Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Planting a Flag

I've realized that many of the books I've read I wouldn't have even picked up if they hadn't had a neat cover. The reason I even picked up Jhonen Vasquez's "Johnny the Homicidal Maniac", was that it had an awesome cover, even so much as graphic novels go, I thought it was pretty awesome. (View Vasquez's site here)

On the topic of the previous blog, I don't think anyone would have picked up "Twilight", if it had the original cover art. (as seen here, they really do suck) It just goes to show you that even though you try to avoid it, you'll still end up judging a book by it's cover.

Notice these pretty cool pieces of literature with un-crappy covers:

  • The Watchmen, By Alan Moore (I couldn't find his website, but enjoy his wiki page here)
  • Fragile Things, By Neil Gaiman (the paper back admittedly wasn't up to par, if you want Gaiman's site enjoy this clicky)
  • A Clockwork Orange, By Anthony Burgess (Anthony died in '93, so enjoy his wiki also here)
  • 1984, By George Orwell (wiki him here)
  • The Giving Tree, By Shel Silverstein (his books here, a bit juvenile I know, but admittedly a tree that talks is pretty out there)
If you ever write a novel, make sure you have a decent cover artist. If not, you might flop. Also, one of my favorite all time Sci-Fi writers, Octavia Butler's website can be found here, even though I've never seen a the original covers, she's a writer you need to check out.

Still no word from the submission front, but probably if I got to writing instead of working, I'd do tons better.
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2 comments:

  1. Calvin SidleFebruary 10, 2009 at 5:51 PM

    I'm not sure where the title comes from, but it's a valid point. People are judgmental, it sucks but we are. That's why I'm glad that now I shop for books by title or author. I don't get the pleasure of happening upon a strange book that grows on me, but I don't get heartbroken by a horrible book.

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  2. L. JusticeFebruary 10, 2009 at 11:06 PM

    Actually... the title is a bit odd isn't it? It actually came from a show I was watching while posting, the guy was memorizing cards and used things in his childhood (lightening fast) to identify them, and then reorder them (even faster). He stated the objects or scenes in his life that inspired them, and one was "planting a flag" in a garden when he was a little boy. I thought it was endearing, and as much as I'd like to think I title my works appropriately, mostly they're just down right silly.

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