Covering Arthurian Novels:

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Covering Arthurian Novels:

Cover Design as an Integral Part of Book Marketing

Student: Liesbeth de Vries / s1971891

Supervisor: Prof. S. Sobecki

Date of Completion: 15 Oct. 2014

Word Count: 16,439

Master’s Dissertation Literary Studies

Writing, Editing and Mediating

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List of Figures

Figure 1: 2005 Dutch cover by Librion ... 12

Figure 2: 1996 Cover by Tor and 2006 French Cover by Succès de Livre ... 14

Figure 3: 2013 American Cover by Eos and the 2013 British Cover by Lion ... 16

Figure 4: 2009 French cover by Livre de Poche ... 18

Figure 5: 2009 Cover by Sourcebooks Landmark ... 24

Figure 6: 1960 Cover by Dell ... 30

Figure 7: 1988 Cover by New American Library and the 2007 Cover by Chicago Review Press ... 38

Figure 8: 1988 Cover by Douglas and McIntyre ... 39

Figure 9: 2011 Cover by Puffin ... 39

Figure 10: 1996 Cover by Tor ... 39

Figure 11: 1996 Cover by Penguin ... 39

Figure 12: 2011 Cover by Silverwood ... 39

Figure 13: 1996 Cover by Harper Voyager ... 39

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Introduction

During the Arthurian Revival in the nineteenth century the Arthurian legends returned as a result of Mallory’s Le Morte Darthur, which was re-edited and, subsequently, rediscovered, before being popularised by Alfred Tennyson (Lacy 121). Tennyson had been fascinated by the Arthurian legends his entire life and expressed this fascination in poems. His work and dedication culminated in the volume Idylls of the Queen in 1895, which contained four idylls “Enid,” “Vivien,” “Elaine” and “Guinevere,” and was immensely popular in England and across the Atlantic (Lupack 90-91). One of the main reasons for the popularity and interest in Tennyson’s Idylls was that “they were seen as models of morality,” which ensured that for both Victorians and their American contemporaries alike “medievalism was often not just an interpretation of the past but a guide to how to live in the present” (91-93). Numerous illustrations of Tennyson’s works appeared, Arthurian legends were retold in children’s books and Arthuriana literally appeared in people’s homes with the brand name “King Arthur Flour” (95-112).

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perspectives, as in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon. Her work changed the field of Arthurian literature with lasting impact and called similar feministic novels to the

foreground (Lacy 125). These trends give an indication of the intrinsically different ways in which the Arthurian legends can be interpreted, which was aided by the fact that the twentieth century also marks the beginning of popular culture. Various new media such as films, comic books, graphic novels, and even puzzles broadened the field and led to a wider dissemination of the legends, which can now be encountered everywhere (Lacy 129). The sheer number of works and different interpretations illustrate the way the Arthurian legends still fascinate many people in the form of films, TV series, and, of course, books.

During the Middle Ages, illustrations were essential to the Arthurian text and analysed as such; in continuation of this tradition, I examine the cover art of modern books with Arthurian themes (Mancoff 250). Modern books covers are primarily tasked with selling the book by making it stand out amongst hundreds of other books; a cover needs to be unique (Barthelmess 76; Piters 2). What makes Arthurian books so particularly suitable is the fact that they span a variety of different genres, yet are still easily grouped together, which allows for an in-depth analysis of the different ways in which the covers of the different genres market their story. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the ways in which the front covers of books with an Arthurian topic manage to ensnare potential customers: what combination of elements on the front cover ensures that consumers notice the book before recognising the title as Arthurian and to their liking, ultimately moving them to buy the book?

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industry’s usual approach to cover design. This thesis is not concerned with actual literary analysis, but rather with analysing the cover art of these books with an Arthurian topic in order to recognise patterns in the different ways in which the topic is presented on the different covers. This does not necessitate an in-depth analysis of the literary content as the cover designers themselves are only presented with a brief of the content. Therefore, the editorial content is not prioritised in this analysis of cover imagery as it is not in the creation process itself (Rostant; Yampbell 358).

For the purpose of this analysis, I have compiled an electronic database of the covers of 25 titles with an Arthurian topic with the inclusion of covers of other editions, reissues, and translations. The database is comprised of works of English origin that have been written in the twentieth century, beginning with The Once and Future King by T.H. White in 1958 and ending with Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell in 2007. Moreover, this thesis will focus only on the covers of physical book copies as it has been established that a book’s cover is the first thing to draw consumers’ attention in bookstores (Piters 3). Different factors play a role during the sale of e-books or audiobooks for they are not encountered in the same way in bookstores.

In order to accommodate readers’ navigation of the cover images, the standard MLA citation format is adapted to facilitate the reading process and to clarify to which title a cover belongs. I have therefore included the ISBN numbers where available. This was necessary to enable readers to find the cover described in the text easily as the electronic database allows for searches via ISBN numbers.1 Considering that some books have no ISBN number, I have also included an index number before the citation information in the

footnotes to further improve clarity in cases of a missing ISBN or multiple covers with the

1_{This database can be accessed online until 30-08-2015}

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same ISBN. Index numbers can also be used to find a cover in the version of the database in Appendix C.

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Chapter 1 – Book Marketing

1.1 – Marketing a Book

Many different factors are at play during the promotion and marketing of books, and publishers aim to create an aura around them that “capture[s] the attention and imagination of readers” in order to guarantee sales (Guthrie 161-162). Publishers finance the production of a book without an actual a prognosis of a book’s success because success is always unpredictable, especially when it comes to books in the trade sector such as fiction, non-fiction, reference and children’s books (15, 50). Consumers are under no obligation to purchase these books which is contrary to, for example, academic books, which sell because they are “practical necessities” (50-52, 163-164). In order to ensure that books in the trade sector do sell, publishers go through several steps to determine the right marketing strategy for each book.

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made, publishers need to decide what message the book should convey in order to persuade consumers to buy the book (6). This message needs to be interpreted with the right creative strategy, consisting of matters like typography, in order to allow “the message to speak clearly to the [identified] market” (7). Lastly, the book needs to be available for sale at the right time and the right place, which for books in the trade sector varies from outlet stores to bookstores (7; Guthrie 52).

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While all of these concepts help create an aura around books, generally very few books are reviewed, more authors are unknown rather than know, or just debuting, and, despite current trends, even fewer books are adapted to film (Guthrie 175, 41). In the end a book’s cover is the last bullet in a publisher’s arsenal that can determine a book’s purchase. Occasionally, when a book does not sell well, a new aura can be created around the book through new releases and especially new cover art (Maughan; Rostant). Most of the time a potential reader will not see the book until it lies in the store amongst hundreds of other books, which attaches significant importance to the cover’s ability to stand out and draw attention (Piters 1). Simultaneously, the book cover should communicate what the book is about (2). In essence, by giving books a cover, “an exterior life [is given] to content, [which] improve[s] its marketability” (Guthrie 25). In a few crucial seconds a book cover can turn a browser into a buyer, which is in the end the ultimate goal (Guthrie 184).

