In general, I tend to prefer American book covers to their British counterparts. There are, of course, exceptions. Here are a few books due out in July 2009 in both their American and British incarnations.
Firstly, Linda Howard’s highly-anticipated romantic suspense, Burn.
US Edition UK Edition
My Verdict: The US edition wins. The cover is more evocative of the title.
Black Hills by Nora Roberts also has a radically different style of cover on either side of the Atlantic:
US Edition UK Edition
My Verdict: Once again, the US edition wins. Black Hills is a romantic suspense. The US cover looks suitably suspenseful. The UK cover might depict the Black Hills of the title, but the woman on the cover looks neither in love nor in fear of her life.
Karin Slaughter’s new thriller has not only a different cover in the UK, but also a different title:
US Edition UK Edition
My Verdict: I prefer the UK cover and the title.
Finally, here are the two covers for Karen Rose’s Kill for Me:
US Edition UK Edition
My Verdict: The US version, definitely. Grand Central Publishing has done a wonderful job with all three covers in Rose’s Vartanian Trilogy. In comparison, Headline’s effort seems uninspired.
What do you think of the various covers? Which versions would make you more inclined to purchase the book?
{ 7 comments }
I prefer all UK covers, which isn’t a surprise, really (I’m in the UK).
US covers seem over the top, melodramatic and “clingy”. UK covers seem straightforward and to the point, which suits my taste.
When I lived in Ireland, I bought UK-published books almost exclusively. At the time, I thought the American covers were garish and over-the-top. Since living abroad, the books I buy are predominantly US editions as they’re usually cheaper than their UK counterparts. I guess I’ve gotten used to them and I’ve come to prefer them. I also love the size of mass market paperbacks, but that’s a topic I could expound upon at length and probably best left for another blog post.
For me it depends on the genre, when it comes to the historicals romans I mostly prefer the US covers, I love those Avon covers, yes they are sometimes over the top but also very romantic and hot. For some reason I feel more drawn to the US covers then the English ones. The US covers of J.R. Ward for example, I like them a lot better than the English ones, same goes for Kenyon DH series, I just don’t like the models on the English covers. I prefer hardcovers over paperbacks but due to lack of space I’ve switched to paperbacks. The US covers persuade me easier to buy the book than their English counterparts, for me they grab the attention of the potential buyer more than the English ones.
That’s funny–I actually tend to prefer the UK covers. Maybe it just depends on what you’re used to and the other covers seem more exotic?
@Marissa And I’m not all that fond of Avon covers! Tastes differ.
@heidenkind Could be. I’m the opposite. When I lived in a country where I had almost exclusively UK covers, I preferred them. Now that US editions are the ones which are more readily available to me, I’ve shifted my allegiance.
I like covers that don’t have faces LOL or with the least body parts. I think I’d go with Burn – UK, Black Hills – US, Genesis and Kill for Me – UK
@nath Really? I think it depends on the genre. I prefer romance novels which feature people on the covers, although I could do without too much cleavage and man titty. I usually like mysteries to have plainer covers with no faces on them. The Karen Rose book is an exception. I think it works in the context of the trilogy.