Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A Tale of Two Covers (for The Love Goddess’ Cooking School) by Melissa Senate



You’re in a bookstore. You see these two novels side by side on the new fiction table. Which lures you? Which do you pick up first? Do you completely ignore one? Do you pick up both? Do you expect a different read with each cover?

You flip each over and they both say:

Camilla’s Cucinotta: Italian Cooking Classes

Fresh take-home pastas & sauces daily

Benvenuti! (Welcome!)

Holly Maguire’s grandmother Camilla was the Love Goddess of Blue Crab Island, Maine—a Milanese fortune-teller who could predict the right man for you, and whose Italian cooking was rumored to save marriages. Holly has been waiting years for her unlikely fortune: her true love will like sa cordula, an unappetizing old-world delicacy. But Holly can’t make a decent marinara sauce, let alone sa cordula. Maybe that’s why the man she hopes to marry breaks her heart. So when Holly inherits Camilla’s Cucinotta, she’s determined to forget about fortunes and love and become an Italian cooking teacher worthy of her grandmother’s legacy.

But Holly’s four students are seeking much more than how to make Camilla’s chicken alla Milanese. Simon, a single father, hopes to cook his way back into his daughter’s heart. Juliet, Holly’s childhood friend, hides a painful secret. Tamara, a serial dater, can’t find the love she longs for. And twelve-year-old Mia thinks learning to cook will stop her dad, Liam, from marrying his phony lasagna-queen girlfriend. As the class gathers each week, adding Camilla’s essential ingredients of wishes and memories in every pot and pan, unexpected friendships and romances are formed—and tested. Especially when Holly falls hard for Liam . . . and learns a thing or two about finding her own recipe for happiness.

Does the back cover copy fit both covers? Does the cover change how the back cover copy sounds to you? Do you have different expectations for each book based on the cover even though the cover copy is the same?

The blue spaghetti heart cover was the original cover for The Love Goddess’ Cooking School until just a couple months ago. The big chains didn’t think the cover would appeal to readers, and so Simon & Schuster went back to the drawing board to come up with a very different cover, more mainstream, more mature.

I did love that spaghetti heart and vivid Tuscan blue and white swirls of the original cover. But when I saw the new cover with its old world Italian kitchen feel, I sighed with a happy, relieved yes, this is the cover. This is what the cover is meant to be. This captures the lore of the original Love Goddess, the main character’s beloved Milanese fortune-teller/cook grandmother and that very kitchen today. It captures a sense of life in progress, work to be done. Cooking. A seriousness and a depth. And the dusky warmth of the yellow and brown speaks to a comforting read. The title itself captures the playfulness, the dash of magic, the romance, and of course the cooking aspect, so perhaps the old cover, that spaghetti heart, did too much double duty with the title. The new cover beautifully brings you inside the title, invites you into the Love Goddess’ Cooking School.

Today is publication day for The Love Goddess’ Cooking School, and to celebrate, I’m giving away a signed copy to one commenter (randomly chosen here tomorrow morning, 10/27). I’d love to know your thoughts on the covers. P.S Anyone who buys the book this week will win my undying appreciation!

Mini bio: Melissa Senate is the author of 10 novels, starting with her debut, See Jane Date, which was made into a TV movie for ABC Family. She’s written two novels for teens and has contributed stories and essays to several anthologies. A freelance copywriter and editor, Melissa lives on the lovely coast of Maine with her son and their two black Halloween cats.

You can follow Melissa on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MelissaSenate
Friend her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MelissaSenate
Visit her website: http://www.melissasenate.com/

30 comments:

  1. Oooh! I adore the second cover! It's funny, b/c people always ask if I had a say in mine, and it's like "No, but the bookstores do!" Hoping to win the free copy, but I'm intrigued enough to buy a copy even if I don't. Happy pub day!

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  2. The first cover is cuter and whimsical, but I like the second. It has much more of an Italian feel and, in my opinion, is a bit more 'grown-up'. Wishing you continued success, Melissa! I can't wait to read it!!

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  3. I love them both, and knowing me, would probably end up buying both of them and then wondering why that story sounded SO familiar!

    Your book is definitely on my list of must-buys, Melissa.

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  4. Happy pub day, Melissa! I really love both covers. But yes, I do see how the newest one would appeal to more readers. I also think it has more of a "women's fiction" feel as opposed to the first, which reads very "chick lit" to me. Since publishers want to get us all away from the dreaded "chick lit" label, I can see why they went in a different direction for cover #2. (Even tho chick lit totally rocks.)

