Reader Cate alerted me to the differences in Elizabeth Hoyt’s covers between the US and UK versions. Have a look. This is the UK version:
And this is the US version:
Cate went out of her way to order the US copy even though she’s in the UK, because she really, really dislikes the historical inaccuracy of the cover: “This is a book set in 1737 – I know that because it says so on the first page(!).So why then have Piatkus given the book a set of cover models who look like they’ve just walked off the set of Pride & Prejudice? Or does one historical era fit all ? – a bit like a kaftan!”
I confess to not being as savvy as Cate, but I’m also not sure which cover I’d prefer. On one hand, the US cover very clearly says historical romance – but the UK cover, and the title as listed in Amazon.co.uk, seems to market it as a mystery/romance, particularly the additional reference to mystery in the title: “Notorious Pleasures: A Maiden Lane Novel: A Wesley Peterson Murder Mystery.”
Which do you like better? If you were out book shopping and browsing, which would you be more interested in?
The poll results are interesting. Preferences have been pretty evenly divided between the two covers all along. I am surprised at the fairly low proportion — not quite a quarter — who disliked both.
What would be really fascinating would be if we were able to break down the voters according to nationality, to see whether Americans tended to prefer the US cover and Brits/Commonwealth readers the UK one. Of course, those choices would be skewed in this case by the readers who are strongly influenced by the actual style of the clothes in relation to the period of the setting. For a fair comparison, both covers would need to have early 18thC costume, or at least both would have to be equally anachronistic.
Publishers clearly think they know what kind of cover-art sells in various markets, so one imagines they must have done some research. I wonder if it is published somewhere, or whether it is classed as secret, commercially sensitive information?