I’ve been thinking about this problem for awhile, and when I was on Twitter last week Lou Anders (@Pyr_Books for you Twitterfolk) really brought it to a head. Authors (and even bloggers) can be really, REALLY awful about posting the name of the artist who did their covers.
I’m sure you’ve all seen it, on a blog, on a message board, on Facebook, in a box with a fox (maybe not that last one, unless it’s Saturday night). Someone jumps on there all excited and posts something like, “OMG MY COVER RAWKS IT IS SOOOO FUCKING AWESOME YOU CAN’T BELIEVE HOW AMAZING IT IS IT IS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE MY GOD!!!”.
Then they’ll spend another 48 ½ posts telling you all how great it is, often being congratulated by a STUNNED audience that a cover could be so awesome, and they’ll never see the like again.
Of course, while they are basking in the glow of cover adoration, is there any mention of the artist? Apparently the monkey ju-ju bean gods just crapped out a glorious cover for the masses, no human involvement needed.
Now, I’m not against the monkey ju-ju bean gods (can I get an amen?), but I am against such an idiotic thing as praising something so wonderfully, then skipping the artist that did it. As an artist, that’s a slap in the face.
That’s telling me that no matter how well I do, no matter how life altering or fascinating or simply KICK-ASS my cover is, you can’t even write 4-6 words in a 1,000 word “OMG!!!” post to give respect to the artist.
Come on. Everyone try it. Hell, just try the first two words: “Art by”.
That’s not really too hard, is it?
It must be really hard, practically MENSA hard, because while you were reading this at least 40 more posts went online without the artist credit.
I know art is all about the mystery and the magic. We artists wave our Magic Pencils™ and Supergod Paints™ and BLAM! ART!
But it’s a process, the same as the authors. We’ve worked hard and probably given up many love-filled nights to give you the image you want, to create an image that respects the book, stirs emotions, and hopefully helps sell a few copies.
We’ve put our blood, sweat and tears into our work. Well, blood and sweat anyway, I don’t really cry like a baby EXCEPT FOR WHEN THE AUTHOR DOESN’T BOTHER SHARING THE ARTIST THAT DID THEIR COVER.
Bloggers and publishers are often just as guilty of the offense. I’ve even been part of books where the publisher’s website proudly proclaims, “signed by all contributors!”. I’m fairly certain that my signature isn’t in any of them. At least the copies I have. Also the ones I’ve seen in the bookstores. At a few cons too, they didn’t have sigs of mine either. Sigh.
Aside from being an artist, I’m a huge fan of art. I have dozens and dozens of art books (which all seem to be on my desk at this very moment), and I Iove to see other artists’ works. I find the work of others fascinating, no matter the styles, and there’s nothing more frustrating than seeing some great piece of art and never being able to find out who did it.
That’s not to say artists want you to mention them every single time you mention the book (we do, but that’s beside the point). But if you’re going to exclaim to the world that your cover is the greatest piece of art in the history of man, it might not hurt to throw a bone towards the artist.
If you don’t, at some point, more than a bone might come flying back.
Russell Dickerson has been published as a genre artist since 1999, in the UK, US and Australian genre press. He was honored to be included in the prestigious Spectrum annual (#9), and has worked on projects for the British Fantasy Society, Subterranean Press, Cemetery Dance, and many others. Along with appearing in recent issues of Cemetery Dance Magazine, he also created a number of illustrations for author Brian Keene’s Scratch. Visit his website galleries and blogs at www.darkstormcreative.com.
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I see the unfortunate trend with some authors who have a lot of input into their cover see the art as theirs. Their idea, their direction. We were just a tool to get the idea out there. I may be a tool but just not that kind of tool…
In defense of bloggers, a lot of time they’re working with an Advanced Reading Copy that has no art yet, so the only glimpse they’ve seen of the cover is online. If they’re pulling the art from Amazon or the author’s blog or even the publisher’s website, there’s usually no mention of who’s responsible for the artwork.
Thanks for checking out the blog everyone! It’s definitely a frustration I’ve had for a long time, and last week’s discussion really had me thinking more about it.
Billy, I’ve worked in both situations, where the author has little say and where they have a lot of say. I’ve been lucky so far that the authors who have a lot of say have given me due props, but I do see what you’re talking about happen all the time too.
Anna, that’s one reason why I only briefly mentioned bloggers, I do think there are situations where they just don’t know who did the art. But I also think that much of the time you can get in touch with the publisher or author to find out who did the art, or do a quick search on Google Images or tineye.com. Even if that doesn’t pan out, it’s easy enough just to say that you don’t know who did the cover art.
Solid post, Russell. The truth is that publishers have gotten a lot better about including art credits on their products, but many still lag woefully behind with their online presences.
Even if you ignore the moral side, it’s just bad business not to include those art credits, and here’s why. Our field of sf/f is loaded with artists that have small to large consumer followings. Those art audiences may not know the author or book, but they’ll buy a book just because an artist they love is doing the cover. It may be a few copies that wouldn’t be sold otherwise, or in the case of a super-popular artist, it may be a significant number of added sales for an author and publisher. However that can’t happen if people aren’t alerted. I can’t tell you how many books I bought as a kid, just because of the cover. For example, I discovered Jonathan Carroll because of the Dave McKean covers back in the day. Had no idea who Carroll was, but the McKean cover made me buy the book, and I went on to buy several more Carroll volumes over the years. The artist credit made that sale.
Artist credits are an asset that the author and publisher possess in order to sell more books and make more money. It doesn’t take much effort to habitually type “Art by __________”. What publisher or author doesn’t want added sales and royalties that can be initiated by the habitual inclusion of a few small words? To not do so, and to not encourage that action as a standard within the industry and the blogosphere, is like dropping money on the sidewalk and ignoring it.
