Cover Talk: Hardcover to Paperback

Lots of books get cover changes when they switch from hardcover to paperback. Some I think are for the better and others are not. This is partly a He Said, She Said post too, since Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan was sitting next to me on the couch as I wrote this.
First up: Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

-I like this hardcover-it's creepy and actually has something from the book-there are mysterious messages scratched into school desks. But then the paperback had to go and change to this:

-Which I really, really hate. Yes, there's a romance in the book, but it's not the focus. Cryer's Cross is more of a horror story, but you would never know it looking at this cover. Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan even commented on this one and said "I would never pick up a book with that cover" which I think is what makes me dislike this change so much-it takes a book that had a nice, gender neutral cover and pushes it over into "girls only" territory. And I really hate the idea of "girl books" and "boy books" but teens buy into that marketing, so I think this only looses a potential audience for Cryer's Cross.

Next up: Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

-I like this hardcover-it's generic and a bit creepy. Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan says he likes this cover because it's generic. I like it because it tells you just enough about the story without giving a lot of details.









-Now the paperback. I don't mind the change and think it's appealing, but I do think the mysterious eyes are a bit overdone in YA, so that part annoys me a bit. Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan says "I'd be less inclined to pick this one up because of the sultry male eyes staring into my soul."

Now another cover change that went from good to bad. Exposed by Kimberly Marcus.

-I love this cover! It's dark, it shows pain, and it tells me this will be an "issue-driven" novel. Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan actually took notice of this one and said it was nice and that it was "sleek, professional and I would have no problem carrying it around." But then they went and did this:





-I think it's pretty bad. It looks like a typical YA and while it doesn't look like a happy ending story, it just looks like everything else out there I would gloss over this cover and not pay attention to it. Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan says "it looks like a self-help pamphlet. I'm getting depressed just looking at it." I agree!

Next up-Across the Universe by Beth Revis.

-Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan and I both like this cover. It's artistic and beautiful and I think it's really unique which makes it stand out for me. Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan said "while it's a beautiful cover, I wouldn't want to carry it around-very feminine."

-The paperback is a really nice change. I think it's still unique and it still really stands out to me. I also think even though there's a girl on the cover, I think it's more gender neutral than the hardcover. As Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan says "this has a clearly sci-fi feel, and while I'm a fantasy fan and don't want to be carrying around a sci-fi book, I would be ok with this one. It almost has a dystopian feel to the cover which the other cover clearly didn't have."

Here's one we both felt had a fantastic hardcover to paperback change: Shift by Jennifer Bradbury.

-I like the hardcover, it's got a nice element of mystery, but it's a bit bland. So I'm thrilled that the paperback looks like this:





-When I showed this cover to Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan, he sat up and took notice and "what book was that?" He was immediately drawn to it as was I. We both agree there's much more mystery to this cover and it's a really interesting cover. The upside down feel makes you take notice and it stands out. Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan said "as soon as I saw it, I wanted to pick it up and read it, until I saw the hardcover. The hardcover was so comparatively bad, it made me not even want to read this one." I'm still going to work on him though and maybe the paperback will convince him!

So what do you think? Like or dislike these cover changes? Seen any others around that have changed-for better or for worse?