1.2 - The Design Process

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form of time constraints (Yampbell 359). This becomes apparent from interviews with several cover artists, which have provided an understanding of the process of designing cover art.2 Typically, a cover artist is provided with a plot summary together with other pertinent details about the book, and often cover artist do not have the time to read each book they design the cover for (Guthrie 25; Latham; Yampbell 359; Ortega). Krystal

Camprubí states it is not a “must do” for cover artists to read the book, even if she herself does prefer to “enter into the universe of the author” (Camprubí). Instead, cover artists commonly rely on the editorial content provided by the editor, which refers to the literary content of the book, such as the plot and defining characteristics. Rostant further

emphasises that, while time constraints do play a role, it is not even necessary to read the book; instead it is about producing imagery that invites people to select the book (Rostant). Yet the cover should communicate a book’s topic via recognisable genre elements so consumers will know what kind of book they are purchasing in accordance with

Barthelmess’s ideas (Rostant). A cover artist’s primary task is thus producing cover art that gives an indication of the editorial content, but simultaneously, and most importantly, makes consumers buy the book. This further illustrates the cover’s value as an instrument of marketing, which prioritises its commercial packaging in the bookstore over its potential literary value as a vehicle of ideas (Baverstock Are 15).

There are several ways in which cover artists can give expression to the book on the cover, as the titles in the database testify. Usually, the cover artist communicates with the editor or art director whose instructions guide them throughout the process (Rostant;

Ortega; Camprubí). Ortega notes that the specificity of instructions can vary. If she does have time to read the book, the instructions tend to be less specific as her client simply asks for a

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character or scene on the cover and asks for her input after she has read the book (Ortega). Some of the covers in the database reflect the same tactics and depict a scene from the book from the covers, such as is the case for the 2005 Dutch

cover for Barron’s The Lost Years of Merlin (see fig. 1).3 This cover art refers to a scene in the novel’s prologue by depicting an oak tree, a boar and a stag, which all feature in the

prologue of the novel in which Merlin is saved from an “enormous wild boar” by a bronze stag while he hides in the “hollow in the old oak” (Barron, Prologue). Cover art also has the tendency to refer to the title of the novel by giving shape

to some of the words, such as the recurring winter landscape for Cornwell’s The Winter King, the mist on covers for The Mists of Avalon and the use of crystals or cave imagery for

Stewart’s The Crystal Cave.4 Moreover, a title can be essential in communicating the genre and topic of the book to the reader in combination with the cover art, which will be further explained in Chapter 3 (Piters 85). This gives an indication of the different ways cover art can take shape through interaction between the cover artist and the editor.

Interestingly, all three artists indicate that they prefer not to have too much interaction with the author during the process, because authors tend to focus on content instead of on producing a saleable package. It is normal to have some degree of contact, but the extent to which this takes place varies (Latham). Authors can be important to ensure that cover artists get details about the book and the characters right, but authors can also

3

See #171: Barron, The Lost Years of Merlin. ISBN13 9789052900094. 4

See #83: Cornwell, The Winter King. ISBN13 9780241955673; #81: Cornwell, The Winter King. ISBN13 9780718137625; #334: Bradley, The Mists of Avalon. ISBN13 9780345350497; #54: Stewart, The Crystal Cave. ISBN13 9780340128725; #47: Stewart, The Crystal Cave. ISBN13 9780340151334.

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unduly complicate the process as their vision of the cover is “not the best way of selling a book” (Latham; Ortega; Rostant; Camprubí). Both Ortega and Camprubí state that in these instances authors tend to want too many characters or details of the cover, which would detract from the effect of the cover (Ortega; Camprubí). Essentially, authors do not know what imagery sells and appeals to the identified market. Cover artists, on the other hand, do as, in Rostant’s words, their “expertise is producing imagery that makes people pick the book of the shelf” (Rostant). Camprubí indicates that experienced authors have often come to recognise the commercial aspect of cover art and are more comfortable with letting the artist do their job (Camprubí). Rostant also mentions, for instance, that while some

important authors are involved, Stephen King, for example, prefers to distance himself from the design process (Rostant). In the end, the publishers or self-publishing authors have the final say about the cover since “they are the ones who paid for it and are responsible for the financial end of the book’s performance” (Britton).

In cases where the publisher is not willing to invest in original cover art, the decision may be made to use stock images or ready-made art selected by an in-house designer (Yampbell 358; Latham; Guthrie 25). Stock images are a set of generic photos or pictures of fine art that are uploaded to sites where designers or self-publishing authors can

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Guinevere by Tor and the 2006 French cover for Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon by Succès de Livre (see fig. 2) (Draper).5

Figure 2: 1996 Cover by Tor and 2006 French Cover by Succès de Livre.

While there is a significant time difference between these two covers as well as a

continental difference, placing these two covers next to each other nevertheless detracts from their appeal. The cover no longer feels unique, which decreases its marketing appeal as a cover is supposed to stand out and be “better” than all the other books (Rostant;

Barthelmess 75).

What is perhaps even worse than a cover clone is a cover’s misrepresentation of the book’s content. Despite careful considerations about what cover art should convey, cover art can sometimes strike the wrong note as some covers in the database reveal. The Russian cover for The Mists of Avalon by Eskmo, which was published in 2011, presents such an example as it actually defies the storyline of the novel. The cover presents a male figure on the novel, which strikes a sour note considering that the novel is renowned for its feminist storyline (Lacy 125).6 The expectation that this cover raises is, therefore, wrong, and this

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See #325: Newman, Guinevere. ISBN13 9780312862336; #376: Bradley, Les Dames du Lac. ISBN13 9782738219343.

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may antagonise or disappoint consumers, creating an unfavourable or negative atmosphere around the book (Yampbell 358). The fact that these book covers occur can be the result of a small budget when the publisher is not willing to invest a lot in marketing the title, or

perhaps of bad communication between the artist and the editor or art director (Yampbell 358). Yet, cultural considerations might also have been involved during the cover design since the role of women in Russian society, which continues to be male-dominated, remains complex, and a male figure might have been more appropriate considering Russian

marketing sensibilities (Moorman).

1.3 – Close-up: Cultural Considerations

As the above example illustrates, book covers for translations can differ strikingly from the original, but even the covers designed for the British and American market differ noticeably as a result of country-specific marketing preferences. The difference in design between the United States and the United Kingdom was already evident at the time of the launch of Penguin Books by Allan Lane in 1935. His design emphasised tight constraints and

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embossed lettering on paperback covers for the title and author’s name, as is exemplified by the 1989 paperback cover for The Road to Avalon by Onyx (Baverstock Are 75).7

Rostant predominantly creates cover art for both the American and British market, and can identify a clear difference between the preferred aesthetics and imagery of both countries. One of the primordial differences between the two markets is that American designs are brighter and bolder, almost “more beautiful,” while British designs are more restrained and reveal less about the book (Rostant). This difference can clearly be observed between the American and British cover for Taliesin, which were both published in 2013, but present the book in markedly different ways (see fig. 3).8

Figure 3: 2013 American Cover by Eos and the 2013 British Cover by Lion.

