Cover Stories + Win-It Wednesday: Year of the Horse by Justin Allen
The winner of last week's contest for a signed copy of Lisa McMann's GONE is... Mitzy! Send me your address, M.
This week, author Justin Allen is here to share his epic Cover Story for Year of the Horse, and to give away a signed copy of the book! Read on, and give us your thoughts below--then you're entered!
Here's Justin:
"What many readers don't realize about cover designs is just how little input authors officially get. Heck, most times we don't even get final say in the book's title. Really! That's true! By contract, the cover and title are both part of the marketing of a book, meaning that final say goes with the publisher. Authors get to cast their two cents in, and I suppose you could cry and stamp your feet if you REALLY hated something. But the design is mostly out of your hands. More often than not, that's probably for the best...
"The story behind the cover of my latest novel, Year of the Horse, is sort of unusual. Overlook Press went through 5 - count 'em, FIVE! - completely different cover designs over the course of a year, searching for exactly the right image to hopefully make the book just leap off the shelves. Did they succeed? Time will tell.
"A lot of what goes into cover design is determined by whose eye your publisher is hoping to catch. This is the first cover design for my book, right. It is all my fault, I'm afraid (see, maybe authors SHOULDN'T get too much say.) Overlook asked me what I had in mind, and I described a gunfight in front of a saloon. They took this image from an old painting. It is exactly what I asked for, from the title (pay attention to that title!) to the scene, to the coloring... Does it suck? Oh, Lord!
"Fortunately, in their infinite wisdom, Overlook saw that the book just COULD NOT stay like that! 
So, they hired an artist to fashion a cover image depicting the main characters. Now this is more like it! Depicted are the protagonist, Lu (he's the boy on the right), and his friends Jack Straw (the gunfighter at center), and Sadie (the girl on the left). As the drawing was coming together I made lots of observations. For instance, I mentioned that Jack wears a blue coat (it originally came out gray). I also thought it was odd that Lu was carrying a stick of dynamite, but that didn't actually bother me much. And to me Lu and Sadie looked a bit young - in the book she's 16, and he's 15 - though again this was not really a huge deal to me. I also asked whether Sadie's hair couldn't look more blond. All in all, the artist did a pretty great job, I'd say. Unfortunately, a new problem crept up on us - The Title.
"Imagine you're looking for a book, but want to find out more information about it before you buy. What do you do? Me, I google it. You too? Small world! Now, just imagine what happens if you google "Justin Allen The American." 
Do you think you'd get anything OTHER than my book? Go ahead, try it. We can wait. That's right, millions of unrelated hits. So another change had to be made. A NEW TITLE! We wanted something that would stand out just enough - without sounding completely made up - something that would refer to the main character's Chinese heritage, and hopefully add just hint of mystery. I suggested Year of the Horse. I suspect any number of you have seen the problem that was to follow. That's right, NO HORSE!!! You have a book called Year of the Horse, without a horse on the cover. Aiyeee! So, back to the old drawing board.
"Once again, a completely new cover idea was hatched. Saints be praised! Right? Right? There's the horse, right on top of that canyon. 
This is a fine image - and astonishingly, Barnes and Noble still features this image on their website, despite the fact that this is NOT what the book looks like. What's most astonishing about THAT fact is that Barnes and Noble is one of the reasons that this is NOT the cover of the book. For whatever reason, Barnes and Noble did not like this cover. In fact, they hated it. Maybe they didn't like the canyon, or the fact that the cover is mostly black. Maybe they were just having a bad day. I don't know. But I do know that they really hated this cover. I bet most of you out there didn't realize that bookstores have a say in all this, too... I know I didn't realize that. So why does Barnes and Noble feature the cover they hated on their website? I'll bet that even they don't know the answer to that!
"So, at long last we get to the actual cover. Horse? Check. Nice and bright? Heck fire, it's yellow! Pretty girl with vampire? Not so much, but I guess you can't have everything.
"Do I like the final cover? You know, I really do. I have a poster-size image of it - one I used at some readings out west this winter - framed and on the wall next to my desk at home. I like that the horse is galloping, with streamers of dust behind him. I like the type-face and the teaser at the top. I like that the rider could be ANY of the characters, even Sadie. And I like the fact that the title is featured much more strongly than my name. I have always figured that a book, once bought, belongs to the reader. It's her imagination that will fill in the world, give life to the characters, and power to the words. The writer is no longer important at that point. It's the reader!
"Are there things I don't like about the cover? Well, let me put it this way. There are aspects of the book that this cover doesn't show. For instance, large parts of the book are actually fantastical in nature. It features sorcerers, fire-demons, a were-coyote, magical bullets, the headless horseman, and even the devil himself. But just imagine a book
cover that included all of that! I'm not sure it'd be on my wall.