    Here's to tons and tons of sales!!

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  5. Happy Launch Day!! I liked the first cover when I first saw it here, but I love the new cover--it's really stunning. Can't wait to go out and get my copy today!

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  6. I do think the new cover is much better, but I hate that the big chains are dictating the covers.

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  7. Happy Pub Day! I love both covers but agree with Brenda's take. Read the first chapter and can't wait to really dig in. Your writing is gorgeous.

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  8. I'd read anything by you, but if I was just a reader browsing I think the 2nd one is more modern and eye-catching. Happy Launch day!

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  9. Melissa, a very happy pub day to you!!! Can't wait to read the book (oh, boy, am I going to read my brains out as soon as this deadline is over in three weeks!). I love both your covers! But the one you're the happiest with is the best one! :-) I'm going through cover insanity now, as the one I liked better for Little Black Dress isn't the one the reps liked better. So we'll see what happens!

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  10. I liked the first one, but my eyes kept getting drawn back to the new one. The first is a lighter, frothier book. The second is more solid and will speak to my heart.

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  11. Brenda J said exactly what I was going to say, leaving me only with...Happy Pub Date! Can't wait to read!

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  12. I love them both, but I think the warm browns and Old World kitchen scene give the book an earthy quality that makes me not only admire it but want to own it!

    (The other is making me want pasta for lunch...)

    :-)

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  13. I am usually a big fan of aqua blue and swirls, but I have to say I love the second cover more. It just fits the Italian kitchen theme.

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  14. From the looks of both covers, I would expect a different book. The first cover makes it look very much like light reading whereas the second cover, makes me feel that it's more homey. I would probably go for the second cover with the kitchen. I like the feel.

    mryward(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  15. I like both covers, but the new one does speak to the heart--old Italian and family. Happy Launch Day!

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  16. These covers were a can't-lose situation. Love them both! Pre-ordered so my copy, as you know, is on the way. Happy Pub Day!

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  17. The second cover spoke to me right away, but the first seemed to fit when I read the blurb. Either way, it sounds like an interesting story.

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  18. Happy release day, Melissa!!!
    I can't wait to read this novel (food! love! friendship!), and I happen to really like both book covers. The pasta heart is just SO cute, but the new one is warm and compelling. Congrats ;).

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  19. I prefer the brown cover--it intrigues me more. The brown one also seems more like "women's fiction" but the blue one looks more "chick lit" like. Not that I have a problem with chick lit; I love it all--but the blue one looks "sweeter, funnier" and the brown one looks like it will be angsty but with some laughs.

    No idea how I could get all that opinion just from looking at a cover. Weird.

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  20. Happy pub day, girlfriend! As you know, I loved both your covers, but I really think the one you ended up with is the best.

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  21. Happy pub day! I think the second cover fits the story better. I really like it and would be drawn to it on the bookshelf.

    Debra

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  22. I like the one on the right. It reminds me, somehow, of Joanne Harris' "Chocolat." The combination of the copy and the second cover image.

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  23. I love the one on the right. Less cartoonish, more 'serious,' but in a good way.

    jpetroroy at gmail dot com

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  24. The warmth of you new cover makes me weak in the knees, Melissa! Can't wait to read this book!!
    xo

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  25. Congratulations, Melissa! Both covers are beautiful. Looking forward to reading it. : D

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  26. Thanks so much for the good wishes and for sharing your thoughts! I love both covers, but the new one feels truly special to me and so perfect for the book.

    Back tomorrow morning with the name of the winner of a signed copy of The Love Goddess' Cooking School. ♥

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  27. Winner alert!: Jill Thomas, a signed copy of The Love Goddess' Cooking School is yours!

    Also: MsHellion: you won last time (from my blog post back in August, but I couldn't get in touch with you b/c your name wasn't hyperlinked, but here you are!

    You can email me your addresses at Melissa@MelissaSenate.com

    Thanks, everyone!!

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  28. Congratulations on the book Melissa! I can't wait either! And wow, two amazing covers. Wouldn't it have been fascinating to do a study and see which one people actually picked up?

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  29. Melissa - congrats! I like both covers but I'd pick up the second cover ... I feel like I've seen similar heart-themed covers recently. Hope you have a wonderful launch week!

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  30. Congratulations! I feel like the original heart cover looks more like an actual cookbook rather than a novel. I would be more drawn to the new cover as representing a fictional story I'd want to be brought into. It's got more going on, more possibilities, so it seems like there will be more to it than simply pure deliciousness!
    Thanks for sharing the process!

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