Both covers depict a Celtic harp which can be recognised to symbolise Taliesin, a druid-bard who can entrance people with his songs and sings of the future (Lawhead bk. 3, ch.17). The

7_{See #34: Wold, The Road to Avalon. ISBN13 9780451401380.} 8

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American design additionally has swirls of water surrounding the harp, symbolising the relationship between Taliesin, the bard, and Charis, the Lady of the Lake, which can only be recognised after reading. This imagery in combination with the dark colours on the edges and the brighter hints of colour allow consumers to recognise the novel’s fantastical nature. The British cover design on the other hand is comprised of the sole harp above which the titles of The Pendragon Cycle are placed in a large historic uncial-inspired script, which is popularly associated with Celtic and fantasy themes (Greetham 203). The title, Taliesin, is red in order to indicate which part of the series it is, and as such the British cover allows consumers to easily identify the novel as Arthurian and historic. Both covers thus give an indication of their contents, but the American cover does this more strongly via its imagery. Moreover, the American cover is bolder and more colourful than the British design, which is conform with the aesthetics Rostant describes. All in all, the American cover can be

recognised as more actively attempting to allure consumers, displaying a strong commercial emphasis, while the British design focuses more on the literary appeal of the novel, which gives an indication of the different markets. In essence, this means that books need to be visually translated as well in order to suit different markets (Mertens, Pos, and Ross 116). As articulated by Ginger Clark in her article “Why ‘World Rights, One Cover’ Is Not the Best Idea” “[s]ometimes, it’s one cover fits all. A lot of the time, though, it’s not.” (Clark).

1.4 – Close-up: Illustrating The Mists of Avalon

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9 American and British covers, and amongst others the Dutch, French, and German covers favoured this design as well. The addition of a new cover featuring the same elements further testifies to the original artwork’s iconic status and success.9 However, Camprubí indicates that she wanted to try something “undone,” as employing a different artist otherwise would, in her opinion, have made no sense

(Camprubí). Her eventual design depicts a female figure that prominently displays Excalibur (see fig. 4).10 It is a close-up in order to accommodate the “human and psychological focus” of the story, and the figure is an archetype, which is why she wears a cloak, and why her eyes are not clearly visible. All the details of the sword on the other hand, are clearly visible and it can be recognised as the focus of the picture. The cover became a success in France, which was why Camprubí was asked to create all the covers for Bradley’s series in the same style. This illustrates how a new design can still be successful and interesting despite the iconic status of an older successful design.

The Mists of Avalon demonstrates how marketing strategies can be very flexible, and may change throughout the years; however, the underlying marketing strategies remain essentially the same. Publishers aim to market each book in order to guarantee a purchase during which they take the consumers’ desires into account. A particularly successful cover may be kept on for years, but when interest in that particular title has subdued, another more effective artwork may be commissioned, which is then realised through the expertise

9_{See #333: Bradley, The Mists of Avalon. ISBN13 9780140177190.} 10

See #388: Bradley, Les Dames du Lac. ISBN13 9782253044918.

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Chapter 2 – An Analysis of the Unique Selling Points

2.1 - Unique Selling Points

When a potential customer walks into a bookstore with the intention of buying a book, the following “typical sequence” usually takes place: the customer will first look at the front cover before turning to the back for some basic information about the book, after which, if this information is interesting is enough, he or she will page through the book to assess its content (Baverstock How 29; Piters 3). This means that the front cover is tasked with grabbing the customer’s attention, not only with the cover image itself, but also with the text present on the front cover. In How to Market Books, Baverstock describes several essential sales points that a cover should encompass in order to make a book sell effectively. In the following subchapters, I discuss three of these points in relation to the covers for the titles in the database, namely: the front cover should reveal why the book is interesting via an “atmospheric” sentence or shout line; it should mention the author’s credentials or earlier well-known titles; and it should present quotable extracts from reviews (29).

These essential sales points can be recognised as the unique selling points of a book. In the world of marketing, the concept of unique selling points is used to refer the

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or library bindings (8.13%). This means that it is more common for paperbacks to present these three unique selling points on the cover. This is a result of the fact that paperbacks form a significant part of the trade sector, and create the most sales by volume because they are literally made available in every possible sales outlet, such as supermarkets, gas stations, and traditional bookstores in order to achieve mass distribution (Guthrie 134). As aptly expressed by Datus C. Smith, Jr “[t]he whole point of a mass distribution plan is that really cheap books are made available everywhere” (169). This wide availability invokes

paperbacks’ ability to sell and thus to grab the attention of consumers anyplace and anytime, which explains why paperbacks make such extensive use of the unique selling points. Moreover, many covers display two if not all three selling points in order to increase the likelihood of capturing consumers’ attention. However, the use of three unique selling points also brings the risk of crowding the cover with text, which can detract from the effect of the cover art. Some covers avoid this by combining the selling points into one. This means that publishers should carefully assess what combination is the most effective, and if they should prioritise art or unique selling points.

In the following subchapters, I take a closer look at these different unique selling points and how they present themselves on books with Arthurian topics.

2.2 - Shout Lines

Shout lines are defined in this thesis as the lines of text on the front cover that are intended to draw to attention of the consumer and give a hint of the book’s content in an appealing manner. A shout line aims to capture the attention of consumers by drawing further

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How 29). Rather than being overly descriptive, the shout line should encompass “the feeling you get from reading the book” (30). Baverstock describes that film posters often give the best examples of excellent shout lines, for example, staying true to topic, various posters for the 1981 film Excalibur read “Forged by a King, Foretold by a Wizard, Found by a King,” which does not describe the circumstances but rather hints at them in a subtle way

(Baverstock How 30; “Excalibur (1981)”). Shout lines are used on 74 of the 172 covers (43%) and can be divided in two subcategories: story-based shout lines and status-based shout lines. Story-based shout lines refer to the actual story and try to capture its essence in a sentence, similar to the Excalibur poster, while status-based shout lines identify the story as Arthurian and invoke the status of the Arthurian legends by recognising the novel as a saga or legend.

The Once and Future King by T.H. White consistently falls under the category of status-based shout lines. Some of the most recurring shout lines are “The Classic Arthurian Epic” or “The World’s Greatest Fantasy Classic,” which both refer to the cult status that White’s novel has achieved.11 White’s work is now one of the most influential and popular Arthurian works of the twentieth century due to its “evocation of Arthurian glory,” and his work is celebrated in several adaptations, such as the 1960 musical Camelot by Lerner and Loewe – and its 1976 film adaptation (Lacy 124). Naturally, this status needed time to grow and it is not until almost thirty year after its first publication in 1984 that the shout line “The Classic Arthurian Epic” first occurs.12 These shout lines reveal little to nothing about the plot, yet they do offer a taste of the quality and story as well as express the novel’s fame by referring to it as a “classic.”

11

See #271: White, The Once and Future King. ISBN13 9780006540106; #255: White, The Once and Future King. ISBN13 9780441627400.