"One last thing that has occurred to me about this cover, in the wake of Bloomsbury's white-washing fiasco of the past few weeks, is to note that the rider on my cover is race-less and sex-less. And you'll note that I LIKED that the rider could be ANY of the characters in the book, from the African-American Henry Jesus to the white Sadie MacLemore. I'm not sure what this has to tell us about covers, book sellers or book buyers, but I think it is at least interesting.
"I'd love to know what you all think about the cover. I bet Overlook would as well (This isn't rocket science, we can all learn more!). And if you have ANY pull at all with Barnes and Noble, and can somehow get them to switch to the actual cover of my book, 'Please! for the love of all that's holy, do so now!'"
Oh man, Justin makes me LAUGH! I really like his observation about how, on the final cover, the character could be anyone. How freeing! And I actually do think I like it best--there's action in the cover, but also a calm stillness to it because of the shadows.
Which cover do you like best? Leave your thoughts below and you're entered to win a signed copy of the book of 1000 covers, Year of the Horse.
Comments (27)
Oh, year of the *horse*... Must've misread that... Guess I'll just mosey on... (What? I'm kidding: Wild West humor!) Seriously, I really like the final cover. Among other things, it seems very boy-friendly to me. It definitely appeals to the part of my brain that has made me watch High Plains Drifter 30 times.
In addition to being so darn black (which I only recommend for Twilight or covers involving body bags), the previous (canyon-top) version seems very somber and reflective, which doesn't sound like a very good reflection of the book. Let's put it this way: I have never met an especially contemplative were-coyote.
I thought the illustrated cover was dynamite (so to speak), but in addition to its profound horselessness, it might skew a little young, no? It looks more like a middle-grade cover to me. It's definitely the sort of artwork we used back in my days at Sports Illustrated Kids (just replace the dynamite with a baseball and you've got it!).
Anyway, it's a great story and an excellent cover. Might have to wrangle me up a copy...
Posted by Michael Northrop | February 10, 2010 4:00 PM
Ive never actually heard of this, odd when i work in a book store. But it definitely sounds like an interesting novel, I like the fifth cover down, with him sitting on the edge of the cliff with the horse just behind him at sunset. Such a beautiful photo, just makes you want to sit back and relax with the book, like on a warm summer night out on the porch on a swing chair.
Posted by Jenners | February 10, 2010 5:02 PM
Justin does have a way of making you laugh. I've been trying to get him to take up blogging, because I think he'd be able to write an engaging blog.
Don't enter me in the contest -- I already have a copy. BUT, I like both of the bottom covers. The kids on the covers might make it come across as too YA like, and this is one of those "good for all ages" type of novels.
Posted by Tia Nevitt | February 10, 2010 5:43 PM
I love the final one. The yellows and orange of the sunset contrasted with the black central image is just stunning
Posted by JenP | February 10, 2010 6:31 PM
I thought the last two covers were fantastic. Don't get me wrong, I think the illustrated covers are great and it is nice to see what Justin was thinking, but in the scheme of things the covers with pictures appeal to all audiences.
Personally I like the final cover the best. The mysterious factor comes into play for me with the shadow outlines in the picture. I love the dust that's kicked up from the horse showing action and adventure. I do love the picture of the canyon, but maybe it is more fitting for a picture on the back of the cover. You know, kind of a final "off into the sunset" kind of feel.
Great job!!
Posted by Michelle | February 10, 2010 8:12 PM
I already have a copy so no need to enter me. But what an interesting cover story! So many covers, although I actually think the first cover is really cool, it certainely caputres the Western theme and it screams EXCITEMENT! ACTION! ADVENTURE! I am glad the title was changed and I didn't know that authors don't pick their titles. I learned a lot from this post and i love Justin's sense of humor! Wish I had some pull with B&N :)
And I do really like the new cover especailly because it allows the reader to imagine the rider to be whichever character they want. And it's 100x better than having a whitewashed character, so thank goodness for that!
Posted by Ari | February 10, 2010 8:43 PM
I actually like the first one - it gives me a pulp vibe. But the new one is nice, especially since I like silhouettes.
Posted by Liviania | February 10, 2010 8:45 PM
I'm partial to the covers that show saguaros!
nbmars AT yahoo DOT com
Posted by rhapsodyinbooks | February 10, 2010 9:00 PM
I *love* the Canyon cover, aka the second last one. It's got the silhouette + the sunset pink glow and I adore my pink. But the final cover is not too shabby either. =D
Posted by Ah Yuan // wingstodust | February 10, 2010 10:31 PM
I like the canyon cover too because I just like the composition better :D
Posted by babygirlG | February 10, 2010 10:33 PM
forgive me for being a little critical:
though I do like the canyon and final covers aesthetically speaking, with the text looking like the font they use in old westerns, and precisely because the silhouette is "raceless", neither really hits me with an impression of the "Chinese influence" that the previous covers (the cartoonish ones) do...as a Chinese person, "year of the horse" doesn't really mean anything to me without an Asian visual with which to link it to, it could easily be interpreted as something along the lines of "year of the flood", if you know what I mean? maybe the title font could have reflected more of its inspirational roots?
that said, it only means I probably wouldn't pick this up for its cover alone (sorry), but I would love to have a chance to read it now that I know what it deals with and promotes multicultural characters =)
please sign me up for the giveaway!
Posted by ninefly | February 10, 2010 11:57 PM
Fascinating story!
From the cover I thought the book was a Western but although I am attracted to cover art that is not the reason I read/buy a book.
For most books I go by reviews and if I find something totally new in the book shop I read the back blurb
Posted by Esther | February 11, 2010 3:48 AM
Thanks for all the comments so far, y'all... I found ninefly's insight particularly interesting, in that as an Asian person the title never triggered anything in the back of her thinking cap. i wonder if the same would be true for a book called "Year of the Dragon".... Who knows, that might be a sequel? I wonder if you, or any Asian reader, would be more likely to pick up the book if it DID feature an obviously Chinese cover character? Does this have a corollary to the white-washing business? Are we, as readers, implicated along with Bloomsbury for how the covers get put on books? What about the case where there is a plain girl as the main character in a book, but the cover features your usual model... Is this a similar issue?
But more important than any of that... What about the sheer difference between that first cover and the last? I sort of see a progression. Notice how each cover gets lighter and friendlier?
Posted by Justin | February 11, 2010 8:45 AM
Thanks for all the comments so far, y'all... I found ninefly's insight particularly interesting, in that as an Asian person the title never triggered anything in the back of her thinking cap. i wonder if the same would be true for a book called "Year of the Dragon".... Who knows, that might be a sequel? I wonder if you, or any Asian reader, would be more likely to pick up the book if it DID feature an obviously Chinese cover character? Does this have a corollary to the white-washing business? Are we, as readers, implicated along with Bloomsbury for how the covers get put on books? What about the case where there is a plain girl as the main character in a book, but the cover features your usual model... Is this a similar issue?
But more important than any of that... What about the sheer difference between that first cover and the last? I sort of see a progression. Notice how each cover gets lighter and friendlier?
Posted by Justin | February 11, 2010 8:46 AM
What an amazing cover story! As an aspiring author, and total NON-artist, I love reading about how authors deal with crazy cover issues. I personally like the last two covers the best (Canyon and final cover). Judging on the description, I think this book would be a real hit at my school...it reminds me a little of Patricia Wrede's Thirteenth Child, which is always checked out :)
Posted by Lauren | February 11, 2010 9:07 AM
ninefly linked me to her comment and we talked a bit; I agree with her that the title 'The Year of the Horse' doesn't imply any sort of Chinese heritage to me whatsoever. In fact, with the horse on the title plus the 'western' type font, I'd probably just assume that it was yet another cowboy story with not a speck of Asian characters in sight. The only reason why I knew there were Chinese characters was due to Ari's post, wherein she put the summary next to the cover. So I guess what I'm trying to say that while I do like the final cover and how it clearly shows the western aspect of the novel with the silhouettes, the Chinese aspect doesn't register for me on this cover design.
But (since I read through the post properly this time... lol) now that I know that the Year of the Horse is supposed to imply the Chinese heritage, does the story actually take place during the "year of the horse" as implied by the title? Because while the title and cover does not bother me in the lack of Chinese representation ATM, it *would* irk me to see a title with "year of the horse" on it *knowing* that it's supposed to imply Chinese heritage and not have the accurate year happen in the novel itself. This title if matched with the correct year would be cool and subtly referring to the Chinese heritage by abiding the Chinese lunar calendar. But if it doesn't match and it's actually the year of, say, the rat instead, then the title would bother me quite a bit.
Posted by Ah Yuan // wingstodust | February 11, 2010 1:02 PM
Haha, that story was quite funny! At first I was skeptical, but after looking at all of them I like the last one. Yellow is my favorite color, so... :)
Posted by Amelia | February 11, 2010 1:05 PM
Hi Ah Yuan,
Wow. I LOVE your input. You put so much effort in. I totally respect that, and appreciate it, too.
To answer your question, the story DOES take place during the Year of the Horse, though that is not a huge thing, plotwise. And it does take place over that one calendar year - during which Lu does come to own his first horse, learn to ride, etc. - though it does not start with the New Year celebrations (though Lu does talk about his grandfather making firecrackers for those celebrations).
