Every year this is the toughest job – choosing which covers I really love above all the rest. I’m no artist but I have written a lot about book covers because to me they are the most important part of the promotional package for a book. The visual draws the eyes first, before you read the blurb. Of course the author is another extremely important part of this package and I buy many books based solely on an author’s name, but there’s no doubt that the cover can make or break a book and I’ve been put off many times by an ugly or inappropriate cover. Remember some of the covers in our Ugly Book Cover contest? ‘Nuff said.
I like unusual covers, but simplicity is also one of my criteria. Covers that tell a story appeal to me the most so you won’t see a lot of headless torsos here. 🙂 This post only covers those books reviewed on the site so I’m sure I have missed a lot of great covers. Looking forward to your picks of the covers that appealed to you in 2011.
In no particular order here are my picks for Top Covers of 2011:
Artist: Anne Cain
Artist: Scott Carpenter
Artist: Jordan Taylor
Artist: Mary McKennen
Artist: Mara McKennen
Artist: Anne Cain
Artist: Andreas Bell
Artist:April Martinez
Artist: Dan Skinner
Artist: Angela Waters
Artist: Nathie
Artist: Anne Cain
Artist: April Martinez
Artist: Reno MacLeod
Artist: Reese Dante
Artist: Not listed
Artist: Ben Baldwin
Artist: Angela Waters
Artist: Nathie
Artist: Reno MacLeod
Artist: Reese Dante
Artist: Jordan Taylor
Artist: Reno MacLeod
Artist: Dawn Kimberling
Artist: Trace Edward Zaber
Artist: P.L. Nunn
Artist: Trace Edward Zaber
Artist: Reese Dante
Artist P.L.Nunn
Artist: Croco Designs
Really love that Dark Soul cover I hadn’t noticed it before.
My favourites have to include Coyote’s Creed -no nakedness at all, but really evocative, Marathon Cowboy and the superpowered Equilibrium.
I’ve just read a book recommended by Sirius and the title and cover just do not do the story justice …..such a missed opportunity on the author’s part.
Really enjoyed the pictures Wave.
Thanks for your recs Raine. I, too, love the Dark Soul cover – it has to be one of the most beautiful I have seen in a long time. Coyote’s Creed is also lovely — offhand I can’t recall Equilibrium but I’ll be sure to check it out. 🙂
Oh yeah Coyote’s creed had an awesome cover. I was thinking, see see you can have them dressed up and make such an eye catching cover anyway 🙂
I think my overall favorite is still Catt Ford’s “A Strong Hand”. There are some really, really eye-catching covers out there!
A Strong Hand was on the list a couple years ago and I still think it’s one of the best. 🙂
I really liked the cover on Lanyon’s Come Unto These Yellow Sands. Strong, dark yet soft, seemed to convey so much in the simplicity of the pic.
That was a beautiful cover as well. Our artists are the best in the business. 🙂
I think cover on Invisible friend is definitely in my top five favorites for the last year. I remember seeing it for the first time and feeling stunned actually and getting the book right away. REALLY love Dark soul cover, but resist buying it anyway lol, because of content warnings.
Dark Soul is one of my favourite covers. This artist knows how to make an impact. 🙂
You’ve chosen some great covers there.
It’s true … covers are very important. But of course, a good cover doesn’t mean a good story. 🙁
The reverse is true, too. It’s interesting to me that when books are republished they sometimes change covers, and not always for the best. 😐
Hi Gaye
Of course a great cover doesn’t mean that the story will also be a good read, but the first thing we see on a book is the cover, and from a marketing perspective half of the battle is won right there.
The reason why the covers change when the author releases his/her book through another publisher or decides to self publish is because the original cover was paid for by the first publisher.
Dark Soul was my favourite for 2011. I also liked:
GhosTV, book and cover by Jordan Castillo Price,
Something Like Summer, by Jay Bell – cover by Andreas Bell
Clear Water, by Amy Lane – cover by Dan Skinner
MRB
You can’t lose with a cover like Dark Soul. All of the others you mentiuoned were honourable mentions for me too, but unfortunately I couldn’t keep going or I would have had several pages of covers. 😀
Dark Soul is by far the best cover of 2011!
