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Tuesday 10 November 2009

Captain Jack and Emmy Lou...


I got a curious email from another writer - let's call her Emmy Lou - about the cover of Shiver Me. She asked me was I aware how much the cover looked like Captain Jack Sparrow? Why yes, I am. Emmy Lou indicated to me in less than subtle terms that I was ‘cashing in on’ the popularity of Jack Sparrow. Uh-huh...

This is curious to me because you could paste the 'cashing in on' label on every genre that is being written or published right now from vampire to doctor/nurse romance. There ain’t nothing new under the sun when it comes to books. In fact you could say, if you wanted to argue the point, that every romance writer is ‘cashing in on’ the phenomena of love. How so? We're writing about a universal desire that people have to be wanted, needed and cherished. We crave love and desire. Or you could argue that people like to read romance books as a hobby and a form of relaxation and therefore ‘cashing in on’ is a load of codswallop. Or you could just enjoy the books without analysing it all too deeply because life is too short for all that shite.

As for covers? You could say writers ‘cash in on’ the fact that women want to see naked male chests, bums, thighs or just a handsome face. Hmmm...so where do we draw the line Emmy Lou?

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4 comments:

Anny Cook said...

The whole idea of a cover is to attract readers. And if readers are attracted to pirates that resemble Jack Sparrow, then great!

Regina Carlysle said...

You're right. Everything in this biz is the basically the same. Beginning to think original ideas are few and far between. It's just a matter of how we 'spin them'. EMMY LOU needs to get a life if she has a problem.It's a great cover! Love the new look of your blog. Classy and elegant. Kudos.

Sandra Cox said...

I love that cover. It may be your best and you've got some great one.
Wonderful looking blog by the way.

Sandra Cox said...

oops add an s after one.