CarrollBlog

People often ask how could I allow such awful illustrations to be on the covers of some of my books. The answer is most of the time the decision is out of your hands. A few publishers welcome an author's input on cover art, others tell you to buzz off, and some don't show it to you at all until the book is published. Their thinking is We bought it-- we'll use any damned picture we want. We know what sells-- you only know how to write them. Leave the business side to us. This morning in the mail I received copies of one of my books in a foreign language (to remain anonymous).The cover was so dreadful and inappropriate that I had to smile. Coincidentally I recently did an interview with a journalist from that country. She specifically asked why I permitted the publisher to "desecrate" (her word) my books with their bad covers. I told her what I am telling you. She brushed my explanation away as if it were an annoying mosquito. But it's your book! No publisher has the right to slap just anything on there! Because people DO judge books by their covers, especially if they are unfamiliar with the author. Etcetera. I said yeah but, if you sell your car to someone else, they have every right to paint it pink once it's theirs, no?