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Some covers for Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon have been given a similar status-based shout line in the form of “The magical saga of the women behind King Arthur’s throne...”13 This shout line refers to the status that The Mists has achieved for reimagining the Arthurian legends from a female perspective by referring to it as a “magical saga.” This retelling was already deemed an “[i]mpressive achievement” by Maureen Quilligan in her 1983 review in The New York Times (Lacy 124; Quilligan). The shout line can simultaneously be seen as more overtly hinting at the direction of the story than the shout lines for The Once and Future King by naming the main characters “women,” be it in a general manner, and especially with the fragment “behind King Arthur’s throne.” These four words reveal much about the novel as they accurately imply that the women are the reason for Arthur’s kingship and many of his decisions, and in a similar manner these words give a taste of the novel, which is often interpreted as feminist (Lacy 124). Something similar occurs for a cover for Persia Woolley’s Child of the Northern Spring, which has been given the shout line “Volume one of the enchanting new epic of Guinevere and Arthur, her king.”14 This shout line places the emphasis on Guinevere by naming her first, and by calling Arthur “her king” which indicates that he is the less dominant character in the novel. These shout lines reveal more about the plot than the status-based shout lines, but they still leave much to mystery, which gives a clear indication of how subtle shout lines can be.

True story-based shout lines can be erringly simple, for example, “Legends would name him Gawain” for Gillian Bradshaw’s Hawk of May or “A Novel of Guinevere” for Parke Godwin’s Beloved Exile,which both give a hint about the story that the title does not reveal. Others are more complex, such as the shout lines for Helen Hollick’s recent Pendragon’s

13_{See #334: Bradley, The Mists of Avalon. ISBN13 9780345350497.} 14

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Banner Trilogy.15 The publisher Sourcebooks Landmark used the same shout line for the entire trilogy starting with The Kingmaking in 2009: “Who was THE MAN who became THE LEGEND we know as KING ARTHUR” (see fig. 5).16 This shout line

remarks on the storyline of the novel in a very general manner and the capitalisation of certain words in combination with the layout and the rhythm adds an official dimension to the line, which suits a book about King Arthur. The publishers Callio and later SilverWood have given each book of the trilogy its own shout line:

The Kingmaking: “The boy – Arthur, who became the man, who became the king, who became the legend.”17 Pendragon’s Banner: “The Pendragon – Arthur, who

fought hard to gain a kingdom, who fought even harder to keep it.”18

Shadow of the King: “Arthur’s ultimate fight, Gwenhwyfar’s final tear, Morgaine’s one last hope.”19

These shout lines are less general than the shout lines used by Sourcebooks Landmark, and reveal more about the individual plotlines of each novel, which would seem more effective, as well as makes the books more unique. This, in combination with the names of the

characters, makes it easier for consumers to form an image in their minds with the imparted information, which will subsequently facilitate their decision-making processes (Piters 5).

15

See #11: Bradshaw, Hawk of May. ISBN13 9781402240706; #311: Godwin, Beloved Exile. ISBN13 9780553341010.

16_{See #166: Hollick, The Kingmaking. ISBN13 9781402218880; #211: Hollick, Pendragon’s Banner. ISBN13} 9781402218897; #221: Hollick, Shadow of the King. ISBN13 9781402218903.

17

See #172: Hollick, The Kingmaking. ISBN13 9780857780348. 18_{See #219: Hollick, Pendragon’s Banner. ISBN13 9780857780324.} 19

See #227: Hollick, The Shadow of the King. ISBN13 9780857780331.

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Worthy of note is that the majority of foreign covers, namely 24 from a total of 39 covers (61.5%), have a shout line, an occurrence that can be explained by several remarkably simple reasons. Italian covers for The Mists of Avalon recurrently use “La grandiosa

rievocazione di un mondo leggendario e arcano” (The grand re-enactment of a legendary and mysterious world),which is similar to the English shout line for The Mists.20 Shout lines merely give a hint of a book’s story and as such require no real cultural knowledge, while author credentials and extracts from reviews expect foreknowledge and cultural awareness of consumers. When consumers, for instance, look at a book cover and see an extract from a positive review by The New York Times, it raises their opinion of the book and consequently they are sooner inclined to purchase the book (Guthrie 176). However, the paper in question might, in many cases, have no meaning for consumers in other countries, which means that extracts from reviews would not be as effective. Additionally, author credentials that follow the ‘author of’ formula are based on the idea that the author is already well-known. Yet an author could be debuting in a certain country, which would render the inclusion of author credentials on the cover ineffective. In these instances publishers only have the appeal of the story itself to draw consumers (Hall xxix).

2.3 - Author Credentials

In the world of marketing, a brand is any symbol in the shape of a name, term, number, character or design, or a combination of these elements that is used to designate the

manufacturer or provider of a product or service (Kotler and Armstrong 116). Consumers see the brand name as an important aspect of products, and often select a product or service on the basis of a brand because they associate it with quality; this is why a brand name adds

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value to a specific product or service and “strives for memorability” (117; Baverstock Are 60). In book publishing four different entities can be seen as brands: the author, the publisher, the bookstore, and, needless to say, the book itself. Publishers do make an attempt to strive for unique designs “that transmit messages of the firm’s brand” and represent a publisher’s “implicit or explicit cultural and social mission” (Guthrie 25, 74). These cover designs are directly linked to the publisher with a distinctive logo, which is exemplified by the little penguin that has been present on Penguin Books since its conception in 1935 (Baines 13). Nowadays, the word ‘penguin’ has become synonymous for most British people with a paperback book, which illustrates how effective a publisher’s brand name can be

(Baverstock Are 60). Similarly, bookstore chains have started to present themselves as a brand on basis of their reputation and services by concentrating on different audience segments (59). Waterstones is, for example, quite up-market with a staff comprised mainly of “graduates who know, and enthuse about, books” (59). Still it is a rare thing for

consumers to buy a book solely on basis of the publisher or bookstore as they are, in the end, only intermediaries between an author’s product and the consumer.

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Author credentials are used on 73 (42.4%) of the 172 covers, and are employed either by referring to the author’s status as a bestselling or award-winning author or by connecting the author’s name to an earlier successful title or series. Some of the covers simply refer to a previously successful title by an author, which is exemplified by a cover for Bradshaw’s Hawk of May that states “From the author of Horses of Heaven.”21 This novel was published after Hawk of May instead of before, which seems contrary from a

chronological perspective. However, considering that Bradshaw already was an established writer in the historical genre in the 90s with titles such as Imperial Purple, deciding on a title that is fresher in consumers’ minds is a smart decision (Nastali and Boardman 482: “Horses of Heaven”). Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave was first published in 1970 by William Morrow & Co and the cover introduces her as the “author of THE GABRIEL HOUNDS.”22 The Gabriel Hounds was published in 1967 and its publisher Fawcett Crest noted an impressive mass-market print order of 725,000 copies, which, in addition to its close publication date, makes it a suitable book to connect to Stewart’s name in order to introduce the first part of her Arthurian Saga (“The People’s Choice”). After the series had become known, publishers used more recent instalments of the series, such as The Last Enchantment or The Prince and the Pilgrim, in order to promote The Crystal Cave.23 These examples illustrate how earlier or later successful books from an author are used with the aim of selling a different book, and how, in order to best achieve this, publishers take care to select a particular book.

