June 20, 2019
Happy summer! This is your Sound Off editor, J.L. Gribble. When I’m not watching movies, I can be found working on my urban fantasy/alternate history series. Join me today in celebrating the cover reveal for Steel Shadows!
August 24, 2018
Happy Friday! J.L. Gribble here. At Speculative Chic, you know me as the film review editor and host of many a Sound Off post. In my other life as an author, I’m currently working on an urban fantasy/alternate history series. Next month, book 4 will be released into the wild. But today, I’m happy to share the cover of Steel…
June 8, 2018
Let’s be honest: despite the adage, we are all guilty of occasionally judging books by the cover. We know we shouldn’t, but sometimes, we just can’t help ourselves. This month’s roundtable topic was suggested by Nicole Taft, bookseller par excellence. She sees a lot of book covers, and wanted to talk about books that we, as readers, picked up simply…
August 30, 2017
When someone mentions fantasy book covers, inevitably a stereotypical image pops up. One of knights standing near dragons, perhaps a chain-mail bra-clad woman with him. Or at least, that’s what used to be the norm. As today’s standards of what’s “cool” and socially acceptable continue to shift, so do the covers of speculative fiction books. Fantasy, science fiction, and horror…
August 3, 2017
There exists the old adage: Don’t judge a book by its cover. This is quite true, as the inside of a book can be excellent but the cover doesn’t do the story justice. Yet at the same time, having a good book cover is very important. It doesn’t matter if you’re with a big publishing company or self-published; a top…
March 2, 2017
Mass market paperbacks are interesting creatures, as are some trade paperbacks. 99.99% of all mass markets, if they are slated for return, aren’t actually returned. Not whole, anyway. One of the most horrifying things a bookseller will ever learn to do is strip a book. Stripping a book means that the front cover — and the back too if the…
February 22, 2017
A lot of people get confused when faced with a book that has two covers. Is the inside different? Is this the same book? The confusion only deepens on those rare occasions when the title changes. However, gentle readers and moviegoers, this is simply a cover change up.
January 3, 2017
Welcome back to Cover Chic, an occasional series where we break down, analyze, and avoid judging books by their covers for your entertainment! We’ve spent some time discussing differences in US and UK covers, hardcover vs. paperback, and series that changed up their style before the series was over. Today, I’m traipsing merrily down the rabbit hole after one particular…
December 19, 2016
They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, a weekly column where we gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we’re all about fashion-forward Star Wars accessories, a network that does genre TV right, an addictive and spooky podcast, and…
October 18, 2016
Welcome back to Cover Chic, where we take a look at what publishers are doing with their cover art to grab our interest. Previously on Cover Chic, we pitted US covers against UK covers. Today we focus on the US market, and how books can get a second chance at snagging an audience with a redesigned cover. But is the…