Since November 2009Cover Stories: Jill Mansell
October 13th, 2010 by Chloe
A brand new feature on Chicklitreviews.com is Cover Stories! We have noticed that book covers are a huge part of a books appeal whether we like to admit it or not, and the age old adage “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” is less relevant now than it has ever been! Therefore, we’ve taken it upon ourselves for this new feature to quiz a whole lot of chick lit authors, some who have been around the genre for a good few years, some debut authors, about the importance of their book covers, and what they mean to them. We hope you like the feature!
This week is the turn of author Jill Mansell, who has released no less than a superb 21 books in the UK, with her 22nd, To The Moon and Back, due out in February 2011. Thanks to the amount of books she has released, Jill has real experience when it comes to book covers, and has been through several redesigns with her older books as well, so Jill can offer us a great perspective on this too! Enjoy!
“Covers are massively important and I couldn’t be happier with mine at the moment, both here in the UK and in the US. They are distinctive, super-attractive and completely pickupable. Gorgeous!
When my first six novels were published many years ago, the covers lacked cohesion; as each new one came out, my publishers attempted a different look and my sales dropped like a stone. This isn’t a criticism – we were all on the same side and wanted my books to do as well as possible, but sadly the magic doesn’t always happen. For me, my worst cover was the one for Two’s Company, featuring the face of a girl who would never star in one of my novels and who appeared to have one enormous eyebrow and one normal one! (FantasticFiction has a cover shot of this.)
I was dropped by my publishers and subsequently taken on by Headline. Perfect Timing had a lovely cover (of a bride in a 
bath) but it was the advent of the legs covers, starting with Mixed Doubles, that really marked the beginning of my sales increase and became my signature style. They may seem dated now, but at the time it was a fresh idea that worked brilliantly. (And not just for me – for plenty of other authors too. The legs became synonymous with chick-lit.)
After a few more years it was time for another change, this time a more ageless one in recognition of the wide age ranges of my characters, but retaining the happy feel-good factor. Making Your Mind Up was the first with the beautiful new style and I fell in love with the cover on sight. My entire backlist was re-jacketed too, and it was lovely to see them all getting a new lease of life
Now Headline are tweaking the covers once more, keeping the style distinctive and the author’s name always written the same way, but concentrating more on scenes from where the books are set. The colours used are also more subtle. I’m getting dead classy in my old age!
I’m thrilled with all my covers and owe so much to the talented artists who have created them. I can’t wait to see the new one for my next book, To the Moon and Back!”
Thanks so much, Jill!
Posted in Cover Stories | 2 Comments »
Great article and something I’ve also been thinking about recently.I buy a lot of books online now, so the issue doesn’t affect me as much. However when browsing in a bookshop there are so many authors out there that one has to judge a book by its cover. A cover has a hard job to do-summing up a 400 page book in one image is hard. I have just read a book by an author I have overlooked on many occasions due to misconceptions about its content based on its cover. It is an excellent read, and it has encouraged me to read the rest of her novels. However the covers were putting me off. Interesting how publishers market books differently in the UK and US. Look forward to reading more Cover Stories from you.
Very interested in this new thread as my publishers (indie group Indigo Dreams UK) are letting me work on my own cover as I worked in graphic design in the past. I have never liked the heels and fluffy ladies and pastels of regular chick lit novels and I think there is a new realist wave coming, which will give the genre a little more spine and recognition. I am opting for a black and white photographic collage which I think melds my two issues - fraught fashionista female caught up in a chic Catholic culture. Look at my blog and see:
http://thedivorcedladyscompaniontoitaly.blogspot.com.
will be checking in here regularly! ciao cat