Publishers are often less specific when referring to an author’s status as bestselling or award-winning on the cover since this indication of prestige is a permanent validation of an author’s skill. An obvious example of the first is Meg Cabot’s Avalon High as 5 American

21

See #10: Bradshaw, Hawk of May. ISBN13 9780553299229. 22

See #40: Stewart, The Crystal Cave. ISBN13 9780688013981.

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covers identify her as a “*1 National Bestselling Author.”24 Cabot is a suitable author for this tactic for she is a popular young adult author with series such as The Princess Diaries, which was adapted into two films, and 1-800-Where-R-You? which was adapted into the TV series Missing (“Biography”). Her works also received attention in foreign countries, which is why Polish covers can effectively identify her as “Autorka bestselerów z serii Pamiętnik

księżniczki” (Author of the bestselling series The Princess Diaries) (“Biography”).25 This example both identifies the author as bestselling and relates Cabot back to one of her most popular series, which is perhaps twice as effective as it doubles the elements that give an indication of her skill as an author. Similarly, Nancy Springer’s I Am Morgan le Fay is

promoted as the “Companion to the award-winning I Am Mordred.”26 Again, consumers are reminded of an earlier work, and Springer’s skill is highlighted by use of “award-winning,” which is a way to relate the reputation of other works back to the author’s value.

Film adaptations are also part of the author’s credentials since an adaptation is indicative of interest in the book. Naturally, not all adaptations are successful, but the existence of an adaptation nevertheless adds to an author’s credentials. This means that displaying film-related credentials on a cover is an effective way to draw potential

customers: they can be drawn to the book because they love the movie, which can lead to an increase in the long-term sales (Hall 5). Recently, publishers have made use of this

phenomenon by producing film editions or film tie-ins of novels, such as The Hunger Games, The Hobbit or Twilight, which have been financially successful as films (Raugust). These tie-ins can be seen as ‘serv[ing] as a bridge between the novel and the films,” which is achieved by depicting a familiar scene or character from the film on a cover (qtd. in Raugust).

24

See #231: Cabot, Avalon High. ISBN13 9780060755874. 25_{See #244: Cabot, Avalon High. ISBN13 9788324125869.} 26

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Moreover, the recognisable film tie-in covers can be used by publishers to spark consumers’ memories and create interest in a book by referring to the existence of a film adaptation.

Five of the 25 titles in the database have one or more adaptation based on the original book, but not all of these titles have a tie-in cover. T.H. White steals the crown with the musical adaptation Camelot, and the subsequent adaptation of the musical to film in 1960 and 1967 respectively, as well as the Disney film adaptation The Sword in the Stone in 1963 (Lacy 124). Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave was adapted to the British television film Merlin of the Crystal Cave in 1991 (“Merlin of the Crystal Cave (1991)”; Gates). Persia Woolley’s Guinevere Trilogy was turned into a television film with the same name in 1994 (“Guinevere (1994)”). Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon was made into a TV miniseries in 2001, and Meg Cabot’s Avalon High was adapted to film by the Disney Channel in 2010 (“The Mists of Avalon (2001)”; “Avalon High (2010)”). However, of these 5 titles only 3 have tie-in covers or covers that refer to the adaptation, which can be attributed to the success of the adaptation. White’s The Once and Future King has 3 covers that make

reference to its adaptations in the shape of the musical Camelot, and the subsequent film.27 The musical starred Julie Andrews and Richard Burton, and had been awarded four Tony Awards by 1961 (Brewer 15; “Camelot”). This means that it had garnered enough fame to be effective as a film tie-in, and indeed: Dell published a tie-in cover that refers to the musical by depicting Julie Andrews and Richard Burton on the cover together with the line “The Widely Acclaimed novel that inspired the fabulous musical CAMELOT” (see fig. 6).28

27_{The Once and Future King was first published in 1958, while ISBNs were not introduced until 1967. Following} this year it took a while before they were fully implemented in 1970 (“ISBN History”). Unfortunately, this means that that the ISBNs for The Once and Future King can be faulty or unknown, which unfortunately appears to be the case for all film tie-ins.

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The film version of Camelot was reviewed by Bosley Crowther of The New York Times as being “only briefly amusing, after which it

becomes a bore,” but it nevertheless won five awards, testifying to some degree of success, and received a tie-in cover as well (Crowther; “Camelot (1967)”).29 The miniseries The Mists of Avalon was hailed for its “sterling performances,” and the first episode “was the highest-rated original movie of the summer on basic cable” (Bianco; Ward). Consequently, the

cover for a 2001 reprint of the book received the addition “Now an epic miniseries event from TNT.”30 Other adaptations did not achieve the same degree of success and one of the films, Guinevere, was described by The Snarky Victorian, a blog by a film hobbyist, as following: “The acting, the plot, and the script, all leave me puzzled” (Snarky Victorian). Consequently, this attests that publishers were and are only willing to spend money on film-related tie-ins or to mention this type of author credential on the cover if the potential of extra income is present.

Only fourteen of the 39 foreign book covers (35.9%) refer to the author’s credentials, which supports the earlier made assessment that author credential have less influence in foreign countries. When author credentials do occur on foreign covers, it concerns

internationally known authors, such as Marion Zimmer Bradley and Bernard Cornwell. Both Italian and Polish covers of The Mists, for instance, feature the line “Un best seller mondiale” (A worldwide bestseller) and “Swiatowy Bestseller” (A worldwide bestseller), which both attempt to sell the book by referring to the book as well as the author as bestselling in other

29_{See #258: White, The Once and Future King; #292: White, The Once and Future King.} 30

See #390: Bradley, The Mists of Avalon. ISBN13 9780345350497.

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countries.31 Similarly, the 2011 Portuguese cover for Cornwell’s The Winter King refers to the book as “Uma das melhores obras de Bernard Cornwell” (One of the best works by Bernard Cornwell),which implies that Cornwell already had books published in Portugal at that time.32Indeed, by 2011 Cornwell had quite a few books published in Portugal, most notably the bestselling Sharpe Series (“Bernard Cornwell”). These examples indicate that author’s credentials on the cover also have merit in foreign countries as long as the author has already triumphed internationally.

2.4 - Quotable Extracts

Reviews of books have the power to sell books, which is why publishers and authors are eager to get their book reviewed. Books can be reviewed by newspapers, magazines, newspaper columnists, television reviewers, such as Oprah, and, which is a modern

development, by blogs dedicated to book reviews (Guthrie 175; Smith 124). Publishers send out books as long before the publication date as possible in order to secure a review and to be able to use quotable extracts on the first edition (Guthrie 175). Additionally, reviews tend to cost a publisher nothing, which makes reviews an even more desirable marketing

instrument (176). Unfortunately, only a fraction of the books published are actually reviewed with “the ratio of the number of books published every week to those reviewed [being] about 100 to 1” (175). Nevertheless publishers have an unfailing belief that reviews motivate consumers to buy books, because reviews “offer [an] objective analysis of the product” (Baverstock How 183). As Richard Guthrie states in Publishing: Principles and Practice, “nothing beats a friend, a peer, a respected source saying: ‘You must read this book,’” which

31

See #337: Bradley, Le Nebbi di Avalon. ISBN13 9788878193673; #351: Bradley, Mgły Avalonu. ISBN13 9788371502064.

