As I've mentioned before in FB posts, blogs, books, interviews, etc., the Betsy covers were changed for several reasons. One, when UNDEAD AND UNWED came out, it was the only game in town. To be blunt, I invented (accidentally, I promise) paranormal chick lit. So when the first UNDEADS came out with their cute cartooney covers and zany Betsy antics, great. (Seriously! Great! I basically looked around the bookstore, then went home and wrote what I couldn't find. That'd be Betsy. Since then, I've been able to jettison SDJs and have Ramen noodles less than three times a week. Yay, zany Betsy antics!)
Except now, fast-forward 9 books (and those are only the Betsy books, it doesn't include DERIKS' BANE and DEAD OVER HEELS and such) and seven years, there are a zillion of cute paranormal romance novels with cute cartooney covers and fun trendy hip heroines dealing with various paranormal difficulties and day-to-day problems. Then the Twilight books came out...need I say more? Paranormal, paranormal everywhere. Go check the romance end-cap of any bookstore if you don't believe me. I remember staring at one of them a couple of years ago, and thinking, jeez, *I* can't pick my book out of the crowd, how's a new reader s'posed to?
Two, the series was moving in a slightly edgier direction. (Don't get all shrill. I've been warning you for years. Check your author's pages. "But I don't read author's pages; they're just a way for the author to yak about herself for another five pages." "So? Read 'em.") The books are always going to be funny, it's just I ran out of shoe sales to write about. So there are new problems for Betsy & the gang to fight (not least of which, not dying...and/or not living forever). So there was that to factor in.
Three, the fan mail. Oh my God, the fan mail. From children. Little kids! Hey, I like to make a buck as much as the next whore, but not off the dreams of small children. The cartoon covers were captivating the kiddies...and fooling their parents. (Note: in general, I love fan mail. Keep 'em coming. Also, fan mail from 9 year-olds who are reading JENNIFER SCALES, great! Keep 'em coming.)
Now, right around this time the Berkley marketing department said heads up, we're changing the covers. So instead of my first response ("But I love those covers!") I thought of the tiny, tiny children and (a rare and wonderful thing) kept my mouth shut. Also, contractually, it was their call anyway; they told me as a courtesy, and that's absolutely fine...I do not have a marketing degree. I did not go to college at all. I love to write. I love to nurture my agoraphobia. I do not like making marketing decisions.
But ever since then, reader reaction has been mixed. Some people love the new covers, some hate them. New readers don't care; some old readers feel screwed. I'm happy for the ones who are happy, I feel bad for the ones who feel bad, but as for my own feelings: I remain indifferent: I have zero control over the covers, but plenty over what's between them. So I focus on what I can control.
Tracy, my assistant, is one of the biggest fans of the edgier covers, and I don't blame her. She's my front line for reader mail, and I still remember the first time she read a fan letter from a 9 year-old girl: "Me and my BFF like totally love Betsy and she is like the coolest grrrlll evah! and also we don't get the weird icky stuff she did in the swimming pool with Sinclair. but my BFF's big brother sez he'll tell us all about it!! and okay so it's like the coolest book and she is the coolest and we can't wait to save up our baby-sitting money for like the next one y r awesome!!!!!!!"
Tracy, a decent human being with children of her own, was frozen before her screen: "What do I do?" she asked, panicked. "What do I do?"
"Ask for her Mommy's cell phone number," I suggested. "That's a conversation I'd like to have."
Is this my fault, my worry, or my responsibility? Technically, no. Should I push for whatever covers I like and too bad about random FBI checks regarding corrupting the morals of minors? I s'pose. Still...it bugged me. And with each new exuberant letter carefully typed or hand-written by an enthusiastic child who hadn't been on the planet even ten years, who was younger than Tivo!, I felt worse.
So...parental responsibility? It's definitely not mine. My fifteen year old isn't allowed to read my books, never mind random elementary school kids. (Also: "Gross, Mom. I don't want to read any sex scenes you write. Just...gross." "But when you're older, I'm just saying..." "Just...don't. Please. Mom. Stop it now. Never. Never, okay? I WILL NEVER READ THEM.") And yeah, if your elementary school kid is buying romance novels in the ROMANCE NOVEL SECTION and you're not checking them out, that's not on me. But jeez, I'm not made of stone, people! I'M THE ONE GETTING THESE FRIGGIN' LETTERS!
"Hey, me and my BFF just figured out what Betsy and Sinclair did in the pool and now we're like the most popular girls in like fifth grade, like!!!!!!!"
Oh my God, just give me a Go-Cup full of vodka and a 9 mm so I can end it all. After taking a few parents with me. Oh, and by the way, parents buying romance novels for their little girls without checking content first? When I'm sitting in moral judgement on you, me with my indifferent parenting, inconsistent yet arbitrary rules, and frequent E.R. trips for stitches (not always stitches for me), it's time to re-examine your life.
So! The new covers are here to stay. That, I can live with. If you can't, go check the bookstore. There are still plenty of quirky romance novels with cartoon covers to choose from. Knock yourselves out, bay-bees.