Great points John, and thanks for posting them. I agree, there are plenty of books I’ve picked up because of the cover, and when I see a great cover posted I want to follow that artist. That leads to finding more of the artist’s work on covers, then I buy those books and discover a great new story. It all feeds itself, if everyone’s on board.
I think your “money on the sidewalk” comment is spot on. I noticed when I was a guest at a con a couple of weeks ago that people would stop and look at some art I did for one of Brian Keene’s books. They’d say they liked the image, I’d tell them which author it was for, and then they’d walk right over to Brian’s table and start talking him up (and hopefully buying his works). I win as an artist, and he wins as the author because he’s getting more sales. Just from seeing the art.
Crossed Genres makes a big point of talking up our artists. When we publish our issues online each month, cover art gets its own page with bio & links; and we tend to rave about our artists in blog posts, too.
I wonder how different it is between the author giving credit, and the publisher. I have seen a number of our authors mention the brilliant covers without crediting the artist… some do give credit, but a lot don’t. (although they often link to the page on our site where the art is displayed with the artist bio).
That’s great to see, Bart, and from there I can go explore the various artists that you feature. That’s what the web is about, since it’s called a “link”, where I can find out new creators that you’ve linked to. Especially as a publisher, I think it’s important to showcase all of your talented contributors, be they authors, artists or otherwise, and you’ve done a great job with that.
I think if publishers post a book on a site, especially their own, at least a one line credit should be required. I think what you have there is fantastic, but even if they at least mention who the artist is and maybe a link that would be fine too.
I do still come across plenty of publisher websites with no artist credits at all, and that’s even a worse offense than the authors do. The publisher should know full well who does their artwork, if not they might have some other obvious problems as well. The publisher has no excuse at all not to post the artist’s credit, and much like John pointed out it’s in their best financial interest to do so. There are plenty of books out there that when I hear “Art by John Picacio” I’m going to go check it out.
I think the authors linking to a page is fine, and even nice of them to point that way. But it’s only 4-6 words that they’d need to add before their 100+ character link to mention the artist by name too. Plenty of people aren’t going to bother following a link, but most people will at least make a mental note of that artist’s name. Hopefully that would give them the chance to look up the artist later.
I’ve heard a few authors say they were told who’d be doing the cover, but more appear to get a finished cover handed to them with no additional information. I’d agree that artists should be credited, but the lack of information may be coming from higher up the chain.
I think it’s on the publisher to get the author all of the information on the book (not even just the cover artist). If the author is going to help push the book, which they obviously should, the more they know the better. But, inevitably, it’s the author’s name on the post, so the comments will be thrown at them.
I’d also go back to what I mentioned before, it’s easy enough for the author to say that the publisher hasn’t told them the artist’s name yet. That might light a fire under the publisher, or might get the artist to chime in (if they see it), or at the very least let the public know that the author is putting forth some effort. As with bloggers, you may not always know the answer, but it doesn’t hurt to say you don’t either.
I’ll add another thought – failing to credit can leave a consumer associating frustration with your work/book! Sometimes, a friend of mine will say something along the lines of “OMG! I am soooo looking forward to the new Joe Idiot book and they just posted the cover and it’s gorgeous, LOOK!” And toss me a link.
And I go, and I look, and I read. And I’m not really interested in the book, but the cover is gorgeous. I want a print of it, or just to see more of what the artist has done. And the artist…isn’t named.
Now I can’t get what I want, so I feel mildly frustrated. (And assuming the artist has done more than one cover for this publisher, or will in the future, they’ve lost a chance to have me stare at another piece of art, track down the book, and buy, as has been noted here already.)
I don’t want the book and wouldn’t buy it in any case, which on first glance makes me irrelevant to the author, but that’s not true. Because now when Joe Idiot publishes another book I might be interested in, I may still have a tinge of negative feeling – I may not remember where it came from – about that author. And I may not buy the new book unless it’s obviously a perfect match, or I may not even read about it at all but just click by.
I wouldn’t necessarily do that if I consciously remembered that it was due to artist credit, but the frustration/irritation may attach to my memory of the author without remembering why, and then I’m likely to treat it as something associated with the author’s work (which it is, in a way).
That’s a good point, Laura, and I think it would even work in reverse too. I think if you were able to follow that artist, you’d have a good subconscious sense of that author. Then, when you see either the author’s work (with or without the same artist’s cover work) or the artist’s work you’re more apt to pick it up.
We should start posting the art, with the accompanying blurb: “OHMYGAWD! This was the best book I ever read I’m so lucky to have been associated with it!” Then leave off the publisher and author’s name. (Some small publishers neglect credit too.)
I thought about that too, Christine. It could be that we just pick on those who do it too, have everyone gang up on them.
I imagine though if we can talk to authors, publishers and bloggers about it maybe we can turn the tide. It’s probably just something they’re used to, and we as artists need to get them used to the right way of doing things.
As a small micropress Rpg publisher I always try to post
Illustration by
Even if all I am using is stock art,
Often I even try to make sure the layout artist gets credit for the fonts and logos.
That’s great, Steven, I’ll bet the artists really appreciate that too. I’m sure it helps their traffic. Actually, I really like that piece by Tyler Bartley on that page, and I plan on checking out more of his work in a bit.
It’s a win-win(-win) for everyone. As an art fan, I get to go check out a new artist with a new vision. You as publisher get more traffic if I’m looking for more work by Bartley, and he gets notice and traffic to his works. As I mentioned above, it feeds itself, and that’s great.
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