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is why it is effective from a marketing perspective to place extracts from reviews on the cover (164).

Quotable extracts appear on 79 of the 172 covers (45.9%), and can be divided into two categories, namely those written by professional reviewers or authors that are authority figures in the field. Thirty-four covers display an extract from professional reviews, and especially popular in this category are The New York Times and Publishers Weekly, which occur most often. Barron’s The Lost Years of Merlin, for example, features extracts from a review in The New York Times, stating “A novel rich with magic,” and a Publisher Weekly review calls Newman’s Guinevere “a wonderful story, beautifully told.”33 The Times has a special section dedicated to books, comprised of its Sunday Book Review and a bestseller list (Greenspan 290). Publishers Weekly on the other hand is more specialised as a weekly news magazine dedicated to book publishing on an international level. As part of this role, the magazine publishes bestseller lists, and, amongst other things, pre-publication book reviews, which is the magazine’s “best known service” (“About Us”). Some magazines are even more specialised such as the Historical Novels Review, which is dedicated to “contemporary

historical fiction” and responded to Hollick’s The Kingmaking with “If only all historical fiction could be this good” (“About our Magazines”).34 These quotable extracts from a variety of professional reviews in recognised newspapers or magazines are an effective way to sell a book as authoritative recommendations of a book appeal to consumers.

Another way consumers can be convinced of a book’s value is by using extracts from reviews by authors who are established in the same field, which 41 covers do. After looking at the experts that are asked to review certain books, it becomes clear that great care is

33

See #154: Barron, The Lost Years of Merlin. ISBN13 9780812577778; #325: Newman, Guinevere. ISBN13 9780312862336.

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taken to ensure that the reviewer is established not only in the same field but also in the same genre. For instance, Madeleine L’Engle, who reviewed Barron’s The Lost Years of Merlin as being “[a]n extraordinary journey of mind, body and spirit” and who is known for her children’s books for which she won numerous awards starting with A Wrinkle in Time in 1962, which is now recognised as a children’s classic (Martin; “About Madeleine L’Engle”).35 The book tells the fantastical story of Meg Murry, who together with her psychic baby brother sets off “to rescue her father [...] from a planet controlled by the Dark Thing” (Martin). This makes her a suitable reviewer for The Lost Years as a debuting book with a similarly fantastical story about a young boy with magical powers. Not only are the genres similar, but most people would have been familiar with L’Engle at the time of this cover’s publication in 1999. Interestingly, publishers do not only pay special attention to popular authors within the same field at the moment of publication, but also look outside of this field, which results in a seemingly out-of-place extract from a review by J.K Rowling on two Spanish covers for The Once and Future King, which she describes as “El padre espiritual de Harry Potter” (The spiritual father of Harry Potter).36 This phenomenon is also visible in the professional review extract for The Lost Years by the Cincinnati Enquirer that reads “Young sorcery fans... set aside Harry Potter and pick up Merlin.”37 This illustrates that publishers choose extracts from reviews by recognised authors in the field, but also from reviews by extremely well-known authors, and reviews that compare the book in question to a highly successful book in order to convince consumers to buy the book. Simultaneously, consumers are tempted into buying the book because if they like books by a certain author, than they must surely like a book that is compared to it as well.

35

See #147: Barron, The Lost Years of Merlin. ISBN13 9780441006687.

36_{See #276: White, Camelot. ISBN13 9788499895833; #274: White, Camelot. ISBN13 9786073112109.} 37

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Only 6 of the 39 foreign covers (15.4%) make use of quotable extracts on the cover, which is significantly less than English covers do. Two of these covers are the Spanish covers for The Once and Future King that feature J.K. Rowling’s praise, which relies on

internationally recognised fame. Another three of these 6 covers make use of extracts from reviews in local newspapers, such as Cornwell’s The Winterking which is reviewed by Danish newspaper Weekendavisen: “Her er storartet underholdning . . . et fremragende fiktivt værk (It's great entertainment . . . a great fictional work).38 The newspaper has a section dedicated to reviews, similar to The New York Times (“Om Os”). The remaining cover features a

translated excerpt from a review by The New York Times for an Italian edition of Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon in 1997.39 The Times, however, is also internationally recognised and thus accepted as an authority in foreign countries. All in all, publishers of foreign editions appear to depend on either extracts from reviews by local newspapers or on reviews by authors or papers that are known internationally because this is what their target audience knows.

38_{See #96: Cornwell, Vinterkongen. ISBN13 9788711432389.} 39

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Chapter 3 - An Analysis of Cover Images

3.1 – Genres Characteristics

Whereas Chapter 2 focused on the unique selling points in textual form, Chapter 3 centres around how the cover art itself showcases and markets a book. Although people cannot seem to reach a consensus on what a successful cover should look like, they do agree that the cover design should catch the attention of a potential buyer (Piters 2). Nevertheless, some interesting theories about cover design do exist and it is on basis of these ideas that I analyse the cover art of the titles in the database.

Donald Piter’s research in Is Dit Boek Wat Voor Mij? has revealed that both the cover image and the title of a book are vital elements for accurately communicating the genre of a book. Moreover, Rostant indicates that it is important that consumers recognise from the onset that they are looking at, for example, a historical novel about Roman soldiers (Rostant). Additionally, the title often provides the extra context consumers require to establish what the novel is about (Piters 123, 95). Piters did employ broad genre specifics for his research, namely by letting his participants identify a novel as a thriller, a literary book or a romantic book, but since the database is compiled with a common denominator – books with an Arthurian topic - several subgenre characteristics should be visible. The lines

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This type of segmentation is part of marketing theory as in this way a specific group of consumers can be targeted (Baverstock How 11). Additionally, owners of bookstores also need covers in order to decide on which shelf to place the book (Piters 2-4). Publishers accommodate this by tasking their cover artists with visually expressing what the book is about, thus by communicating a book’s genre (Rostant). Following this idea of segmentation I have grouped the titles in the database into four different commercial genre categories, namely romantic novels, fantasy novels, historical novels and young adult novels in order to determine which design elements the covers employ to attract their designated target audience. The covers of the titles belonging to these genres have been assessed on basis of the most frequently occurring elements for each genre, which reveal how the covers for books of different genres attract their buyers. Moreover, I observe whether the different covers of the titles belonging to the different genre categories give an indication of their Arthurian content.

