Feb 20, 2017

Discussion Challenge: Ch-Ch-Changes!

So this topic obviously is about:

Cover Changes

It's something we all fear. Maybe we appreciate is sometimes, but let's face it, we fear them! Myself in particular is because they are putting an END to a GREAT cover scheme! And yeah, I have OCD when it comes to my books. Ending the look/size/style/EVERYTHING about the books drives me crazy!!

I can't decide if it's worse when they change them at book 1 or book 3 (in a 3 trilogy) we all know the horror that was almost The Winner's Curse trilogy. I mean to change it at the last book, are you insane?! What's worse is when they decide to do this cover change and yet they release the new book 1 in ONLY paperback! I mean come on! If you're subjecting me to a cover change that I can't do anything about, can't you at least offer the new book 1 in paperback AND hardcover? Is that really so much to ask?!

Here are some examples! Look at how many cover changes there were from ARC to hardcover to paperback!! It's ridiculous! Now granted with the Into the Dark trilogy, the change from ARC to hardcover wasn't too bad. I mean, I did think the first book was called Into the Dark, but that's the series name, so yeah, that needed fixing. But then by the paperback's release I was kind of ehh. Rebel of the Sands though had pretty massive changes. I really liked the ARC cover, the hardcover was gorgeous, the new paperback, eh. It's pretty cool. 

The problem though is the series will never ever ever match. Unless I want to wait out all the years until everything is in paperback. I really really just wish that publishers would offer a hardcover with the newly designed (and sometimes disliked) cover design in hardcover. Because seriously! You would think by now publishers would understand how much readers deplore cover changes. Whether you do it at book 2 or book 3, you're pretty much guaranteed to make readers mad. 

Here's another example from one of my most favorite series, the Study trilogy (the first one!) by Maria V. Snyder! It had a great cover concept in the beginning! I loved it! Granted the cover model had to be changed for the second book because I think she stopped modeling. But still, the concept was the same. And then by the third (and at the time, final book)? BAM! Whole new cover concept. Straight up the end. I was kind of upset by this one because I really liked this first look. And it always makes me wonder what that final book would've looked like.

But now that there's another trilogy out the covers were once again redesigned, but the worst part is it doesn't look like the publisher is releasing them in paperbacks! Just ebooks! Bah!

And now one final picture:

I present to you all the original covers of The Mediator series by Jenny Carroll aka Meg Cabot! Ironically, all these mismatching covers don't bother me. Lol! I feel like it just proves how devoted to this series I am! These were all the original formats and cover designs, that I'm aware of. Now granted, the last book is a step into the adult world while the other 6 were YA. So yeah, a different cover/look is kinda warranted to say that Suze is all grown up! Now they did redo the previous five books when the sixth one came out. But I wasn't really wanting matching covers back then because I was devoted to my original ones.

And in a way...I think that's how I still am. I am devoted to the original covers. Whatever way I first buy that book, that's the cover! Now generally it is the first one. So that's not an issue and with adulthood comes credit cards, so yeah, I'll charge it to buy the new one too. Though I am desperately wishing that they would just release the new cover as a hardcover too.

So now that I've written a long rambling post about this. What are your thoughts about cover changes? Where are you on the scale? Don't mind them? Hate them? They are done solely to drive you insane? Were there ones you approved of were you still upset by them? Or did you like them both?





6 comments:

  1. Didn't the arc for Rebel also have the HC cover design? I feel like there were two arc covers. Maybe that was just the UK arc... But yes, I totally agree. It's incredibly frustrating, and I just ordered both UK paperbacks for Rebel and Traitor, because I want them to match.

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  2. Holy crap I didn't realize Rebel of the Sands had so many covers already! WOW!

    I was PISSED about the Study series cover change. I had Poison Study in the original in mass-market paperback, and unfortunately waited a while before continuing the series. Then, not only did they change the DESIGN, but they made it large-format only! They're COMPLETELY mis-matched on my shelves. And it frustrates me to this DAY.

    Even little things end up bugging me. With Richelle Mead's Dark Swan quartet, they stuck to the same general theme/design, but the spines switch where they place the title and the author, so nothing lines up when they're standing side-by-side, and it gets on my nerves every time I notice it. GAH!

    Great post :)

    ~ Michelle @ FaerieFits

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  3. I am always surprised with cover changes. I have an arc of Phantom Limbs and a hardcover and they are completely different (for the better). I also like when covers of series stay consistent.

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  4. I agree about the Meg Cabot books needing a change when it switched to being an adult series. I don't know about all the other types of covers though. Some of them don't seem to fit the tone of the series, in my opinion.
    I don't mind cover changes if they change all of them. What bothers me more is when they change the name of the author. I have some series where half the books are under one name and half are under another name, but they are really the same author.

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  5. I actually hate all cover changes..in theory. Sure, there are some where I love the new cover, but I hate having mismatched covers on my shelves. And I really really hate having a combination of hardcover and softcover, so if they do a cover change I must have all of the new cover in the same format.

    The only exception to this is when I absolutely LOVED a book. Like all time favorites, then I want every cover and edition under the sun to appease my book hoarding heart. haha

    Great post!

    Michelle @ Book Briefs

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  6. Ugh, cover changes. :P I abhor them, to be honest. Very rarely does a cover change ever sit well with me. Rebel of the Sands is a fantastic example; that hardcover cover was absolutely gorgeous. It was what drew me to the book in the first place. Did you know they even designed a matching cover for the sequel? They released the book cover AND THEN they went back and changed them both, with the photograph. It made me so sad. >_<

    It really bugged me with the Artemis Fowl series, too. For the first 6 books it had its own awesome font, then 7 & 8 were redone and now the series doesn't match on my shelves. *sigh*

    Cover changes, to me, are like changing a TV show's theme song. You just don't do it. It rarely works.

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