Different audiences

wishfulthinking

Misbehaving
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Nov 3, 2003
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I found a good example of an Aussie (go the Queenslander) author who has had her book published in different countries. It's really interesting how the covers are changed to reflect the differences in audiences taste & marketing.

Ok, so I'm probably the only one who finds this stuff interesting. :D


Oz & UK: http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/seddd/ozuk.jpg

US: http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/seddd/us.jpg

Germany: http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/seddd/ger.jpg

Hungary: http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/seddd/hung.jpg
 
I'm curious, which one do you prefer, and does this roughly reflect the region you are from?

I like the Hungarian version, but wouldn't buy it. I do prefer the oz/uk version.
 
For what it's worth, I like the U.S. one. It seems more discriptive in the picture compared to the others.
IMHO
Hugo
 
wishfulthinking said:
I'm curious, which one do you prefer, and does this roughly reflect the region you are from?

I like the Hungarian version, but wouldn't buy it. I do prefer the oz/uk version.

The only one that would draw my attention enough to pick up (and read the blurb) would be the oz/uk version.
 
Yeah, I like the Uk one, it looks good, I might even pick it up and read the blurb. As insignificant as it may seem, I really like the typeface of the lettering.
 
As a retired secondhand bookdealer, I enjoyed looking at the lurid covers of some paperback books of the 1940s and 50s.

Often the artwork bore no relation to the text. I have seen bodice-ripping covers on Jane Austen and bland covers on Hank Jansen.

I have an original piece of cover design for a paperback 1950s crime novel. It was on a large piece of card, showing the front, the spine, the back and the blurb. It cost me more to frame it, to show only the artwork and not the pencilled instructions to the printer, than I paid for it.

The book I liked most for the variation between the cover and the contents was the Victorian 'Aristotle's Masterpiece' - apparently a work by Aristotle but in fact a gynaecological text for expectant mothers illustrated with plates of pregnancy and childbirth. The title and cover were to preserve the mother-to-be's modesty while she read.

Og
 
Is it my imagination, or is the German cover so different from the othere that it's probably not indicative of the book? I hate reading a book and having the descriptions not match the cover. It makes me think they didn't really care about the book at all.
 
I liked the German one the best and the Hungarian one the least.

I found the U.K./U.S. covers too spare, too obviously cyberpunk.

The German cover, for me, showed a richer, more nuanced texture that appealed to me.

But I'm insane so my tastes would be different.
 
Insanity welcome. :D

Good point about the german cover not reflecting the story.

I'll post the second in the series, where the german one gets even more exotic :D

A bit of the blurb from one of the books to give you an idea:
Parrish Plessis, sometime coup leader, paid assassin and ex-bodyguard, is finding life tough. Betrayed by the enigmatic Loyl Daac, and still under blood debt to the deadly Cabal Coomera, Parrish is trying to hold together the little empire she's inherited in the Tert, live up to the expectations of the many strays and waifs she's accumulated, and attempt to flush the high-tech parasite from her system before she becomes something so much less than human.
Not an ideal lifestyle, Parrish would be the first to admit, but she can make everything alright again if she can manage just one little task. Bring down the media.

Just another day for Parrish Plessis...
 
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