3.2 – Romantic Novels

My database contains five titles belonging to the genre category of romantic novels: Stephen R. Lawhead’s Taliesin, Persia Woolley’s Child of the Northern Spring, Joan Wolf’s The Road to Avalon, and Meg Cabot’s Avalon High.40 Romantic in this context does not refer to the traditional medieval Romances about “popular courtly stories” which told of Arthurian legends, but rather to the modern interpretation of the word used to describe romantic storylines (“Romance”). The first and the last novel do not belong as strongly in this genre category as the other two novels for Taliesin has a fantasy undertone through the inclusion of an “otherworldly society,” and Avalon High is, in the first place, a novel with a young adult

40

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target audience (Nastali and Boardman 553). However, a blurb for Taliesin describes the book as a “story of an incomparable love that joined two worlds amid the fires of chaos” and a prominent part of Avalon High is the attraction between Ellie and Will, who Ellie deems “the cutest guy [she has] ever seen” (Lawhead; Cabot 31). These story elements appeal to consumers with a fondness for romance, which is why I have chosen to include them.

My initial presumption about romantic novels was that a male and a female figure would feature prominently on the cover as these books are, after all, love stories. Indeed, this presumption has been proven right as both Child of the Northern Spring and The Road to Avalon, which have recognised romantic male-female interaction, predominantly star a male and a female figure on their covers. Three out of 4 covers for Child show the woman riding a horse with the man walking or standing besides the horse, which can be seen as hinting at the relationship in the book. Similar scenes are depicted on 5 of the 6 covers for The Road. Interestingly, 3 of the American covers for The Road are adaptations from paintings of John Keats’s poem “La Belle Dame sans Merci” by nineteenth-century artists Walter Crane and Frank Dicksee (G. F. Scott 504, 516). Both painters are part of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, which was inspired by medieval topics and literary works, such as Tennyson’s Idylls (Ashley 501; Birch). The first edition of the novel in 1988 and the following paperback edition in 1989 use Crane’s painting, while the newest 2007 edition makes use of Dicksee’s painting (see fig. 7).41

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Figure 7: 1988 Cover by New American Library and the 2007 Cover by Chicago Review Press.

The poem tells the story of a “knight at arms” who lies dying in the fields after he met a beautiful fairylike lady in the fields and tried to charm her by making “a garland for her head,” and letting her ride his horse, as is depicted on the covers (Keats 899). After they retreated to her “elfin grot” the knight dreams of “[p]ale [evidently dead] warriors” that cry “La belle dame sans merci / Hath thee in thrall!” (900). The knight then wakes up alone in a field and the reader can derive that the elfin lady has killed him with her “fairy song” (899). The original paintings are slightly different interpretations of the poem, which, ironically, also both resonate with the story of The Road. Crane’s painting represents the lady and the knight as being genuinely interested in each other without the necessity of any enchantment (Crane; G. F. Scott 517). This is echoed by the relationship between Arthur and Morgan in The Road, which is based on sincere affection as the two grew up together and fell in love. Although, Morgan is elfin in looks with big “luminous brown eyes,” she is no evil

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river and once by not moving out of the way of a moving sword, when he is forced to live without Morgan (100, 134). This reveals the power that Morgan has over Arthur, and it can be said that she has put him under a spell, which is only strengthened by that fact that Guinevere calls her a “witch,” seemingly due to the way Arthur responds to her (207). Similarly, the painting shows the lady in control of the horse, which is a position of power, while the knight is clearly in thrall and stumbles along (G. F. Scott 524). The different

interpretations of the book on these covers can resonate with readers as they can recognise the cover in the story and the reverse, which is one of the cover’s chief responsibilities to the reader (Barthelmess 76). Additionally, both paintings are medieval, and to a lesser degree Arthurian in nature, being painted by Pre-Raphaelites, and they provide The Road with a romantic interpretation (Ashley 501). This Arthurian or medieval nature is only strengthened by the initial A being decorated in a medieval manner on both the NAL cover and the Onyx cover for The Road.42 While these covers do reflect interesting interpretations of the novel, as a cover should, these interpretation play no role during the initial selection of the book, but it is rather the general romantic impression of the cover that is significant.

These paintings do have a true romantic undertone with the lady appearing to want to jump in the knight’s arms in Crane’s painting and the prelude to a kiss in Dicksee’s. Similarly, the 1989 cover for Child shows a male figure, presumably Arthur, helping

Guinevere from her horse by lending her a hand.43 These romantic undertones can also be recognised on 4 of the 17 covers for Avalon High. Most of the other covers share

characteristics conform to the young adult target audience. The Italian cover by Fabbri shows a girl, Ellie, and a boy, Will, hugging, with Ellie facing the audience while the back of

42_{New American Library.}

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Will’s varsity jacket reveals the logo of the school.44 The two French covers by Hachette are more stylised in nature, but even more overtly romantic through the use of the colour pink in combination with a heart made of thorny roses. This romantic feel is only enhanced by the addition of the shout line “Un Amour Légendaire” (A legendary love).45 Contrastingly, a shout line is the only clear hint of romance on the 20 covers for Lawhead’s Taliesin belying the emphasis the blurb seems to place on the “incomparable love.”46 Moreover, no woman is ever present on a cover, which is striking as the book is told from the alternating

perspectives of a male and female protagonist: Taliesin and Charis (Nastali and Boardman 553). Nevertheless, it can be concluded that books that are firmly entrenched in the romantic genre, despite also encroaching on other genre territories, do indeed have cover art comprised of romantic design elements that hint at the book’s romantic story line in order to help consumers decide whether the book is to their liking.

The covers of the titles belonging to this genre category solely depict Arthurian elements that can be recognised in combination with the book title. The title The Road to Avalon allows consumers to recognise the characters depicted on all the covers as characters from Arthurian legends, but specific recognition of one of the characters as Arthur is only possible on the cover by Chicago Review Press as an extract from a Publishers Weekly review deems the story “a fresh look at the legend of King Arthur.”47 The title Taliesin does allow for some recognition of the character depicted on some covers as being Arthurian, since Taliesin is often depicted as a magician and a seer in both Arthurian and Celtic legends. However, he is not one of the more well-known figures, which means the title might not be enough information for some consumers to recognise the book as being Arthurian in nature

44

See #245: Cabot, Avalon High. ISBN13 9788845138775. 45

See #239: Cabot, Avalon High. ISBN13 9782012013490; #243: Cabot, Avalon High. ISBN 13 9782013229593. 46_{See #130: Lawhead, Taliesin. ISBN13 9780062077646.}

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(Evanochko). On several covers the title is aided by mention of the series, The Pendragon Cycle, which allows for an implicit connection with Arthur who was in some legends known as Pendragon, after his father Uther, and some consumers might be aware of this (Bruce 397). Other design elements gain additional meaning in combination with the title, such as the sword on the 1989 British cover by Grafton for The Road, but Excalibur is never actually mentioned in the book.48 Excalibur is part of the story of Child, but the swords depicted on 2 of the covers will only be recognised after reading the book, as will the characters.49

3.3 – Young Adult Fiction (or Juvenile Fiction)

All titles in this category are part of the genre of juvenile fiction, or young adult fiction, which means that they are aimed at a different target audience and require different cover designs than romantic novels. Young adult fiction can be defined as books written explicitly for adolescent consumers, and as such the books are specifically marketed towards teens (Pattee 154; Trites 2). These novels tend to centre around a male or female protagonist between the ages of twelve and twenty and can cover a variety of adolescent issues, such as first love, while being set in a dystopian or even an Arthurian setting (Moore 3). A

complication for authors writing young adult novels or children’s books are the motifs of sex and violence that are inherent to the Arthurian legends, which need to be handled delicately in order to present this content in an age-appropriate manner (Davidson 6). Nevertheless, a variety of Arthurian young adult novels have been written not only in recent years, such as I Am Morgan le Fay by Nancy Springer and Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell, but also in the last two decades of the twentieth century, such as The Third Magic by Welwyn Wilton

48

See #36: Wolf, The Road to Avalon. ISBN13 9780586204788.

