My publisher emailed asking me to pick some book covers that I thought would give the design team an idea of the type of thing I'd like for Hitting the Jackpot - my story of Cindy, who's divorcing Jack. When Jack wins the lottery he decides not to tell her...
To be very honest, I'd been a bit worried about the cover. When offering me a contract, the publishers said the book didn't need any 'structural' changes, so the cover would be the first time that 'somebody else' would get to 'do something' to MY book. I'd assumed the 'design team' might (if I was lucky) produce three 'possibles' and ask me to express a preference. That was where my worrying started - what happened if I hated them all?
They'd already told me that they'd use my synopsis as a guide for designing the cover. I've described the book as a romcom because I wrote a comedy which developed a bit of romance as an afterthought, so my knowledge of the world of romcoms was seriously limited. And as for my knowledge of romcom covers... I've learned quite late in the process that there are romcoms and there are romcoms. By dipping my toe into the Twitter world of romcom authors and fans I've discovered that the range of romcoms is huge.
At one end are the 'steamy', 'smutty' or 'erotic' romcoms, well I certainly haven't written one of those - the only sex in Hitting the Jackpot comes between the end of chapter 20 and the start of chapter 21. If you want steam - put the kettle on. Then there are the 'Friend Who Was There All Along' types, and the 'Opposites Attract' versions, the 'Holiday' romcoms, the 'Feigned Relationships Turn Real' and many more, even a 'Catfish'. And the covers soon tell you what type of romcom they are long before you even read the blurb.
The 'steamies' are covered in lace-clad cleavage, lacy-topped stockings, and muscular men who've forgotten to put on a (presumably lacy) shirt. The 'There All Along Friends' often show two people looking away from each other. 'Opposites Attract' books have a swotty-looking guy with glasses ignoring a cheerleader with a blonde ponytail. That, or the girl has glasses and a pile of books and the guy is dressed for the Superbowl. 'Holiday' romcoms have scenes from a beach or Venice dominating the front, while the 'Feigned Relationship' versions have a couple conspiring, but looking more like they're planning a party for a six-year-old than a romance. I never did get to see a 'Catfish' romcom cover, but I'm sure I can guess what would be on it...
I didn't see my book obviously slotting into any of those categories. 'Guy Hides Lottery Jackpot From His Wife'? Maybe I'm starting a new category.
Which left me still hunting a cover, but with no cleavage, no glasses, no holiday locations, no piles of textbooks, no PE kit - and no catfish... I soon found myself running out of options and marvelling at the skill of the people who do this job for real.
So finally, I went right back to basics - the title (of course) and author's name (natch); I felt I was doing well. Then I decided on a lottery ticket and a pair of wedding rings. Maybe one ring on the ticket and the other not, or the ticket torn in half and a ring on each bit. A white background to represent the marriage, maybe a grubby look to it to suggest the divorce... It could work. I sent them the cover of Man and Boy (Tony Parsons) as an example of the simplicity that I wanted. Man and Boy has two pair of shoes, a man's and a boy's. So, that was my one and only idea, lottery ticket and wedding rings: brilliant?
Apparently not. They ignored my idea (except for the simplicity of it - was that a dig?) There's no white background - they chose pastel green and yellow - would that be envy and cowardice, or am I reading much too much into this? But no lottery ticket, or wedding rings - although thinking about it, seeing as they're divorcing they've probably taken off their rings, and he's hidden the lottery ticket so it wouldn't be 'visible' anyway. Instead, a cartoon man and woman sitting at opposite ends of a cartoon sofa, facing away from each other, clearly having just had (yet another) row. So, what do I think?
I think - why the hell didn't I come up with that?
To be fair, I did add a rider to my cover idea submission, saying I knew I wasn't a designer, and I wouldn't be offended if they ignored my ideas altogether. I'm mightily relieved that they had the good sense, and good judgement, to at least follow me on that point. The obvious thing this cover has (which my rings-and-lottery-ticket idea, it's clear to me now, didn't have) is humour. It's a comedy, and the cover tells you that. The green, the yellow, it can't be serious. The two characters on the sofa, all huffy indignation and childish petulance, deserve to be laughed at. My rings and ticket (in the starkness of the Man and Boy style) misses the comedy completely. Sure, it was sophisticated, but it wasn't funny.
Michael Gove once (in)famously claimed that we'd 'had enough of experts'. Well, sorry Michael, but as with so much else, you're wrong again. Hats off to the designers of my cover, lots pf props and thanks. I think they might have saved me (and my book) from myself...
Hitting the Jackpot cover by Better Book Design.
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