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Behind-The-Books Blog
Articles by Wednesday Cover Story
Wednesday Cover Story: The thought-process behind the cover to A Little Murder
Wednesday, May 15th, 2013
Sometimes, after reading a book or manuscript, I can conjure up my own ideas of what could go (or could have gone) on the cover. And then there are other times where I wouldn’t know where to start. This, of course, is why our cover designs are left to our talented Art Editor, Christina… A [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: Creating the design for The Lavender Keeper
Wednesday, May 8th, 2013
While our Art Editor, Christina, can often create a cover design that is so perfect from the get-go that it requires not even the tiniest of tweaks (that’s how brilliant she is), the process of creating a cover can often be a more collaborative process. Designs can change to accommodate a new quote for the [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: Fancy renting out the house on this book cover?
Wednesday, May 1st, 2013
It’s the 1st of May, the sun is out and had my first lunch in the park with no coat on. Summer is finally just round the corner and I can start looking forward to summer life: picnics and bike rides, ice-cream and beach-time, staying out late on those long warm nights, walking barefoot on [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: Getting readers’ seal of approval
Wednesday, April 24th, 2013
We often spend days, weeks, months mulling over cover designs and it’s always interesting to hear what people think of our covers. And of course, it’s particularly nice to hear readers think we’ve done a good job, especially when we’ve reprinted a book and revamped the cover with a new design… you hope readers will [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: Six decades of Casino Royale covers
Wednesday, April 17th, 2013
This month marks 60 years since Ian Fleming published Casino Royale – the first James Bond novel. One of his biggest fans, Mike VanBlaricum (whose fabulous last name could be used for a Bond-villan character) has contributed to a new exhibition in Illinois, The Birth of Bond: Casino Royale at 60, showcasing how the book [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: The new Simon Fonthill cover
Wednesday, April 10th, 2013
Fire Across the Veldt is the upcoming new novel in John Wilcox‘s acclaimed Simon Fonthill series – which sees Fonthill recruited by British General Kitchener to Cape Town to fight the Boers. And the cover is one of our new favourites. There’s something innately historical and quite beautiful about the colouring – the slight sepia [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: Our London Book Fair posters
Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013
The images on many book cover designs make for fabulous posters. In fact I’ve always thought the covers to our Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes series by Laurie R King would brighten up any room quite wonderfully. Now, however, I see that so many more of our cover images look fabulous blown up to poster-size [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: Setting the scene…
Wednesday, March 27th, 2013
This month’s issue of Booksmonthly features a review of the latest paperback in The Rose McQuinn series by Alanna Knight, Deadly Legacy, set in Edinburgh in 1901. The review says: ‘The atmosphere is superbly created and executed – the cover image sums up the narrow, lonely back streets that Alanna describes, and the story is [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: The beautifully packaged book v The e-book
Wednesday, March 20th, 2013
Earlier this week, over dinner with friends, I was asked the all-too-common question: will e-books eventually kill the book? Won’t everyone ultimately opt for the cheapest possible bargain? I proceeded to explain that undoubtedly, e-books have made a dent in the sales of physical books, especially mass market paperbacks. Unless you are averse to reading [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: Hot stuff
Wednesday, March 6th, 2013
There are times when you spot a book cover that just fits so well that you would like to shake the designer by the hand. And then there are times where the realisation of their design idea is so astoundingly apposite that I’m tempted to adopt a ‘We are not worthy’ pose along these lines. [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: Judging Covers – UK vs US
Wednesday, February 27th, 2013
It’s often interesting to compare the book covers produced by UK and US publishers; no matter how similar, there are always some subtle differences which perhaps say something about the disparity in our culture and attitudes each side of the pond. US literature website The Millions has recently posted its annual Judging Books by Their [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: Bitter Greens, by Kate Forsyth
Wednesday, February 20th, 2013
On Monday the final copies of Bitter Greens arrived from the printers. And as we removed the hardbacks from the boxes, the office was soon filled with the squeals and guttural sounds that would usually be associated with, say, watching Ryan Gosling remove his shirt in Crazy, Stupid, Love (or is that just me?) or [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: A hair-raising tale…
Wednesday, February 13th, 2013
There’s been lots of commentary in the past week over the new Faber edition of The Bell Jar. Sara contributed with her post here and Faber posted a very evenhanded response. Another week, and another cover controversy dawned, proving again how fiercely readers hold books and characters dear to them. Do you remember Anne of [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: Can book covers be offensive?
Wednesday, February 6th, 2013
Often on this blog we showcase some of the book covers we love, whether they’re our own designs or have simply caught our eye in a book store. This week, I’m afraid, the book cover occupying my mind is one I personally dislike - and it seems I’m not alone. The recent reissue of Sylvia Plath’s The [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: The new Elizabeth covers
Wednesday, January 30th, 2013
Our art editor, Christina, has just put the finishing touches to the cover designs for the upcoming reissues of Margaret Irwin titles. Have a look and swoon… Got a favourite? Chiara Priorelli, Publicity [...]
Wednesday Cover Story – Pulp! The Classics
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013
There’s a certain amount of preciousness attached to the sacred words ‘literary classics’ which is understandable considering their longevity . And while I appreciate some of the gorgeous editions that are available (take your pick from any published by the Folio Society for instance), it was great to come across some books that are far from genuflecting [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: The books in Moonrise Kingdom
Wednesday, January 16th, 2013
This past weekend I watched Moonrise Kingdom on DVD. I am not a die-hard Wes Anderson fan, but I enjoyed the mix of odd-ball characters and the quirky charm of the plot which features the innocent romance between misfit Suzy Bishop (pictured above) and boy-scout Sam Shakusky as they attempt to run away together one [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: The Nicholas Bracewell mystery series
Wednesday, January 9th, 2013
What book/s shall get the honour of featuring in the first Wednesday Cover Story for 2013? Well, it’s going to have to be the utterly beautiful designs for the Nicholas Bracewell series by Edward Marston – murder and mystery set around a theatre company in Elizabethan London. The next three books in the series have [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: Unforeseen misinterpretations…
Wednesday, December 12th, 2012
I was browsing through The Bookseller earlier this week and my eyes happened upon the thumbnail for the cover of Foursome, by Jane Fallon. The American Kindle cover, to be exact – which is pictured below. And, I stopped to look at it because, and this can only be due to my half-Italian blood, but [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: Our Budd Schulberg reissues
Wednesday, December 5th, 2012
A few weeks ago I blogged about our Budd Schulberg Dilemma and now I am delighted to present to you the new designs for our three Schulberg classics, to be published in April next year. You can see how, in the end, we solved the issue with Brando and On the Waterfront… [...]
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Dark Places, by Gillian Flynn. Chiara: I was captivated by Gone Girl and both Sophie and Rachel Caine recommended this earlier book of hers so have opted for this as my holiday read. It's a long flight to San Francisco...…Tweeting
- RT @_GoodBookGuide: And here it is...the promised shout out for @DE_Meredith Devil's Ribbon @AllisonandBusby review in May #GoodBookGuide h…
(about 1 day ago) - RT @WStonesFinch02: @rachelcaine. We have advertised that you wil be singing. Obviously, this must now happen. We have harmonicas & tiny d…
(about 1 day ago) - @K__Books @rachelcaine we had lots of fun with lots of lovely people, thank you for coming!
(about 1 day ago) - RT @K__Books: Actually the best day of my life meeting @rachelcaine I just love you and thank you for signing my books :) @AllisonandBusby
(about 1 day ago) - Teesside signing underway and there have been some very stylish hats among #Morganville fans today!
(about 1 day ago)
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