[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Looking at the example again, I think you're right. It is, of course, done on printed books, but then the publisher's logo can be a lot smaller.

And on printed books, it's normally on the spine on hardcovers, and very small and unobtrusive on the front of paperbacks.

The publisher simply wants you to buy the book, and will have a cover design they hope will sell. I don't think many folks note the publisher when purchasing: they care about the author and the story. Ask them who published a particular title they read and liked, and they may have to grab the book and look to tell you.

(And I know a few artists who aren't at all happy with what the publisher does with their cover art. Steve Hickman waxes eloquent about what Jim Baen did to his covers.

The worst case I recall was the original Avon PB cover for Roger Zelazny's _Lord of Light_, where the Art Director wanted a type heavy cover, and shrunk Ron Walotsky's painting down to about one inch square to get it to fit the design. Geez. If you're going to do that, why bother to commission a cover painting at all?)

The best cover art series I recall were the ones Leo and Diane Dillon did for the the old Ace SF Special series Terry Carr edited. They threw out everything they knew about cover design, and came up with a simple format where the art was front and center and the title and author were on a white strip at the top. Terry inquired about how well the line was selling, and was told by the sales director that "If I tell you, you'll ask the publisher for a raise!" Leo and Diane were obviously on to something.

It helps that Leo and Diane do stunning work, and I'd consider mortgaging a body part to own one of their originals. (I've met them They're splendid people, too, and their son Lee inherited talent from both.)

For my own use, I made a set of covers for the Harvard Classics collection (example attached). I think on those, which were just text and the harvard shield/motto, the Mobileread logo would work. If we get a forum for cover uploads I'd consider doing a new set with the logo included.

For something like that, it can work. MobileRead can be thought of as the publisher, and there is no spine on an ebook to put the logo on.

I'm just sensitive to stuff overlaid on cover illustrations. Artists carefully lay out covers to leave space in the illo for title, author, and the like, and stuff still stomps all over the art. Don't get me started about bar code blocks...

But otherwise -- no MobileRead logo on the covers seems good.

Thanks for your comment.

You're welcome.
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Dennis