Cover Whiplash!

Posted on by scott

Okay, so remember how I posted the US cover for Leviathan ? Well, it turns out that there has been a change . . .

So this will be the actual cover in the United States:

leviathanusfinalsmall

Behold the gloriousness. It’s steampunky, baroque, and very, very shiny.

But, you may ask, why did this happen? From where comes this entirely new cover?

Well, I just work here. The writer’s job is to write and the publisher’s job is to publish, and covers are a key part of publishing a book. Which is not to say that I haven’t been consulted, but I’m not privy to all the pressures that come from Sales, Marketing, Major Accounts, and all the other Powers That Be. So I’m not sure exactly what happened to the old cover, except that it may have been deemed a bit . . . young.

The thing is, I loved that cover and I love this one too. But I will admit that this cover is more adult-friendly and, for lack of a better word, literary. Both of which are good things, though I’m a bit sad to lose the manga-ness.

But we must remember: adults are very delicate. Like horses, they are afraid of loud sounds, sudden movement, skateboards, the internets, slang, and getting band names wrong. So in order to bring more people gently into the fold of Leviathan reading, Simon & Schuster has decided to use a cover that won’t ruffle anyone’s fragile sense of adultiness.

And hey, I’m a big tent kind of guy. So welcome everyone, and I hope you like this new cover as much as I do.

Note 1: To my readers in the UK, you’re still getting this cover, and I don’t know yet which way France and Australia will go.

Updated Note 2: Turns out that Sammy Yuen, the overall designer of the book, created this new cover based on some of the elements drawn by Keith. (That’s Keith Thompson, the illustrator of the book.)

Leviathan comes out October 6, and you can preorder it at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, or at independent book stores everywhere.

Canadian Update: For you folks up north, it’s the same cover as above, and you can pre-order from Amazon.ca or Chapters Indigo.

104 thoughts on “Cover Whiplash!”

  1. Nine kinds of fawesome. I love the art…very steampunk. Apt for the book, as far as I can tell without having read it. I love all the deep colors, especially the red. Tis eye-catching.

    If I didn’t know what Leviathan was, I would so be drawn in by this cover.

  3. Alex-wa you stole my idea…lol jk….I hope your friend doesn’t have to move either! I love acting myself, so I’m sure that feels pretty awful…Good luck anyway!

  4. I like this cover so much.

    It does seem a little bit more friendly to the older peoples.
    Good.
    I am happy.

  7. Me likey. Me likey more even than your other cover, Scott. I must admit, as a girl who rides horses, it’s a smart move. Don’t want to startle those adults into bucking and thus making you land on your head as a result. It’s ouch-making.

    It’s a lot more intriguing as compared to the seemingly kid-friendly prior cover. Not to say that the other one wasn’t fantastic; this one just makes you wonder a bit more about the story.

    That’s most of the fun in getting a new book, I’ve found; you have no idea what’s going to happen and, contrary to all advice, you DO judge a book by its cover. In judging it, you decide with what intensity you are going to read it, and then you keep going further and further until you’re finished.

    Totally bubbly. -nods-

    -Hope

  8. i love the horse-adult similie thing( is that what its called?) oh. comparison. sorry people, but i am very slow today… no sleep last night…..

  9. oh and btw dessometrics, do you ride english or western? i ride too. i do dressage and i just got a new horse( YIPEE!) although she can be VERY mareish

  10. AMAZING……I think the old one looked a little to young. The new one is awesome!! I love it sooo much…..I would totaly buy that book if I only saw the cover! It is sooooooooo cooool!!

  11. Wouldn’t it be so cool if you moved the book cover back and forth, or side to side, and the gears looked like they were moving? Like, whenever you move a holographic (?) card, it looks as though it’s really moving. It would be so cool to see all the gears in this cover move.

  17. Well, I’m a person who grew up on manga and comics and light novels, so I did prefer the old cover. But at least it still has the illustrations inside.

    I assume the picture from the 1st cover will also be in B&W somewhere on the interior, right? I mean, it was so nice looking it’d be a waste not to put it in somewhere.

  18. Pony-la and RC:

    xD I ride English, happily so. Western is fun for trail riding, but it seems like no matter how I try to adjust to it, I get sore the next day. I enter a few competitions for showmanship and equitation, but don’t get far.

    Eh, horses are just fun in general. -hugs horse plushie-

  19. dude… awesome… i do take to shiny stuff. I CAN’T WAIT!!!!!!!!! YAY!! itz gonna rock scott. glances back at her own writing and then thinks about what she’ll be doing in oct…. HOW THE HECK AM I GOING TO FIND TIME TO READ!?! omjoe. well… who needs sleep anyway? seriously?

  21. I wish my Mom would let me ride horses. She says it’s too dangerous. Not fair. My kitty died…

  22. wow!! Even if you weren’t my favorite author/I’d never heard of you i’d totally pick up that book.

    you’re right, adults are afraid of the internets but they are SHAMELESS when it comes to band names.

