At this year's Bouchercon in Indianapolis in October, an Anthony award will be given for the first time for the best cover art of 2008. Authors agonize about their covers, which can make such an impact on the book buyer or reader, for good or ill. The bigger the publisher, the less likely it is that the author will have any say about the cover. We've all heard horror stories. And sometimes we strike it lucky, and an artist, photographer, and/or designer captures a perfect and memorable illustration of the author's vision. I've invited any and all authors who loved their 2008 covers to display them here. Note that we are not connected with the Anthonys in any way, just giving as many 2008 covers as we can a little wider circulation.
If you registered early for Bouchercon and therefore have a ballot to vote for nominees (not winners) for the Anthonys, note that you have to include the format (hardcover, trade paper, or mass market paperback) for your picks. If you don't have the books, you can get that info on Amazon. Sorry, authors, I forgot to ask you to include it--you can add it in a comment on this post.
An unexpected number of authors did love their 2008 covers. Here's a big batch of those covers, and I'll post more next Thursday. I'll start with mine.
Elizabeth Zelvin, Death Will Get You Sober (hardcover)
Jeffrey Marks, Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography
Jeff Cohen, It Happened One Knife
Eric Stone, Flight of the Hornbill
Julie Kramer, Stalking Susan
Deborah Shlian, Rabbit in the Moon
Laura Elvebak, Less Dead
Betty Webb, Desert Cut
Kathy Lynn Emerson, How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries
Betty Sullivan LaPierre, The Lure of the Witch
C.J. Lyons, Lifelines (paperback original)
Lou Allin, And On the Surface Die
Jeri Westerson, Veil of Lies (hardcover)
Louise Ure, The Fault Tree (hardcover)
Vicki Lane, In A Dark Season (mass market paperback original)
Roberta Isleib, Asking For Murder (paperback original)
Elaine Viets, Clubbed to Death (hardcover)
Marilyn Meredith, Kindred Spirits
Mary Jane Maffini, The Cluttered Corpse
Baron Birtcher, Angels Fall (hardcover)
Clare Langley-Hawthorne, The Serpent and the Scorpion
Renée Gardner, And the Dog Took the Cat
I.J. Parker, The Hell Screen
Linda Richards, Death Was the Other Woman
Chester Campbell, The Marathon Murders (hardcover & trade paper)
Pat Browning, Absinthe of Malice (trade paperback)
Mary Reed and Eric Mayer, Seven for a Secret
Deborah Sharp, Mama Does Time
James R. Benn, Blood Alone
Visit again next Thursday, March 26, for more 2008 covers the authors loved.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
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15 comments:
There are so many GREAT covers. I don't know how we're supposed to pick just one!
This is a great new category for Bouchercon. I love your parade of covers, Liz!
I also see some titles I love.
Thanks, Liz. Still a hard decision but now I have some ideas.
Thank you Liz, this was a great idea.
Also, I've jotted down a couple of titles to look for-titles and authors I'm not familiar with, so even if the cover didn't say much to me, I'm looking for the book.
There are some stunning covers out there!
Thanks so much for doing this, Liz!
(IN A DARK SEASON is a mass market paperback original.)
Thanks, Liz. This was a real service to mystery writers and mystery readers. (And my book, CLUBBED TO DEATH, is a hardcover)
Thanks, everyone. I was thrilled by the great response. I'll add format information per authors' comments when I check back. And this post will be available after today--you'll just have to scroll down past more recent posts or use the search box to find it. More covers next Thursday, too!
Great and generous idea Liz--thank you! Berkley has done a super job with all of my covers--as my agent says, the cover fairy was busy:)
(Asking for Murder was a PBO in 2008.)
What a parade of great covers! Thanks for doing this, Liz!
My book ABSINTHE OF MALICE is a trade paperback in 2008.
Pat Browning
This was fun. I love covers. This is a great display. Thank you,
Marilyn
a.k.a. F. M. Meredith
Thanks for doing this, Liz! Wow, what a great collection!
CJ
(LIFELINES is a paperback original)
Thanks for Putting this together, Liz.
THE FAULT TREE is in the hardcover category.
Great idea, Liz. And a great bunch of covers. My Marathon Murders was a simultaneous release in both trade paperback and hardcover.
Wow, these are so fun! Great idea for a blog post. Thanks.
STALKING SUSAN is a hardcover. I think my designer was going for that yellow journalism look.
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