No minor moral-corruptin' today,
MJ
16 comments:
It was the new covers that caught my attention at the library. I liked the old covers but like you say and I agree...I only care about what's on the inside of the book. So as long as you keep cranking out the books that make me laugh and almost pee a little at times...I am one happy camper. Not so happy that I didn't know I was three books behind and there's a new one on the way but I'm caught up and happy with the series. Besides She's growing up she had to have a change to go with her ever changing personality.
Well said, MaryJanice!
I like totally judge books by their covers so was like totally attracted to the old cartoon-y ones but I do like the new ones. It goes in a new direction. Actually, my coworkers ask me more about the new covers than the old "only Kendra would read that" ones.
I can also see the kid angle. I teach after school day care and it is amazing what books some kids come in with that I won't even touch.
We'd all love to say we don't judge a book by its cover. But, let's face it, we do. Perhaps that was what drew some of us into this crazy world that is Betsy. And now that we're here, we're never leaving! They can put whatever cover they'd like onto those gems, we're still going to line up to buy them! And perhaps the new, edgier covers will attract a whole new following of Betsy fans. So, really, it's the best of all worlds. Thanks for a sane response to all the questions!
P.S. This Minnesota girl who's been relocated to hell ... I mean, Texas ... loves the "trip back home" every time I open a book. Thanks for easing the homesickness!
I really didnt like the new covers but I love the inside and that is what matters. After reading your blog, I totally understand why you changed them. I have 2 girls, 16 and 18 and I still read everything before they do! I remember when they came home with the House of Night books and I forbade them from reading them. I fell in love with your books immediately and though I wanted to share in the fun with my girls, I was smart enough to know they werent at the right age for them. Keep up the great work!!
OK...I'll admit it...I am one of the ones that likes the old covers better. The new covers DO NOT stop me from buying your books though! I do like the old covers but I completely understand the need to change them. Parents should most certainly be checking what their kids are reading but, unfortunately, alot don't! So, even though I like the old covers, bring on the new covers and keep those 5th grade girls from becoming so popular!!!! LOL
Susan Timmerman
Leaving the covers aside and being a non-puritanical Brit, I have difficulty in the notion that what Betsy and Sinclair did in the pool is somehow more dangerous to the mind of a nipper than the gory violence that permeates the brilliant series.
Why is it that Americans seem to believe that sex is far more harmful to kids than violence?
As an ex-paramedic I've seen lots of kids rushed to hospital due to the results of violence, yet surprisingly I never yet met anyone admitted after reading a paragraph or two of raunchy prose, or even, for that matter, a picture of the same sort of action.
Just a thought.
PS I love the books regardless of their bindings, that and the fact I buy the audiobook versions anyway!
My take on it is, who the hell cares what the covers look like??? Like in most things - It's what's between the covers that's interesting. ;)
I love your books and could care less if the covers were nothing more than a paper bag.
Susan K.
My daughters (college-age, incidentally)& I love the Undead series (although not-too-thrilled with the ending of Unfinished). We prefer the old cartoonish covers; the new ones look like evey other trashy romance out there. Blech!
I too was first drawn to the fun cover but loved what was between them. MJ is an amazing author and I've read everything she's written (even Jennifer Scales). I really like to new edgier covers. I've let family and friends borrow my books and made fans out of them!!! Keep up the good work. You're amazing.
I wasn't really a fan of the new covers, either, but that never deterred me from buying the books as soon as they came out.
I have to say that was a HUGE perk of buying a nook, no covers. I'm free to read books with godawful titles and covers, and all anyone sees is my super-fab nook decal. Except hubby, who likes to peek over my shoulder in public and say "Night Pleasures?? Is that a VAMPIRE book? You're reading about VAMPIRES?!"
Moral of the story: you win some you lose some.
I didn't buy the books because of the cover. I got them because a friend suggested them to me... And yeah, who in the world would let their kids read this stuff? I hope for ignorance but blame plain old stupidity!
I mentioned this to you,MJ, at the last booksigning in Louisville: some of the Captain Jack Sparrow books at my grandchildren's primary school (K-2),have edgier covers,(that our librarian often tries to cover with labels and UPCs),than the Betsy books ever had,and the Besty's were not aimed at 7 yr olds. Still, it's what's inside "Our"[Your] books. Keep them fun, please!
Tonette
I LOVE LOVE LOVE your books and being a reader of many authors, I could give a rat's behind about the covers! I started your series by buying the 3rd book in CD form (I have an awful commute) and am loving the series! Just keep 'em coming and we will be happy! I can honestly say your books are the most hilarious I have read, even funnier than the Stephanie Plum series! :)
i honestly liked the old covers better. they were really cute and cartoony.
I can't believe kids are reading the Betsy books! Actually, yes I can. Some parents are too busy to actually pay attention to what their kids are doing. But still..omg. I understand the cover change under that circumstance. Besides, it's very important to appeal to new readers (hopefully adults!)...can't let that Twilight crap win! Ugh. Vampires don't sparkle, FFS! (yes, I'm a Truebie, but am not romantically/socially/literarily exclusive to Harris' Sookieverse, obviously.) =)
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