Discussions of Midnighters characters have taken over recent comment threads, and Blue Noon is my next book out (March 1), so maybe it’s time for some more news from Bixby.
A while back I blogged about the new covers for the Midnighters series in the UK. Well, they’ve changed since then. Here’s a side-by-side view of the new and old:
The new one (on the right) uses the same image as the old, the photo montage from the back of the US edition. But the new cover gives it more space, without the overwhelming type treatment. And of course there’s the change to cursive text, which screams “Oklahoma gothic” to me. The whole thing has a creepier, scarier vibe.
Justine says it looks like an airport paperback, which is a good thing. I think it will sell books.
In the UK they’re all coming out a few months apart, so the other covers are already designed:
Cool, huh?
very kool:)! and yay! the book comes out rite b4 my b-day so i noe excactly what to ask for:P
Also your name is in a bigger font in this version. Most excellent.
I really love the covers; Alot!
I like the covers too.
whens youre name gonna be as big as steven kings on his books? youre much beeter than him.
That’s cool. I’ll have to go to the UK and pick up some copies…and some skittles too, because I hear they are gelatin-free there. (I’m a vegetarian)
The letters remind me of this dream I had where I could turn anything or anyone into a baseball sized ball of mercury looking goo type stuff that stayed in a ball when you held it.
Very groovy covers.
I love everything about it except that at first glance, the series looks like it’s called M’Dnighters. Which sounds like a hip hop group. Maybe it’s the brightness setting on my computer…
me gusta… me gusta…
You might think about using a different quote for each one…I assume that that was just placeholder text?
I like the first uk cover better. Its more unique and vintage, but still has a dark vibe to it.
yeah this totally screams scary sci-fi. but it comes out a few days b4 my b-day, so now im getting that and peeps(which i have read i just dodnt own)
*off topic*
I’m sorry Trix – “beeter?”
I really don’t think that’s a word…..
Hey, you got Robin McKinley’s Sunshine font! Very nice.
I must find a cheaper way of importing UK books; I almost always prefer their covers.
I find it interesting that a lot of series published in the UK tend to have virtually identical covers except for the colours used throughout. Garth Nix’s books are the same – they’ve got the same style, but their colours change.
They are very cool, though.
Glad you all like them. And happy birthday to Tru and Amy.
Steph: That’s the great thing about living in Australia, you get to choose between UK and US editions, and with writers like Nix and me there’s an Aus edition too. (Justine loved Sunshine.)
“M’Dnighters” Most amusing, Diana. It’s just part of the continuing war to make “Part 1” as subtle as possible, without getting rid of it altogether.
Baily said: “The letters remind me of this dream I had where I could turn anything or anyone into a baseball sized ball of mercury looking goo type stuff that stayed in a ball when you held it”
Cool . . . I think. But what would you do with such a ball?
Alex: Nix is overwhelmingly popular in the UK, so they’ll probably keep his name on all three.
o wow, i just finished Pretties….and all i have to say is, that was intense. i finished it b4 i had to go to bed last nite and all night i dreamed of dragons in lab coats and princesses on hoverboards. Whens the nxt one coming out? cuz lets face it, i cant settle down until i find out wat happens!
I’m a UKer who brought Midnighters from Canada on holiday (and then the second one through Amazon) and when I looked for the UK covers I was disgusted (I’ll be buying #3 through Amazon anyhow as I prefer the US covers). But the new Uk covers are MUCH nicer, they seem more Midnightery too.
I have to say I don’t like the covers. They don’t give the book a sci-fi look. I feel it makes them look more like a mystery. The gold wrting looks out of place. I like the background photo but the way the type is placed and the color just look wrong.
I don’t know how this would look, but what about putting the “Part 1”, “Part 2”, etc. in the same place, but on top of a full “I”? I don’t know the first thing about designing covers; just a thought.
So, Scott…any idea what the quote will be on the US Cover of Blue Noon?
well then, scott i am wondering if you EVER come to CA to do signing or anything. i want to get mine signed (that sounds funny, what does it feel like for somone to want your signature??). also, have you decided on a quote for specials?…
“Cool . . . I think. But what would you do with such a ball?”