  25. Yeah…it’s sad, but okay I guess. She was 22 years old, so we knew it was going to happen soon…poor kitty.

  26. thats sooo old!!!
    and I thought 14 was old!
    Sorrey about your cat
    I know its such a bad feeling.

  28. I think you should sell all of the books, because all of the covers are amazing. (all of them as in, the UK one in US) I love the list of things that adults are afraid of…hee hee

    Tally&Zane: Sorry about your kitty!

    Dessometrics Pony-la: My friend (when my name is blue, it’s a link to her Maximum Ride fan-fic[harsh criticism about it is appriciated]) loves horses. One of them just had a baby.

    Saki: Wow. That skintenna top is amazing. A little see-through..:D

    back to writing for english…(I came here for the Scott Facts and I kind of got dragged in to this blog…and any other pretty blue links…)
    PEACE!

  30. Holly-wa: Have you finished your doodle yet? I’m sorry I don’t have any good ideas…maybe make and ‘O’ a manga eye?

    Haley Rae: That picture you made is vastly amazing! (I finally looked at it..lol)
    😀 I’m so excited for this book.:D

  31. OH MY GOSH! I am BEYOND excited for this book.
    I JUST finished the “New York Trilogy” yesterday and the MIDNIGHTERS series 1 day before that.

    I ADORE THESES BOOKS and cannot wait for this new series.
    Uglies is what got me hooked and until October I am going to DEVOUR anything Westerfeld related.

    Love the new cover.
    Love your books.
    thank you <3

  32. i love your books! i was just thinking how happy-making it could be if there was like a game or something were you could go through life in tally’s city! that would be soo bubbly! i also really like the idea for charecter biographies and maps. or maybe something were you could be on the pretty commitee and desine faces. how totally bubbly would that be!?!?! Poor Paris though, i guess he was ment to stay bubblehead. o well.

    Stay icy,

    lily-wa

  33. I just finished The forest of hands and teeth…..its amazing….thank you scott for recremending such a fantastic book!……its so sad yet so happy in the end I love the confusing of that. You don’t know wether to feel sorrey for her or to feel happy for her!I like that……Zombies FTW

  36. Horses are a pain in the butt. Literally. Cause I got bucked off my friend’s horse and now I HURT all over. And the seat of my jeans ripped. ^_^ Fun stuff. When your mommy tells you horses are dangerous, it’s true! The risk is worth it, though, because it’s usually pretty guud. 😉

  37. TZ! YOUR ALIVEEE! I miss you on scott facts! It’s all new people now! every1 ditched me! 🙁

    Go Zane! Woot woot!

  38. Sorry Laura-wa! Ya, I’m alive! Scott facts just takes FOREVER to load on my computer!

  39. I like this one a LOT better than the other one. It was too gray and boyish. Or maybe just not my thing… whatever. I like this one though 🙂

  42. I am very very excited! I like this cover better than the old one, but they’re both amazing!
    The book comes out on my birthday , haha. 😀

  43. As an adult, and a very sensitive delicate flower, I must say: Awesome! I was going to read it anyhow, but I love the steampunk gears and that deep red, too. Pretty and shiny, yay!

  44. I think I like this better than the first. I love the colors. Not that I didn’t love the original, because I most definitely did, but this new one is very eye catching! 🙂

  45. i just realized i have a freckle on my neck. woo-hoo my first freckle! or…. ugh my first skin cancer!!!!! ah!!!! okay i’m over it. i’m so bored * Looks around car for something that isn’t there* *sigh* BORED!!!!!!!

  46. October sixth is being marked on my calendar! If I could manage reading Paper Towns last October in the midst of the Evil that is High School, I can surely make it through Leviathan!
    Plus it looks gooorgeous.

  47. Ick, I don’t like the new cover. The old cover was clear, this book somehow involved giant robots. Now it looks like some graphic design student had a last minute project and took the abstract machinery route.
    And uh-oh, I just realized this post was a month old, I wonder if my livejournal is still getting the feed regularly…

  48. Last comment was July 3rd? Yes, I’m late to the party.

    I just wanted to say that this cover is absolutely gorgeous. To the point where, if I lived in the UK, I would be highly tempted to order it in from the States. Granted, that would be very expensive, and probably more than I could afford. But I would have been very, very tempted.

    As it is, I live in Canada, and the first thing I saw was this cover. I was immediately drawn over to it, and then I saw the name “Scott Westerfeld” in big letters smack in the middle. That alone would have sold the book, but the cover added very large (though unnecessary) bonus points.

    Needless to say, a copy of Leviathan is now in my possession. I tore through it, it was fabulous, and I am eagerly awaiting Behemoth in 2010.

    There is a very good reason that you are my favourite author, good sir.

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