At this year's Bouchercon in Indianapolis in October, an Anthony award will be given for the first time for the best cover art of 2008. Authors agonize about their covers, which can make such an impact on the book buyer or reader, for good or ill. The bigger the publisher, the less likely it is that the author will have any say about the cover. We've all heard horror stories. And sometimes we strike it lucky, and an artist, photographer, and/or designer captures a perfect and memorable illustration of the author's vision. I've invited any and all authors who loved their 2008 covers to display them here. Note that we are not connected with the Anthonys in any way, just giving as many 2008 covers as we can a little wider circulation.
If you registered early for Bouchercon and therefore have a ballot to vote for nominees (not winners) for the Anthonys, note that you have to include the format (hardcover, trade paper, or mass market paperback) for your picks. If you don't have the books, you can get that info on Amazon. Sorry, authors, I forgot to ask you to include it--you can add it in a comment on this post.
An unexpected number of authors did love their 2008 covers. Here's a big batch of those covers, and I'll post more next Thursday. I'll start with mine.
Elizabeth Zelvin, Death Will Get You Sober (hardcover)
Jeffrey Marks, Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography
Jeff Cohen, It Happened One Knife
Eric Stone, Flight of the Hornbill
Julie Kramer, Stalking Susan
Deborah Shlian, Rabbit in the Moon
Laura Elvebak, Less Dead
Betty Webb, Desert Cut
Kathy Lynn Emerson, How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries
Betty Sullivan LaPierre, The Lure of the Witch
C.J. Lyons, Lifelines (paperback original)
Lou Allin, And On the Surface Die
Jeri Westerson, Veil of Lies (hardcover)
Louise Ure, The Fault Tree (hardcover)
Vicki Lane, In A Dark Season (mass market paperback original)
Roberta Isleib, Asking For Murder (paperback original)
Elaine Viets, Clubbed to Death (hardcover)
Marilyn Meredith, Kindred Spirits
Mary Jane Maffini, The Cluttered Corpse
Baron Birtcher, Angels Fall (hardcover)
Clare Langley-Hawthorne, The Serpent and the Scorpion
Renée Gardner, And the Dog Took the Cat
I.J. Parker, The Hell Screen
Linda Richards, Death Was the Other Woman
Chester Campbell, The Marathon Murders (hardcover & trade paper)
Pat Browning, Absinthe of Malice (trade paperback)
Mary Reed and Eric Mayer, Seven for a Secret
Deborah Sharp, Mama Does Time
James R. Benn, Blood Alone
Visit again next Thursday, March 26, for more 2008 covers the authors loved.