RJ Scott and KZ Snow always have awesome covers on their books.
You picked some great covers Wave.
Thanks Jaime.
The Dark Soul cover is really something, isn’t it? But then the genre has been able to find some very talented people. 🙂 Also K.Z’s and R.J’s books always seem to have covers that appeal to me.
You’re so right, Wave. This genre is blessed with some phenomenally talented cover artists.
I find I’m drawn to stunningly composed “concept” covers that reflect their stories’ content. The (formerly) standard bare chests just ain’t doin’ it for me. Way too generic — although in publishers’ eyes, that’s probably the whole point.
Hi K.Z
Your books somehow always end up with fabulous covers like the two featured in the post.
Visible Friend and Dark Soul are among my favourite covers of this year and Mongrel is not that far behind. No torsos. 😮 We do have some exceptional artists in this genre.
I really love the cover of the Storm Moon Press-Anthology Wild Passions, the cover art is by Nathie, the same cover artist who did the cover to Apples and regret and wasted time, which I love as well very much. Great work!
Hi Eve
Thanks for the tip about the Wild Passions anthology by Storm Moon Press. I never did see that cover because we didn’t review the book – what a pity.
Hi Wave,
there are three other covers I would like to mention, but technically one of them is not from 2011 – it was published in Dec 2010 and that’s the reason I’m “brave” and name it with the other 2011 books =:)))
It’s Rachmaninoff by S.L. Armstrong and K. Piet, published by Storm Moon Press and the cover art is by Nathie, too.
The second one is from the same publisher, the same authors and the same cover artist: it’s titel is Other Side Of Night.
The third one is When I Fall by Belinda McBride, published by LooseId and the cover art is by PL Nunn.
I think all three covers are absolutely beautiful and I would really love to see more like that.
Thanks Eve for your other recs. Nathie is very talented but she seems to be exclusive to Storm Moon Press which is a pity since it’s such a small indie publisher. I will go back and check out your other recommended covers and maybe next year I’ll remember to look at all the covers on the Storm Moon Press site.
P.L. Nunn is also extremely talented and I don’t know why I didn’t see the cover for When I fall. My loss. 🙁
The M/M genre really had some beautiful covers in 2011! In previous years they were often a little embarrassing, but it seems like many publishers are putting more effort into them now.
Hi Jay
BTW congratulations. I’ll be writing you later this week – have been meaning to since last month. 🙂
We have come a long way as more and more publishers are beginning to see the advantages of investing in wonderful covers to sell their books. This list only included the covers of books that were reviewed on the site so I know that the number of awesome covers that I haven’t seen must be incredible.
Hah, some of my absolute favourite artists – and as a control freak about the cover of my images, I’m so grateful for the fantastic job they did. Reese Dante’s job on “Scorpion” was outstanding, and I think “Dark Soul” by Jordan Taylor is my personal favourite of the year, any genre, print or ebook (it would be my favourite even if it weren’t my story). I love those because they really capture the essence of the characters, and that’s not an easy job by any stretch of the imagination.
Croco Designs did a great job for “Dark Edge of Honor”, too.
I’m glad that we are increasingly moving away from “two (or more) headless torsos”, and readers (and authors) do appreciate publishers who go the extra mile or three, in my book.
Hi Aleks
It was really difficult for me to choose the covers this year and while I did include a few couples, many of my favourites were the unusual ones such as Dark Soul by Jordan Taylor, Scorpion by Reese Dante and Visible Friend by Anne Cain. Dark Soul is incredible. WOW. Talk about impact.
I have been campaigning for years for publishers to move away from the headless torsos and they are listening to readers. Just because these are ebooks doesn’t mean that we have to look at insipid or ugly covers.
I adore every single one of my Reese Dante covers… 🙂 she is so talented… I run out of words to tell her how much I like them! ROFL… 😀
Hi R.J.
Reese is such an incredible artist.