Saturday, May 05, 2012

Rejected Covers - See How Christopher Buckley's New Book MIGHT Have Looked


HuffPost Books - May 4, 2012
Hi everyone! I'm Madeleine Crum, the Assistant Books Editor. I want to share a new series we started a few weeks ago called "Rejected Covers," where we discuss and share images of the thought process behind new releases you're likely to spot at the front of bookstores. So far we've talked about "The Mirage" by Matt Ruff, "Second Person SIngular" by Sayed Kashua and "The Wizard of Oz," redesign for Penguin's "Threads" series.

We're crazy about design at HuffPost Books, and think it's an interesting and important way to keep physical books relevant (we especially love Melville House's "Art of the Novella" series!) But book covers aren't just about creating beautiful objects readers can display on their coffee tables: They convey the mood of, or an important moment in a novel in a concise way, and play a big role in the way a book is marketed.

This week we featured Christopher Buckley's new book, "They Eat Puppies, Don't They?" designed by Will Staehle. Buckley also wrote "Thank You For Smoking," and his latest is an equally snarky take on a defense lobbyist who will stop at nothing to soil our country's perception of China. Staehle and his team illustrated this theme in the style of a communist propaganda poster, but not before tossing around a ton of other compelling ideas first.

If you judge books by their covers, check out our awesome new series!

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