as submissive really but they do all seem to have a ‘teenage fairy tale princess look’, which essentially most of these books are. Of course generally things only work out for fairytale princesses when they find their prince.which is not the message we need to be spreading.
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I love the collection you have here and for me, this is really awesome!!
Ack, those long formal gowns! I’ve just read Shatter Me, a perfectly goos YA dystopian novel in which the heroine refuses to get out of her shabby clothes till the villain forces her to dress up and then she’s wearing purple. Even so, she wears her sneakers. She goes on the run, tearing her clothes.
So what’s on the cover? A grumpy-looking girl in a long white ball gown, looking as if she’s been dumped at the debutante ball or the school Year 12 formal.
The kids do tend to pick up books with girls in long gowns, but I really, really miss the days when you got a cover tailored to your book, that told readers what it was about, instead of something taken from a photo library!
Sue Bursztynski recently posted..YABook Judging: An Interview with Miffy Farquharson
Shelleyrae: Good points about the Prince Charming effect and the implication that love will conquer all. A romantic idea in theory, but not so helpful in real life. The problem with the fairytale love story is that the romance is so all-encompassing, and virtual strangers end up committed to each other, regardless of how poorly matched they are in reality.
Eylyn: I’m glad you enjoyed the post
Sue: Oh, Shatter Me actually sounds like something I’d love to read, but funnily enough I wouldn’t've bothered had I only gone by its cover (which is in the photoset above). I don’t mind artsy, abstract covers, but when the cover is photographic, I expect it to be at least to some degree representative of the book’s contents!
I’m coming in late on this I think but I totally agree- SO sick of people – esp model girls – on the covers. I follow Tehereh Mafi on Twitter & Tumblr and have admired her for her humor and talent, so when I saw her cover I… I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting it to be like everyone else’s. I get how it sortof makes sense (once you read the book) but I was disheartened by it. I thought she deserved something so much more original
also, in regards to covers being tailored for each book, I think my biggest upset with a YA cover lately has been Scott Westerfield’s steampunk Leviathan/Behemoth/Goliath cover situation. When I bought Leviathan (hardcover) I raved at the beauty and originality of its design (I’m a graphic designer so I get extra hyped up about good design and beautiful covers) it quickly became my favorite cover I owned. And then some genius (that’s sarcasm) decided to put faces on the paperbacks and CHANGE THE THEME of the hardbacks! I was SO disappointed by the cover that while I loved the first book I couldn’t even read the second until the third came out. If you saw the intended cover art for book 2 (still hardback) it was absolutely fantastic. Anyway- I almost get embarrassed to read YA now because of the people onthe covers. I’m a big reader. I’m 25. But I write YA myself (not published yet). I read the genre a lot because you HAVE to write smart and you can’t be preachy or teens will hate it, so I think there’s tighter and often better writing there. But if I sit down with a book like those above in a public place I’m almost certain anyone who looks at me would think I am not a deep reader, if you know what I’m saying. Makes me feel… flighty. And I’m already blonde so I don’t need to add to it! Anyway… Great topic!
Thanks for visiting, Alexis
There are so many issues tied up in the cover debate–race issues, gender issues, and definitely the marketing and design issues that you’ve mentioned. I too find it disheartening that YA can be distilled in such a way, and it worries me that this sort of homogeneity in cover design will also lead to (or at least suggest) homogeneity in content. If the only covers we see feature pale-skinned girls in frocks yearning after their lovers, what does this say regarding the content?
I know what you mean about the Westerfeld covers, too. I had the same issue with Michael Grant’s books (admittedly they’re very young YA). The Australian tour editions are absolutely superb–so striking–but there are also some horrendously bland photographic covers as well. Sigh!
I’m of two minds. There’s nothing wrong with being feminine, and I don’t think wearing a pretty dress makes you a bad role model or a terrible person.
However, how many of these books actually feature girls who wear enormous hoop skirts? When all the books look the same, it’s hard to find something good, or to tell what it is you’re actually buying!
Thanks for saying hello, DFTB! I definitely don’t have an issue with characters wearing a dress or being feminine, but I do worry about the submissive nature of a lot of the poses and pictures seen on these covers. Many heroines look to be swooning, in a position where they’re defenceless, or in some cases even leaping to their deaths. These all raise warning bells to me. I definitely think that you can be feminine and strong (I take issue with the idea that being “strong” is somehow equated with maleness), but I’m not sure that this is what’s being depicted across these covers.
Most of these books are modern, and I have to say that I don’t know many girls who get around in hoop skirts!
Although they are arresting at first glance, you’re spot on when you say that it’s hard to tell what you’re buying without reading the blurb!
These are all amazing and i am really happy I have found the post you have here for u then…Great job!!