49_{See #323: Woolley, Child of the Northern Spring. ISBN13 9780671621995; #324: Woolley, Child of the}

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Katz, The Lost Years of Merlin by T.A. Barron and The Sword and the Circle by Rosemary Sutcliff.50 This illustrates that the tradition of adapting the Arthurian legends for children and young adults has continued since the Arthurian Revival.

The covers for these titles present a strong preference for placing the emphasis on the main character for the young adult target audience needs to be able to relate to the cover design. In the 1970s publishers became aware of how essential it is to depict realistic adolescent characters on the front cover since it enables a personal identification with the characters (Kies 90). The results of recent study by Leigh Ann Jones illustrate the powerful effect covers have on the book-selection process of teenagers; over 75% of the teenagers participating in her study indicated that the cover design usually helps them choose a book (Jones 45). This firmly establishes the ideas about effective cover designs for youngsters.

The different covers for the titles in the database support these ideas as 37 of a total of 57 covers (64.9%) feature a realistic portrayal of the main character on the cover. The

Third Magic clearly presents this trend with the cover design for the first edition by Douglas and McIntyre in 1988, which depicts an illustration of two characters in the book with the actual main character, Morgan, facing the consumer directly (see fig. 8).51 The figure makes eye contact with the

consumer, which both grabs the attention and facilitates the identification process. Eye contact is a recurring element as nearly all the covers depict characters that directly face the

50

Sutcliff is not technically a young adult book, but rather a children’s book. Yet this book is best suited to receive some attention in this category rather than anywhere else.

51

See #332: Katz, The Third Magic. ISBN13 9780888990686.

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consumer. The only exception to this rule are covers for Song of the Sparrow and The Sword and the Circle which feature the main character facing away from the consumer. Moreover, Sword is aimed at a slightly younger audience, and targets that audience with the employed drawing style.52 The cover designs for Avalon High predominantly feature the colours pink and purple, which further narrows down its readership to a female readership as a teenage male readership will not soon be inclined to pick up a book with these colours.

It is common practice in the publishing industry to reissue books with new covers as part of a successful marketing tactic. This is illustrated by new cover designs for Barron’s The Lost Years of Merlin (Yampbell 360). The first cover art for The Lost Years depicts Merlin as young boy holding a staff, and other designs similarly depict him as a young boy. However, as of 2005, this has started to change and new cover designs now portray Merlin as a teenager. This shift is first visible on the 2007 cover by Philomel, but this change is the most interesting and drastic on the 2011 cover by Puffin; the young male on the cover even spots a hint of stubble (see fig. 9).53 This shift in design

coincided with the alteration of the title to The Lost Years, which has a more adult feel than the original. The difference in design can be explained by the fact that the publication of this edition coincided with the

increased popularity of young adult fiction. In 1997 3000 young adult novels were published, but by 2007 this number had increased to thirty thousand publications,

52

See #5: Sutcliff, The Sword and the Circle. ISBN13 9780525405856.

53_{See #148: Barron, The Lost Years of Merlin. ISBN13 9780399250200; #145: Barron, The Lost Years. ISBN13} 9780142418895.

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and that number only continues to grow with authors such as Suzanne Collins and Veronica Roth (Brown). Publishers tend to see a reissue of a book as an opportunity to alter the way consumers perceive the book by “fresh[ening] up a cover that has become stale and dated” (Yampbell 360; Maughan). Moreover, the older covers, such as the original cover for The Lost Years, can be less appealing for the contemporary young adult audience because art styles have changed and young adult consumers are attracted and attuned to the realistic art styles they encounter in daily life (Maughan). The cover for The Lost Years, as indicated by cover artist Rostant, needed to be updated in order to make the book appealing for the contemporary young adult audience (Rostant). As such, the cover and title change can be recognised as a strategic decision intended to make its target audience perceive The Lost Years as a modern young adult book.

Most of the covers for the books in this genre category do not have overt Arthurian elements, but can be seen as revealing their topic in combination with their title. Only covers for Sutcliff’s The Sword and the Circle depict explicit Arthurian elements as it draws on the tradition in Arthurian legends, for example in Malory’s Le Morte Darthur, where Arthur is given the sword Excalibur by the Lady of the Lake, as depicted on the cover.54 Sutcliff’s work is a retelling of the Arthurian legends for children and predominantly uses Malory’s work as inspiration (Nastali and Boardman 494). This artwork in combination with the subtitle King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table ensures that the Arthurian nature of this work cannot be overlooked. Whereas the covers for Song of the Sparrow do none of the above and give no hint of its Arthurian topics, Avalon High, The Lost Years of Merlin and I Am Morgan le Fay all hint at their Arthurian topic in combination with their titles. Avalon High invokes the knowledge of the Avalon from Arthurian legends, while The Lost Years and

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Morgan le Fay identify the character on their respective covers as prominent figures from the legends. On 13 covers for The Lost Years, the identification of the character as Merlin is further enhanced by the falcon by his side as a merlin is a well-known variety of falcon (Greer 125). In this context, other design elements receive an Arthurian interpretation as well, such as the sword on certain covers for Avalon High as Excalibur, and the castle in the background of all the covers for Morgan le Fay as Camelot, enhanced by its subtitle A Tale of Camelot. After consumers have finished reading the book, they can also, for instance,

identify Ellie by the sword in her hand as the Lady of the Lake on the covers by Macmillan, but this type of recognition will not take place at first glance, which means that it plays no role in the initial selection process.

3.4 – Historical Novels

These historical novels are characterised by their realistic setting that prioritises historical accuracy, which is generally reflected in the cover art by means of recognisable historic design elements. It can be presumed that authors writing in the historical genre want their covers to reflect the same historical accuracy, which is exemplified by the fact that Helen Hollick calls the American cover for The Kingmaking by Sourcebooks Landmark “nice-ish,” and disparages the sword and the shield that are depicted for being from the wrong period (Hollick).55 However, historical accuracy on the cover is also important in order to appeal to its target audience, which is why publishers normally tend to take steps to ensure that such historical inaccuracies do not occur (Latham). Some publishers ask for authors’ input as their knowledge can ensure that the characteristics of the people, the era and the locations are accurate (Latham). The initial cover concept for Hollick’s Pendragon’s Banner by Heinemann

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Covering Arthurian Novels: