If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. It's free and a great way to keep up to date. Thanks for visiting!
Publishers Weekly recently published an article on clinch covers. Since I’ve been running a segment on locating the next Fabio of romance novel models, I was immediately drawn to read the post. I was certain heaving bosoms, flowing hair, and orgasmic looks would be disclosed. I was pretty much right. Overall the article was pretty savvy I thought.
Two romance bloggers were quoted in it, Sarah from Smart Bitch and Kate of Romancing the Blog. Both bring up some very valid points on clinch covers. While never officially polled by readers in general, Sarah is confident based on several posts on trashing silly looking covers that readers hate clinch covers. They are “a complete and total embarrassment for the reader.” Nothing screams trashy romance novel in my opinion more than a couple embracing on the cover!
This is why paperback book covers were created - its not to protect the book, it’s to protect your ahem… virtue from the immaturity of those around you. Who here has had someone take the book they were reading and start searching for the sex sections and read them out loud? I certainly have been a victim of this. The worst instance was with purple headed warriors and womb-brooms… no joke. I was mortified even as I made fun of the passages too along side the other mockers. Who couldn’t make fun of purple headed warriors? Still, when this happens you pretty much want to curl up and hide because stuff like that just gives the genre a bad name.
However, it’s not just romance novels that are defined by a clinch style cover. Kate from Romancing the Blog says, “A clinch identifies the genre in a way that leaves no question about what you’re getting between the covers.” Can you name some clinch cliches belonging to other genres? I can - unicorns and flowery fairies with wings or sorceresses with long flowing robes make up fantasy novels. Though I am sure nobody’s picked up a fantasy and mocked the reader for it… maybe a paranormal like a later Anita Blake.
Where do you fall on clinch covers? Love? Hate? Both?
Photo Credits: 1
Related Posts -
Interracial Romance or Race in Romance While there can be trouble with any ethnic group pairing up outside of their background, people usually think of interracial in terms of black and white. Which begs the question can a white lead and a black lead fall in... -
5 Great Gift Ideas for Romance Lovers This list has some fabulous ideas for gifts between friends, family, and lovers. 1. Book cover. This gift idea is both simple and can be homemade for very few dollars. First you can make it out of sturdy fabric and... -
Review: The Greek's Virgin by Trish Morey I would say for about ninety percent of this book I thought it was excellent. Perfect execution, I liked the characters, I was involved in the revenge trope, and things were good. The other ten percent sent me up in... - Review: Darcy Saga: Book One: Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan What I love most about this book is the research and language used to express the time period. Lathan’s diction is vastly superb – I had to look one or two words up. (Romance novels have all the credit when...
- Special Features at Love Romance Passion It has come to my attention that some readers of Love Romance Passion are unaware of certain features here. In case you also were unawares, I have compiled and shared them below. Book Reviews: You have the standard book reviews,...
Related Websites -
What Is A Certified Financial Planner? An Interview with Ciaran McKeever I have a secret desire to be a professional financial planner one day (well, now it's not so secret anymore). Of course, this would take me in a completely direction from my current career. Because of this desire, I jumped... - Three Must-Read Books for Corporate Bloggers Bloggers certainly love to read other blogs, but they also may be able to generate powerful resources from books on the subject of blogging. Here are three must read books for anyone who is serious about corporate blogging on a...
-
ten tips for new bloggers As a grizzly old veteran of the blogging business (3 months on this blog but 3+ years on a previous one) I have a few ideas about what makes a blog successful or not, at least in the early stages.... -
Don't Blog For Money?! First thing you have set in your mind before you start blogging for money is, your post. Don’t ever think about money yet. Posting must be number one priority. If you have a blog but don't have any post, or... -
Blogging in a Word: Building Blogging is all about building: building friendships, building links, building content, building readership. It's not for the fainthearted and it should only be taken up by those who have a passion for the topic they wish to write about. Without...
Categories:
Covers, News
Tags:
2 comments ↓
purple headed warriors and womb-brooms??? OMG, that’s hilarious.
I actually cringe everytime I get an email with a new cover in it. “Please don’t let it be tacky” has become my mantra as I open the document to see what they’ve envisioned as my new cover.
My 1st cover did include a couple embracing, but it wasn’t bad (only a few smart remarks received). (-; Overall, my e-publisher does a good job with the covers and my print books will be with Imajinn. I have yet to see a tacky cover from them (thank goodness).
I don’t know what I’d do if I got a really skanky cover. I despise them, and if I hapen to be reading a book with a cover like that, I tend to keep it face down on my desk.
Oh I would be too - if you’ve been to Smart Bitch you can see some of the horrors they’d pulled to mock. Usually with caption contents and the like.
It’s good to hear that you’ve received some pretty great covers. I went and looked myself and nothing is embarrassing about what I saw. Woo!
I totally read the skanky-looking books face down too; whether it be in my lap or on the desk or wherever. I try very hard to hide the covers. I haven’t gone so far as to purchase a hide-a-book cover , because the books that truly need it never leave my house! lol
Leave a Comment