And as to the subtlety business. It was meant to be subtle as well. If it reminds you of the Lunar Zodiac, great. If not, so be it. Part of the book was to have Tzu-lu be as much an American boy as a Chinese boy, so I hope it has more than one meaning, you know?
Hope my input on these things is all right.
Justin
Posted by Justin Allen | February 11, 2010 2:45 PM
Justin, I'm glad you're chiming in! I love this discussion, everyone!
Posted by Melissa Walker | February 11, 2010 3:52 PM
the story DOES take place during the Year of the Horse, though that is not a huge thing, plotwise. And it does take place over that one calendar year
wow, that is actually kinda really cool. It's not often that I see books in English that go by the Chinese lunar calendar. 8D And I'm personally cool that the title's not a huge thing, plotwise, as long as it makes sense with the context.
Posted by Ah Yuan // wingstodust | February 11, 2010 4:12 PM
the story DOES take place during the Year of the Horse, though that is not a huge thing, plotwise. And it does take place over that one calendar year
I'm similarly impressed and very excited about this fact now =D
if it did have an Asian character on the cover, I personally would've definitely taken the time to read the blurb just to see if they're one of the main characters
it's somewhat of a "familiarity" that comes with seeing someone who looks like you, and I get more invested in those covers when I'm browsing shelves (online and off)
back to the title, I think it's more a problem of how others view the Chinese culture and how Chinese people view it. I guess someone who has passing knowledge about Chinese culture would definitely catch on to the "Year of the Horse" because that's one of the things they do know. for a Chinese person though, when I look at a cover that has no Asian visual cues whatsoever, I just consider the novel (title included) to be within the realm of "American stuff"
I'm not going to say my voice encompasses all Asians though, since the fact that I think about things like "year of the horse" or "dragon" in Chinese (马年，龙年) instead of in English may have contributed to my not making that connection?
thank you for taking the time to read my comment (and ah yuan's!), and I do hope that other people will recognize the Chinese influence in this book =)
Posted by ninefly | February 11, 2010 7:02 PM
I like best the second to the last cover. The peachy sky looks like the color of a beautiful sunset, while the man sits resting on the rocks with the horse behind him.
Sarah E
Posted by Sarah E | February 12, 2010 4:33 AM
Honest opinion? I don't particularly like it, really, the cover and title would probably put me off buying it... it'd be one of those books where I'd have to actually read the summary and have the summary convince me or good reviews from people I trust.
I know we're not meant to judge books by their covers but if I see a book with a cover I like, a part of me will be tempted to buy it just for how much I like the cover -- although I rarely do, but the cover will make me read more about the book.
One of my now favourite books, Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, has a cover I'm not too keen on (the Australian version is much better) and the cover was the reason it took me so long to actually buy it (but the summary didn't even begin to do the story justice either). Same with The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
But anyway, even though I don't like the cover really, I will check out the book because of this post. :]
Posted by Alanna | February 12, 2010 10:25 AM
I like the last cover the best. I really like the title of this book because I was born in the Year of the Horse! :) Definitely seems like my type of story. I love stories that involve horses in anyway, but haven't read one in a while :(
Posted by elizabeth | February 12, 2010 10:50 AM
Hi Alanna,
Thanks for the great comments. As for the whole judging a book by its cover thing - I always ask "well then, what ARE we supposed to judge it by?" Can't judge it by the story, characters, diction, tone, voice, imagery. Don't know those yet. So don't feel bad. And don't feel bad about not liking the cover either. We are all different people, with different ideas, tastes, etc. One of the covers I have hated the most over time was one for Ender's Game. Anyone who has read it can tell you just how GREAT that book is, but the cover makes you embarrassed to be seen reading it on the subway. I feel the same way about movie covers on books. My wife has me reading Twilight, and I just hate having people seeing me read it with the movie-star cover. Anyone else feel that way? Nothing against either of those books, but the covers give me the jeebies.
Lastly, I am glad that you are interested in the book now that you know what it's about. I'll let you all in on a little secret.... shhhh (That's why we're here.)
Posted by Justin Allen | February 12, 2010 12:00 PM
Wow i never knew how little authors have power over what they write. The cover looks realy good and i do think you can tell it has someting to do with the Chinese calender. I personally liked the the very first cover and the lost one. If i saw either cover i would stop to see what the book was about.
Posted by Esperanza | February 12, 2010 5:52 PM
I really like the one with the horse right on top of the canyon. The one that's actualy the cover is nice too but I personaly think that the horse and the canyon look really great and I'm not sure why B & N didn't like it. I can't belive they had such a huge say in it either!
Posted by Brenna | February 14, 2010 3:05 PM