Well see in the dream I was hitch-hiking in the desert and someone stopped for me, but I had too much stuff to carry and an inanimate person with me, so I turned each thing and the inanimate person into a ball and shoved them into my pockets so that I might accept the offer. But later I was able to turn them back to normal.
So to answer that question, cool looking storage. 😀
Cool! Definately like the new covers better. Though they do look like the cover of a Nora Roberts book….
Please! When does SPECIALS come out? NEED TO KNOW!
Thanks for all your comments about the covers. Of course, I don’t actually have any control over these matters. But it’s interesting to hear what people say. (And I know some of my publishers read these comments.
LooLoo and Tru: May 23 or maybe earlier. (Watch this space.)
Jonathan: Good question. Maybe they’ll have review quotes about the earlier books. I haven’t seen the real thing yet.
Bailey: Mmm, storage ball.
“Mmm, storage ball”…Woah…that was so Pete.
Nice covers. The cursive lettering’s so much more striking. And they do have a this-will-sell-nicely-in-airports feel, I agree.
the gold kinda brighhtens things up, which is good…. very cool… but scott, can you find out for me where they’re selling them in malaysia? the local bookshops are relaky driving me nuts…
Wanna hear something weird? I dreamt that my friend was all shooken (shken, sheeken, who cares) up about her boyfriend braking up with her, and this morning at school I hear that he did. Must be clayrvoyant.
Scott could you answer a cvestion I have? Is the Peace Corps really run by drug addicts?
Hey Scott, I agree with you on “tridecalogism” – it sounds waaay cooler than terdekalogiblah. I love “pentasyllabic” 😀 The new covers are superb! Here’s a tridec for today: scotturtheman!
lol ok wow… any one else having finals right now?? i am, man imy brain is full to the limit. i still like the covers, but the background freak me out. its like horror flick, i like it!
haha, yeah, right in the middle of exams. I finish tomorrow with Physics and Math, I’ve been “studying” all day, and honestly, I have learned one thing. PHYSICS IS USELESS!!!
I hate Newton, I hate him so so much. What kind of a masochist comes up with this crap?
HA! I finished my finals yesterday, but I feel your pain.
I don’t think physics is masochism…more like communism. Physicists are imposing their beliefs on innocent students. For example, do we all believe that if a ball’s falling toward the earth, then the earth rises up to meet it? That’s such an abstract way of looking at how a ball bounces, and there’s no proof! Communism!
I don’t mind physics much anymore, but I envy kids taking regular Physics. AP Physics is hell.
I don’t know what you’re talking about. I love Physics. That might be because I got a 93 on my final though….
Anyway, pressure is hard. Bernoulli, Pascal, A
Hey…it’s all relative isn’t it? Get it? Relative…relativity… I’m gonna go get sleep
I will verify that it IS Oklahoma goth because I am an Okie and I know plenty of goths and I like pretendign I’m an expert on things.
Looloo: Peace Corps is not funded by drug addicts….I know someone who went to Tonga for a year for Peace Corps. Great mission, they have.
Am i the only person here who enjoys the U.S. covers better than the U.K. ones? cause I personally agree with Clairo, they do look more mysteryish (i know that is not a word, just go with it, lol). But i know, you dont much say in the design, i just figured i would say something. (if that sounded the least bit rude, please realize that i didnt mean to be, i just didnt know how else to put it. sorry) oh, also, i love the midnighters and uglies series’ and i am trying to find so yesterday in my bookstore. Keep up the amazing writing, i will be reading!
So they look like romance novels but who knows? That could accidentally bring new readers expecting something else. The gold doesn’t need to stay for all three books. The background changes colors, so should the font. Like in Harry Potter. I like the first the best. It seems the second two are too neat. They could be scratchier like a darkling scratching a tree. The first looks like that. Not too neat or it looks like Nora Roberts. I like how the information is placed other than that. But in the long run the cover is good enough to catch the eye of anyone and no one will say “Gold? I don’t want a book that is sci-fi but has gold font! I will not buy this now. It doesn’t look nearly mysterious enough.” Well, I think it looks plenty mysterious and eye-catching. Besides, what ever happened to “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” I like book covers, if they have sequels and stuff, to simply have it easy to see what order they go in. I’ve never thought this much about a book cover. I’m bored.