I am outright asking forgiveness for the following post. It's going to be a little negative, but I'm curious if anyone agrees with this.
To be totally honest, I used to love the covers on King's earlier books. Then, at some point, they weren't that great. It essentially doesn't matter because it is just the cover, but sometimes I can't help but aggressively wonder why certain choices were made.
And while the dislike of a title of a book, for some reason, doesn't usually last long -- i.e., one gets used to it after a short period of time (e.g., aptly enough, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams) -- I still have problems with a lot of the covers. To specifically make my point, I invite anyone to juxtapose the cover for Four Past Midnight with the cover for Full Dark, No Stars.
Now, to the subject at hand. Butterflies. Butterflies?
There's nothing wrong with butterflies. And I know I'm taking a risk here -- maybe this is way too premature on my part. Maybe I will end up loving the cover.
If you're going to have butterflies on the cover, have them be giant butterflies that are carrying people away to a nest. Have them be giant butterflies trapped in a giant web suspended between buildings in New York, with an enormous spider crawling greedily toward them while stealth bombers approach and people on the ground capture it all with their iPhones. Even have them be mutant butterflies hatched from eggs in the laboratory of a scientist who is clearly mad, one who watches the life cycle from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to an insane, demonic imago.
Maybe the rest of the cover will be something along those lines, I don't know. Again, I could be reacting too soon. And there is no offense meant toward the artist, or whoever came up with the concept. It's fine as it is (or will be).
I just -- I don't know. I guess I was spoiled by those old covers, and by the types of covers one sees on Cemetery Dance magazine (which are incredible).
I guess what I'm really saying is, if you are going to use the slow reveal of a cover to promote a book that is expected to generate millions in economic value, then you ought to have something more than butterflies. I just don't feel there will be in this case, but I will wait for the next reveal...
To be totally honest, I used to love the covers on King's earlier books. Then, at some point, they weren't that great. It essentially doesn't matter because it is just the cover, but sometimes I can't help but aggressively wonder why certain choices were made.
And while the dislike of a title of a book, for some reason, doesn't usually last long -- i.e., one gets used to it after a short period of time (e.g., aptly enough, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams) -- I still have problems with a lot of the covers. To specifically make my point, I invite anyone to juxtapose the cover for Four Past Midnight with the cover for Full Dark, No Stars.
Now, to the subject at hand. Butterflies. Butterflies?
There's nothing wrong with butterflies. And I know I'm taking a risk here -- maybe this is way too premature on my part. Maybe I will end up loving the cover.
If you're going to have butterflies on the cover, have them be giant butterflies that are carrying people away to a nest. Have them be giant butterflies trapped in a giant web suspended between buildings in New York, with an enormous spider crawling greedily toward them while stealth bombers approach and people on the ground capture it all with their iPhones. Even have them be mutant butterflies hatched from eggs in the laboratory of a scientist who is clearly mad, one who watches the life cycle from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to an insane, demonic imago.
Maybe the rest of the cover will be something along those lines, I don't know. Again, I could be reacting too soon. And there is no offense meant toward the artist, or whoever came up with the concept. It's fine as it is (or will be).
I just -- I don't know. I guess I was spoiled by those old covers, and by the types of covers one sees on Cemetery Dance magazine (which are incredible).
I guess what I'm really saying is, if you are going to use the slow reveal of a cover to promote a book that is expected to generate millions in economic value, then you ought to have something more than butterflies. I just don't feel there will be in this case, but I will wait for the next reveal...
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