🚀 go-pugleaf

On Thu, 6 May 1999 15:10:12 EDT, Patricia Rice <Price100@aol.com>
wrote:

>No, although some of us may update the writing, I meant updating the covers,
>since romance covers tend to follow trends.  You've told me just what I
>wanted to know---other genres don't update the covers.  

They sure do.  Not always, but you will frequently find a series
reissued with new covers when the latest book comes out.  But I guess
that's one major difference.  In SF and Mystery, the publishers are
very willing to let readers know that the books are part of a series,
whereas in Romance, they shy away from doing so when books are
related.  There are, of course, a lot more series in other genres.
It's not that hard to figure out that Volume 1 is likely to be a
reissue if you've already read Volume 10. <g>  Also, if you've been
reading a series, you aren't as likely to skip around (unless people
start raving about it and you can't find the first book).

Also, I think in SF the publishers are more likely to let the reader
know on the cover that the book is a classic or has won a major award.
So I guess there are more hints.

There are also fewer books in other genres, and I suspect a higher
percentage of them remain in print. You'll even find listings of
books, more often than not in chronological order (check out Anne
Perry in Mystery, for example, or Anne McCaffrey in SF).

>Since some readers completely ignored my warning on the first page that the
>Zebras were a reissue, it won't be possible to make them all happy this way.
>It's probably not possible to make everyone happy any way <G>. 

Readers don't necessarily ignore the warning; they don't read it.
Sometimes they run in and grab a book that looks new; other times they
simply don't look at that part of the book.  I rarely look at the
first page because that's where they usually have a completely
inappropriate teaser (it sometimes gives away something that doesn't
happen until late in the book or promises something that is never
delivered).

However, I often look at the copyright page. <g>

> I like the
>"romance classic" idea, if we could convince the publishers of it.  Is it
>possible that romance authors are so prolific that their fans can't remember
>all their titles, whereas everyone knows the titles of all the Terry
>Pratchett books, thus they would recognize a reissue even with a new cover?

The titles don't usually change (except between British and American
versions, which does cause occasional confusion), and are very likely
listed in the book.  It makes a big difference.

I think too many of the romance titles tend to run together after a
while.  It might be true for some of the SF titles, but I think SF
authors have a bit more leeway in naming their books.  And I think
it's rare for a book to be published first in paperback and later in
hardcover, unless it has become a classic, in which case the publisher
is all too happy to let everyone know. <g>

--  
Lori Alpert
lalpert@sff.net

>I'm not complaining, I'm truly interested in how this is done because if a
>publisher decides to reissue one of my books, I have very little control of
>the result.  I did insist that Zebra include reader letters warning people
>these were reissues, but people still bought them assuming they were new
>books.

I think you did all you could.  No matter what you do, some people are
going to be confused.  What would help me the most is a listing of an
author's books.  Almost every other genre does this, even if the author has
been published by another publisher.  On the bookshelf by my computer, I
have books by Carol Higgins Clark (mystery), Vonda McIntyre (scifi), and
Iris Rainer Dart (general fiction) and every one has a listing of books
somewhere in the first few pages.  I rarely see a romance that does the
same.  The publishers are so obsessed with not "losing sales"  by having
readers see the title of a book that is out of print that they end up
confusing and alienating readers.  (And then they blame the authors!)

The copyright date along doesn't necessarily help - many times I will pick
up a non-romance book, and I'll know the book is old, but I won't know if
I've read it, where it falls in a series, or what other books the author
might have written (maybe I'm getting two books confused that have similar
titles).   With a book listing, I can usually figure it out, though.

The thing that bothers me the most is when the publisher rewrites the back
blurb so completely that you can't tell it's the same book.  I picked up a
reprint of an Anne Stuart book a few years ago.  I knew it was a reprint,
but I haven't read every one of Stuart's books so I was pleased to fill in
her backlist.  I just wanted to figure out from the blurb if I'd read the
book, although I couldn't remember every detail of all of her books.  The
original back blurb reads:

"Residing in the attic of the Delacroix family mansion, Peter Jaffey
exerted a powerful fascination on his cousin's widow.  Margaret Jaffery had
been warned not to trust Peter, that his sad smile hid a dangerous past.
But Margaret had to learn the truth for herself.  Was it reckless fantasy
that dreamed she could have what was hopelessly out of reach?"

I don't have the reprint any more, but it read something like, "Margaret is
searching for a safe home for her 9 year old daughter.  The devoted mother
meets the mysterious Peter and isn't sure he is the one to be a father to
her children."  Add to this a perky cover with cute smiling kid (very out
of place for any Anne Stuart book).

Do these even sound like the same book?  It certainly confused me.

Karen

Karen Wheless
                  kwheless@rockland.net
   It's no good running a pig farm badly for thirty years
   while saying, "Really, I was meant to be a ballet dancer."
   By that time, pigs will be your style.  Quentin Crisp

At 03:10 PM 5/6/99 EDT, you wrote:
><<As to updating books which I assume you mean to re-writing them, I
>
>No, although some of us may update the writing, I meant updating the covers,
>since romance covers tend to follow trends.  You've told me just what I
>wanted to know---other genres don't update the covers.

On the contrary most genres update covers and I have lots of books in lots
of genres that come out with new covers.  For instance, the Lawrence Block
comedy/mystery/adventure books about Evan Tanner, which just had a new one
published after 25 years are being republished and have all new covers.
(And I'll be buying new copies, but on purpose).  The original 70s covers
tended to have line drawings with color (sort of comics style) and scantily
clad females.  (I particularly remember the cover for Tanner's Twelve
Swingers, which involved his rescue of an Eastern European gymnastics team.
Lynn Calvin
Aurora, IL
lcalvin@interaccess.com
lynncalvin@aol.com
lyncalvin@aol.com (email on this address checked *very* rarely).