Karen Miller: Judging a book by its cover!

One of the most exciting things about having my books coming out in other editions is seeing the different covers that have been dreamed up by the various art and design departments. Don’t get me wrong — the folk at Voyager put out some truly gorgeous covers, using really wonderful artists and combining their talents with folk given the exacting task of designing the entire package. It’s just — there’s something alchemical about the cover design process and the alchemy changes from edition to edition.

I live with my stories in my head. I’m not an artist. I paint with words, not oils or watercolours. Even so, I have a kind of vague notion of how things look. Then to see a true artist’s rendering of my imaginary worlds and their characters — that’s truly mind-blowing. What’s even more intriguing is the shifts in tone and style from market to market. For reasons I don’t quite understand — even though I’ve been in the book trade myself — different cultures respond to different kinds of cover design and artwork. And that can lead to some quite startling interpretations of the text! So can the in-house differences between publishers. Add the author to the mix, who often has quite distinct ideas as to how the characters and the world should be depicted, and sometimes the journey to a finished cover can get a bit exciting.

I’m very lucky in that my opinion is usually sought when it comes to cover design. And while I’m never shy about expressing that opinion, I’ve learned that often the author needs to shut up and let the professional cover designers do their job. Looking at the covers shown here, I’ll think you’d agree I’ve got very little to moan about.

So let’s hear it for the art and design departments of the world’s publishers. They’re the unsung heroes of the book trade, believe me!

Empress of Mijak – Voyager Aus

The Riven Kingdom – Voyager Aus

Hammer of God – Voyager Aus

Empress [of Mijak] – Orbit UK

Hammer of God – Orbit UK

The Riven Kingdom – Orbit UK

‘King Murderer’ – Germany

De Magier Ontwaakt (Innocence Lost) – Dutch

‘King Maker’ – Germany

De Onschuldige Magier (Innocent Mage) – Dutch

Innocent Mage – Spanish

Karen Miller is the author of the Kingmaker/Kingbreaker duology, the Riven Kingdom trilogy and the upcoming Fisherman’s Children series, the first book of which is The Prodigal Mage. Visit Karen’s LiveJournal to see the Australian cover of The Prodigal Mage.

And further good news! Kingmaker/Kingbreaker is also published or to be published in Hungary (Ulpius-Ház), Russia (AST Publishers), Poland (Arrakis), France (Fleuve Noir imprint of Univers Poche). Innocent Mage has been sold into Denmark (Forlaget Tellerup) and due to the length once translated is to be published in THREE volumes (just book one!). The Godspeaker trilogy has been or will be published in the UK (Orbit), France (Fleuve Noir), Germany (Panhaligon), Poland (Arrakis) and The Netherlands (Luitingh-Sijthoff).