Some very astute observations. How disturbing that young female readers are cracking open books with wilting/swooning/virginal young heroine’s on the front … in this case, judging a book by its cover might not be such a bad thing?
Excellent, through-provoking post!
Spinifex Press recently posted..Another Print Run
Thanks for your thoughtful comment, Danielle. Your mention of the virginal cover model also makes me think of how often in YA fiction (not all, of course), sex/sexuality is met with “consequences”, particularly for female characters.
I’d like to high five this post. As well as you. *high-fives*
I could go on and on all day about sad girls in pretty dresses on covers…I really, really, could. But you’ve done a great job in just a few short paragraphs. And I think some of the covers definitely have creative and artistic merit, but the market is just SO over-saturated.
My pleasure, Capillya. I know what you mean about the trends. I’ve seen so many of late–the forests, the black white and red, the headless girls… I wonder if it’s a reflection of changes in art/design budgets?
The covers are gorgeous, no doubt, but what really disturbs is the subliminal message they send – “Young woman, you are an ornament, you are vague, you are aimless, and you are so bored/angry/lost that we need some awesome male/paranormal event in your life to give it worth. Enjoy the pretty dress til something filters into the plot to make you interesting. P.S. what’s your favorite color? Nevermind, we’ll assign you one.”
Okay, I’m using some hyperbole to an extent, but this is the best we can get for hints as to what’s between the covers? One or two I can understand depending on the books’ content, but this many is disturbing. What can teen readers think when they see them, and what does it say about how we’ve developed their critical thinking skills if they buy a book based on these images? There’s variations (a recent notable one being ‘The Daughter of Smoke and Bone’, which I understand is an awesome book, but still, the cover is a edgier, facial close-up version of the above – hide the face, be vague), and trends do come and go, but this bandwagon design. . . what does it say about the way the publishing industry views analyzes us as consumers? Are we that gullible?
Lovely as the covers are, I am sure that they do not do some of these stories justice (although they may work for some). As an adult reader with a sense of my own heroes, I admire cover artwork, but it doesn’t sell me on a story very often at all, and certainly not ones as common as these. But if I had a teen daughter, I’d want better for her. Give me Katniss aiming arrow any day over this stuff.
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Great comment, Linds, and I entirely agree. You’re right in that so often covers are entirely divorced from their content, and it can be so very misleading. I just read about Lionel Shriver saying that she loathes that her books are marketed as light and fluffy, as it completely misleads the reader–and narrows her audience as well.
Great post! It was an eye-opener to see all those book covers together like that. For the past several years, I’ve been sorry to see so many photographs used in cover design for YA. (I read somewhere that focus groups of teens were drawn towards books with photographs of actual teens, i.e teen models, and that’s why publishers are designing them that way.) I think it stunts the imagination and makes the books look more like movie tie-ins, but I guess they sell better to a larger segment of the YA book-reading public that way.
On a personal note, I read a fair amount of YA and a girl in a gown on the cover is a turn-off for me. The only one of the books shown is Always a Witch which I was given an ARC of to review.
Laurie C recently posted..Getting in Shape to Live: The Widower’s Tale by Julia Glass
Thanks for visiting, Laurie! You’re definitely right about the photographic covers providing a film tie-in/fashion pictorial feel, but I agree entirely about wanting to be able to imagine the characters myself. Photographic covers seem to be more common in the US, though, than over here (Australia), or in the UK.
I tend to skip books with a girl in a gown on the cover unless it’s somehow actually related to the book (eg, historical fiction, or a book about dresses!)
I’m actually putting a panel together for ConBust 2012 on reclaiming the YA heroine and would love some examples of popular YA books with overly-sexualized, passive, or unrealistically bad-ass heroines in them. I’m subscribed to the comment thread, so I’ll get anything posted here, or you can email me lisa at ljcohen dot net. (Hope this is okay to post!) Thank you!
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Thanks so much for your comment, LJ. I’ll do a shout-out today for some suggestions and will ping you with what we come up with. I’ll also go through my shelves when I get home and send some recommendations your way. Off the top of my head, one that I did found surprising was Sisters Red, in that it was purportedly about strong female characters, but I found the way that they were depicted highly problematic. Here’s my review, if you’re interested.
I think even kids are fully aware of the formal gown situation and joke about it. But designers go right on putting them in because the publishers think that’s what will sell. Yet think of the covers on the Twilight series – simple, an apple, a feather, a chess piece, whatever. That has sold very nicely, thank you, without a girl in a prom gown anywhere in sight! I suppose I ought to be grateful my own book had a wolf on the cover instead of a girl in a gown!
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Very true, Sue! Personally I’m a fan of simple, iconic-style design rather than the American-style covers, which typically have people on them. It gives the reader more room to imagine, doesn’t date as much, and doesn’t run into as many issues!